Tent Trailers: Pop-up Camping

Top 1005. Jul 26, 2001 10:08 AM

» Tashams - Pop Up Trailers

A friend would like to sell me his 1976 Coleman Lexington pop up trailer for $950. It's in excellent condition. I'm worried that it won't be a good value if things start breaking down. I'm more inclined to put the $950 towards a newer Used model.
Can a pop up trailer still be functional for another 15 years (it's 25 years old already)
Any thoughts?

-- posted by Tashams

Top 1006. Jul 27, 2001 8:14 AM

» Abbanat - Re: Pop Up Trailers

Hi Tasham,

I'm not familiar with that model so I don't know what features it comes with, but yes, an older model can still be functional in my opinion. However, I agree with you in that if instead you used that money to put towards a newer used model you would be in better shape. For example, you can easily find an early '90s popup in the $2000-$3000 range that will probably give you more years of service than the $1000 popup from the '70s. Hope this helps.

-- posted by Abbanat

Top 1007. Jul 27, 2001 5:18 PM

» gayle2 - Sunkampers - 1975

We just bought this fixer upper. Fellow that sold it too us said it was about 1350 lbs. It's 13 ft long and a double axel. I have a feeling it's much heavier. Anywhere I can get this info. I'm worried about braking mostly. I'm using a 2000 F150 4.6 L V8 automatic clubcab to tow it.

-- posted by gayle2

Top 1008. Jul 28, 2001 5:57 AM

» Andrew_48 - Re: Cleaning Canvas

In response to message posted by Snow56:

I have a 1991 Coleman Laramie and I had plenty of mildew etc. on the inside top of the tent portion. I removed the canvas and laid it out on the driveway inside out and with the canvas sides tucked under the top part. I then used a mildew spray called "commercial Mildew and stain Remover" made by "ZEP". I let the spray work on the canvas for a few minutes and then hosed off the entire surface. The change was amazing. The treatment removed all the mildew as well as any dirt etc. I can honestly say the result was terrific and there was no degradation of the tent material whatsoever. I bought the spray cleaner from our Home Depot store here in Virginia. Good luck..

-- posted by Andrew_48

Top 1009. Jul 30, 2001 9:24 AM

» Abbanat - Re: Re: Cleaning Canvas

Andrew,

Hopefully that product didn't adversely affect the water repellency of the canvas. As a suggestion, you may want to restore that by spraying it with Scotchguard and going over the seams with beeswax. This is what my pop manufacturer recommends doing, but yours may differ. Anyway, just a suggestion.

Gayle,

I think it's safe to assume a double-axle trailer weighs more than 1300 lbs. It probably weighs double that. You might check around inside the cabinetry to see if you can find a sticker with that information. Sometimes it is on the driver's side wall as well. Not sure what brand you bought, but to my knowledge, it is probably a Jayco or Damon since those are the only ones I recall with double-axle trailers. If so, give the manufacturers a call and ask for a ballpark weight on that popup, if not specifics. Your truck is more than capable of pulling the popup but you're right, if the trailer doesn't have trailer brakes you will need to be very careful when slowing down. It is possible to add electric brakes aftermarket depending on your axles (double axles may introduce some problems, though)so that is something you could look into. Check the inside of the wheels to see if perhaps you already have electric brakes. I don't know the year/make/model of your popup so I am only speculating. If electric brakes are not an option, you may find that downshifting your transmission will help slow you down and reduce the heat buildup on your truck's brakes. Downshift through all the gears until you come to a stop. If you take this route, install a heavy-duty transmission cooler on your truck (~150, installed). This will reduce the heat buildup inside your transmission and will result in longer transmission life. Hope that helps and let us know what you find out.

-- posted by Abbanat

Top 1010. Aug 1, 2001 8:45 PM

» happycampers - pop up problems!

We just bought a used 1988 Rockwood XLT pop up tent camper. It hasn't been used for two years or opened up. We only paid $500 for it, so hopefully we can get a couple of years out of it.

We brought it home tonite and when we went to crank it open only the front end of it will crank up all the way. The back end of it only goes up about 3/4 of the way.

It's hardly been used inside, there's no rips or tears in the canvas and it just needs to be cleaned but we're all stumped about it not going up all the way.

Anyone have any suggestions?....I know we sound stupid but it's a step up from our tent and before we put alot of $$ out, we wanted to try a used pop-up first.

We can get our money back as it's a friend of a friend, but we would really like to use it or fix it.

Thanks,

Happy Campers in New England!

-- posted by happycampers

Top 1011. Aug 2, 2001 8:42 AM

» Abbanat - Re: pop up problems!

HappyCampers,

Sounds like you may have a crank/cable system problem. I would go to an RV/Popup repair facility to get a quote on a repair. Also, try going to the www.popuptimes.com message board. They are a great group of people who may be able to offer you more advice and a few may have been in the same situation as you, IIRC. They get a LOT of traffic over there.

-- posted by Abbanat

Top 1012. Aug 11, 2001 5:50 PM

» Ken12 - Replacement canvas for a 1986 Rockwood popup camper.

I would like to know where to get replacement canvas/sceens/windows for my camper. I live in No Cal. so it could either be someone in the area or mailorder.

-- posted by Ken12

Top 1013. Aug 12, 2001 7:20 AM

» Ken12 - Re: pop up problems!

In response to message posted by happycampers:

I just bought a 1986 Rockwood popup and it has the same problem,in that it doesn't crank up at one corner. Were you able to repair it??? I would like to see if there are any other ideas that you may have, now that you've had it a bit longer??

-- posted by Ken12