Questions from a Newbie

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

OK - I've been reading and using the search feature - but am still confused about the "anatomy" of a TC.

A little background: We started with a 2004 28' Class C 10 yrs ago; then last year bought a 28' 5er with a slide, to spend some time in FL. Our business needs a heavy duty truck anyway, so we have a 2012 long bed F-350 SW Diesel to pull the 5er. We've decided that having a smaller, nimbler place to sleep for short jaunts/weekend visits would be ideal, so will sell the Class C and purchase a used, "minimalist" pop-up TC. That way I can fit in National Forest campgrounds with my kayaking pals, for starters 🙂

So I've noticed that some TCs hang over the back of the truck: is that where holding tanks are located? What is that called? A "skirt with taillights"? If a TC doesn't have that rear part, does that mean it's a porta-potty-only model? But even Portapotty models still have a sink, so where are the fresh and gray tanks located?? I've also read about "basements" - I'm assuming that is a space between the interior floor of the camper and its base?

I've already read that we'll need to build a truck bed floor around the 5th wheel rails - easy-peasy.

At first, we thought about downsizing to a Class B; but the simplicity of a TC (and knowing we'll always have a truck available) makes it the smarter choice for us.

Thanks for your help!

Deb

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I appreciate all this information 🙂 But what we really want is a "tent". A warmer, more solid, faster setup, "tent". Since so much of our traveling is during the winter, plumbing is kind of a moot point. Heat can be supplied by an electric heater, plugged in at the RV parks we tend to utilize. I HAVE camped quite nicely in an E-150 cargo van... but since we have the truck anyway - a TC makes more sense than adding another motorized vehicle to the mix.

If I lived closer (and knew that we'd use it often enough to justify buying one new) - I'd trot over to Four Wheel, and have them build me a shell. But those are hard to find used..... so I'll keep searching around here. The one I had my eyes on got sold yesterday before we could look at it 😞

[wintersun]

The popup will weigh less and have less air drag than a hard side camper. The popup will have smaller holding tanks for fresh and gray water, and it will have a cassette toilet that needs more frequent dumping and a manual dump. I have never wanted a cassette toilet in a camper. The popup also has less inside storage space for extended travel.

For the southwest with its many miles of off the pavement trails that often have hard sloping rock to get across, I would want a popup or use a fiberglass cap with a tent (which is what I used for 15 years). For everywhere else the hard side camper is not a drawback and having twice as many days supply of drinking water and more waste tank capacity is much more important (even more so with the drought in the west).

Check out the LPG, water, waste tank, fridge size, and other aspects of the popup and standard hard side campers. The hard side will be double that of the popup. If you spend 90% of your time running trails with a full size pickup then go for the popup. If you spend less than that on the trails or would rather tow a true off road vehicle behind the truck, then go with the hard side type.

In terms of a used camper there is 20 times the available inventory of hard side campers from which to choose.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Thank you, Silversand 🙂 I was pretty locked-in to the 28' floorplan on our Class C, mostly because it felt the most "wide-open".

[silversand]

Since I tend to lean a bit towards claustrophobic (LOL!) I think I'm really going to like all the windows up top, too!

....just about ~60% ~ 70% of our upper 4 sidewalls are windows (+ our glass windows: 3 of them, giving us an unprecedented 13 windows + the large door clear glass window: 14 windows). The most emotionally-sensational experiences we have ever had, was when all 10 panoramic windows are open/uncovered (even when it is raining out!), and we can see ocean/Southwest mesas/mountains/rolling fog overwhelming all our senses.

[silversand]

We are pop-up truck camper users (for nearly 10 years now) who really investigated buying a hard-side at year 7, and then at year 9. We re-visited numerous hard-side campers during those periods, and were fairly turned off by the TERRIBLE lack of windows, truck suspension modifications needed for the additional 2200 LBS above our current payload, the vastly added maintenance on hard-sides that have much more real estate to maintain (inducing the many additional storage compartment doors to worry about rain infiltration), and INDEED the huge hit we would take on fuel economy (we currently get a healthy 13.6 MPG with our rig; gong with a hardside, we would be lucky to get 8 MPG !).

We simply like that we can park anywhere (literally anywhere) an unloaded pick-up can park (even in a good assortment of underground parking facilities), can go literally anywhere an unloaded pick-up can go at unimproved locales of all genres, can get the unit up our driveway (try that with a hardside rig on our property situation!), and many, many other benefits. We are MUCH narrower than virtually most hardside models (exception: a handful of narrow framed campers (but why get a hardside that is the same width as our pop-up anyway??); much, much, MUCH lighter; much shorter in the height dimension (by a LONG shot), and VERY roomy on the inside (nearly 7 feet clearance when roof is up on inside; no cabinets and walls and partitions on the inside making it feel like an inner-city rooming house)...

So, concluding, WE ARE long-time pop-up owners who considered (not once, but twice) very seriously buying a hard-side, and couldn't come close to justifying a move to a hard-side. Pop-ups (modern units) are not the canvas-sided spare utility boxes they once were in a by-gone era! They are today, luxury condos with wet-baths, basements and insulated side-walls.

When we get old and gray (some say we look that way now LOL), we will KEEP our pickup (and probably our pop-up as a unique guest abode on our property, after the $$$ rebuild I have just done on the camper), and move to a sleek and compact diesel B+ (the same footprint, perhaps 2 feet longer than our current rig: still smaller in width AND length than a behemoth hardside truck camper rig), and go tamer on the unimproved expeditions front.

Discussion: there was only one truck camper (a large hardside) that we have ever gloated over, because the rear of this camper had complete wrap-around windows at it's rear wall, with rear dinette/ AND kitchen), owned by the founders of Truck Camper Magazine. The only issue: it is no longer manufactured, and it would be way too large/heavy for our genre of use.

Good luck in deciding!

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

work2fish wrote:
This was the first season with my popup on a 2011 F-350 6.7L 4X4 SRW SB and I love it:



I like the fact that it has a low profile and it hardly affects the handling of the truck. I haven't made any modifications, but I have stock 20" wheels. If I am not in the mountains, I get from 16-18 mpg and setup time is extremely quick. I also frequently pull a boat in the mountains with the TC and the truck does just fine.

My camper is a Northstar 850SC with a wet bath and cassette toilet. I dump the cassette in an outhouse or the outside clean-outs for my home's sewer line when I am home. I have yet to use a dump station. I have a 30 gallon tank + 6 gallons in the water heater as well as a solar panel so I can stay in the wilderness for a while. I also have yet to use the side storage compartments on either side of the bed area and so storage is fine for me. I also like the fact that there are extensive windows in the popup portion of the camper.

Good luck in your search.

Very nice!!

Since I tend to lean a bit towards claustrophobic (LOL!) I think I'm really going to like all the windows up top, too!

[work2fish]

This was the first season with my popup on a 2011 F-350 6.7L 4X4 SRW SB and I love it:



I like the fact that it has a low profile and it hardly affects the handling of the truck. I haven't made any modifications, but I have stock 20" wheels. If I am not in the mountains, I get from 16-18 mpg and setup time is extremely quick. I also frequently pull a boat in the mountains with the TC and the truck does just fine.

My camper is a Northstar 850SC with a wet bath and cassette toilet. I dump the cassette in an outhouse or the outside clean-outs for my home's sewer line when I am home. I have yet to use a dump station. I have a 30 gallon tank + 6 gallons in the water heater as well as a solar panel so I can stay in the wilderness for a while. I also have yet to use the side storage compartments on either side of the bed area and so storage is fine for me. I also like the fact that there are extensive windows in the popup portion of the camper.

Good luck in your search.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Thanks Bleugoat and Trailgranny50 - those are all good things to know! Yes, we plan on haunting the RV Shows this winter, if we haven't found something by then. I'm kind of itching to get back into the woods - have been known to throw my cot/sleeping bag/"Luggable Loo" in the back of an E-150 cargo van and call it my "redneck motorhome". HUBBY is the one who prefers something a bit more refined....LOL!!!

I've had several pop-up campers and never had much trouble with the canvas/vinyl. I'm blessed to have a big heated barn to open it up and let it dry if needed. The only trouble with trailer popups is my (adult) kids keep begging to buy them from me 🙂 I guess it's the price I pay for teaching my kids/grandkids to love the outdoors as much as I do.

[twodownzero]

I get 12-15 mpg with my camper on and something like 18 empty just in case you're wondering. Camper is a hard side Lance that weighs about 3000 lbs loaded.

[trailgranny50]

Our 1990 Shadow Cruiser is a 9.5 and weighed 2038# dry before the addition of the AC roof air and all our "stuff". We haul it on our 04 Chevy Duramax 3500 DRW 4x4 with no mods of any kind and it sits up there level, handles peachy keen, and our mileage stays at or above 15 mpg. Empty it gets 15.2 so we're truly "happy campers" here. Oh, that's mountains in Colorado and on the flat in between. Had a Pop up same type of mileage but hated the hassle of up, down, sweating on inside, drafty, etc. Been there, done that, never again. Too old.

[Bleugoat]

Just to set the record straight. The newer pop up truck campers do not use canvas and I have never had a problem lowering mine with a wet side wall.

As to the construction, different makers use different designs. For example, my Outfitter has a basement and the tanks are there. Northstar pop ups do not have a basement and many of their units have cassette toilets which eliminates the black tank.

Your best bet is to look at as many units as you can, because only you can decide which fits you best. One great resource is Truck Camper Magazine's buyers guide.

Buyers Guide.

I get 13 - 15 mpg with mine.

Good Luck

[tonymull]

One of the best things about a TC is that you just drop the steps and get in. No setup. You lose some of that with the pop-ups. I liked the tentyness of our hybrid but if you live where it rains a lot you will end up closing it damp and that is not good.

[tonymull]

languiduck wrote:
Have you ever owned or used any type of RV that has canvass, such as a popup, hybrid, or pop top? I have. Never again. Of course there are advantages to the lower profile, but there are plenty of disadvantages too; which normally rear their ugly head after some use and/or having to put the top down with damp canvass for various reasons.
I have no experience with a pop up TC but I have had a tent trailer (pop up) and a hybrid and I learned to hate them both.

I would agree exactly with that assessment.

Mileage for a 3500 won't be a lot different until you cross the 3000lb range anyway. The wind resistance just doesn't make as much difference as the weight. There are plenty of hardsides around 2000lbs if you don't want a slide. I have an older Pastime 8.5 footer that is 1750 dry. My MPG dipped 1 compared to a shell...and a heavier foot on the pedal.

[languiduck]

Have you ever owned or used any type of RV that has canvass, such as a popup, hybrid, or pop top? I have. Never again. Of course there are advantages to the lower profile, but there are plenty of disadvantages too; which normally rear their ugly head after some use and/or having to put the top down with damp canvass for various reasons.
I have no experience with a pop up TC but I have had a tent trailer (pop up) and a hybrid and I learned to hate them both.