Is this a new trend? RTTs on rental mini vans...

[Martinjmpr]

I wanted to post this in this thread:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/128359-Roof-campers-Please-explain

But that one is in the Toyota Tacoma/4runner section and I thought this would generate more discussion if I posted it here.

So the wife and I just got back from a trip to Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon with our Teardrop, and on the way, we hit North Rim of the Grand Canyon and drove through Death Valley.

Anyway, stopping for gas between Kings Canyon and Sequoia, I saw two mini vans with RTTs on them. Didn't know if they were rentals but thought they might be.

Also saw a LOT of rental campers from this company:

http://www.jucyrentals.com/

Base platform seems to be a Dodge minivan with a large, side-opening RTT on it.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting to see how "mainstream" RTT's are becoming.

Anyone else notice this?

 

[BIGdaddy]

After a trip with the 5 of us up to Big Sur, I have switched gears towards outfitting our 2013 Chrysler Town & Country for road trips and overland travel.

Obviously the low slung, 2wd-ness will limit us "terrain-wise", but I find that I prefer to park close and get out and walk the rest of the way anyways. 80-90% of most people's trips in this country are on paved roads, so deciding to use a vehicle that we actually enjoy riding in, has tons of extra power, and carry's our gear effortlessly seems rather obvious being on this side of the decision.

So far we've added a Thule box for storage, and I just picked up a gently used Camping Labs awning.

I plan on procuring a better tent, possibly an REI Kingdom 6 or Base Camp 6. As for RTT's, maybe, but as the RTT thread mentions, we too like to be out of the parking lot when we're sleeping, which a RTT precludes in most state/national park campgrounds.

 

[SpongeX]

I see those all the time now. Especially in Moab.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I was looking at the Jucy camper website and it's very interesting. The interior setup of the van is similar in concept to a teardrop trailer, in that the "galley" is in the rear hatch and accessible from the outside, not the inside.

Inside is a "dinette" setup where the rear-most seats (facing forward) are regular car seats with seatbelts, and the "front" seats can fold flat to form a bed. The idea is that when you travel, two people sit in the front seats and two people sit in the back seats. The front seats of the 'dinette' are only for using when you are parked (I presume there is a way to stow the table.) You can eat inside the van if you have to (weather) but most of your activity will be outside, and then you sleep in the van with two people in the interior and two in the "penthouse" which is of course the RTT. A very cool concept and one that I hope catches on.

IMO one of the biggest problems with most RVs is that they try to do too much. We camp with a lot of folks who have small "canned ham" type campers and most of them rarely, if ever, use the inside kitchen. The nice thing about the teardrop is that it has everything we need - secure, dry sleeping area off the ground, simple galley accessible by a hatch - and nothing that we don't.

 

[Herbie]

Martin, I too like the interior setup like that. There's another company doing a similar layout on Astro vans:
http://www.escapecampervans.com/Malibu_Campervan.html

I STRONGLY considered that layout for my own build, since I wanted to mimic the teardrop kitchen off the back area. On an Astro this had several advantages: Like a teardrop, you get some "cover" from the upper hatch of the van, and you can put in a chest fridge without running into height restrictions (Astro doesn't have enough headroom to put a fridge "under" the bed unless you like sleeping in a coffin.

In the end, I decided against that layout for only two reasons:
1) The front "bench" thing eliminated the walk-through from the front seats. This is potentially fixable or less issue for some, but this was a big deal for me since my pop-top upper bunk is accessed from between the front seats.

2) You don't have much, if any, "living" area in day mode. If you can stow the table, you'd have some space, but not a ton.
EDIT: Didn't complete this thought: Meant to add: And you have ZERO living space in night mode. Once the bed is deployed there really isn't any way to move in the van that isn't on the bed.

For me the classic "westy" layout worked better for taking advantage of the pop-top, but if you didn't have a pop-top, then the idea of an "integrated teardrop" definitely has some appeal.

 

[STREGA]

Living here at the South Rim I see those Juicys all the time here. There appears to be 2 versions of them now, the original one the RTT (they call them a penthouse) is intergrated into the roof and lately I have seen a few that have a Autohome Magolina mounted on a Thule style rack. I imagine it's a lot cheaper way to put a RTT on a mini-van. It's quite common to see them driving around the park with a portion of the tent material hanging outside flopping in the breeze. Also been seeing lately a couple that are all white and not in the hideous lime green/purple Juicy color, maybe from another rental company that's trying to cash in on what looks like a popular idea?

 

[lqhikers]

small vans

one of the reasons we went to a small van (2013 Ford transit tc)
was that we like to drive and tend to put a lot of miles on our rig.

as we tend to spend a lot of time on the back roads (we are retired)
the money we save on gas off sets the sometimes tight space.
we do not spend time in regular camp grounds so the privacy factor
does not enter.

if we are going to be in a certain area for awhile we sometimes take
our Kamparoo Cub trailer to use as a base camp.

as we have converted our van to a "camper van" we get a lot of questions from
people,the first is what kind of mpg do you get? (year and a half now mpg 28)
next is is there enough room to sleep 2 people? (not only 2 people but also our cat)

also added feature is that we are able to stop in areas that do not allow campers,lot of beach areas
now restrict parking,also when in cities no problem stopping at museums,etc.

when we made the change from a full size rig (tiger 4x4) we had some doubts but those thought's are long
gone.

is it going to work for every one,of course not.
limiting factors are size of people and how flexible both physically and mentally they are.

I'm very blessed that i have a wife whose idea it was in the first place to down size,not only does
it save money but now she enjoys driving much more than she ever did in our other large rigs.

just my thoughts yours may differ.

Les,lqhikers

 

[thedjjack]

Funny the wife was just saying how she prefers to rocket down FSR (Forest Service Roads) in the 1997 Aerostar 3.0L RWD base model over taking the 1997 Exploder 5.0L AWD LTD... It is surprising were a $900 beater can go....

But our basecamping unit is a 31 year old G3500 6.2L diesel B+ RV (aluminum frame with fibreglass sides)... as for the kitchen inside yep we use it all the time due to the winter rains and summer bugs (depending on location in BC).... Never understood the outside kitchen in the North... But the RV actually gets the same fuel mileage as the rest of the fleet within a few MPG... but I suspect the exploder would do better if I climbed mountain passes at 25mph and not 75mph...

 

[Stroverlander]

While I can and do sleep in my van occasionally, I opted for a rooftop tent because I prefer to be outside of my van rather than in. I spend enough time driving the thing and sleeping in the RTT can be a much more pleasant experience than being in the van.

I don't feel the need to build out my van interior so I can keep multiple passenger seating and cargo options. My next RTT will be smaller and mounted to open over the rear hatch along with a full length awning with screen room over the passenger side slider. This should allow me to comfortably spend a majority of my time not in the van.

I especially like the new "sky" tents from Tepui with the screened roof openings for an even more open feel and viewing experience. If I wanted more of a live-in camper setup then I would look for a Provan Tiger or other class B/C type motorhome.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I especially like the new "sky" tents from Tepui with the screened roof openings for an even more open feel and viewing experience. If I wanted more of a live-in camper setup then I would look for a Provan Tiger or other class B/C type motorhome.

Is there a rain fly that goes over that? How do you keep it from leaking around the zippers in rain?

 

[Stroverlander]

Yes, they come with a rainfly.

Our brand new 3-man Tepui Kukenam Sky Tent is the latest addition to our line of Tepui roof top tents. The Kukenam Sky Tent is similar to the standard Kukenam model but with quick release clips on the rain fly and 2 operational sky panels in the roof. Both panels are made from the same quality 260g ventilate coated canvas as the standard Kukenam but also include no-see-um mosquito netting and fully waterproof YKK zippers in case you need to close the hatch for an unexpected rain storm.

 

[ober27]

one of the reasons we went to a small van (2013 Ford transit tc)
was that we like to drive and tend to put a lot of miles on our rig.

as we tend to spend a lot of time on the back roads (we are retired)
the money we save on gas off sets the sometimes tight space.
we do not spend time in regular camp grounds so the privacy factor
does not enter.

if we are going to be in a certain area for awhile we sometimes take
our Kamparoo Cub trailer to use as a base camp.

as we have converted our van to a "camper van" we get a lot of questions from
people,the first is what kind of mpg do you get? (year and a half now mpg 28)
next is is there enough room to sleep 2 people? (not only 2 people but also our cat)

also added feature is that we are able to stop in areas that do not allow campers,lot of beach areas
now restrict parking,also when in cities no problem stopping at museums,etc.

when we made the change from a full size rig (tiger 4x4) we had some doubts but those thought's are long
gone.

is it going to work for every one,of course not.
limiting factors are size of people and how flexible both physically and mentally they are.

I'm very blessed that i have a wife whose idea it was in the first place to down size,not only does
it save money but now she enjoys driving much more than she ever did in our other large rigs.

just my thoughts yours may differ.

Les,lqhikers

Les,
I'd love to see what you've done with the interior of your transit. Sounds like a great rig.

 

[hoser]

Jucy Campers are well known in Australia and New Zealand. It seems they are expanding into the US market. Apollo campers as well.... but with the bigger campers/motorhomes.

 

[forsakenfuture]

Saw a few of these when in yellowstone.

 

[1leglance]

We saw the Juicy van when we were in Australia and I wondered when they would make their way over here to the USA. Personally we rented a Wicked Van for the fun of the graffiti paint job, price and we got to write on the inside with a sharpie

I like the idea of a rental company putting together an asphalt overlander, might bring more folks into the fold that would not otherwise think in terms of our hobby.