Buying our first pop-up, which one?
Recruiterstone
a pop-up camping trailer for just the two of us. We live in Denver.
We can tow up to 2,000 pounds only so weight will be a factor in our
decision. There are so many out there to choose from, would anyone and
everyone care to give us some initial advice on how to choose, what to
look for, what to avoid, etc. For instance: The pop-ups I've seen so
far sleep 4-6 and there are only two of us so is a 4-6 model overkill?
I even noticed a hard top version made by Chalet. Looks interesting
but seems a bit pricey and possible a tad confining. I'm thinking we
need to be between 5-10K for expenditure. Opinions are most welcome.
rmcbane
Chalet and Aliners do have less space once opened than a typical tent
camper, although there is plenty of headroom. IMHO the primary
advantage of an Aframe camper is rapid setup. With very little practice
you can set it up in 30 seconds or so. So it's possible to stop at a
rest area, open it up, have lunch and be on your way again which you
probably wouldn't do with a tent camper. I also tend to travel on
vacations rather than stay in one spot, and the quick setup makes it
easy to move on to the next spot whenever I choose. But there is just
me and the dogs so sleeping for 4 to 6 isn't important.
--
Richard McBane
tobe
2000 pounds only". Many vehicle manufacturers overstate what vehicles
actually are rated to tow when you take other things into consideration.
Be prepared, however for advice you probably don't want to, but need to hear
about what weights you SHOULD and SHOULD NOT tow with whatever vehicle you
have.
"Recruiterstone" <jst...@unisonsystems.com> wrote in message
news:1140730030.1...@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
miles
I assume when you say 2000 lbs only you are referring to the
manufactures maximum tow rating for your vehicle. That figure is based
on only the driver, gas and no luggage. If thats the case you would
most likely be over the gross weight rating for your vehicle if the
trailer weighed 2000lbs loaded. The Starcraft 1700 dry weight is only
1100lbs. If you camp at campgrounds with hookups you won't need to tow
with the freshwater tank filled to cut down on weight. Still I think
you might be over your vehicles weight rating by the time you put
passengers, luggage etc. in your vehicle and trailer.
One thing that bugs me with tent trailers lately is their ever
increasing weight. In the early 90's I towed a Coleman Roanoke which
weight only about 1200lbs loaded. Todays tent trailers even on the low
end are considerably heavier.
B
more information on Aliners and Chalet there. Most of us with As love them.
If you're not familiar with yahoo groups, go to groups.yahoo.com, search for
the alinerchaleta-frames group, and you'll get instructions on signing up.
"Recruiterstone" <jst...@unisonsystems.com> wrote in message
news:1140730030.1...@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
Tomes
news:1140730030.1...@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
As has been noted already, and is good advice, you will be limited by that
2000 lb limit. However, there is still stuff out there that you can use,
although it will be smaller and carry fewer weighty options.
A big thing that I recommend is borrowing or renting one first to see what
you like. Do a weekend with it and it will greatly inform you on what it is
all about so when you look for real you know better what you are looking at.
The other big thing that I recommend is that for the first popup you buy a
used one. I am now on my second used one and I could not imaging paying the
prices for new. Both of them were owned by folks that took care of the
rigs, so they felt almost new enough for me. New can be $5K up to 20K if
you go all out. Both of my used ones were about $US2500. That difference
buys a lot of gas.
I have seen a popup every year at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival that has
only one bed pulling out on one side. It looks odd and the kids used to
believe that a one-armed person lived in it, but if you can track down one
of those, it might be perfect. Sorry that I know little else about it other
than that it exists.
So, tell us what you think, what you will tow with, where you plan to go,
how you camp, how the search goes as it goes. There are folks here that
know this stuff and have varied experiences. This is a pretty good group
where you do not need to keep your guard up all that much <grin>.
Tomes
Jim Redelfs
"Tomes" <as...@here.net> wrote:
> I have seen a popup every year at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival that has
> only one bed pulling out on one side. It looks odd and the kids used to
> believe that a one-armed person lived in it, but if you can track down one
> of those, it might be perfect. Sorry that I know little else about it other
> than that it exists.
That would probably be a Starcraft Meteor. I actually sat in a brand new one
on the showroom floor some years ago.
If you Google for "Starcraft Meteor" (with quotes) and select IMAGES, you'll
see a good example of one.
I believe they are no longer made, but I'm sure there are other light weight
campers that will fit the OP's needs.
--
:)
JR
Tomes
news:jim.redelfs-5BB4...@news.central.cox.net...
Yep, that's the idea. The one I saw was older, brown, and was 'lefthanded'
(by that I mean that the door was on the other side, at least looking at the
door, the bed was on the left - don't remember which end the hitch was
on...). I will need to look at it more closely this summer.
Tomes
Korey Atterberry
> That would probably be a Starcraft Meteor. I actually sat in a brand new one
> on the showroom floor some years ago.
>
> If you Google for "Starcraft Meteor" (with quotes) and select IMAGES, you'll
> see a good example of one.
>
> I believe they are no longer made, but I'm sure there are other light weight
> campers that will fit the OP's needs.
For what it's worth, the new Fleetwood Element Neon
(http://www.fleetwoodrv.com/brandtomodel/floorplan.aspx?brand=element&m=Neon)
has just one bed that slides forward. They advertise a GROSS weight of
1500 lbs.
Korey
Karen
> I am new to this group. My wife and I are thinking seriously of buying
> a pop-up camping trailer for just the two of us. We live in Denver.
> We can tow up to 2,000 pounds only so weight will be a factor in our
> decision.
I'd like to share our experience with you:
We have a Dodge Grand Caravan that is our TV and like you, were very
concerned about the 2000# weight limit. We finally found a 2005 Viking
Saga 1906ST and it is perfect for the two of us and our little Rat
Terrier. The box is only 8 1/2 feet but seems to suit are needs. What
I really wanted it for was so that if it should rain, we will have
somewhere to go. IMHO, nothing is more depressing than tent camping in
the rain.
Even though it says, "sleeps 6", two of those people must be little
people who sleep on the dinette bed when the table is down and seats
are spread out. So I wouldn't even worry about the "sleeps six" part
of things.
We find that having the extra bunk helps us to stow things to get them
out of our way while we are opened up. (clothes, picnic basket, extra
bedding, shower gear, etc.) Our intent at this point, is to travel to
Tennessee's state parks and see them all. So we'll probably travel and
park for the most part. Later on we will venture out to longer trips.
It does have a porta-potty cabinet which is important to us. For our
other needs we can go to the campground showers or rinse off in the
outside hose/shower my husband has hooked up for me.
The Viking had a furnace, full galley & vent. We added A/C and a
clothes bar. The total was $7100.00. We got it at an RV show. The
main reason we didn't buy a used one was because we really wanted to
have active warranties on everything.
Wishing you both the best. I don't think you would be sorry you have a
pop-up but if we were to upgrade in the future, we would probably think
about an Aliner of some sort. For right now, they are just too pricey
for us.
Tomes
"Karen" <kg...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:1140811951....@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
> The Viking had a furnace, full galley & vent. We added A/C and a
> clothes bar. The total was $7100.00. We got it at an RV show. The
> main reason we didn't buy a used one was because we really wanted to
> have active warranties on everything.
>
Hi Karen,
Have you weighed it now that you have AC on it? I am curious as to what
this actually weighs fully loaded up.
Thanks,
Tomes
Cheryl
something that fits all your other needs. We've owned two pop-ups now
and would need to be a family of little people to sleep all that they
were rated for. In our current "sleeps 10", as best we could tell the
twin bed is rated for 2 people, the dinette bed (7 inches shorter than
a true twin) is rated for 2, and the 2 "kings" (6 inches narrower and 3
inches shorter than a true king) are rated for 3 each (or maybe its 1,1
and 4 each on the ends). Anyway, far cozier than my family of 6
chooses to be for any length of time.
Karen
As a matter of fact, we are heading over to the scales one day next
week to weigh ourselves fully loaded. Will get back to you.
KG