Side entry - pros and cons?

Kayteg1 wrote:
Side entrance also eats wardrobe, but judging form Host topic, some members don't use cloths ;)

If the previous pictures were not sufficient for your wardrobe needs, the rear slide can be fitted as a full closet. I hope this puts to rest your inaccurate claims of something in which you do not have knowledge.





This may apply to your advise: Nie mój cyrk, nie moje ma?py

We find the side door on our Northstar 12' STC really convenient.
1. Stays much cleaner.
2. Makes getting into camper when on the side of the highway much safer.
3. When parking we just make sure there is space to open the door/steps.
4. A side entrance will obviously make your camper overhang much more, but we can usually back into a parking spot, overhanging grass, etc. and cut our footprint to fit regular length.
5. Our 3 or 4 steps fold up so tightly we can lower the camper almost to the ground when off the truck. We don't have a basement so we don't have such a high climb up.
6. I'm not sure which wardrobe I might have "lost", but we have soooo much cabinetry inside that we have never lacked storage.
7. Towing obviously requires more hardware with overhang.

We have never owned a rear door, so can't really compare.

Plenty of closet space in side entry campers, we don't have to -



Hanging wardrobe with lower drawers between bedroom and kitchen:



Hanging wardrobe to the left side of the bed:



Full length wardrobe with shelves to the right side of the bed:



I even have a hat shelf...

I bought camper with side entry for our transcontinental trip and it was working very well for frequent stops. Never had a problem with opening the door while parking, but Lance has side door in the rear.
Bad parts - dogs are falling from Lance steps, where they can walk Glow Steps.
Side entrance also eats wardrobe, but judging form Host topic, some members don't use cloths ;)
Side steps will also keep you from lowering the camper close to the ground.
Since my older camper did not sell last season and I repaired the dry-rot, we decided to sell side entrance one and keep rear entrance as for planed now short trips and longer camping that makes more sense to us.

I tow behind my camper which makes a side door more convenient than climbing over the tongue of the trailer or cutting the truck sharply to the left to deploy the stairs. Some campers also have a lower entry with a side door than on one in the rear if the camper has a basement.

The disadvantage of a side door would be in a tight parking lot and the amount of overhang required to fit a door into the side. If you are looking for smaller camper that can be parked in narrow standard length spots, you're probably looking at model that ends close to the bumper and has no slides.

I've had three trailers before going to rear door truck camper. Although it was convenient to be able to pull forward or back in to a campsite based on the view or topography, I went back to side door for the added access I get when towing. I need extra room to open slides, so I am typically parking in the far end of any parking lot. My truck/camper is now too long to fit one spot without sticking out too much, but I try to choose an end spot and only take up two deep in space. I can deploy my slides over the top of a car that later parks next to me but may only be able to unfold two of the four steps. I have a step stool available for those times or can move the camper if it is too tight. When I am towing, I need 50+ feet of length and typically take up seven spots since I park across them. This leaves me plenty of room for stairs and slides since even compact spots are 16' deep.

Since camping spots typically are set up for trailers, I have not had trouble using a side entry. We have been to RV parks where you camped so close that you cannot open your side awning, but there is still room to open slides and use the side door.

I don't have a side entry, but I think you've got the biggest potential issues mentioned. That is, it's possible for someone to park to close to your side and the pad might not be wide enough. In practice, I almost always park away from everyone else, and most pads will probably be wide enough.

I'm interested to see what other issues people might have as well. I may eventually get a different TC.