Pop up camper questions!

[Thegtwyo86]

Hi everyone. I'm looking into buying and modifying or building a camper soon and was wondering if a pop up camper would be able to hold up being an expedition trailer. I live in Florida so there isn't going to be any really crazy rock crawling done with it just maybe some beach camping and some modest trail riding. The a/c is the biggest plus side to having a pop up because of the hot summers here in Florida and being able to hook up to power and crank up the ac, will make camping in the summer better for the wife and i.I have a 2001 jeep cherokee with 3in lift on 31in tires and would like to match the jeep in lift and tire size.Just wondering if it can be done and just looking for some info and ideas.
Thanks James

 

[xkid]

I just bought a 2007 Fleetwood cobalt offroad pop up. It more a name but it does have Nicer tires on it and looks cool in grey.
Most pop ups are white. Google it and you may see some.

 

[TheThom]

There are a couple of ways to go

1) Buy the off-road version of a new pop-up. Most feel they aren't super tough but they are better than stock PUPs. Here is a site where some folks start with a pretty nice stock off-road PUP

2) Buy an old one and spend a lot of time and some money making it custom. To get something that rides even with an 01 XJ with a lifts and 31' tires that's likely what you'll need to do.

Here are some examples:

-The first is mine. It's not very good but I try hard. I have a 2001 Jeep Cherokee with a 2" lift and 31" tires. I bought an old Starcraft camper and ended up tearing it down to the frame. Thread link here

-The second is psychosquirrel's. He found an old apache tent camper and is customizing it. KILLER build, but it won't be AC friendly. Thread link here

-Third is a great build by Jet noise. He got a Coleman Colorado and spruced it up (also not likely to be AC friendly- you need a hard roof for traditional AC) Thread link here

-Texas TJ also has a nce Coleman Colorado build thread here

-Atoyot has one of the king-daddy of all builds. The pics have expired on some threads, but I found it on mud. Thread link here



Another cool option could be something like the Adrenalin posted here not a classic PUP but awesome.

OK, I've been researching this for almost 2 years and you just saved yourself months of looking on-line if you looked at that collection of threads. I only posted threads that were either done or near-funcitonal. A LOT of them have stalled out in the halfway done phase.

As far as which brand PUP and what you find, I'm happy to offer my opinion, for instance, I would choose a Coleman over Starcraft knowing what I know now about how the frame and lift system is integrated.

Good luck.

Thom

 

[geeze]

On craiglist here in PA, I saw a older pop-up that was similar sized to the Colorado. It only had 1 fold out like the Colorado, but had a hard top like the new popups that you can put an AC unit on. I think it was made by fleetwood or Rockwood, and was called the GAS$aver i think. When it was on craiglist I had found info about, but since then, have not had any luck finding it again. Anyone ever hear of a camper called the Gas$aver?

 

[Mark Harley]

There are some nice factory models out there. I would research what you like than search for one.
Of as others have done modify an older model with a lift and bigger tires.

 

[fullofdays]

Chalet and Aliner are two hard sided options. Really depends on what types of trails you are planning to traverse.

 

[TheThom]

Chalet and Aliner are two hard sided options. Really depends on what types of trails you are planning to traverse.

^^^And your budget. New campers are pricey

 

[eggman918]

I was lucky enough to find a 1958 Alaskan 8' pop up and built a trailer to fit it and my truck,but my truck is a 3/4 ton crewcab so I had a bit more leeway with trailer weight.
The trailer weighs a bit over 3,000 lbs loaded but the truck is well over 7,500 so it pulls well we dont do any rock crawling but do a lot of trails some fairly rough the Alaskan
is holding up well so far.

 

[Thegtwyo86]

Thanks for all the info guys. Off the top of my head my starting budget is going to be around 5000 to start with. I was thinking of buying one and putting my jeeps leaf springs under it because they are only lifted with a helper leaf and getting new 3.5 lift springs for my jeep. Will I be able to do that or will a new frame have to be made?
Thanks again

 

[Thegtwyo86]

I know spring hangers would have to be made but would the frame hold up?

 

[eggman918]

What is the frame made out of and what design did they use? One reason my trailer is so heavy is I over built it the old camper is heavy and I plan on a under trailer fuel tank
then add 2 batteries propane and gear you are asking a lot of it.I used 2x2x.250 tubing with the tongue 1 piece the whole length the 2 side rails and 4 cross bars 1 at either end and
2 spaced where the spring hangers sit,it does not flex too much on the trail but it will still flex if I use the jacks to level it side to side too much so now if it is too tilted I dig a hole foe the high tire to set in and
only use the jacks to fine tune and support it.My ex son in law is in the process of lifting and re springing his camp trailer to better fit his XJ but has not finished it so I can't speak to how well his works,
but he has said that it worked well on the trails but he was limited by lack of ground clearance so it has not seen any truly rough trails yet.

 

[Thegtwyo86]

Thanks for the Info. From what I've seen Online, it looks like most of the trailer frames are built with c-channel. I haven't decided yet as to what brand trailer to get,do you guys have any thoughts on older brands that parts will still be available like the canvas and odds and ends that ware out?

 

[Thegtwyo86]

Btw eggman918 I like your setup

 

[TheThom]

Thanks for the Info. From what I've seen Online, it looks like most of the trailer frames are built with c-channel. I haven't decided yet as to what brand trailer to get,do you guys have any thoughts on older brands that parts will still be available like the canvas and odds and ends that ware out?

You can find parts for most of the old brands. Canvas replacement folks can be flexible too. The best one is Bear Creek Canvas. They have a ton in stock (they already had a template for my 77 Starcraft) or you can send them the original and they'll use it as a template. I'd plan on $800 for a new canvas though. That's kind of the standard.

Old Starcraft and Coleman parts are pretty easy to find. There are some specific retailers that stock them.

 

[Thegtwyo86]

Ok thanks man I found a 1985 Coleman for 550 obo on Craigslist that has no canvas is that something to stay away from?