My new pop-up
- Thread starter Umtaneum
- Start date
I'm going to post my decision making process that led me to this new camper, all the features that I love, the ones I am not happy about, and the build of the truck and the offroad trailer I am getting started on.
My kid and I are headed to the Yukon and Alaska next summer and I want to be able to go wherever I want and do whatever I want with self sufficiency. We'll see how that goes.
My kid and I are headed to the Yukon and Alaska next summer and I want to be able to go wherever I want and do whatever I want with self sufficiency. We'll see how that goes.
Nice looking camper! That is going to be a hell of a fun adventure with your kid. Alaska and Yukon are beautiful. I would love to hear the reasons you chose a phoenix over other campers (four wheel, outfitter, hallmark, northstar, etc). I am guessing customization was a big reason.
Yes, customization was what did it.
First, I was looking at getting a bigger, heavier truck and building that up to carry a very large camper, either hard sided or pop-up. I drove a couple of Unimogs, I LOVE those but the price tag is a whole lot more than I wanted to spend right now. Then I tried out some Mistubishi Fuso's, those would have worked but the weight capacity isn't that much higher than my F350 (beefed up), and there was a lot of fab time going to be required to fit anything I wanted to use to the chassis. I then ended up driving a bunch of old F550's, 2001 and 2002 models with the 7.3. The plan was to add super singles (I hate dually tires off-road), extra fuel tankage, and a big hard side if I bought the F550. All of these solutions were looking like $50k to $70k by the time I got everything I wanted. They also required another truck, with another power train to maintain and insure. Even if I built the camper myself, I was looking at a minimum of $50k and a year of work. So I started seriously looking at customizing my current F350 and adding a new pop up.
First, I was looking at getting a bigger, heavier truck and building that up to carry a very large camper, either hard sided or pop-up. I drove a couple of Unimogs, I LOVE those but the price tag is a whole lot more than I wanted to spend right now. Then I tried out some Mistubishi Fuso's, those would have worked but the weight capacity isn't that much higher than my F350 (beefed up), and there was a lot of fab time going to be required to fit anything I wanted to use to the chassis. I then ended up driving a bunch of old F550's, 2001 and 2002 models with the 7.3. The plan was to add super singles (I hate dually tires off-road), extra fuel tankage, and a big hard side if I bought the F550. All of these solutions were looking like $50k to $70k by the time I got everything I wanted. They also required another truck, with another power train to maintain and insure. Even if I built the camper myself, I was looking at a minimum of $50k and a year of work. So I started seriously looking at customizing my current F350 and adding a new pop up.
I used to have a StarCraft pop up. We got a tremendous amount of use out of that camper, but it had a lot of problems. The lifting mechanism was never robust enough. The fabric leaked, especially it leaked dust in high wind areas. The area under the cab-over rotted away, twice. The interior layout was moronic, with a dinette bunk that was too short for anyone but a small child to sleep on and a shower enclosure that forced you to sit on the toilet with your knees out in the central hallway to take a shower. I eventually gave it to my brother, when my dad gave me his old 9'6" Bigfoot. My brother took it to Burning Man at least 3 times, maybe more. He used it almost as much as I had, until he retired it a couple of years ago. It's sitting on a flatbed trailer in my construction company boneyard.
Rebuilding that StarCraft was a possibility, but it was never going to fix the stupid layout or the weak roof mechanism unless I totally reconstructed it, essentially a new custom camper inside the StarCraft shell. It's just not something I wanted to do this time around.
The Bigfoot is too heavy and too high for some of the places I like to go. My dad bought it brand new in 90, as a leftover 89 model. We hauled it into a lot of places it didn't belong, on a lot of bird hunting trips and remote fishing trips into some pretty ugly roads. It has the fiberglass damage to prove it. It STILL camps pretty nice, as long as nobody over 6' tall needs to sleep on the dinette, and as long as you don't mind swaying all over the place on a two-track, praying you don't tip all the way over.
Rebuilding that StarCraft was a possibility, but it was never going to fix the stupid layout or the weak roof mechanism unless I totally reconstructed it, essentially a new custom camper inside the StarCraft shell. It's just not something I wanted to do this time around.
The Bigfoot is too heavy and too high for some of the places I like to go. My dad bought it brand new in 90, as a leftover 89 model. We hauled it into a lot of places it didn't belong, on a lot of bird hunting trips and remote fishing trips into some pretty ugly roads. It has the fiberglass damage to prove it. It STILL camps pretty nice, as long as nobody over 6' tall needs to sleep on the dinette, and as long as you don't mind swaying all over the place on a two-track, praying you don't tip all the way over.
Next, I tried calling various manufacturers, and looking at their products if I could find one locally. FWC was of course the first place I went. They make a great camper, but they had no interest in building me something longer than 8', or with a bathroom/shower in a sensible configuration and in a sensible place. I am NOT going to take my dining table down every time I want to shower. You pretty much get what you get with a FWC. I thought long and hard about buying a shell and finishing the interior myself, in fact if they would have been amenable to building me a 9'6" shell that is exactly what I would have done. Most of the other manufacturers don't even offer the level of customization that Four Wheel does. I spent a lot of time on the phone and email with Four Wheel, but in the end it just wasn't enough of what I wanted, the way I wanted it. I confess, I didn't think to call Hallmark until AFTER I had already ordered my Phoenix and my cousin happened to mention the old Hallmark they had back when I had the StarCraft. I have no idea if Hallmark would have built me a 9'6" camper or shell with a layout I could live with.
So here we are, with the new Phoenix. Overall quality level seems very good, especially the outside envelope. We've been through a few typical NW downpours already, both with the top up and with it down, and no water intrusion has shown it's ugly head. This is with the exception of right at the corners of the soft side windows, if water runs down the softside with the roof up, you get drips. I have never yet seen a soft vinyl window in any kind of canvas structure (boat top, sailboat dodger, etc.) that didn't get drips at this point. I'll get some pictures of the inside to post. The cabinet work is very nice, I went with a clear finished maple plywood. There are two cabinet doors that are not adjusted correctly or the hardware is sloppy. I have a cabinet shop here on site, so we can fix that in about a half hour. I didn't notice either problem until after I had left the Denver area, or I am sure Phoenix would have fixed them. The electric lift mechanism and the top are what really impressed me. They seem to be hell-for-stout, much more robust than any similar popup I have ever been in. I look forward to the first snowfall while camping, or wind storm. Given where we like to go and when we do it, the wind storm is likely to occur first.
locrwln
Expedition Leader
Looking forward to your experience and review with your new camper.
You will enjoy your Yukon and Alaska adventure for sure!! My only advice is to give yourself plenty of time. My wife and I drove all the way to Prudhoe Bay in 2010 and we rushed. Don't. Another bit of experience, especially on the Alaskan Highway. When you see frost heave with lots of skid marks in front of it, those are the big ones! Most people seem to hit it with the tow vehicle, panic and lock up the brakes, causing the trailer brakes to skid. No skids, usually not as bad.
Jack
You will enjoy your Yukon and Alaska adventure for sure!! My only advice is to give yourself plenty of time. My wife and I drove all the way to Prudhoe Bay in 2010 and we rushed. Don't. Another bit of experience, especially on the Alaskan Highway. When you see frost heave with lots of skid marks in front of it, those are the big ones! Most people seem to hit it with the tow vehicle, panic and lock up the brakes, causing the trailer brakes to skid. No skids, usually not as bad.
Jack
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Thanks! And thanks, Jack, for the highway advice.
The first thing you notice about this camper, for good and for ill, is that it is HUGE for a pop-up. The cab over goes all the way forward on the crew cab. With the top up I have over 7' of head room. I am 6'4", and I am seriously considering putting in a raised floor in the galley area, essentially a small basement.
The galley counter top is too high. I'm not sure where in the design process this happened. It's OK for me or my kid (he's only an inch shorter than me) but everyone else who has been in it complains. The small basement/step up would make this counter usable by the general public, too.
It weighs about 2200 lbs. wet. Up to 2300 if you load the 30 gallon water tank all the way up. I had hoped to be a little lighter than this, but I think I just added too many goodies. The truck handles it easy, the center of gravity is nice and low, and the balance between the front and back axle is very close to 50/50. I ran the air bags at 60lbs all the way back home, that was a little too high. I'm running them at 45lbs right now, to see how I like that. I may back it off to under 40.
I live at the end of about 3 miles of logging road, so I get a mini-offroad adventure every time I drive in or out. This is helping me fine tune stuff.
The first thing you notice about this camper, for good and for ill, is that it is HUGE for a pop-up. The cab over goes all the way forward on the crew cab. With the top up I have over 7' of head room. I am 6'4", and I am seriously considering putting in a raised floor in the galley area, essentially a small basement.
The galley counter top is too high. I'm not sure where in the design process this happened. It's OK for me or my kid (he's only an inch shorter than me) but everyone else who has been in it complains. The small basement/step up would make this counter usable by the general public, too.
It weighs about 2200 lbs. wet. Up to 2300 if you load the 30 gallon water tank all the way up. I had hoped to be a little lighter than this, but I think I just added too many goodies. The truck handles it easy, the center of gravity is nice and low, and the balance between the front and back axle is very close to 50/50. I ran the air bags at 60lbs all the way back home, that was a little too high. I'm running them at 45lbs right now, to see how I like that. I may back it off to under 40.
I live at the end of about 3 miles of logging road, so I get a mini-offroad adventure every time I drive in or out. This is helping me fine tune stuff.
Looking back from the cabover bunk. Sorry for the wadded up blue blanket on the dinette. The upholstery fabric looked grey on the supplier's website when I picked it, came out tan. We may be re-covering, I'm waiting to see if it grows on me. The solid surface counter tops are awesome, and I am so happy with the maple wood. It's just that damn tan. Heh heh.
MYTACO
Adventurer
My thread wasn't meant to dissuade people from buying a Phoenix TC--just educate them before committing a ton of money like I did. I never want a fellow comrade to go in blind. The company has a place in the TC market. While I believe their quality and craftsmanship could use considerable improvement, I completely understand the niche they serve.