Interesting TV / Popup Combos

[manualman]

With the ever increasing popularity of the crossover SUV, I'm very surprised that popup sales have continued to crater. Precious few crossovers are capable of towing a full height TT, but should be very capable of towing a variety of smaller popups. What interesting stuff have you seen out there?

I have relatives with a (pre-CVT) Subaru Forester that pull a teardrop trailer that are tired of not being able to sit up straight. I introduced them to the Aliner Classic model and they had no idea that such a thing existed and that they had the tow capacity for it (barely).

Another relative has a Ford Escape 2.0T with the factory tow package for 3,500# tow rating. Theoretically he could tow my popup with that sort of rating (not sure about the wheelbase adequacy for sway control though). I'd definitely do a 10 footer with it though.

What else have y'all seen out there on the roads and in campgrounds where people have made do without a truck or traditional frame SUV?

[flat_twin]

There are times when I'd like to put a hitch on our Hyundai Santa Fe V-6. It's perfectly capable of towing the Apache Raven. On the other hand, when I need to carry firewood, water, kitchen and supply boxes, bicycles, the F-250 is very handy. It only looks like overkill!

[qtla9111]

We had two Trailmanors in the beginning. Not sure what happened that we changed. It was so easy to tow, even the largest 3326. Folding hard-sided rvs are really cool.

I truly thought that as the price of fuel increased and the SUVs started to downsize, that hard-sided folding rvs would really take off.

I saw this thread today because for some reason, hard-sided folding rvs popped up on my YouTube site.

I could really be happy with the largest Aliner with bath towed behind a Chrysler 300. Small 5000 btu a/c that would run on solar and batteries.

[PAThwacker]

Currently I have 3 rec items. A popup, travel trailer, and fifth wheel

[rbpru]

We looked very hard at the Aliner when we retired and planned on traveling. It had several promising features.

We needed,
A bed we could exit without climbing over your partner.
A bathroom you can turn around in.
A pantry you can keep stocked between trips.
Closet space for clothes.
Cabinet space for towels.
Space for two adults and a dog.

In the end the Aliner lost out to a 3 year old, 22 ft. TT for $14,000.00.

I still have my PUP for those occasions when the TT is too big, but for cross country travel we needed more space.

[fmattox73]

My wife and I are now both 75 (and she is handicapped) We have been camping all our married life starting with tents and sleeping bags on a small motorcycle and working up over the years to big motorcycles and towing a small cargo trailer.
At one time I designed and built a folding camper that was big enough for the two of us. but just barely.
In 2013, I gave up motorcycles and bought a GMC terrain with the v6 for the towing power. (rated at 3500lbs.) Then we bought a 2010 Palomino Yearling Y-4124
pop up camper that looked like it would do the job. And it has. We've been using it 5 or 6 times a year since then to go camping by ourselves or with the kids and grand kids. I took it on it's first trip and then added brakes and a AC unit and the controller myself. I have also installed the friction type anti sway bar. The unit loads out at 2800 lbs. and works for us. I will admit that as I get older I keep thinking about a TT for ease of setup, but we have decided that if we(I) get to old to handle set up then we are going to be done with camping. But we are going to enjoy it as long as we can.

Frank

[Santa_Fe]

I used to tow an 8' Starcraft PUP with a first gen Hyundai Santa Fe ('04 with the smaller 2.7L V6). Perfect combo. The Santa Fe handled the PUP well and never struggled.

[IdaD]

Mike Up wrote:

wowens79 wrote:
I bet the poster above is right, no one knows/wants to do anything that takes effort. I'd say lots of people that do things themselves already have a truck, so they go with a hardside.

We had 9 great years in our pup before we went to a hardside, about half the trips we pulled with the pilot, and the others with my 3/4ton truck.

Actually I deleted my post earlier not to sound like bashing, but here's the truth of it.

My wife wants a toilet but not a toilet in the middle of the camper with no sound or visual privacy, as much as the 'privacy' curtain tries.

She also wants a freezer, a refrigerator that cools below 45-50 degrees (without adding external fans) and is big enough for a family without needing to bring a cooler also, and storage where she's not crawling on the floor.

She tried to make due with the pop up (2007 Starcraft 2406) but she had enough. That's when we went to the 2008 Jayco Jay Flight 19BH.

I do all the setup and break down so there's no work for her, just the inconveniences of trying to prepare a meal without food spoiling, the extra cooler's ice melting and not being able to freeze anything.

Then there's the bathroom thing that's a necessity where she doesn't have to walk in the middle of the pitch black night by herself (around the ever so common State park campground drunks) because she's to polite to wake me and the kids, to go with her.

She wanted a dwelling that she felt comfortable to cook and use the bathroom.

As far as the truck, you're right. I wouldn't have a small vehicle where I felt claustrophobic and cramped to daily drive. My truck doesn't get much worse mileage than our 2015 Explorer 3.5L and better than any of my older midsize V6 SUVs. I wouldn't have anything smaller for MY daily driver as stated.

Yeah, pop ups are a PITA. They are a compromise that work okay for lots of folks but if you have the space and tow vehicle for a larger trailer they are better in just about every way. We've got a good tent and frankly I think it works better than a pop up in the typical pop up camping situations, and in every other RV environment our fifth wheel works better. Now if you don't have a truck or the space to park a hard sided camper that's where the pop up can make some sense. Just beware of the compromises.

[Mike_Up]

wowens79 wrote:
I bet the poster above is right, no one knows/wants to do anything that takes effort. I'd say lots of people that do things themselves already have a truck, so they go with a hardside.

We had 9 great years in our pup before we went to a hardside, about half the trips we pulled with the pilot, and the others with my 3/4ton truck.

Actually I deleted my post earlier not to sound like bashing, but here's the truth of it.

My wife wants a toilet but not a toilet in the middle of the camper with no sound or visual privacy, as much as the 'privacy' curtain tries.

She also wants a freezer, a refrigerator that cools below 45-50 degrees (without adding external fans) and is big enough for a family without needing to bring a cooler also, and storage where she's not crawling on the floor.

She tried to make due with the pop up (2007 Starcraft 2406) but she had enough. That's when we went to the 2008 Jayco Jay Flight 19BH.

I do all the setup and break down so there's no work for her, just the inconveniences of trying to prepare a meal without food spoiling, the extra cooler's ice melting and not being able to freeze anything.

Then there's the bathroom thing that's a necessity where she doesn't have to walk in the middle of the pitch black night by herself (around the ever so common State park campground drunks) because she's to polite to wake me and the kids, to go with her.

She wanted a dwelling that she felt comfortable to cook and use the bathroom.

As far as the truck, you're right. I wouldn't have a small vehicle where I felt claustrophobic and cramped to daily drive. My truck doesn't get much worse mileage than our 2015 Explorer 3.5L and better than any of my older midsize V6 SUVs. I wouldn't have anything smaller for MY daily driver as stated.

[IdaD]

wowens79 wrote:
We pulled our popup with a Honda Pilot, and it worked like a charm. I had to run the wiring for the 7-pin plug and a brake controller, and add a tranny cooler. It was a 12'box with a dinette slide.

You knew it was back there, but it handled fine. I can't believe with all the CUV's, and minivans that pops aren't selling like crazy. I bet the poster above is right, no one knows/wants to do anything that takes effort. I'd say lots of people that do things themselves already have a truck, so they go with a hardside.

We had 9 great years in our pup before we went to a hardside, about half the trips we pulled with the pilot, and the others with my 3/4ton truck.

We used our Pilot with our pop up as well and it did a great job. Ours is a 2010. I had the trailer tow prep so all I had to do was plug the brake controller into the harness under the dash and it was all set. We are much happier with our fiver/truck combo now for a host of reasons but the towing experience was fine with a Pilot matched to a 3500-ish lb pop up.

[wowens79]

We pulled our popup with a Honda Pilot, and it worked like a charm. I had to run the wiring for the 7-pin plug and a brake controller, and add a tranny cooler. It was a 12'box with a dinette slide.

You knew it was back there, but it handled fine. I can't believe with all the CUV's, and minivans that pops aren't selling like crazy. I bet the poster above is right, no one knows/wants to do anything that takes effort. I'd say lots of people that do things themselves already have a truck, so they go with a hardside.

We had 9 great years in our pup before we went to a hardside, about half the trips we pulled with the pilot, and the others with my 3/4ton truck.

[manualman]

Indeed, a 3,500# tow rating doesn't necessarily mean you can just connect the latch the coupler of the 3,500# trailer onto the ball and go. Most of these TVs lack prewiring for electric brakes and most have a fairly wimpy ATF cooler built into the standard radiator.

But it doesn't take an ASE certification to figure out how to custom wire a brake controller and install an aux air/oil ATF cooler. Then again, most snowflakes out there these days call for help when they get a flat tire. Maybe I am expecting too much.

Our 3,500# rated minivan needed all those things and has no real trouble pulling 7,800# GCVW (rated 8,265# max). Sure, it needs to pull grades in D3 instead of D5, but that's not "struggling," it's typical towing behavior.

Maybe that's why we're not seeing more of these creative combinations out there. People just can't do anything that's not "plug and play" anymore.

[Mike_Up]

theoldwizard1 wrote:



The only thing I can think is that older folks want a bathroom and maybe even 2 beds. That takes you out of a pop up and into a hybrid.

Younger folks also.

[gheicher]

Columbia Northwest has been interested in this 3500 lb tow market for quit a while. The Aliner Scout-Lite for those wanting a hard side fold-able, the Somerset Newport for those wanting a soft side fold-able, and most recently the ASCAPE non-folding unit which has just been debuted at Louisville RV show.

There are also presently choices with other RV manufactures and I suspect the choices will continue to grow - Not everyone wants to own or drive a large tow vehicle.

[jackquontee]

By no means would I be considered "experienced" but, in August 2013, I bought an Aliner Scout (a stripped down version of the Aliners) and towed it with a 4cyl GMC Terrain, rated at 1,500lbs towing capacity. Surprisingly, it towed it well, until I hit a grade, and then it towed it, but it struggled a bit. I, then, purchased a 2013 Toyota Tacoma the following month and it towed it to the point that I "didn't know it was back there".

In February 2016 I replaced the Scout with a 2016 Aliner Expedition and drove 1k miles out to get it and, initially, returned the 1k miles with the Tacoma and camper in OD and, quickly, switched to drive, and drove the remainder of the 950 miles in drive. Felt like it wasn't back there.

What I've noticed over the past few years in perusing the internet forums is that so many people inquire about how much they can tow at maximum weight. My suggestion to anyone who questions "how much weight can I tow"......is to be satisfied with how much weight you can tow, COMFORTABLY, not how much weight your tow vehicle is rated to tow.