Storing a softside with the top up or down?

[TxTiger]

I keep my camper on the truck with a waterproof TC cover. I have kept the top up since I have it covered, and the cover is loose so there is plenty of air flow under it. Any opinions as to which is best, storing it with the top up or down?

[snowcrustracer]

We can get a lot of snow where I live so I store the camper with the top down. I don't think the lifting panels on the Four Wheel Camper would hold up well with a large snow load and high winds. We store the camper with the jacks down supported on saw horses and cover it with a old satellite dish cover. The mice can not get up the jack legs so no worries about critters chewing up cushions and Webalon

[Oldtymeflyr]

We purchased our outfitter in 2009. I asked about it at that time and the answer was that it did not matter one way or the other. It seemed to be that If the camper was put away wet, as in a trip that it should be aired out.

We have kept the top up or down (in all seasons) as we need it and its holding up well.

Rick

[sharkman]

Always stored our popup top down, wouldn't take the chance of anything putting a hole in the canvas.

[silversand]

M Kirsch wrote:
HOWEVER, I would not consider leaving the top up if the camper was outside, even with a cover. Critters are more likely to chew through canvas than filon or aluminum.

....we have just about every vicious animal you can imagine in our big forest (square miles of it). That including fisher cats patrolling nightly (always after our neighbor's chickens!), bobcats, porcupines, red and gray squirrels, mice, plenty of raccoons (they can open our garage door (the small door with lever entry handle, not the 12 foot wide pull-up), and numerous other medium sized and large tooth carnivores (like plenty of black bears), and over 9 years of parking the camper rig in the forest with roof up for 6 months, not one has ever chewed through our Weblon soft wall (but your mileage may vary, depending where you live !).

On edit:....just thinking aloud, we had a mountain lion around here in 2010 that attacked a horse at a local ranch (while the ranch owner was fairly close by!)...ya, we do have mountain lion in the Northeast. They are VERY rare, however (probably escaped from illegal breeders facilities). It was never apprehended.

[jfkmk]

Waterproof cover? As in, doesn't breathe? Not a good idea for any camper, as it traps moisture

[rfgaugush]

sstan wrote:
I asked Outfiiter about this when I took delivery. They recommended storing with the top up to reduce the pressure on the torsion bar springs. We had our Calmark cover made to fit the camer with the top up.

When did you purchase your Outfitter? I wasn't told that when I purchased mine in 2015.

[d3500ram]

When I had my 2 previous pop-ups, I stored it without any cover of any type with the top down- never had any issues However, I always made sure that there was absolutely NO moisture or water when dropping the top down.

If I had to bring the top down when leaving a campsite for travel in inclement weather, I always made sure to run it up at home when appropriate to let it dry and air out... being so very dry humidity in my region, the airing it out was easy

[mkirsch]

I asked this about 6 years ago and the universal response was top down. That advice has not led me astray yet. Every spring when I pop the top for the first trip of the year, the canvas is still there.

Now, my camper does not have any springs on the lift mechanism, so that may be a consideration. HOWEVER, I would not consider leaving the top up if the camper was outside, even with a cover. Critters are more likely to chew through canvas than filon or aluminum.

[sstan]

I asked Outfiiter about this when I took delivery. They recommended storing with the top up to reduce the pressure on the torsion bar springs. We had our Calmark cover made to fit the camer with the top up.

[Steve_in_29]

Since you keep it covered, top up with vent/window cracked will keep interior temps down and avoid issues with heat build up.

[silversand]

....during summer, I park the truck camper (Outfitter Caribou 😎 rig partially under a tree canopy (hardwood maple and white ash and beach, giving shade to the softwalls but for only ~2.5 hours a day; so, I have very little sun hitting the softwalls during summer at our camper parking area) with the roof up all the time (and if expecting rain, I lower it down). So, from end of April till about 2 days ago (it went into heated storage for winter), or nearly 6 months, the roof was in the up position (except when raining).

Over winter in the heated storage facility, I did, one year, store the camper with the roof up the entire 6 month-ish winter. I stopped storing over winter with roof up because cleaning the Weblon softwalls the following spring was getting very old-- and this was the one and only time (it was filthy!).

Some pop-up truck camper manufacturers suggest keeping the roof up when not in use for extended periods....this may be because the softwall pleats endure a lot of stress when folded (I know the pleats on our Weblon softwall appear to have more wear than the unpleated softwall, for sure). I have to add, that our Weblon softwall is very, very, VERY stiff, and does not move but for a fraction of an inch, even under gale-force winds.

What you do would be based on your camper manufacturer's recommendations, and the outdoor environmental conditions.

[DutchmenSport]

If the cover is loose, and you are parked outside, the wind will rub the finish. You'll regret that when you remove the cover.

If you store it outside, tighten that cover. With that said, why raise the camper? Do you see folks storing their pop-ups over the winter opened up? Does it hurt them?

If your TC is inside, under roof, it probably won't matter. But if outside ... I think you should button it up tight! Tie it down solid.