Outfitter Pop-up Truck Camper

[Moosetags]

Outfitter truck campers are some of the rarer ones out there. They come form a small manufacturer with relatively few produced each year.

I have started this thread for others with these truck campers to come and talk about their Outfitters, both the good and the bad. It can also serve as a source for folks considering purchasing a pop-up truck camper.

To begin, I will profile myself and my Outfitter. I have a 2011 Outfitter Apex 8 long bed that I purchased new directly from Outfitter in September of 2011.

My Outfitter has the NovaKool refrigerator, cassette toilet, and solar.

Brian

[silversand]

Sleepy:

We don't have outside shower nor hot water heater in our Caribou.

I'm not sure where the heater would be installed; I'm guessing: under the kitchen counter?

I think you need to find the aluminum frame (hidden under the fiberglass laminated sandwich making up the camper walls) to determine where to cut through, to mount water heater frame properly. However, the only way to know for sure, is to contact Outfitter with your unit's serial number.

The best way to identify where the aluminum framing is located: on a summer/fall morning when there is a heavy condensation early AM, the outline of the aluminum frame will be VERY evident (the condensate will adhere to the outside camper shell mirroring the frame). You could then use a marking device to lightly mark the framing members, then create a CAD drawing of the entire camper shell framing structure using measuring tools. Same principal discovering aluminum roof framing (both outside and inside).

Good luck.

[sleepywheel]

Going to have to keep an eye on this thread......

Sold my Palomino Bronco 1251 a couple of years ago because my wife and I had both banged our heads on the fold down rear wall when the top was lowered. I'm in the market now for another pop-up camper and have found an 2006 Outfitter Caribou that sounds promising. From the sounds of it, the interior needs freshening up due to faded cupboard doors but everything else seems fine.

One thing that I really want is a hot water heater and an outside shower. Since this one doesn't have either, how much work is it to put in? Is there usually a spot where they go where I can just cut the holes in the side of the camper to install? I'm not worried about the plumbing side of things, it's if there is enough room to install a water heater. I don't know if the inside cabinets from the factory are the same whether or not a water heater is oem.

Thoughts?

[silversand]

And all frames will leak any water getting into the cargo compartments into the camper interior at their inner lower edges...

Interesting. I sealed all 8 cargo containment "seams" and battery/propane cylinder anchors with unbroken maximum bead size ProFlex. I did not seal the top 4 edges/seams, because I estimate that water can't climb that high up the containment boxes. Now, when water gets into the containment boxes, what doesn't get soaked up by the towels just accumulates (harmlessly) as a swimming pool (to be dried up later, at my convenience)...I had to remove the propane tank and battery of course, to accomplish this. I mounted a mirror inside the containment boxes to see the hidden back of the hatch frames seams, and used contortions to flip the caulking gun 180 degrees to caulk those hidden seams (not easy; but with advance preparation, relatively easier than working blind)...

[joerg68]

Allright, late to the party here, so I don't have much to add...

We ordered a new Apex 8 LB from the factory in the spring of 2011. Took delivery of the camper in August, 2011. So far it has been fairly problem-free. We had to replace one Happijac motor that was seized, and the freshwater fill hose had a kink in it that made the tank difficult to fill. And the cassette toilet hose blew after only a few days of camper use. Since we are a couple 1000 mls away from the factory, we need to do all repairs and maintenance ourselves.

We learned some lessons re. water intrusion and wood rot on the previous camper. As a result, I made some modifications and small improvements to the cargo door frames. The rectangular frames will leak at the corners; I just sealed all corners with epoxy glue. And all frames will leak any water getting into the cargo compartments into the camper interior at their inner lower edges. I glued small (1x1 cm) aluminum L-rods behind the lower edges from the inside with automotive body sealant. The camper sits outside all year, and so far we have not seen any issues with water intrusion.

Build quility on our camper is not very good overall, but it seems to hold up very well and the floorplan and functional aspects of the camper more than make up for any imperfections.

Here are some pictures of the camper:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/104581754261901190566/albums/5649697271345346881

And here are some pictures of the Hallmark and Outfitter factories which we visted in 2012 (I know, we did it the wrong way around - you should really first visit, then buy):
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/104581754261901190566/albums/5709065644079894593

[Moosetags]

Hi Bill,

We have an appointment in Jackson Center on April 28th. From there we will head east and probably take a week or two to make our way over to Maine. We have a nephew in the Coast Guard in Southwest Harbor that we want to stop and visit. From there we will make our way inland. We usually hit Millinocket and check out the Golden Road Moose population. From there we will probably head over toward Baxter and to Moosehead Lake. Depending on time availability, we may go up to the Maine North Woods.

We want to be back in Jacksonville for Fathers' Day (June 21st). If we go directly back, we will head south around the 15th. If we decide to do some exploration of the Virginia/North Carolina coast, we will head south earlier.

I plan to do a Lucy trip thread on Airforums. Tune in and you can track our movements. I will post to it with pictures just about every day we are on the road.

Brian

[billtex]

Moosetags wrote:
Hi Bill, how have you been?

Were still towing the Airstream with the truck camper rig. We've got two big trips planned for this year, one to Maine, and another out to Wyoming.

Brian

Yeah..real good to see you back here.

I'll be in Baxter SP area in June.
When are you Guys heading up there?

I'll PM you about that...

Bill

[Moosetags]

Hi Bill, how have you been?

Were still towing the Airstream with the truck camper rig. We've got two big trips planned for this year, one to Maine, and another out to Wyoming.

Brian

[billtex]

Geez Brian...long time.
Glad to hear you are still truckin' around. It's been so long I was afraid something was wrong.
I won't muck up your thread...just wanted to say hello!
Still towing too?
Bill

[terryrey]

Here is the link to the new Outfitter all composite body Apex 8:

Outfitter Apex 8 all composite camper

[terryrey]

Here are some links to past posts I have made concerning our Outfitter Apex 8 that may be of interest to other Outfitter owners:

Camper cover

Camper and Truck Mods (and trip report)

New owner report

Wave 6 install

Additional solar and roof lift back-up

Cassette repair

New Happijack jacks

Bubbles in the Filon

New Outfitter composite body

Terry

[dadwolf2]

Did you guys see the YouTube video on the all composite Outfitter? Does anyone know if that is the new standard construction for them or are they still building the aluminum frame units? That composite construction sounds very promising.
From my experience, I would suggest that prospective Outfitter buyers make the trip to Colorado and personally visit the pop-up capital before buying.

[Moosetags]

Thank you, Silversand, for your most comprehensive post. I will be checking all of the weak areas that you mention.

Our 2011 Apex is almost four years old now. Ours does have the composite roof. We have not had any leaking around the seal where the roof meets the sidewalls. We have had some around the Fantastic Vent Fan which is located above the stovetop. I sealed it with caulk several times, but the leak returned. About a year ago I put Eternabond Tape on the roof around the vent flange. So far, so good, it has not leaked since.

Our Outfitter is always stored outside. We live in the Florida Panhandle where rain in abundant.

Generally speaking, our outfitter has been a good companion and has worked well for us.

I am looking forward to hearing more about the experience of others with their Outfitters.

Brian

[silversand]

Moose:

We bought one of their early models (2005 Caribou 8, set up for a long bed).

Roofing:

Originally, the Outfitter pop-ups came with TPO roofing membrane (we like our roofing a lot; even after almost 10 years of ownership). I wish we hadn't bought the PolarAire roof vent option now. PolarAire is no longer on the market (after Sureflo stopped carying the vent), and the cut-out L,W is not correct to fit any of the current models of power roof vents. After almost 10 years, the PolarAire vent cover is visibly deteriorating, so luckily, I managed to fing a very unusually shaped Maxx air style cover in Asheville, NC, which I test fit in Asheville before buying. I'll install it this summer. There is no way of course that Outfitter could ever imagine that PolarAire would be completely off the market in 8 years, so not their fault. Just remember to buy roof vents (and other camper accouterments) from large well-established manufacturers. Outfitter is willing to install virtually enything you spec out.

Roof vinyl compression seal: on the older Outfitters (up till they came out with a composite roof?), there is a vinyl compression seal mated to the roof flange, which when clamped down is supposed to form a waterproof gasket between roof and camper sidewalls. Our "seal" has been pretty good (only water intrusion once, a small flood onto the rear Corian countertop vanity (killed all my appliance manuals!), when we had not stored the camper absolutely level). This is the only thing keeping water out of the Weblon pleat when the camper roof is closed and clamped down. If you buy a used unit (again, I think Outfitter did away with this compression gasket on their composite roof models after 2010; can anyone confirm?), make sure the the seal integrity is good all the way around the camper, when the roof is clamped down (you'll need and L-shaped piece of plastic, and an articulating flashlight head to probe and visualize this).

Camper shell:

We have had chronic leaking all around our propane hatch and rear battery compartment hatch (probably since new). This allowed water (over the years) to slowly leak into the containment boxes, and find its way onto the hidden side of our camper wings (many of Outfitter's pop-ups have plywood wings and plywood tub sides and raw un-clad lauan (a thin Philippine mahogany veneer) under the tub (the surface that rests on your pick-up bed). This rotted out several very large sections of under-wing (which I replaced and repaired myself, last summer: see link below). My theory here (after months of post-mortem with/between another long-time Caribou owner (Testudo) is that the hatch locations (both, located in the negative pressure zone immediately behind our forward driver-side jack; and the other in the negative pressure zone immediately behind our rear passenger-side jack) are indeed right in a negative pressure zone, whereby during rains while driving, the vents suck air and rain misted up from the truck, into the poorly-sealed hatch frame. I have looked at other Outfitters, and ours seems unique in the locations of our hatch doors. So, this situation may not affect many other Outfitters (ie. may affect only a small cohort). Other than tearing off the 2 offending hatches, and installing marine "hatch plates" that cinch-down with a twisk lock, I have to pack towels in there at all times (even after my large repair job replacing all the rotted wings), because even when the camper sits outside parked, water STILL floods into the compartments during rain. I now tape large plastic skirts over the hatches when camper is stationary. I tested this situation when driving: with hatch dry, I toweled up the inside of the compartments, then drove in rain...water indeed got in. Towels will be permanent in those hatches until I can find proper cinch-down marine campartment doors.

Link to our Caribou repair / refurbish here-->

FRP fiberglass:

In 2005, we were lucky enough to get the new thicker non-wood backed fiberglass cladding on the camper exterior. This has worked very well for us. We have not had any delamination whatsoever (after again, almost 10 years, living in one of the rainiest places in North America). The only issue we ever had was last winter. We stored our camper outdoors for the 1st time ever since new. Last year, we had temperatures almost as cold as this one (-30s to -40s for weeks on end). On inspection of camper in spring, I noticed about 6 craters in the white fiberglass cladding: look like small (about 3mm diameter) volcanic craters of fiberglass had "exploded" (or, popped, like a bubble), leaving the underlying porus chopped-strand base exposed. Hmmm? After doing research (at the FRP manufacturer's website), this apparent is common when the underlying glue used to bond the fiberglass to the camper's XPS foam and aluminum framing, is contaminated with water (small droplets, or moisture IN the adhesive glue itself), and under extreme freezing (like we get here in the East for 3~4 months straight every winter), the moisture expands, and blows off the protective gelcoat (resembling a small blister). This is easy enough to repair (I repaired our ~6 blisters last summer). But, I will not ever take this chance again, and we nor store our camper in heated facilities over the 7 months of winter here. I don't think blistering can happen with the benighn cold you get in the US (I'm not talking Alaska!). Of all the Outfitter owners I've ever talked to (probably ~60+ owners), I've only had feedback from 2 who had blistering the same as we (one owner located on North East Coast; the other mid West: both have extremely cold winters; both store their campers outside over winter).

So, concluding, the only wisdom I can impart to future owners, is:

-make sure you have Outfitter build your tub and wings with a rot-resistant material like Coosa composite board (or, I believe that Outfitter offers some models with a 100% fiberglass tub and wing set now);

-make sure that you have Outfitter install the absolute best marine hatch system out there on the market (ie. pass on the typical RV industry sub standard camper hatches);

-make sure that ALL your appliances are from very long-established appliance, vent, fridge, furnace, water heater, electric systems manufacturers, so you don't find yourself orphaned by a non-standard or odd-ball manufactured item(s).

All in all, luckily I have the time to address the weaknesses in our camper myself, and have fortified our unit to what I consider pretty well bullet-proof (this taking nearly 10 years of ownership). I can say that our Caribou has been pretty rock-solid structurally after my repairs, and would be very hard pressed to ever sell it (I get nightmares just thinking of buying another camper (whatever the brand or genre of camper), and having to go through the fortification/strengthening and repair upgrading rigamarole again :B

Anyhow, without generalizing, this is our particular experience. Your model, year and build may differ significantly from ours, so bear this in mind. Outfitter is very willing to build a very customized camper (structure, appliances, layout, etc), so apply this strategy when you order yours 🙂