[Malaki86]

Just thought I'd post on here about my new purchase. Earlier this year, my wife and I decided we wanted a small camper that we could pull with our S-10 Blazer. For about a month, I was keeping an eye on the local "for sale" papers, craigslist, etc for one in our price range. I found a couple of pop-ups listed, but every one of them were sold by the time I saw the ad and called. After the month or so, I pretty much gave up on the idea and planned on buying a newer one next year when I would have the money to finance one.

On Friday, my last day of my training in Murrysville, PA, my trainer and I were BS'ing while driving between deliveries and I mentioned buying a camper. He said that if a popup would work, his father had one that he might be interested in selling since he hadn't used it for a couple of years. I told him to give him a call to see. I wasn't expecting it to be in my price range. Boy, was I wrong. When he called and asked his dad, he said that he'd sell it for $250. I immediately told him it was sold. I had no idea what shape it was in, what year it was, etc. I just know what these things are going for and he was asking about 20% of the going rate ($1,500-2,000 in this area for a used popup).

Yesterday I took the money out of savings and me and the wife went to check it out. Again, I still had no clue what year it was, or the condition of it, other than that it slept 6 and had new tires on it when he parked it 2 years ago.

The camper is a 1986 Coleman. Even though the tires (and rims) were new, they'll need to be replaced in the next year or 2 because it was parked on dirt and they're starting to dry rot. No problem there - $60 per tire with rim at Wal Mart. The canvas is in decent condition for a 25+ year old popup. There are a couple of small holes in the canvas, and a few holes in the screening. But, nothing that a canvas repair kit won't take care of for a few years. The screen can be patched with some extra screening and some black thread. I need to work on the lights because only 2 of the 4 lights on it work. Haven't looked yet, but hoping it's just bad bulbs. Even if the lights need rewired/replaced, it'll be under $100 to fix those.

As for the appliances, the stove works (still has a full propane bottle on it), as well as the furnace. It doesn't have AC, unfortunately, but I'll live. The fridge isn't working either, but that isn't a necessary item since I mainly rely on coolers anyway (can't put much beer in those tiny fridges). The lift system for the top is working perfectly. The cable system for the lift is completely enclosed inside of the camper 'box', so no rust on any of it. The beds pull out with essentially no effort at all. The camper also didn't come with an awning, but I can get a 'bag' awning, which has all of the poles and such with it that, when is stored, stays attached to the camper during transport, for about $190 from JCWhitney. My brother had one, but he through it away because it had a little bit of mold on it. He's a big dummy some times.

I checked about replacement canvas for it as well. A complete canvas replacement costs $825. Depending on how things go with it this year, and possibly next, I may invest in that. Replacing the canvas would gain an extra 10-15 years to the life of the camper. Plus, putting $825 into the canvas would make it worth an easy $2,000 to sell if we decide to upgrade to a larger camper.

The only prior experience I had with a popup camper was my brothers old Starcraft. It was a, I think, 1975 model, and it was a nightmare. My camper, the Coleman, has an empty weight of 1,000lbs. My brothers empty camper's empty weight was 2,500lbs. His cable system for the lift was entirely underneath of the camper and just loved the rust. He replaced the cables at least 3 times in the 10 years he owned it and the last time we used it, every cable on it snapped while trying to lower the top (2 broke when we were raising it - I had to climb inside and lift the top by hand while my wife cranked up the opposite end). The screen door on his was 2-piece and you had to open 2 latches to go in/out. I fell over the lower section getting out one night after a few too many beers. Not fun. The screen door on mine is 2 piece, but when it's put together, there's no way for the sections to come apart by accident.

Now I just have to start buying the camping gear, starting with a grill. Pretty sure I'm going with the Coleman Roadtrip portable gas grill. Ahhhhhh

[Chunker]

I bought a small popup a couple years ago. They have their good and bad sides. They don't work well in extreme colder temps (below 30) unless you insulate them. Get a buddy heater unless you like a noisy electric running at night. They are light and easy to tow. I tow mine with a Ranger with a 600lb quad in the back of it no problem. here's a couple websites you might be interested in.
PopUpPortal
GO-RV.com - RV On-line Catalog
www.norcoind.com

[GMAN]

Congratulations on your purchase. It sounds like you got a good deal. I have never owned a pop up, but have owned a couple of travel trailers. Sometimes, I do miss camping.

[Malaki86]

I'd like to eventually get a larger camper, probably in the 24' range. But, before I can do that, I have to buy a truck/suv that's capable of towing it. I was told that I can easily tow an 18' camper with my Blazer, but I'd be too worried about wind hitting from the side. The Blazer has plenty of pulling power (4.3l v6) and I can put trailer brakes on it.

[Mr. Ford95]

Mal, it doesn't matter what is pulling a camper if the wind is strong enough. I've seen dually pickups turned over. Your main concern with the vehicle you choose for pulling is that it's rated for pulling, you could overdo the tranny real easy if it's not for pulling. Good deal on the popup but real men don't go camping with a camper

[Malaki86]

I've found myself sleeping in 2" of water inside of a tent - I'm done with that.

My Blazer has the towing package on it, which consists of a larger radiator plus separate oil and transmission coolers. I know it could handle pulling/stopping the weight, but I've seen too many vehicles getting whipped side to side on the highway, which is what I want to avoid.

Plus, it gives me a good reason to buy a full size pickup - LOL

[GMAN]

I don't think that you will have a problem pulling a popup with your V6. I don't think that I would want to pull it cross country, but with it only weighing around 1,000 pounds it should not present much of a problem. It also has a low profile and that will reduce the wind resistance. If you buy a full size travel trailer you need to have at least a 350 hp engine with a transmission cooler and towing package.

[Mr. Ford95]

A lot of times that cracking of the whip effect is due to weight being in the wrong place on those campers. Not enough tongue weight and it's going to dance around once you get above 35-45. People will put all their gear they are taking with them in the camper instead of the vehicle, they usually put the heavier stuff right on top of the camper axle instead of towards the front of the axle and proceed to do a little jig going down the road.

[GMAN]

Ideally, you need about 60% of the weight in front of the axle. A Reese hitch can help prevent so much whipping of the trailer, but just moving the weight forward can make a lot of difference. One of the travel trailers that I owned had a 500 pound tongue weight and the other had 950 pound tongue weight. I owned a Reese hitch with both trailers and it made a lot of difference in keeping the trailer from swaying and distributing the weight. The hitch had sway bars built in. Reese hitches are not cheap, but well worth the money.

[Windwalker]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ford95

A lot of times that cracking of the whip effect is due to weight being in the wrong place on those campers. Not enough tongue weight and it's going to dance around once you get above 35-45. People will put all their gear they are taking with them in the camper instead of the vehicle, they usually put the heavier stuff right on top of the camper axle instead of towards the front of the axle and proceed to do a little jig going down the road.

Generally, that "jig" (or WATOOSI as we used to call it back home) comes from having weight behind the axle. If you just put the weight over the axle, you won't have a lot of trouble. But put any of it behind the trailer axle and the fun starts.

I got passed, one day, by an S-10 blazer pulling an 8 snowmobile trailer. And, it had 8 machines (plus fuel cans, etc) on it. He didn't get very far ahead of me before he jackknifed it into the median. But with a load like that, even a pickup would have a problem. Our tractor trailers are designed as they are so that we don't get that effect. The proportion of weight behind the trailer axle is what generates the problems as any kind of speed.