good pop-up camper

JHa6av8r

Adventurer
Off the top of my head, Four Wheel Campers, All Terrain Campers, Hallmark, Phoenix, North Star will get you a good start with good quality, range of prices, and different construction techniques.
 

subterran

Adventurer
We presume that you mean a pop-up truck camper, and not a tow-behind pop up, right? If so, JHa6av8r has it quite correct, although I can add a few:
Palomino
Outfitter
Flip-pac
Pastime
Shadow Cruiser
All make a pop-up truck camper. Good Luck!
 

BUZZ

New member
yes,I meant a pop-up truck camper,does Palomino,have a model called a Dakota.Also, does the canvas sweat at times in these campers
 

tanglefoot

ExPoseur
Palomino's pop-up truck product line has usually has the "Bronco" name attached to it, but they do make size variants to fit Dodge Dakota trucks, if that's what you mean. Now it looks like they only make the "Backpack Edition" and the "Real-Lite" lines (with Dodge Dakota-fit models as well).

http://www.palominorv.com/TruckCampers/

The soft-wall material can sweat, but usually just in cold-weather use with a heater inside.

No camper product line is notoriously bad (that I know of). They're just all different in their construction, floor plans, features, weight, size, price, etc.
 
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BUZZ

New member
BRIAN,WHAT MAKE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT (91469074) I saw that someone had a Palomino camper with the Dakota model,they probably meant on a Dakota truck.
 

1stDeuce

Explorer
I've not yet had the canvas sweat like a tent, but I leave one roof vent cracked to let out any excess humidity, and living in CO, there isn't much humidity to start with. I have had the roof vent covers sweat when I forgot to crack one, but that's with two people and two large dogs and the heater running all night.
:)
 

bob91yj

Resident **************
I have a Sun Lite. The company is out of business now. Mine has held up exceptionally well. When I started doing pop-up camper research (after my purchase, the deal for mine came out of the blue), I discovered that my new pride and joy would be reduced to kindling after one trip down a fire road due to it's wood frame construction, at least according to the interweb lore.

I'll admit that I cringe a bit on particularly rough roads, and I have also re-evaluated the difficulty of the trail I'm willing to attempt, but the camper has been trouble free so far. I think my expectations were a little higher than what I'd be willing to put any truck/camper through, regardless of construction material, now that I own one. We've had ours for a little over three years now, I'd guess we have 100 nights in it, maybe 500 miles of dirt roads, and a few thousand of Baja's paved roads.:sombrero:, add in a couple of years of chasing for a desert race team, often at remote pits down miserable roads. I'm fortunate enough that I also have a Jeep. When base camping and intending to go exploring, we'll flat tow the Jeep.

189122_1775156870509_1586948477_1693589_2990279_n.jpg


I live/play in the SoCal/Baja deserts for the most part, so AC was almost a requirement...we lie to people and tell them it was for our dogs, and now our grandchildren add to the lie. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have installed a small home style unit in the rear window, rather than on the roof. My roof mount unit is designed for pop-up campers/trailers, and the roof of my camper is/was claimed to be rated for it. I half expect to find it laying in the middle of the floor after going down rough dirt roads. So far it has held up with no issues. The window rattler would have been half the cost
 

BUZZ

New member
NICE SET UP,I AM THINKING OF BUYING A CHEVY 4X4 WITH A 6 FOOT BED.I LIKE THE LOOKS OF THIS CAMPER,(bob91vi) on the chevy.I LIKE TO TRAVEL,FISH AND HUNT.CAN SOMEONE GIVE ME THERE THOUGHTS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A POP UP CAMPER.ALUMINUM OR WOOD FRAME CONSTRUCTION ALSO I DO NOT WANT A CAMPER TO STICK OUT PASS THE SIDE OF THE TRUCK,IF POSSIBLE.
 

tanglefoot

ExPoseur
Nearly all campers are wider than the trucks they are designed to fit on. In order to have the camper be pretty even with the bedsides, you need to put a camper designed for a compact truck into a full-size truck (like Bob91yj) or have the camper custom-built (Phoenix has built campers the same width as the bedsides). If using a compact truck camper in a full-size truck, the camper usually needs to be raised by a platform or spacers in the truck bed so that the cab-over portion clears the truck cab.

As for frame material, aluminum framing usually results in a camper that is lighter and better able to survive the bumps and flexing of off-road travel. Wood-framed campers usually hold up just fine to off-roading, though, and they're usually more roomy inside.
 

craig333

Expedition Leader
I prefer an aluminum frame myself. Durability and light weight. However many people have done just fine with wood frame campers.

Buzz, I realize you're new to this, try and avoid using all caps. Thats considered shouting and should be avoided.
 

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