Extreme terrain pop ups

[Franklin Pepe]

My wife and I are starting to look at pop up style camper trailers. We have never owned one so we are novices.

Not looking for fancy. No room for RTT because we have kids and need basket for stuff

Things we need
Replace our tents to sleep 5-6
High clearance/off road model
Racks for kayaks

Things we want
Adventures
Advice as what to buy or avoid when buying

Picture for attention/ idea

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[Vyscera]

Is the pictured one not tall enough for you? Looks like it meets your other requirements. Here's one for sale from a member
https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/threads/why-a-trailer-pros-and-cons.2631/page-4#post-67443

 

[Franklin Pepe]

The one pictured is what I'm looking for or something similar to picture.

What brands are better/ worse

What problems should I look for


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[RescueRangers]

We are going through the same process of finding the right trail to fit our needs. We started out looking at a utility with a RTT. Top on our list is the CVT trailer. Although we still have it in mind, we moved utilities down to number three on our list.

Number two on our list is popups. The main ones we have been looking at are the Starcraft RT-10, Coachman V-Tec or a modified Jayco Sport. (Modifications would be an axle swap which would be some where around $100) The biggest problem for us with popups is we have a Jeep Wrangler JKU. Popups are eight feet wide which means its wider than our Jeep, not good on tight trails. Second is the length, tight turns on mountain roads and trails starts being an issue. And then you have the price, $10,000 to $18,000.

Number one on our list is Teardrops. There are a number of companies who make off road or overlanding trailers. Yes, some are ungodly expensive, Moby1 and SoCal are at the top of the price range. But there are some Off Road Teardrops that are around the same cost as a popup or less ($8,000 to $31,000). For us it will work because most are six feet wide or less and overall length is reasonable. All the ones I have looked at have the option of a RTT which would allow sleeping four or five. Most Teardrops come with a full galley and a reasonable amount (just as much as a popup) of storage. Lastly, Off Road Teardrops are much more off road capable than a off road popup which means its going to last longer.

 

[grumpy]

My wife and I are starting to look at pop up style camper trailers. We have never owned one so we are novices.

Not looking for fancy. No room for RTT because we have kids and need basket for stuff

Things we need
Replace our tents to sleep 5-6
High clearance/off road model
Racks for kayaks

Things we want
Adventures
Advice as what to buy or avoid when buying

Picture for attention/ idea

Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

Hi,
Unfortunately most of the time the choice is based on your budget and the type of rig that will pull your trailer. Some weight less then 1000 lbs and others weight more then 3000lbs ( without your personal belongings)
One of the main issue with a pop up camper is that some trails will be off limit due to the size of the road or the camper and its condition. The weight might be a disadvantage as well and will slow you down off road and on the highway. I'm not a hard core overlander so personally I like the "conqueror". It's an off road camper really well designed ( Your wife will thank you:). I heard some people being impress with the patriot camper but I never seen one. I hope that help a little ...


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[VCeXpedition]

Commercially built pop-ups are generally pretty poorly built for the rigors of Off-Road with a lot of rough treatment. They tend to be put together with thin wood and a few staples. Look closely at the construction, compare how rough the roads are going to be and it might sway your decision.

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[luchaDor]

I actually think the Livin Lite Jeep Extreme Trail Edition would be a passable off-road camper. Now...could you drag it through the Rubicon? Probably not...but its welded aluminum and has a full skid plate protecting the axle and everything else. They've even equipped it so your Jeep spare will also fit on the trailer. The have put a lot of thought into it, IMO.

Obviously, they're after the Jeep faithful with this one, but no reason it has to be towed by a Jeep...

To the OP...I don't think it'll sleep 5-6 though...and it isn't cheap unfortunately. It is Trail Rated. Check out Livin Lite...they may have some less pricey options. For example, they have 2 Jeep editions, a Trail Ed. & Extreme Trail Ed., but also have other options. I personally like them b/c there's no lift mechanism's in their tent campers, so no guides & cables/pulley's & cranks.

 

[luchaDor]

If you have a pickup, you could look at a Flip-Pac camper shell:

Or...and I can't find the picture now...but...there was someone who took a retro Apache Eagle camper, and mated the camper to a Off Road trailer base. Came out awesome, and I think only had $2k-3k into the entire package.

 

[luchaDor]

Well, this isn't the Apache rebuild I was thinking of...but...here's a nice write up by someone who used a 1966 Apache Raven tent camper for $400 and gave it a 2nd life as an offroad camping trailer.

http://expeditionportal.com/build-of-the-month-apache-raven-tent-trailer/

 

[Franklin Pepe]

There is some great advice. Thank you. My use would not be driving though anything crazy but would include fire roads or other semi-rough terrain. For this reason I don't want a standard pop up but it doesn't quite need to be Trail rated either

Again thank you


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[luchaDor]

The other wild thought is...Livin Lite makes (or used to) make a slide in pickup bed camper. Weighed like 450#, pretty minimalistic, a couple fold out beds, dinette and a couple power outlets. I have seen folks buy them and mate them to a trailer. So...you *could* find a pickup bed that's been converted into a trailer, toss this in and mount it permanently (or not), and again, have a decent camping trailer for probably not a lot of money.

The are pictures of mounting it to a small trailer, but you get the idea...

 

[Franklin Pepe]

Another great thought but it would be towed by my Sequoia

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[luchaDor]

Honestly, the thought of mating an Apache Eagle or something similar to a better trailer frame has a lot of appeal (to me at least). Easy setup, low cost of entry, new canvas still available, decent room, hardly any parts to break, small footprint, etc.

 

[luchaDor]

Sorry, not trying to bombard you with 10 posts from me...

(I love the stock photo of the dude cleaning his shotgun, just lounging around on his tailgate. Dunno why, but I laugh when I see that one.)

Sequoia's are great. My brother has like 150k miles on his, and Toyota just replaced the frame as his was in the recall for excessive rusting...it was pretty bad. However, Toyota took care of him. So they're keeping theirs for a long time.

 

[Franklin Pepe]

No worries some great ideas and thoughts


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[Vyscera]

Livin Lite doesn't make the little truck bed camper any more. But they offer a "Jeep" pop up.
https://www.livinlite.com/products/jeep-tent-campers/

 

[SlashX]

Livin Lite doesn't make the little truck bed camper any more. But they offer a "Jeep" pop up.
https://www.livinlite.com/products/jeep-tent-campers/

That jeep tent looks legit. I have a palomino pop up, not extrem off road but I take it on fire roads.

Do you have a jeep trl?

 

[luchaDor]

Livin Lite doesn't make the little truck bed camper any more. But they offer a "Jeep" pop up.
https://www.livinlite.com/products/jeep-tent-campers/

Yep, posted the Jeep trailers on page 1.


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[Raul B]

I looked a lot into this after we sold our toy hauler. Honestly I think it would do great. I have 4 kids ranging from 2-16 and I can honestly say my wife does not like going on trips anymore because she do tent camping. Camping with kids is tough. Plus lil girls don't love going to the bathroom on a 5 gal bucket.......

 

[luchaDor]

I looked a lot into this after we sold our toy hauler. Honestly I think it would do great. I have 4 kids ranging from 2-16 and I can honestly say my wife does not like going on trips anymore because she do tent camping. Camping with kids is tough. Plus lil girls don't love going to the bathroom on a 5 gal bucket.......

Nothing wrong, IMO, with day tripping and spending the night in hotels IMO. You have 6 people to please...have to do something everybody likes. Might be Overlanding one day, shopping the next, hiking the next. Best to keep everyone interested. It'll only make for a good time for everyone. Plus...that little camper is a lot of money, it's great, don't get me wrong!