Pop-up trailer for newbies.

[Shearwater]

I have family members (nephew, wife, twin 5 year old boys, and 10 year old girl) who have become interested in getting a pop-up trailer for their minivan. Currently, they are tenting. My questions:
1. Who makes these trailers and which companies are the most reliable?
2. What features should they look for? Which aren't worthwhile?
3. What other factors should they consider?

We are long time RV'ers with B class campers but I know very little about the pop-ups. I intended to ask this in the folding trailer section but that seems pretty much dead. I'm fairly certain that they aren't interested in a hard sided foldable.
Thanks.

[SoundGuy]

RickLight wrote:
I say that's for them to decide.

My story is to help them make that choice.

Exactly the same argument I would make when recommending a much more spacious 12' non-slide model such as the Fleetwood Sun Valley / Tacoma or Jayco 1207. 😄

[paddykernahan]

Merrykalia wrote:
We LOVED our little popup and pulled it behind our Subaru for years. My opinion on this and would give it to anyone who asked:
1. Get a fridge. If it can be accessed without lifting the top, that's much better than not, but those are few and far between.
2. Don't get one with a bathroom/shower. Use a porta-potty for nighttime use ONLY. (The less water, sewer you have to deal with, the better. Available at Walmart for less than $75).
3. Used is more economical and if they don't like it, someone else has taken the depreciation hit.
4. A small popup, about 10 years old, but taken care of shouldn't cost too much - less than $5k.
5. A small popup with go almost anywhere and be pulled by most anything that has a tow package on it.
6. They are just FUN!

Craigslist in Pittsburgh

In Wooster

We had a bare bones Coleman for 25 years.
Replace with new Coleman and used for 6 years.
Pulled most of the years with a Subaru.
Would think a mini-van would pull a pop-up with no trouble.
Less frills the better.
All you need is a stove, lights, heater, battery.
Anything extra just takes up space and complicates things.
Our refrigerator (propane/12VDC,120VDC) never worked very well and it was hard to get to because on the floor.

[RickLight]

I say that's for them to decide.

My story is to help them make that choice.

[SoundGuy]

RickLight wrote:
We are a family of 4 and were comfortable.

Our original TV couldn't pull anything more, loading the family and gear actually overloaded it.

Great that a Taos worked for you but the OP's nephew apparently will be towing with a minivan that can tow a non-slide 12' popup so there's little reason for them to restrict themselves to a small model like the Taos.

[RickLight]

We are a family of 4 and were comfortable.

Our original TV couldn't pull anything more, loading the family and gear actually overloaded it.

[SoundGuy]

RickLight wrote:
I owned a Coleman Taos for 20 years and passed it on to family.

Taos is an 8' box, so all it had was a sink, heater, table, some lights and a stove.

The Taos 8' box can work just fine for a single adult or adult couple but is awfully tight for a family of 5 and offers no advantage that a 12' non-slide model like a Fleetwood Sun Valley will offer - FAR more interior space, 2 dining areas, 2 king beds, a fridge that can be accessed with the roof down, and easily towable by a minivan. JMO but it's a no-brainer when we're talking about a family of 5 using the camper.

[dodge_guy]

Rick Jay wrote:
Shearwater,

I don't wish to rain on anyone's parade, but minivans are generally NOT good tow vehicles. I learned that 17+ years when we were looking to get into RV'ing and trying to find something to tow with our Odyssey. It quickly became apparent the Odyssey wouldn't tow what we needed for a family of 6. The family you're talking about is a family of 5, so perhaps a bit less of a problem.

Most minivan's have a published tow capacity of about 3,500 lbs. However, that is with a single driver of average weight (150 lbs. or so). Add people into the van and all of that comes off the tow capacity. Add cargo and that comes off the tow capacity. When you connect the trailer to the minivan, the tongue weight is added to the minivan. The minivan's are front wheel drive, so putting the weight of a trailer on the back unloads the weight from the front of the minivan, lessening the traction at the front wheels.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but you have to look at the weights very carefully. Seeing as they're already tent campers, they might be able to work with a minimalist solution. We knew we were going to be "sissy campers" and wanted more conveniences than anything could offer us that was safely towable by our Honda. As an engineer, I tend to read specs and limits and take them to heart and I didn't feel comfortable carrying my family in a vehicle which was operating near, or over, some of the specified limits of the vehicle. It might work fine 99% of the time, but during an evasive maneuver, it might make the difference between avoiding an accident and causing an accident.

If they do go through with this idea, they should also investigate to see if they can add an auxiliary transmission cooler for their minivan. Honda made one for our Odyssey as part of their "tow package". I think that's a prudent step for any vehicle which will be towing.

Don't get me wrong, minivans are GREAT. But they are NOT great at towing anything of substance.

Oh, by the way, I HOPE they don't go as overboard as we did. We started out looking for something we could tow with our Odyssey and ended up with our Class A which tows our Odyssey behind. We've been thrilled with THAT solution for all of these years, but it did cause us to adjust our budget upward just a little bit!!! LOL 🙂

Good Luck,

~Rick

Not sure now, but the Chrysler/Dodge vans are rated at 3800lbs with a full load in the van. A smallish PuP will be fine behind a properly equipped minivan.

[dodge_guy]

Get a nice used one for around $2-3k. You can get them with AC and a fridge. They also can be had with toilets and showers, but then you are getting up there in weight!

I would certainly buy used in their shoes, especially if they aren’t sure if they are going to enjoy it.

[RickLight]

I owned a Coleman Taos for 20 years and passed it on to family.

Taos is an 8' box, so all it had was a sink, heater, table, some lights and a stove. As ex-backpackers with little kids we thought the heater would be priceless. As it turns out the battery wouldn't run it for more than a few hours. Simply having a secure roof and a place to store all the camping gear turned out to be the best part. Yeah, I'd do it again.

Having the stove that moved outside was so great we made sure our new 5er had the same thing.

No bathroom or fridge didn't bother us till getting up in the night was physically hard. A week in it was about our limit, but we rarely had a chance to do anything more anyway. The Coleman came with a really good cooler that kept a block of ice for 3-4 days.

We towed this 1600lb trailer with a 1999 Subaru Legacy and then an Outback. Almost anything could do the same.

[SoundGuy]

Shearwater wrote:
I have family members (nephew, wife, twin 5 year old boys, and 10 year old girl) who have become interested in getting a pop-up trailer for their minivan.

3. What other factors should they consider?

Their minivan's towing capacity. They should tow nothing bigger than a 12 footer, no front trunk, no dinette slide - a popup that weighs around 2000 lbs dry and loaded for camping no more than ~ 2800 lbs. Good examples in the used market would be Fleetwood / Coleman Sun Valley or Tacoma and the Jayco 1207.

[Rick_Jay]

Shearwater,

I don't wish to rain on anyone's parade, but minivans are generally NOT good tow vehicles. I learned that 17+ years when we were looking to get into RV'ing and trying to find something to tow with our Odyssey. It quickly became apparent the Odyssey wouldn't tow what we needed for a family of 6. The family you're talking about is a family of 5, so perhaps a bit less of a problem.

Most minivan's have a published tow capacity of about 3,500 lbs. However, that is with a single driver of average weight (150 lbs. or so). Add people into the van and all of that comes off the tow capacity. Add cargo and that comes off the tow capacity. When you connect the trailer to the minivan, the tongue weight is added to the minivan. The minivan's are front wheel drive, so putting the weight of a trailer on the back unloads the weight from the front of the minivan, lessening the traction at the front wheels.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but you have to look at the weights very carefully. Seeing as they're already tent campers, they might be able to work with a minimalist solution. We knew we were going to be "sissy campers" and wanted more conveniences than anything could offer us that was safely towable by our Honda. As an engineer, I tend to read specs and limits and take them to heart and I didn't feel comfortable carrying my family in a vehicle which was operating near, or over, some of the specified limits of the vehicle. It might work fine 99% of the time, but during an evasive maneuver, it might make the difference between avoiding an accident and causing an accident.

If they do go through with this idea, they should also investigate to see if they can add an auxiliary transmission cooler for their minivan. Honda made one for our Odyssey as part of their "tow package". I think that's a prudent step for any vehicle which will be towing.

Don't get me wrong, minivans are GREAT. But they are NOT great at towing anything of substance.

Oh, by the way, I HOPE they don't go as overboard as we did. We started out looking for something we could tow with our Odyssey and ended up with our Class A which tows our Odyssey behind. We've been thrilled with THAT solution for all of these years, but it did cause us to adjust our budget upward just a little bit!!! LOL 🙂

Good Luck,

~Rick

[Merrykalia]

We LOVED our little popup and pulled it behind our Subaru for years. My opinion on this and would give it to anyone who asked:
1. Get a fridge. If it can be accessed without lifting the top, that's much better than not, but those are few and far between.
2. Don't get one with a bathroom/shower. Use a porta-potty for nighttime use ONLY. (The less water, sewer you have to deal with, the better. Available at Walmart for less than $75).
3. Used is more economical and if they don't like it, someone else has taken the depreciation hit.
4. A small popup, about 10 years old, but taken care of shouldn't cost too much - less than $5k.
5. A small popup with go almost anywhere and be pulled by most anything that has a tow package on it.
6. They are just FUN!

Craigslist in Pittsburgh

In Wooster

[Matt_Colie]

Shearwater,

Start with used.
New are 9~14K$us....
Used on Craig's list are 1~5K$us depending on lots of things.

These are unloaded for two good reasons:
*- The kids have grown and they don't use it anymore.
*- They upgraded to a solid RV and need to get rid of this.
Both are in your favor.

Keep opening up the search circle and learning. It is a given that the warranty in today's RV market is useless, so don't pay a new price.

You will want new tires no matter what you get, but pay attention to the load ratings of both your tow vehicle and the unit.

Good Hunting

Matt

[SoundGuy]

opnspaces wrote:
Jayco and I think Forest River make popups.

Jayco and thus Starcraft RV are now owned by Thor and popup production has been discontinued for the foreseeable future. Forest River still manufactures Rockwood and Flagstaff (same trailers, just different names for marketing purposes) but beyond that there's not much, even Palomino seems to have given up on popups. Choice in the used market is much greater but the key is finding something solid without hidden issues.