Tent Trailers: Pop-up Camping

Top 65. May 18, 1999 12:22 PM

» dar - upgrading pop-up trailer

I'v been reading all of the messages here, plus other comments I found on the internet about pop-up trailers. I currently have a 14 ft. 1986 palamino with the hard sides. It has so much room, plus refrig., icebox, heater, cabinets, etc., but it's so hard to set up. It's excellent pulling, weighs about 1500lbs. I just bought it last year, my second pop-up, but now my husband is moving out, so I want a smaller unit that I can set-up myself since I will be going with only my kids. I'm looking at a 12ft one with a screen room and easy set-up, possibly one that the table slides out and also one that is under 1800lbs. Which model do you think fits in that category?

-- posted by dar

Top 66. May 19, 1999 9:22 AM

» Tom_Stephens - Pop-up Parts

Hi Cindy,
Sorry to hear about your Van. We were all ready to take off on a camping trip a couple of years ago and on hook-up found we had no brake lights. Took all day getting that fixed and thus, we missed our camping trip! What a bummer!

Wow, used parts huh? I don't know. All I can tell you Cindy is try some of my links under "Camping Gear and Equipment". We buy most of our stuff from a local RV dealer or Camping World.

-- posted by Tom_Stephens

Top 67. May 19, 1999 9:28 AM

» Tom_Stephens - Picking a pop-up

Hi Darlene,
Thanks for the post and good to hear from you. Do you want to buy new or used? How many kids do you have? A lot depends on how many people you want to sleep in the pop-up.

-- posted by Tom_Stephens

Top 68. May 21, 1999 12:18 PM

» LearningQuest - Pop ups

Checked my Coleman brochure, and the three with glide out dinettes all weigh too much. Utah is the lightest of the bunch at 2400 lbs. We own the Bayside, and it's easy to set up, but too heavy. Those glide outs really add on the weight. W/O glide out, new, coleman, only 10 ft. box comes close to your under 1500 lbs. At 1650, is the SeaPine or Santa FE (those are grand tour series) Destiny has 10ft box--Santee, 1700 lbs and Taos is 8 ft box, 995 lbs. Sorry none of these fit your requirements exactly. Good luck finding a unit.

-- posted by LearningQuest

Top 69. May 21, 1999 12:29 PM

» LearningQuest - Coleman Accessories

Whoops...Congrats Scott and Cindy.

People who owned our old Jayco before us, made new curtains the piece that slides in the track they picked up at a sewing store. FYI.

Camper World??? Camping World...online ordering, found they have some neat stuff...

Walmart too online had some good camping and their service is excellent too, we ordered a table (coleman) it arrived with a broken piece -- I know it is a bad start, they were very good about sending a replacement (before they received the damaged one) and the shipping slip to return, at their expense of course, the original damaged one, then the second one was broken...I called again, disgruntled, and they put me on hold for a couple minutes while they called Coleman directly to determine if this is a design flaw or a fluke...they very quickly gave me names and numbers to deal with coleman directly, I called everyone was great, they inspected the table at the factory to insure it was sent out in good condition, it arrived in perfect condition this time. No mistakes on billing, no flak, and we kept the box so that if it breaks w/o misuse it's going back for a refund. Both Walmart and Coleman were excellent!

-- posted by LearningQuest

Top 70. May 21, 1999 8:24 PM

» Tom_Stephens - Broken stuff

Yep, I agree LQ, Wal-Mart and Coleman are first class companys when it comes to standing behind their stuff. What kind of table did you get?

-- posted by Tom_Stephens

Top 71. May 23, 1999 1:43 PM

» Sherri - Finally found just the right one!

Boy, it has been over a month since we began looking and searching out advice on our pop-up purchase, (which I want to thank you again for your great input). We ended up purchasing from an individual, not a dealer. We bought a 1995 Jayco Eagle 12 UDK. It is in excellent condition (very clean). The previous owner's children are grown and they have downsized to a small pop-up that they pull behind their motorcyle. Our Jayco has a King bunk, Queen bunk, dinnette that makes into a bed and also a U-shaped seating arrangement that makes into another bed, (plenty of room for our family of 7). It also has a screened room with fold down flaps for privacy.
We leave on June 12 for our first camping experience. We are vacationing near the Smoky Mountains. I'll let you know how it goes. We are now in the process of stocking our camper for the trip. I am once again surfing the web for advice and assistance with this task, and have found alot of great sites!

-- posted by Sherri

Top 72. May 24, 1999 7:57 AM

» dar - older vs. new

first of all, I really enjoy this site, I read most of the articles and learned so much about everything... can anyone help me with this question.. is there any advantage/disadvantage between a new pop-up and an old one.. say 15 yrs older. I know everyone would like to have a "new" camper, but what if you have/find an older one that has everything you want/need and is in excellent shape? Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

-- posted by dar

Top 73. May 24, 1999 8:16 AM

» Dan_Ellsworth - Might it be the weight?

I think at some time in the past there was a dramatic reduction of weights for pop-ups. I don't know when it was - nor even, for sure, whether that was true. But ask (or "browse") for any information on weights you can get for older prospects. Though possibly even 15 years old would be after the reduction. (It was our 1972 Starcraft that was quite heavy.)

-- posted by Dan_Ellsworth