switching to a pop up again

[texasfifthwheel]

we are making a change in rving. we currently have a 33 ft 2005 nuwa fw but want to make towing and camping simpler. we only used the fw for local trips four to five weeks a year. it appears the pop up brands have changed since we had a coleman in the late 70's. what brands do you recommend as a quality unit? we are just now beginning our search and find a lot of different styles and floor plans for such a small space. any suggestions would be most helpful.

[dannytas]

Mike, your probably right as far as the setting up of everything. The word "easier" doesn't apply. Well, we will try and see how it goes. Our shake down cruise is June 02-06. But I've got to say, I do enjoy setting up camp. Once the trailer is raised, the "puttering" around is my fun part. Because after that it's about lounging and drinking, yeah!!!!

A TT is in our future, but we are looking for a 20 footer or so. But we know what we want and will take our time to find it.

[Mike_Up]

dannytas wrote:
Just sold our 34 ft. Keystone Cougar 5er, to make "camping" easier. Bought a 1995 Coleman Destiny Cedar XL. Added to it a two room shower/changing room tent, porta-potty, extra battery and a bumper rack. Still waiting for the shake down. Probably next week.

We got rid of the Pop Up to make "camping" easier. Never thought I'd see someone saying going to a Pop Up was easier. The wife would get so frustrated with all the work that the Pop Up took next to the travel Trailer. We went with a bigger travel trailer to make it even easier with more storage and sleeping areas for the kids.

I really liked camping with the Pop Up. I love tent camping as well. Both of these are much more work than camping with the TT but it's worth it to me. I just can't see how you can say Pop Up camping is easier. You already stated all the extra things you had to add for convenience and these things all have to be setup, stored (in a storage deprived camper)and taken down, which is work. Been there and done that with my numerous potty/shower tents and thetford porta pottys.

Not saying it's not a fun experience (as it is fun) just takes a bit more work.

My ideal camping equipment would be an utility trailer that's covered for weather protection and leave all the tent gear in it permanently. It would make one of the hardest parts of tent and pop up camping none existant, packing the truck or camper, and then unpacking to the shed for permanent storage. BUT since we really enjoy the travel trailers, I'll just use that for amenities and the tents for bare, simple, back woods true camping.

[dannytas]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one. Just sold our 34 ft. Keystone Cougar 5er, to make "camping" easier. Bought a 1995 Coleman Destiny Cedar XL. Added to it a two room shower/changing room tent, porta-potty, extra battery and a bumper rack. Still waiting for the shake down. Probably next week.
I'm impressed with the inside size. We'll more that likely keep the removable table outside, leaving us with plenty of room. Sure we are down sizing quite a bit, but my wife says that this unit will be for "camping" and the next one will be for "rving".
Enjoy your search...:B

[nomad_289]

"2005 FORD F350 PSD crew cab dualie long bed 4.10"

Are you planning to change your tow vehicle as well?
Maybe you should consider a smaller conventional bumper pull trailer; going from a large 5th wheel to a small pup is pretty radical. You could also fit a nice truck camper on that truck.

[jay427]

Had a Jayco PUP, then a TT now back to another Jayco PUP. Will be picking it up this week. Its a new 2012 sport 10FD. It fits the bill just fine for us. We wanted just a simple trailer with no water heater and just a fridge and heat. I liked a lot of the upgrades Jayco did this year in the select series except for the power roof, I wish you could have taken off that option.

For the 3-6 nights/year that we go the PUP will work out just fine with out a lot of $ just sitting. At some point we will go back to a 5th of TT.

In general I think most of the PUP's are a******shoot, most of the parts and concepts are the same. I have had good luck with Jayco service so thats the way we went a second time.

[joelmyer]

Just bought a new FR popup - keeping the 5er for short trips, long sits. The pup will be used for long haul solo trips.

Had a '96 Coleman Taos, really good for me alone 'cause I left most everything in the tv. DW brought everything in so had to move everything to find anthing.

Coleman Santa Fe seemed to be the right answer with more storage.

Looked at used Colemens, then new Forest River, bought the new Forest River. If you go the new route, dealer is key because they don't include quality workmanship in the price.

Joel

[AirForceAngler]

We just recently went back to a PUP again after 2 travel trailers. Our first PUP was a 1999 Coleman Cheyenne that we bought new with about every option. Other than the ABS roof (that we had no problems with) the Colemans/Fleetwoods were definitely better built than almost any other brand we looked at. After that we had a Coachmen TT that had a lot of the floor rot out in it after only 4 years. No more Coachmen TTs for me! Next was a Jayco TT. We looked at a lot of TTs before buying that one and it was definitely better constructed than a lot of the others out there. When we sold it and decided to go back to a PUP, I really wanted another Coleman/Fleetwood, but also wanted to buy used this time as we took a beating by buying the first 3 new. Most of the Colemans I looked at hadn't been well taken care of and were just a mess. We ended up getting a 2005 Palamino with a 14' box and no slide that was in very good shape. I think I'm going to have to replace the water heater in it because the drain threads are boogered up, but I may see if I can get the retapped first.
Anyhow, it was a big change going back to a PUP after having TTs. We were used to having a lot of stuff! Fortunately there's a lot of storage in the 14' trailer, but you have to get it all in there before lowering it. I also don't like raising it before going on trips so the fridge is pretty much useless, too. I may turn it on a day before we leave to have it cold when we arrive then put groceries in it but we'll probably just live out of coolers. You have to get real creative with storage and planning vs a TT but I look forward to easier towing and traveling further now. Good luck!

[ElBesoBlanco]

i love my FR Flagstaff hardsided pop up. Over the years as our interest andfmily changed, we've downsized from two motorhomes - a 33' Excalibor & 34' Sportscoach to 19 ft Jayco travel trailer to 13' Scamp fiberglass travel trailer to our present Flagstaff hardsided pop up.

As with any of our previous RVs, there's always comment that could be had about what I liked/loved and what I discovered I wanted different...I have minimal complaint with the FR Flagstaff trailer brand....Quality is ok - but I came from Jayco which I felt was super great build...I kmew I wanted a hard sided pop up this time. Forest River offered alot of options for the price in a small box. Height is not a concern - spouse is 6'2" with no problem in our pop up. Nothing better than seeing various trailers in person - you'll know when you step inside it. I knew when I found mine that I would one day own one! Lol

[Mike_Up]

texasfifthwheeler wrote:
we are making a change in rving. we currently have a 33 ft 2005 nuwa fw but want to make towing and camping simpler. we only used the fw for local trips four to five weeks a year. it appears the pop up brands have changed since we had a coleman in the late 70's. what brands do you recommend as a quality unit? we are just now beginning our search and find a lot of different styles and floor plans for such a small space. any suggestions would be most helpful.

So many take overs have happened over the years, it's hard to recommend anything since Forest River pretty much owns all pop up brands except Jayco which also owns Starcraft.

I can tell you what not to buy.

I'd stay away from Starcraft if they are still using Aqualon tenting. Even though it's rugged, it has a memory when stretched and will leak. I had to have both bunkends replaced on my my 2007 2406 because I had it up in the snow. I'm guessing, but the snow must had stretched the material as the water leaked after that at all the seams.

Aqualon is a material soaked in vinyl so it is thick and doesn't stretch much. SO I'm thinking this material has no gives. I should had tried wax but instead tried seam sealers, ALL, which all failed.

I also would not recommend Rockwood or it's sister company Flagstaff. Just so many issues with build quality. I had it only 1 year because it was falling apart. It was a 2005 but had frame problems, floor problems, cabinet troubles, electrical troubles, just wasn't worth the stress. It did have a leak free tent that wasn't very tuff and did get tears easily (unlike Aqualon) but it was able to stretch easily and had no memory. It never leaked 1 drop of water.

After the 2007 Starcraft pop up, I went to a travel trailer. I just had to many problems with pop ups and the wife didn't like pop ups. Myself, I really like them, just not the issues.

While I never noticed it while having the pop ups, I noticed this while looking at some 2013 Jayco highwall and low wall pop up, that the counters, sink, and stove are lower than in the 2 travel trailers I owned. Not really low but definitely noticable.

Also Pop ups are just as expensive as many larger travel trailers but have less features and minimal amenities as lack of a freezer, oven, central air/heat, and the such. Not a big deal but they should be much cheaper since these features are missing. BUT the lift systems and tenting must cost a lot. My 2008 Jayco Jay Flight loaded travel trailer was only about $1000 more than my 2007 Starcraft pop up but had so many more 'expensive' features.

Also, do not get a water heater without DSI. It was just a major pain lighting the pilot out in the wind. DSI, you turn it on and do nothing else. Also if you can, get one with an electric option, it saves propane that you can use for heat.

I really liked the layout and interiors of the Viking/Coachmen twin pop ups and the Palomino pop ups but I've noticed that they started making them cheaper with Forest river Rockwood features as butyl tape for the roof seams instead of silicone caulking.

Good luck in what you choose.

[lfloom]

We recently decided it was time to trade in our pup. It was our second- the first was a colemen 2000 Santa Fe, but when my kids were teens it felt a little cramped, so we traded it in for a used 2004 Fleetwood Sequioia - a 14 ft highwall. That was great, but then the kids left for college, and it felt big and a rather ragged.

We were sad we could not get another Coleman. We did consider the Somerset line. Aliner bought out the Coleman plans, etc,and are making a similar model. But there is no dealer nearby, and honestly, they do not seem to be too together yet. Maybe in a few years.

So, we looked at Jayco line. We felt it was a bit of a step down, but it also had some nice features, but we did not like the dealer. Since we are not handy people, we rely on the dealer. Then we looked at Starcraft (which is pretty much the same as Jayco.) Liked that dealer even less. Coachman- seemed junky. No Forest River pup dealers nearby.

It was frustrating. We really want a king sized bed, so we can sleep with our feet facing into the trailer, so no one needs to climbover the other. Then I noticed Trailmanor has a new small model that has a king sized bed the 2417. We went to check it out. We were impressed with the unit, it seemed well built but also had the simplicity I wanted (we decided not to get a toilet this time round and in the smaller model the toilet is an option).We also liked the dealer (Custom RV is Ontario, So Cal). We were not so thrilled with the price, but we bit the bullet. It is a great unit, much easier to set up then a pup, and more comfortable. It is way sturdier. Love it.

[cdlaine]

TFW,

Wow... this takes me back... enjoyable memories. About 15 years
ago we owned a Coleman Bayside... loaded with lots of options.
Family grew out of it... but tons of great memories... needed a loading
plan ! and sequential open/close-up was a must... hehehe
has little port a potty... those were the days... bear country
was a little scary. Man it sure towed easy !..would forget it was
back there... easy boon-docking... sideways rain was problematic..
as was high beach winds. Fun times. Go for it !

re-sale in a milli-second.

(late entry.... no longer manuf.)too bad.

Charles

[bondebond]

I can't speak to new models on the showroom floors but Fleetwood/Colemans on the used market are usually pretty good units if you find one to suit your tastes. Somerset (http://somersetrv.com/) is sort of the indirect lineage of Fleetwood these days. Many of the floor plans and construction are direct descendants of Fleetwood.

Coachmen, Palomino and Flagstaff/Rockwood are owned by ForestRiver and are having mixed results with the quality that actually hits the sales lots recently. It's a matter of working through the warranty on any issues as is all too common in the industry right now. Otherwise, there are some really great floor plans.

In an effort to simplify, the less you get on the PUP, it seems to reason that there would be less to deal with. This CAN be the case, but not always.

We went from a great but pretty basic PUP to a high wall with everything except a slide-out. I found that my set up time is less now with the high wall because so much of what I had to set up is actually included. On board storage is about triple what I had so I have left to shift around just during set up and then throughout the camping period. But that's my experience.

You still have to crank it up (manually or electric motor/cordless drill), pull out the bunk-ends, put down the stabilizers, make the electrical/water/sewer connections (if equipped), fire up the water heater regardless of the PUP.

There are alternatives to the standard canvas type PUPs.

One example would be something like the A-frame hard walled, fast setup type of PUPs. It would certainly be a step down in interior space but for setup, is hard to beat. Some manufacturers are A-Liner, Chalet, Flagstaff has a series of hard walled folders, and some others I can't recall.

Then there's the collapsible type of hard walled RVs such as HiLo and TrailManor. These are all hard wall construction and have amenities like a traditional TT but still do collapse down for a low towing wind profile.

If you find some specific models, feel free to post back with questions on them. There are model years to avoid due to manufacturing and quality control issues but it's too difficult to just list everything out as such.

I would start at a dealer that a couple of models opened up for display and you guys sit in them and imagine running through camping in them to give you a feel. BTW, both of my PUPs have been through Craigslist even though the second one was a dealer listing.

Good luck and happy hunting.