Thank you!
New truck build: RTT vs Wedge vs Pop-up camper?
- Thread starter jaywo
- Start date
So what’s your feedback on the Tune?
For whats its worth ive been in a GFC camper as well as a Topo topper badlander as well as thier Mesa camper. Both the Mesa and Badlander have the same shape, tapered walls, but one is a pop up and the other a wedge. I felt cramped in all 3 options due to the tapered walls. I have a lower bunk platform that i can use to sleep one person but without cabinetry skys the limit to how many people can reasonably fit. its 72" wide end to end. But if you end up wanting a wedge type camper also check out Topo Toppers in Ventura CA. Awesome awesome owners, decent turn around times, and pretty well established. Ive personally met Thomas and Katy and they are genuine people. Not taking anything away from Lone Peak. Just giving you an option to look at.
Dave in AZ
Active member
Here is a short video by Donald, Softroading the West, on Topo wedge vs popup. He has some good use videos of his wedge. For a wedge, I would probably go Topo or Dirtbox vs LonePeak, based purely on their 1 year out delivery schedule, and how deep their delays have grown... great product and company though, it looks. LonePeak was my choice for wedge after looking at 30 options, but too much wait now. Also, I went Tune.
I will keep your truck height in mind and comment if I see a garage fitter for you... but 58" truck, 82" garage, that's just 24" to work with, pretty short
I will keep your truck height in mind and comment if I see a garage fitter for you... but 58" truck, 82" garage, that's just 24" to work with, pretty short
chet6.7
Explorer
I am going to try and visit Topo Topper, I suspect the tapered sides will give me a closed in feeling, I am also going to try and visit Oru Designs, their Tenfold Weekender looks to be a bit more roomy with the more vertical sides. There are not many videos on the Oru, here is one on the Topo.
By all means yes get out to Ventura CA and pay Topo a visit. I had a deposit on thier camper but ultimately went with FWC because of a sales cancellation and literally waited 1 week for delivery of mine. Topo cranks out builds like no other and Thomas is so dedicated he doesnt even go to shows because he spends weekends building campers. I followed them from thier early stages and they habe become quite a player in the camper industry. Way better quality and more insulated w more options than say a GFC. Those are great too. Just didnt like the panel removal to get in/out.
Toddlers love tents. Even if you sleep in some sort of a truck setup, having a tent setup on the ground would be advantageous for play, naps, etc.
MotoDave
Explorer
I've owned a Four Wheel Camper (Hawk) and have been in numerous wedge and pop up campers. My impression was always that you lose a LOT of 'living' space with any of the campers that have a taper that matches the truck cab width. The straight sides make the Hawk look less 'sleek' but its have let you fit 4 people inside and still use the kitchen, etc.
I do really like the Flippac or AT Habitat style flip over campers - I think they obviously give you a lot more room inside by moving the bed away from the standing area.
I do really like the Flippac or AT Habitat style flip over campers - I think they obviously give you a lot more room inside by moving the bed away from the standing area.
LP is now 6 months out, not 1Y. They are hiring 5 new people as of today’s info to ramp up as well.Here is a short video by Donald, Softroading the West, on Topo wedge vs popup. He has some good use videos of his wedge. For a wedge, I would probably go Topo or Dirtbox vs LonePeak, based purely on their 1 year out delivery schedule, and how deep their delays have grown... great product and company though, it looks. LonePeak was my choice for wedge after looking at 30 options, but too much wait now. Also, I went Tune.
I will keep your truck height in mind and comment if I see a garage fitter for you... but 58" truck, 82" garage, that's just 24" to work with, pretty short
What’s your feedback/experience on the Tune so far?
I do agree. Same feedback as @OVRLNDFX4 as well. The tapered LP reduces indoor livability.
However, this is why if we go LP we will build a slide out fridge and drawer. LP also allows for a Decked with extra storage under the living space because it’s so high when poped up. I can stand from front to back on a Decked in a LP but not in a Tune (I am 6’6). This would give me effectively more storage than in the tune (the tune width essentially gives you more at the sleeping area, not at the floor width, and doesn’t let me do a Decked ). The Tune is wider but the LP has more vertical volume, and that vertical space is useless (dead air) unless you put a Decked, then it increases your useful vertical volume.
Specifically I would have more storage accessible outside than the Tune.
Park at camp, you open the tailgate and the drawer, pull chairs and table, then start cooking taking food from the fridge and stove from drawer. All without having to crawl in the camper once.
Tune, well, you crawl in to grab all the outdoor stuff. Then you constantly crawl in and out of the bed to get cooking gear to set it up on a table outside, and to get food and when you forgot the butter in the fridge etc.
Since our goal camping is being outside where the view is, and not hangout inside and cook inside, a « outside » oriented build would work better for 90% of days.
Granted 1) for 10% of the days in bad weather the Tune would be miles better (indoor kitchen and space to hang out)
Granted 2) the Tune lets you sleep the family upstairs and it’s not an option at all in the LP. If a year from now I figure out that what works for us is having the kid sleeping with us, then I am screwed if we chose the LP.
Granted 3) nothing prevents you from building an « outside oriented » build on the Tune with fridge slide etc. But A) what’s the point in having a Tune if you build it to be outside oriented (you just pay so much extra for a king size bed then) and B) I still can’t do a Decked and loose that vertical space.
All of this to say, if we could garage we would order the camper today. If we were sure we didn’t need the king size bed up there or if we had no kid on the way we would go LP. The issue is we can’t garage (we might change our house in the next 2Y and at least have a driveway if not be lucky and score a 8ft garage door but who knows), and we don’t know if we truly need the big bed of the Tune.
Because a few of those parameters are unknown, it makes this equation hard to resolve. The RTT is the easiest option short term due to cost, availability and house situation, the LP is maybe the most logical choice for the use, the Tune is the less risky choice (it’s hard to regret having too much space).
There are a lot of easy things and choices in life, even choosing the truck model was fairly easy and chosen and bought quickly but damn that camper situation is a hard choice.
You mean a small offroad trailer with a RTT on top? In many ways it would be the best choice:
- We have one vehicle and daily it. Having a trailer is perfect for that because I could just do a 2025 4Runner (arguably a good daily driver, with 24 mpg, smaller size than the f-150, etc) and then still have enough to bring gear when camping thanks to the trailer
- The trailer stays fully packed and ready to go. Add food and water and clothes and drive for the weekend.
- I have a standard 2 car garage. Technically, if I made room in my garage I could park the trailer inside, and obviously the Bronco/4Runner/whatever vehicle as well.
- I can park the trailer at the camp spot and then leave it
So we thought about this. Then reality caught us up:
- a small offroad trailer + a good RTT costs as much as a Tune, yet offers the same experience as a RTT (you can‘t stand up, can’t live inside in bad weather) therefore why not just buy a F-150 with a tonneau cover and put a RTT? Enough room for us, same sleeping experience as the trailer, for much less money and much less hassle (no trailer to pull). Plus with the tonneau cover, we can leave the camping gear in the trunk anyway after the weekend.
- If you want to stand up in it, then you are looking at Boreas 12 or similar, $50-80K trailers. Too much money.
- It’s a hassle to pull everywhee. Low MPG and lower range. Last Friday night we arrived at midnight with our new F-150 in a remote off road camp I found on google earth. Did not know what to expect. Had to turn around on a small trail twice. It was already a hassle at night not seing anything, with the F-150, my wife guiding me in the dark from outside. Would have been an absolute PITA with a trailer.
- We almost never camp at the same place twice in a row, so leaving a trailer in place is not that useful. We have a cheap auto-deploy ground tent that we can setup to “save our spot” if we ever want to stay extra days at the same spot. We have done that exactly twice in the last few years.
At the end of the day, it’s not surprising but just like the 3 options I presented in the OP, a trailer would have pros and cons. At this point we think that it has more cons than pros VS other options for us, but we could be wrong.
As I said, some elements are unknown (such as will we want to spend more time inside with kids than we do now when camping, will we want an actual indoor usable space? If yes then the Tune wins. If not then maybe the LP or RTT is sufficient…).
Some will say, well then wait to have kid one for a few months, see your needs and then decide. But the issue is that seeing what life is with a 3 months old won’t tell us anything about what life is with a 1YO and 2YO etc. So we will never truly know what the actual need and at some point we just must anticipate and make a decision.
Unless someone can borrow me a newborn, a 1YO and a 3YO to go camping next weekend?
If we remained a couple, it would have been as easy as just keeping the Bronco and tent, and when it was time to change then go for a mid size truck and LP. We bought the full size purely in anticipation on kid 1 arriving in a few months, and are trying to make the best decision purely on that and on having eventually a 2nd kid later and make sure we have a good setup for the few years to come. Not trying to change our setup every year…
Congrats to anyone who made it reading this far.
Dave in AZ
Active member
@jaywo your analysis of vertical space use is pretty good, I think. I love the Tune so far, but am still testing my desires and using totes to store stuff.
I'm leaning towards a side kitchen, accessible when gullwing door is open, with a table out there or hanging shelf. Then also can access that side cabinet from inside, for bad weather. Haven't builf it yet. But youtubers Softroading the West has that, Ronny Dahl has at various times, ASPW at 4xoverland has side kitchen, etc. I like idea of not blocking camper access while cooking, being able to close up camper.
There is a 5ft 10 guy with decked drawers in tune that works fine. Not 6ft6 though!
I'm leaning towards a side kitchen, accessible when gullwing door is open, with a table out there or hanging shelf. Then also can access that side cabinet from inside, for bad weather. Haven't builf it yet. But youtubers Softroading the West has that, Ronny Dahl has at various times, ASPW at 4xoverland has side kitchen, etc. I like idea of not blocking camper access while cooking, being able to close up camper.
There is a 5ft 10 guy with decked drawers in tune that works fine. Not 6ft6 though!
Having 3 kids, all I can tell you is that things are going to change… fast!
You may very well find that mommy doesn’t like many, or even all, of the things she did before. Her required comfort and risk profiles might change dramatically. The long drives and midnight camp arrivals might no longer be tolerated. A toddler has an exploration radius of about 100 feet, so long trips arent really that great. A surprisingly high percentage vomit like the exorcist on long car rides too, meaning trips get closer and shorter! You might find that she doesn’t like all the additional work associated with camping and toddlers together. Or, it might all remain the same. In that case, you won the lottery.
The only thing guaranteed is that promises and plans made during the run-up to kid 1 will change.
I get the turning around thing, that has been the only drawback I’ve seen since moving to an offroad trailer and RTT from the tent just on top of the jeep.
Anyway, it seems like youve considered the trailer option. So, good luck and have fun!
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Thank you.
And yeah you are right. Although I am confident in my wife because she is more adventurous and ************ than me. If anything, she will push more than me for camping.
But I am not confident at all in my vision of what kids will be like. Just like you say, it might be totally different or even a nightmare to spend a few hours in the car.
I guess there is only one way to find out.