Best quality, design, fit + finish, and warranty support in Pop Up Camper?

LosAngeles

Active member
Awesome thread. Thanks everyone.

And for better or for worse - I would prefer aluminum frame rather than wood.

Yes I know this is debated. ?

Bundutec is a wood frame, so I am currently leaning away from it.

Reading about some people being very unhappy with Phoenix knocks them down the list somewhat.

Current top contenders are FWC and AWC.

I may go to Sacramento some weekday soon to visit both factories. FWC and AWC are quite close together.

?

I wish FWC could do a long bed that could always be made up, and not protruding into the main living area.

I seem to recall that AWC can do that.

?
 

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
Marc @ XP formed his company after having lousy luck with Phoenix.

I love Marc and he is a great friend of mine. But he has very high standards. I think he would not have been happy with the majority of brands, he just happened to have a Phoenix...

:)
 
You can remove the jack brackets, trim and windows or other outer panels, then take the skin off. If it’s a shell, you can often easily remove interior panels.
 

STREGA

Explorer
With the truck you are planning on getting and the lenght of camper you want the FWC is the logical choice (ATC if you want to save a few $$ although the ATC is not as nice inside and lacks a few features the FWC has). The Granby will eat up half of your GVWR, occupants, gear, water and whatever else you bring camping will use up the rest.

I have a Bundutec wood frame camper and am plenty happy with it but a wood camper the size your after would use to much of your available GVWR.
 

Runt

Adventurer
Take the negative Expedition Portal Phoenix bashing threads with a grain of salt so to speak. Some people cannot be pleased no matter how hard a business tries. Its a shame the moderators let it roll but guess that is what they get for not being a site sponsor. If the same happened to FWC I'm sure the threads would have been deleted. Phoenix campers due to the custom nature of there niche will have clients that have something in there mind that can be different then what was built leading to expectations not being met. Also Pop up campers do require maintenance and will have condensation. That has been the majority of the issues I have read. Having said that I believe they tried a different sub-contractor on there painting to match option and colors were a shade off. Any paint shop will tell you that color matching perfectly can be an issue matching to a paint code with out the vehicle there to match to.
 

Bayou Boy

Adventurer
I would want to see a picture of the yellow sticker on an equivalent truck to what you are ordering before believing that payload figure with a half ton. I have seen very few 3/4 ton trucks with payloads higher than that that weren't stripped work trucks. The vast majority of half tons are around 1700-1800# with the extremely loaded trucks being 1500# and less.
 
Take the negative Expedition Portal Phoenix bashing threads with a grain of salt so to speak. Some people cannot be pleased no matter how hard a business tries. Its a shame the moderators let it roll but guess that is what they get for not being a site sponsor. If the same happened to FWC I'm sure the threads would have been deleted. Phoenix campers due to the custom nature of there niche will have clients that have something in there mind that can be different then what was built leading to expectations not being met. Also Pop up campers do require maintenance and will have condensation. That has been the majority of the issues I have read. Having said that I believe they tried a different sub-contractor on there painting to match option and colors were a shade off. Any paint shop will tell you that color matching perfectly can be an issue matching to a paint code with out the vehicle there to match to.

When you don’t get what you paid for, it’s pretty easy to not be pleased. The issues pointed out in that thread were more than just paint matching.

Whether or not this was an isolated occurrence, I can’t say. What I can say is it appears Phoenix handled it poorly.
 

LosAngeles

Active member
I would want to see a picture of the yellow sticker on an equivalent truck to what you are ordering before believing that payload figure with a half ton. I have seen very few 3/4 ton trucks with payloads higher than that that weren't stripped work trucks. The vast majority of half tons are around 1700-1800# with the extremely loaded trucks being 1500# and less.

Hi Bayou Boy

I'm not a truck expert at all :oops: and I do very much appreciate any guidance.... :)
am I misunderstanding this somehow?

Ford F 150 Payload 2019

https://www.ford.com/services/assets/Brochure?make=Ford&model=F-150&year=2019

- see page 34 of 35

We would custom order the 3.5 Eco boost
4x4
SuperCrew
156.8 WheelBase
7,850 GVWR model
The Heavy-Duty Payload Package
18" wheels

The Max Payload for that configuration is 2,6203 lbs

(basically bottom right of the chart)

Yes I read that “ Weight of additional options, equipment, passengers and cargo must be deducted from this weight. “ (y)

Yes I know we’d need 10 ply E type tires.

No, we would not carry anything near 2,6203….. but that is the payload for that configuration.

Yes we would need to order that way. We would not ever likely find a F150 with Heavy-Duty Payload Package (etc) on a dealers lot.

Thanks for any tips and info. :)
 

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