Pop up vs hard side?

[fl0w3n]

Never had a slide in, considering getting one for primarily family camping. Wife, baby, dog. Mostly state parks / KoA style, with occasional fire road off grid.

Two primary reasons for considering:

1. I’m thinking it will be easier than loading up the tent and gear like we do now, just slide in and strap down, throw food in and peel out. Easier at camp too, or easier to move from spot to spot each night. Is this true or am I missing some steps?

2. Weather, hopefully AC or at least a fan system that can make heat more bearable and a heater that makes cold more tolerable. Opens up more seasons to go out VS a tent.

I like the idea of the pop up for low profile and low CoG, but it adds steps once you’re at camp to pop it up and being canvas side does it really offer better protection from weather VS a tent? Is AC in a pop up even a thing?

Can I fit a “long bed” model in my short bed 250 with the tailgate down?

 

[Clb]

Realize how putting everything away for a quick run to anywhere brings the suck quickly.

2
Popup is a 50/50 deal over a rigid
Its easier than a tent ect if you camp heavily.

Longbed question...
Got a tape measure?
Cog and rear axle loads need to be assessed

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Fwiw, I've had both, a 96 8.5' hard side with everything but a generator and now an 02 7' pop up with a heater, fridge and cold water tank/sink.

Never had a slide in, considering getting one for primarily family camping. Wife, baby, dog. Mostly state parks / KoA style, with occasional fire road off grid.

Two primary reasons for considering:

1. I’m thinking it will be easier than loading up the tent and gear like we do now, just slide in and strap down, throw food in and peel out. Easier at camp too, or easier to move from spot to spot each night. Is this true or am I missing some steps?

No, they're awesome for this and obviously still being able to pull a trailer.

Not just loading, but unloading after the trip is way easier.

2. Weather, hopefully AC or at least a fan system that can make heat more bearable and a heater that makes cold more tolerable. Opens up more seasons to go out VS a tent.

Heater rocks either one, better in the hardsided obviously, but our pop up is nothing special at all, some of the newer ones have better insulation in the soft sides.

AC would absolutely freeze out our hard sided camper, but never really used it much as we always tried to camp where it wasn't hot. Plus it had to be plugged in to work.

The nice thing about the pop up is that you can unzip 360* and get really good airflow. Way better than a hard sided.

I like the idea of the pop up for low profile and low CoG, but it adds steps once you’re at camp to pop it up and being canvas side does it really offer better protection from weather VS a tent? Is AC in a pop up even a thing?

Don't sweat set up, it takes like 5 mins by yourself to pop up.

Yes, it's way more insulated than a tent. Everything but a 12" section is still hard sided, and like I mentioned, they offer more insulated canvas on newer models.

No idea on ac, I wouldn't worry too much unless you plan to do a lot of desert camping?

Can I fit a “long bed” model in my short bed 250 with the tailgate down?

Typically yes, and 8-8.5' campers work well in short beds.



Overall, I do like the pop up for getting into more off the beaten path areas. The hardsided was also aweful for fuel mileage, like almost 50% reduction towing or not, where the pop up of more like 20%

For us, we don't care too much about amenities as we look at it as just an upgrade from a tent and don't care for rv campgrounds at all. If you want a shitter, shower, heat, a/c and plan to mostly do campgrounds, definitely go hardsided. They can still do dirt roads just fine, but have to watch for low branches and anything that rocks the truck.

Even myself, I'm still not sold. The current pop up was just a good deal and definitely isn't what I'd pick, but I do like the low profile. I think I'd like to get a newer one eventually with a toilet and shower.

 

[BustedCrank]

I went with a popup to be able to get into more places without smashing the camper into tree branches, etc...
The way mine is outfitted, it is about 1600lbs dry, I know guys with the big fancy hard sided ones that more than double that.
If it has a decent heater, it'll keep you plenty warm, even into freezing temps. We don't even run the heater while we sleep, and we stay warm enough in cold temps. If it doesn't come with a heater, you could throw one of those diesel heaters in it that are all the rage these days, fairly cheap to do.

Worst part about the popup, is the condensation on the fabric just like a tent. Every morning we take a couple towels to wipe down the inside. Will open the windows up and crank the heater for 15 minutes or so as well. Might not be as bad in other parts of the country where it's drier. But, around here, when you wake up and it's in the 20s or 30s, and you have four people sleeping inside, there's a shit ton of condensation every morning. That said, I'd still take my popup over a hard sided. Or buy an Alaskan popup.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

I haven't had the pop up in real cold temps, but my hard sided was the same way with moisture. Now way around it when it's a small space.

Wieght is a good point, I skipped over. My hard side was ~4k lbs, and the pop up is like 2k lbs both loaded.

 

[fl0w3n]

The weight is a good point, I actually ran my truck over the scale this weekend with the boat in tow just to see what I was dealing with.

I’ve got just about 1,600 lbs of payload leftover with the boat in tow, but I didn’t get a chance to weigh cad trailer and jeep but I’d imagine it’s a bit more than boat.

Basically sounds like pop up is the way to go if I don’t want to stupidly overload this thing.

 

[Curbkrawler]

sounds like pop is your answer with 1600 lbs of payload left. My hardside is around 3k dry. Add 45 gallons of freshwater, propane, the generator, and all of my wife's shit and it seems like we easily add 500-700 lbs. Love our hard side but I am definitely limited to where i can take it given the height of the damn thing. I've always told my wife that if we ever get a class A one day, i want to sell our hard side and get a pop up for back country camping.

 

[JD Mark]

GVWR stickers are just suggestions.

 

[Burns]

Alaskan Camper 8' CO

 

[welndmn]

I have owned a few cabovers and there is no perfect one.

We all want that light weight popup, it's stremlined, gets better MPG, looks cool, weighs less so you can off road it... BUT.
It's still a tent. Going places like Moonrocks and KOH where there is wind really sucks. The storage in the pop up also sucks as you loose the whole upper bunk and bed area to store all the gear your family needs so they can "Get away from it all".

I liked the 8' Lance campers the most, hard side, small 6-9k A/C unit so a 2k Honda runs them no problem.

 

[pcorssmit]

The storage in the pop up also sucks as you loose the whole upper bunk and bed area to store all the gear your family needs so they can "Get away from it all".

We had a couple of older 8' pop us back in the day. This was one of the gripes we had, was loading gear in them for the ride. First thing we had to do upon arrival was remove all of the totes so we could crawl in and pop it up. It also really sucks if you need something in the first tote you loaded...or worse yet, you can't remember for sure if it's in there.

 

[JD Mark]

Never had a slide in, but we started camping with a pop-up camper.

Holy crap does that get old quick. I realize it isn't as much work with a slide-in, but packing and unpacking all the crap on the floor just so we could get it setup.

We did put an AC unit on it, definitely cooled things off and made it bearable.

Only did that for a couple years before buying a bumper pull hard sided.

 

[welndmn]

I should also add if it rains and you're in a pop up, you need to go home and pop it back up to let it dry for a few days.

 

[Sceep]

Skoolie.

Fairly easy to convert the black one to 4wd.

 

[Sceep]

Or amberlamps.

 

[fl0w3n]

So any major difference / reason to go with one brand or another when shopping used?

Palomino, Four Wheel Camper, Lance?

 

[YotaAtieToo]

So any major difference / reason to go with one brand or another when shopping used?

Palomino, Four Wheel Camper, Lance?

Palomino is slightly better than trash

Lance seems decent

Four wheel is supposed to be the best built, they hold their value like crazy. They're made in yuba city, CA Fwiw also.

Four wheel doesn't have as many options as others. They're typically pretty basic and I don't think a shower or shittier is even an option.

 

[fl0w3n]

Palomino is slightly better than trash

Lance seems decent

Four wheel is supposed to be the best built, they hold their value like crazy. They're made in yuba city, CA Fwiw also.

Four wheel doesn't have as many options as others. They're typically pretty basic and I don't think a shower or shittier is even an option.

Huh, thanks, I seem to recall some random opinion from a while back that Palomino was good.

I knew Four wheel was local, and I’ve researched them before since first thinking about this years ago, but wasn’t sure if I should open up my options or just stick with trying to find a used one from their lineup

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Huh, thanks, I seem to recall some random opinion from a while back that Palomino was good.

I knew Four wheel was local, and I’ve researched them before since first thinking about this years ago, but wasn’t sure if I should open up my options or just stick with trying to find a used one from their lineup

Mine is a palomino, that's how I know

They're owned by forest river who is the bottom of the barrel RV manufacturer.

There is also Northstar that I believe is decent?

 

[maveric]

Or amberlamps.

No way in hell would I want to make a camper out of one of those. The amount of nasty shit that gets carried in one of those before they get retired. No thanks.

I (briefly) considered one of the small shuttle buses like they use in the ski resort towns….

 

[JD Mark]

No way in hell would I want to make a camper out of one of those. The amount of nasty shit that gets carried in one of those before they get retired. No thanks.

I (briefly) considered one of the small shuttle buses like they use in the ski resort towns….

Small?

 

[maveric]

Small?

First pic I found. They make shorter ones. 4wd, removable seats. Kinda like a skoolie, but not yellow and all cut up. More like a short bus.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

I would say FWC is probably the best. They are simpler than the palomino and other brands. They don't have as many options and the living space is more utilitarian, but they occupy a smaller footprint than a normal camper and are built to last longer. Go visit them in yuba city and you can step inside all the models in the showroom area. BTW, plenty of people rebuilding FWC campers built in the 80s, so they must be built somewhat well.

There is also the All Terrain Camper, or ATC. Its built a lot like the FWC campers, but much smaller company.

I think people like the palomino campers because they have more amenities, but I believe they use the standard wood construction and are much heavier than an FWC.

 

[BustedCrank]

Palomino are popular because they are a lot cheaper than FWC,ATC, etc...

A lot of the FWC you see on the used market are usually still in very good shape. That was a big part of why I decided to go with FWC.

You can get shitters in them, as well as indoor or outdoor showers. Not quite the same as the fancy campers though, the shitter is a portapotty deal, the shower is an enclosure you set up in the middle of the camper.

Alaskan campers are another pop-up brand that holds up well. Hard sided though, intstead of the tent sides. You can occasionaly come across some of these from the 70s-80s for cheap, if you want to gut the inside and modernize it.

 

[Burns]

Palomino are popular because they are a lot cheaper than FWC,ATC, etc...

A lot of the FWC you see on the used market are usually still in very good shape. That was a big part of why I decided to go with FWC.

You can get shitters in them, as well as indoor or outdoor showers. Not quite the same as the fancy campers though, the shitter is a portapotty deal, the shower is an enclosure you set up in the middle of the camper.

Alaskan campers are another pop-up brand that holds up well. Hard sided though, intstead of the tent sides. You can occasionaly come across some of these from the 70s-80s for cheap, if you want to gut the inside and modernize it.

/thread

 

[fl0w3n]

I’ll go back to primarily searching for FWC then, thanks. I have seen many older ones, some refurbished, over the years so makes sense about the durability and retaining value.

I found a real good looking 95 Granby that had been gone through thoroughly and seems like a good deal, and it had a small full length Decked style slide out drawer built in underneath for under $10k. I’m not quite ready to pull a trigger now but something like that would be great. I don’t want to take on a renovation project right now, so something decently setup ready to go would be ideal.

I’m also thinking a Granby isn’t ideal, while I’d love the space, I don’t want to deal with sketchy trailer extension and limit my capacity.

 

[RPS1030]

For a FWC comparison. Buddy picked up a new Scout camper in a shortbed SuperDuty near the new year. Aluminum frame and Composite Walls. Lots of customizable options inside. Looks like they have popups now also. In the same price bracket as new to newish FWCs.

 

[rattle_snake]

Soft sided one suck in the wind, cold and heat. Seems I have one or more of those wherever I camp.

I like Lance products. I ran an 8' in a short bed Superduty tailgate down and towed a heavy boat (7-8k). Need a hitch extension with no slop (shims, weld, ect).

Now in a long bed, rear sway bar is key, otherwise can be sketchy as fuck. I also run isolated bags and adjustable fox 2.0s. Generator on the front bumper. over 50', over GWV

And you need good tires, a blow out is game over. I suggest minimum of 37s.

 

[Arickvan]

I've had my lance for a couple years now and technically I'm in the market for a toyhauler

it's cool, they have there pros/cons

the cons i dont like are:

theyre small only my and my chick can camp comfortably
theyre heavy, lotta weight on the chassis of the truck, i think mine is 2700#'s
theyre a pain to load/unload, this might just be me and because i keep mine on a sloped driveway

pros are i can store it in my driveway

 

[90supra]

I had a '78 Alaskan for awhile. It was awesome and the only reason I sold it was it didn't fit the family anymore (me, wife, 3 kids). It was in rough condition but still water/air tight in storms.

One thing to consider is storage location. We thought our driveway was flat enough so long as we were careful. Turned out that wasn't true. Didn't hit the ground but had to hold it up while some other buddies got to my house