newbie,want to buy a old popup trailer,is it safe?

There is a camping with kids blog on Facebook using a living lite tent trailer and towing it with a crv. They have a 1500 tow rating and the tent on wheels is 1000lbs.

Https://www.facebook.com/campingwithyourkidsPA[

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No one mentioned it, but my biggest concern would be the Wheel bearings.
I would automatically inspect and regrease them before using it.

Many years ago I had an old pop-up that I bought and converted it to carrying our eight kids bikes. While we were on the highway one of the wheels came flying off. Need I say more!

Jack L

I have a popup that would probably suit your needs. No it's not for sale.
1986 Coleman Columbia popup. It has two full size beds and the table folds down into a third bed. You could put both children in one bed and the parents in the other. Or one parent in each bed with one kid each.

Trailer has an 8 foot box and weight 950lbs dry. It has one battery, one propane tank, a 2 burner stove, and a 5 gallon water jug for the sink. In all truth though I never use the stove or the sink, I use the trailer as a rolling tent.

It has NO heater and NO bathroom.

Some national parks don't allow popups due to bear problems.

How about a Scamp or other egg camper?

I would not stay in a popup trailer in an area that has bears. They come looking for food, the canvas will not even slow them down.

Ken

Water damage and rot is the most important thing to check for. Especially in the roof, second in the floor and rest of the unit.

Of second importance is canvas damage from mice and mildew (putting it away wet).

Canvas replacements are available, but you're looking at $700-$1300 depending on the unit. Factor that into the price if the one you're looking at needs it, you might get a good deal on a fixer-upper that's solid other than canvas. The canvas is very easy to replace yourself.

Some campgrounds with bear problems may not allow popups, or will make you store your food in a bear box (provided). I liked our popup, I'm just getting too old to go through the setup process and crank the think up and down several times. Once partway up to load it, another at camp, another at home to unload and let it dry out.

You might wanna look at a liners and quicksilvers. They will be some of the lightest units out there. Pop ups are a great way to start camping. Are they safe? Depends on the unit. I wouldn't want to take one into grizzly country, just like I wouldn't want to tent camp their either.

When I was last shopping popups, my target weight was 2000 pounds, which meant 8 and maybe 10 foot boxes with limited equipment: cold water, ice box or ice chest instead of fridge, no furnace. Many early models (family had one in the late 60s) were like that, even the larger sizes, but 1980s you'll find more are better equipped and thus heavier.

Safe? Safe to tow, in good condition. As safe as a tent for sleeping, if you follow tent safety protocol, no fires inside. No safer than typical low cost family tents with respect to severe weather, i.e. I would be running for shelter in thunderstorms.

Condition is what is most important. You want to find a sound box and bunk ends, well kept chassis, good wheels, bearings, brakes, recent vintage tires, no cracks or breakes in the frame. Wiring, electrical equipment, plumbing (water, and especially LPG) plumbing has to be checked for function, absence of leaks.

To use it, you'll need a tent in good conditon, including screens and zippers, which tend to 'age' faster than the tent material. My tent experience goes back 40+ years, the canvas era, so I look for tears, mildew damage, condition of waterproofing. I'm not familiar with aging of vinyl or vinyl-coated tents, which start to show up in age range you are looking at, but I think I would be wary of any cracking.

Folding, rather than popup, tent trailers tend to be much lighter. Livin Lite still makes them, but the are fairly expensive. I don't know who might have been making them 20-30-40 years ago, I remember them from catalog stores 55-60 years ago, as well as DIY projects. The category is much older than popups, I've seen tent trailer designs from the 1920s and 30s.

I think 2000 pounds is probably a good target weight for towing with a Pilot, but I thought the maximum tow rating, certainly 2008 and earlier, was more like 3500. Maybe Honda lowered in later years?

You’re tow capacity is pretty sad and I’m unsure whether you’ll find anything light enough. Everything that goes in the Pilot has to come off that rating. But no harm in doing some research for some really light units. One option comes to mind used. Coleman made some light all-metal units back in the 70’s that might weigh in at 1000-1200# dry. They only had a stove, sink and furnace, no electronics and certainly no bathroom/shower. But they’d work fine for camping trips. The real trick would be finding one that wasn’t trashed. Good luck.