Any Pop-Up Camper owners here?

[bald.eagle]

I realize they're not the most rugged, expedition-oriented solution- but with my family of 5, I'm considering purchasing a used pop-up camper. I don't do any major offroading but I would love to be able to drag a small camper out in the woods away from the typical KOA-style RV campgrounds. I have an 02 Suburban with a 2" lift and 285/75/16's to tow with, but I want to go with a small/med size camper for better maneuverability. I have a starting budget of around $2K, so I know I won't get anything fancy, but I'm willing to buy one and keep it an ongoing project.

I'd like to hear what folks out there are doing with pop-ups, most everything I've found via Google leads to RV-style camping, and I'm more interested in getting out in the woods, much like many of you guys are doing with the trailer based RTT setups. I just need more room than that offers with 3 kids, and I like the option to set up the camper and take the truck out for the day. I'd be interested in beefing up the suspension (SOA flip, or the axle-less solution also intrigues me) so it could at least make it a little off the beaten path.

I want to incorporate a lot of the same ideas many do with the RTT/trailer setups, with external storage, possibly a bike rack up top, and definitely a solar setup. Would love to hear anyone's input, whether good or bad, but keep in mind I'm on a budget. Pictures and explainations of mods would appreciated. Thanks folks!

 

[maktruk]

Too bad you're on the other side of the country. My '89 Palomino is going up for sale this weekend priced dead spot on your budget.

 

[trae]

There are offroad oriented pups, like the Starcraft RT series (now called something else) or the Jayco Bajas. I'm afraid they'll be more then 2k though. One thing I've seen done is to pick up and older trailer for cheap and then flip the axel to get some clearance. One huge advantage of pups is that they sleep a lot of people for their foot print. Good luck with your search.

 

[maktruk]

Mine is a torsion axle. No flip necessary, just add blocks. 4" lift

I'd love to revamp it with Timbren's axle-less suspension! It's done some hairy fire roads, it's main limitation for off-road is actually the short tongue and on-road style coupler. A little length on the tongue, a max coupler...I could probably get mine up the easy side of Bald Mt...that fenceline spot though...

 

[calicamper]

Family of 4 with occasional 5th tagging along. We run a lifetime tent trailer. Tow with our Subaru Outback.

 

[bald.eagle]

Family of 4 with occasional 5th tagging along. We run a lifetime tent trailer. Tow with our Subaru Outback.View attachment 377834

calicamper, how do you like the tent trailer? First time I've seen one of those, looks interesting. Looks like there are several styles, some have a more traditional flatbed, that way I really like the way you still have a useable utility trailer when not in tent config. How long does the setup take? Looks like the tent itself is like any other large family tent. How stable is it when set up? Been through any rain or bad weather?

Would be a good solution to the need for bike racks, etc, just load them on the trailer and offload at the camp site. A bit more utilitarian than a pop-up, but it definitely is a suitable option.

 

[calicamper]

Going on 4yrs. Its currently parked up the street being loaded up for a dump run. Doing a small shed project for a neighbor ;-)

They changed the design but the classic Jumping Jack is the same tent and little beefier trailer. Love it!
We base camp. Takes me about 20 minutes to set it up, thats unloading the gear bins on the deck also.

Beds are queen size. As the kids 4-7 get older I may try a bunk bed cot on one side to help give them their own space etc. 5 up we place a 4ft cot across the front floor for my son. Grandma crashes with my oldest.

#1 !!! It gets used yr around dump runs and other stuff. Summer its full camper mode. Awesome rig.
I added a tongue box and a small 18ah solar generator system for led lighting in the tent and a couple of lights outside, and a 12v charge center. It all sits in a 50cal ammo box bolted to the front box plate next to the tongue box.

Bicycles I'm still toying with ideas. Mom and dads rig go on the car each side of the roof box. Roof box sometimes stays home just depends.

I might mount fork clasps to the trailer rail, so we can lock two bikes on the trailer. Its only 4x6 foot print is about 5.5ft x12 all up.

The classic jumping jack is 6x8 which would be a nice size and still compact.

Jumping jack runs 1200lbs

Mine is 900lbs
The 2.5 Subaru runs 65-70mph at trip averages of 21mpg. But bikes on the roof knock us to 18-19mpg.

 

[calicamper]

Rain, its water tight. Though as added security two summers ago up near Tioga Pass Yosemite I had a tarp covering the roof section only. We had really heavy thunder storms every afternoon, with considerable rain fall. Stayed dry. 6 day trip.

Mr buddy heater turns it into a sweat lodge in about 8 minutes. Quick morning warm up keeps the wife and kids happy while the fire pit gets fired up. We do Smores in the mornings while breakfast gets set up. Tottally transformed our mornings from grumpy cold kids to a happy morning and happy parents.

 

[calicamper]

Bad pict but you can sorta make out the trailer. The 3yr old dobie is our occasional 5th.

 

[LuckyDan]

I have both a pop up camper and trailer. As you can see from the photo it's not hanging out at the KOA. Reading the standard forums one would get the impression their native habitat is the paved site at the full hookup campground. A search of this forum will turn up several posts illustrating their boondock ability and mod-ability and with a little help are fairly applicable. Here in Central Oregon people drag them out on the USFS and BLM, (including the two track) roads all the time. Mine has a torsion axle, but the SOA flip is a popular mod and one of the quickest and best things one can do to go bush with one. One of the rough road problems that appears is the walls separating at the corners from too many washboards or twists. Somewhere on the net, maybe here, is an example of a guys project where he used 3in flange channel iron to join the corners together after experiencing separation. His approach appeared to make his pretty medium caliber bullet proof. As mentioned previously there are off road models, but when they show up used, typically go for a bit of a premium.

You mentioned budget, and boy I hear ya. 2K should get you into a functional unit especially on the east coast, as it seems the pup dollar goes a little farther there compared th the NW. To sleep a tribe I'd look at the 10ft boxes or so, (Mine in the photo is a 12). With a Suburban you should be able to easily tow any pup. If considering a project, and a lot of people do, keep in mind that probably the most expensive, least DIY thing on one is the canvas. Replacements run $800 and up. The most complicated system on one is the cable lift system. After that they are basically a box on a frame. There are threads all over showing how people have modded this or remodeled that, including to off road them.

Good luck with your decision

 

[RiverCityDave]

I'm probably in the market for one of the Jaycos or something similar soon. When I go backcountry camping, only part of the family comes with me, but when we camp as a group, were definitely trailer people. We've used a variety of trailers recently, and we all agree the Jayco style pop up suites us best. I've even got my wife sending me links she finds online about them now, so I know Im going the right way.

 

[jscusmcvet]

PM Sent
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[thefishhawk]

I've had a smaller (10' box) popup for 15+ years. Just wanted the basics at the time to get off the ground when we had our first kid. I hate staying in campgrounds so pretty much all I've ever done is boondock and take it down forest roads and into tight places. The main biggest thing to do is the axle flip/lift. Gravel roads would always be fine but anything more and you find yourself bending or breaking off stabilizers, supports, bumpers, bending stuff, etc. Once I did that I didn't' have much issue after. Mine has 13' wheels though, not the little dinker 8" ones they put on some older units. Also look underneath, some have exposed water tanks and such that can get punctured. Like someone said, they'll rattle apart over time but some paint, a rivet gun, and screws will fix most things.

The other main thing I like in mine is the forced air furnace. The refrigerators in these are ok but small and hard to access when they aren't up to load or unload before/after a trip. I generally just use a cooler. That's about it on mine, it's nice having a sink but I don't even have a water heater and the faucet is a hand pump. Stoves that can be used inside but also hooked up outside are nice. And then a porta potty. Adding some 2" foam to the beds I got at walmart was awesome, and I just put fitted sheets over the mattresses. Seal up all the cracks in the cabinets with spray foam to keep dust out.

I never did any solar or anything, I did modify it to mount a second deep cycle battery in parallel, and that will run you many days on its own depending on how much the heater fan runs at night. Can't recall running out of juice on 4-5 day trips even in the snow on two batts.

the popup is great since you can also store a lot of stuff in it when you travel, not just all the camping/cooking gear you leave in there, but open the door and throw all the bags and stuff you would otherwise have in the car on the floor and go. It really only takes a few minutes when you get the hang of it to put up and down, but it is better for base camping than moving around every day. It's a nice solution with a family to make going a lot easier and also having a comfortable place with a table inside with the kids when you get trapped by the weather.

 

[Semi-Hex]

A Jumping Jack classic. Five years and still going strong.

 

[ajmaudio]

Got a jayco 1207 here..... yes they are as cool as some other trailer types but they do have some advantages... very little wind drag, smaller to store, light, much more space than a hard side of similar size because of the fold out beds. The ony downside is extreme cold, which my buddy heater deals with fairly well, and areas where bears are a problem. There are some places you cant camp softside. All that said, we have never plugged ours in to shore power, have a solar system for power, love the running water/water storage, fridge is great on propane... and its still tent-ish which feels more "outdoors". Apologies for the poor sentence structure haha.