Pop Up
For those of you that own pop ups how do you like them? Pros- Cons Thanks Just trying to get some feedback...
Forum Discussion
I gave my PU to my son years ago, but we really liked it. The DW still sometimes says she wishes we had it back for some camping trips; it gave more of a camping feel. Mine was an older Coleman all metal PU and unfortunately, they’ve been gone for years. The ones I notice today have showers and are heavier than my current 16’ TT so they don’t have much appeal to me. But I haven’t kept up with the market and don’t know what all is out there.
Being all metal, mine was on the light side and the impact on my gas mileage was negligible. It was very maneuverable and I could also get it far back in the boonies on the primitive roads where we liked to camp. If I needed to I could be set up and inside 10 minutes after I pulled into a camp spot. Canvas never bothered me; I camped for about 17 years in tents so there was little difference. It was in some ferocious storms and rain was no problem, either. You don’t want to leave one closed up wet. But if I was camping it was open, if I moved it was open that evening, and when I came home it was opened to unload. So the whole idea was a non-issue.
It did have smaller tires than my TT and I could expect to lose a tire and sometimes a wheel bearing on a long trip. That was just a minor nuisance; I carried an extra spare and bearings and got adept at changing them out along the road or in parking lots. The TT also had the advantage of being able to pull off the road and go inside for lunch or a break, the PU had to be opened up to do that. And I think the DW felt a little more secure with a hard side, especially if we were camped in bear country. I did finally have to replace the canvas, but I used a tent and awning shop to make a duplicate for hundreds of dollars less than a factory replacement. All in all, we used it for about 15 years and I can’t really find anything of substance to complain about, it did a great job for us.
Being all metal, mine was on the light side and the impact on my gas mileage was negligible. It was very maneuverable and I could also get it far back in the boonies on the primitive roads where we liked to camp. If I needed to I could be set up and inside 10 minutes after I pulled into a camp spot. Canvas never bothered me; I camped for about 17 years in tents so there was little difference. It was in some ferocious storms and rain was no problem, either. You don’t want to leave one closed up wet. But if I was camping it was open, if I moved it was open that evening, and when I came home it was opened to unload. So the whole idea was a non-issue.
It did have smaller tires than my TT and I could expect to lose a tire and sometimes a wheel bearing on a long trip. That was just a minor nuisance; I carried an extra spare and bearings and got adept at changing them out along the road or in parking lots. The TT also had the advantage of being able to pull off the road and go inside for lunch or a break, the PU had to be opened up to do that. And I think the DW felt a little more secure with a hard side, especially if we were camped in bear country. I did finally have to replace the canvas, but I used a tent and awning shop to make a duplicate for hundreds of dollars less than a factory replacement. All in all, we used it for about 15 years and I can’t really find anything of substance to complain about, it did a great job for us.
