Bucking the trend of bigger, badder and more ridiculously expensive teardrop trailers, Hiker Trailers is taking a step back in the other direction with a new entry-level model that prices thousands of dollars less than any new trailer we've seen in years. The pricing harkens back to the mid-2010s, but the Highway Lite trailer doesn't skimp on design, showcasing Hiker's years of teardrop-building experience while allowing buyers to customize it up into their ideal micro-camp.
Since its inception a decade ago, Indiana/Colorado-based Hiker Trailers has been committed to offering quality squaredrop trailers at some of the most affordable prices on the market. The company's trailers have been featured in publications and videos as some of the most affordable out there, and the company has resisted the common path of overbuilding and feature-loading teardrops to the point they cost as much as larger travel trailers. Prior to this month's Highway Lite introduction, Hiker was still among the few US builders pricing teardrops as low as US$6,000.
The Highway Lite takes that affordable pricing strategy a step further, sliding in at $4,999. These days, you're more likely to approach $70K+ for a hitch-able teardrop-sized survival bunker than you are to find a brand-new US-built teardrop at or below $5,000, so that price is the right kind of head-turner. In fact, you could easily spend more than on a gear-hauling support trailer without so much as a rooftop tent to sleep in.
The Highway Lite is unsurprisingly a simple empty shell, but it's also built out with the interior structure one will need for an organized camping trip, a blank canvas that the buyer can spec up with Hiker's help or purchase as is and customize over time. It's also as light on weight as price, towable by some of the smallest vehicles that come equipped with a 2-in hitch receiver.
Unlike the last Hiker we looked at way back at Overland Expo 2016, the latest version leans more toward graded roads than rough-hewn off-road tracks. The "Highway" nameplate gives that away, and the "Lite" hints at Hiker's first all-aluminum square-tube chassis, which serves as a foundation. The company promises the durability customers have come to expect but with a lower curb weight complementing the lower price tag.
On top of those aluminum tubes, Hiker plants its usual aluminum-skinned wood frame. The Highway Lite is a little less "teardrop" than older Hiker models, as the curved roofline toward the front gets chopped off rather quickly into a flat, vertical front-end. It's much more an all-out squaredrop with just a hint of homage to classic teardrop design.
The Lite measures just 11.7 feet (3.6 m) in total tongue-to-tail length and encompasses a 4 x 8-foot (1.2 x 2.4-m) floor. In the rear, Hiker installs two floating tailgate galley shelves that maintain fully open floor space below so occupants have use of the entire 94 inches (238 cm) of interior floor length (the original 8 feet minus the 2 inches occupied by the front and rear trailer body edges). That's matched by over 46 inches (117 cm) of width, providing a two-person sleeper floor, mattress sold separately.
Some trailer makers have begun offering wide-open teardrop designs without any type of rear galley to cut down both overall size and price. Hiker, however, leaves some basic galley bones in the Highway Lite with the shelves and set of pass-through cubbies for easily handing things from galley to cabin and vice versa.
We'd feel inclined to remove the upper shelf, assuming it's not structural, because it looks like it would make cooking atop the lower shelf a little more claustrophobic than it has to be. Or maybe we'd prefer that upper shelf be housed inside a cabinet for storing the stove and cookware during the drive. Other than that, it looks like a simple but functional open galley area that's about as fancy as anyone could ask for on a $5K trailer.
Beyond that basic structure, standard features are predictably few but hand-selected, including a solid entry door, openable screened window on each side, 2,200-lb torsion axle, manual roof vent, cabin and galley lights, stabilizer jacks, stand-on fender, and 110-V shore power plug. Recognizing that the 765-lb (347-kg) trailer will be towed by some small vehicles, Hiker also adds a standard set of electric brakes to ensure safe, reliable stopping power. Gross vehicle weight rating checks in at 1,900 lb (862 kg).
Hiker projects that the average buyer will spec the Highway Lite up to between $9,871 and $11,204 with popular equipment off its extensive options list, but those looking to get as cheap a start as possible in trailer camping can roll away with the bone-stock $5,000 blank canvas and go from there.
The introductory video below goes into a little more detail.
Source: Hiker Trailers
