brianjwilson
Some sort of lost...
Don't hate, but it's not a pop-up... 
Feel free to scroll down for pictures and come back if you feel like reading my rambling.
I just picked up my new 2011 Travel Lite 700. It is a pretty basic hard side camper, wood frame and aluminum siding. The layout is much like a lot of pop-ups really, but I decided that we would benefit more from a hardside with slightly better insulation, and a queen bed that can stay made up (the wife appreciates that a lot). It has a 15 gallon water tank, furnace, single group 31 flooded deep cycle, 6 gallon water heater w/ outside shower, SMEV stove, fantastic fans, 3 way 3cf fridge, storage for portable toilet, no gray tank. Weight is posted as 1315 lbs with water and propane. They were nice enough to place the knee-wall door (on driver's side) behind the wheel well, add the larger battery, upgraded fantastic vents, place the roof vent on the sidewall instead of roof, and a few other things for me.
I do really like how comfortable the interior is, while being so simple. Insulation upgrades are in order. The floor is framed and insulated, but the side walls on the bottom are not, and neither are the bottom of the "wings" over the bed rail. There are 3 sheets of 1" foam insulation boards (r5) ready for me, as well as a 48" wide roll of reflectix. Thankfully I can add a bunch of insulation without guilt as it weights almost nothing. I need to order LED replacements for the lights too. Solar is probably in the future but not soon. I tend to move around a lot so I will likely be installing a battery isolator and 4-6 gauge wiring to charge the camper battery quicker when driving. I figure that is money/weight better spent for now.
The camper width is 86" (not including the jacks), so about on par with most pop-ups as well, aside from FWC. I would say height is a hair over 7'.
My 06 F150 has several mods, most were done before I planned on a hardside. Bilstein 5100s (front 2"+), 3" rear blocks (replaced 2"), 4.56 gears, Detroit locker rear, E-locker front, 35x12.50R18 BFG KM2s, custom tuning, rubber bed mat, and some other things were done before. Recently I installed Firestone air bags, hellwig rear sway bar and torklift frame mounted tie downs. It seems ironic to be adding air bags and a sway bar that will limit articulation, but at least I've got lockers! haha
The truck/camper handled much better than expected. 350 mile drive home on rural highways (60mph) and freeways (70-75mph). Winds were gusting 25-35mph. Surprisingly that didn't prove to be a problem at all. Passing semis was hardly even noticeable. On the decent roads I could pretty well forget that the camper was even back there. I even averaged 12mpg at those speeds!
Anyway that's enough for now...
Sorry this picture is poor quality, it is a cell phone picture from the drive home.
Hopefully I can get a lot of the stickers off as it warms up, they have only been on for a few days so it should be too bad if I try to pull them off.
Despite my best efforts, I made a mess out of the grass getting the camper around back last night after all the rain.
Feel free to scroll down for pictures and come back if you feel like reading my rambling.
I just picked up my new 2011 Travel Lite 700. It is a pretty basic hard side camper, wood frame and aluminum siding. The layout is much like a lot of pop-ups really, but I decided that we would benefit more from a hardside with slightly better insulation, and a queen bed that can stay made up (the wife appreciates that a lot). It has a 15 gallon water tank, furnace, single group 31 flooded deep cycle, 6 gallon water heater w/ outside shower, SMEV stove, fantastic fans, 3 way 3cf fridge, storage for portable toilet, no gray tank. Weight is posted as 1315 lbs with water and propane. They were nice enough to place the knee-wall door (on driver's side) behind the wheel well, add the larger battery, upgraded fantastic vents, place the roof vent on the sidewall instead of roof, and a few other things for me.
I do really like how comfortable the interior is, while being so simple. Insulation upgrades are in order. The floor is framed and insulated, but the side walls on the bottom are not, and neither are the bottom of the "wings" over the bed rail. There are 3 sheets of 1" foam insulation boards (r5) ready for me, as well as a 48" wide roll of reflectix. Thankfully I can add a bunch of insulation without guilt as it weights almost nothing. I need to order LED replacements for the lights too. Solar is probably in the future but not soon. I tend to move around a lot so I will likely be installing a battery isolator and 4-6 gauge wiring to charge the camper battery quicker when driving. I figure that is money/weight better spent for now.
The camper width is 86" (not including the jacks), so about on par with most pop-ups as well, aside from FWC. I would say height is a hair over 7'.
My 06 F150 has several mods, most were done before I planned on a hardside. Bilstein 5100s (front 2"+), 3" rear blocks (replaced 2"), 4.56 gears, Detroit locker rear, E-locker front, 35x12.50R18 BFG KM2s, custom tuning, rubber bed mat, and some other things were done before. Recently I installed Firestone air bags, hellwig rear sway bar and torklift frame mounted tie downs. It seems ironic to be adding air bags and a sway bar that will limit articulation, but at least I've got lockers! haha
The truck/camper handled much better than expected. 350 mile drive home on rural highways (60mph) and freeways (70-75mph). Winds were gusting 25-35mph. Surprisingly that didn't prove to be a problem at all. Passing semis was hardly even noticeable. On the decent roads I could pretty well forget that the camper was even back there. I even averaged 12mpg at those speeds!
Anyway that's enough for now...
Sorry this picture is poor quality, it is a cell phone picture from the drive home.
Hopefully I can get a lot of the stickers off as it warms up, they have only been on for a few days so it should be too bad if I try to pull them off.
Despite my best efforts, I made a mess out of the grass getting the camper around back last night after all the rain.
