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Pop Up Tent Trailers

ZUKEYPR

ZUKEYPR

Registered User
Location
651.78 miles East of the Rubicon
Anyone owned a pop up tent trailer and has some insight on:Durability, towability, pros, cons, etc. I'm considering purchasing one to be utilized as a base camp that would require traveling on 1 to 2 rated trails (10 scale) in order to get there. The tow rig would be my LJ with the bonestock 4.0L. It's rated at pulling 3,500 lbs and the bumper can more than handle that, but that said I'd really like to keep it down closer to the 2K ballpark. I'm not interested in anything like an Adventure trailer or tent trex. As of now I think the frontrunner would be the Banshee. Thanks
 
Caleb

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
The biggest issue would be clearance. I'm not familiar with the Banshee, but if it's not one of the ones with bigger tires, you'll be dragging it on any kind of small ledge, dip, etc (they are quite low). With that said, I love tent trailers. We ended up with a much larger trailer (as in 35ft long) for the wife, but my ideal trailer would have been a tent trailer. You can drag them anywhere with most vehicles (they are usually pretty light) and have most of the amenities you could ever want, plus they can be had brand new for not a lot of money. Downside, long term with a lot of use, plan on replacing the canvas every 10 years or so.
 
mbryson

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Location
Bountiful, land of rocks
I had a 1980 Coleman popup. It towed awesome behind my XJ with the same powertrain as you LJ. I did NOT take it on very severe trails, but it had no problem on reasonable dirt roads and even some very mild two tracks.

We got rid of it because I was tired of the setup time. They really are a good solution if you're willing to keep them maintained. They aren't as nice as a hardside trailer but are a nice step above a tent setup. The biggest redeeming quality is one I justify our hardside or slide-in camper with. You just keep stuff in them and don't worry about unloading it. Keeps your stuff organized and available. The biggest reason we got rid of the tent trailer was I was tired of the maint. and the setup time.

We've had various tents, a slide-in camper, tent trailer and our current 29' bunkhouse trailer.
 
Tacoma

Tacoma

Et incurventur ante non
Location
far enough away
My KOH accommodation was a Jumpin' Jack trailer: the tent is fully contained in the middle, and it's covered by grating, so you can park an ATV on it. Setup and takedown was less than 5min, and it looked to have decent clearance under it. No wider than the tow rig, in this case a 90's 4Runner.... I was impressed with the space inside, too. And a 4Runner towed it, 3 people, and a bunch of heavy axle parts there and back without much issue, so you know it's not super-heavy hahahah
 
rdneckride

rdneckride

Active Member
Location
Spanish Fork, Utah
My family has had an old Apache pop up for years. My stepdad got it for the girls when we were in gradeschool and he used it in Northern california for a number of years on his hunting trips there. The family took this thing behind a full size 86 bronco up into Canada and allover the western states without any issues. Setup time is about 10-15 minutes and liek mentioned before there is some maintenance in making sure that your canvas does not get molded or damaged. It stays fairly warm and is easily towed. It is one of the larger ones about 15 feet in total length when closed due to the queen and full size beds. To cut down on weight the cooler (fake fridge) was removed. This added a ton of storage and we just cary a large 100qt cooler with what we need anyways. We have taken this on roads similar to hobble creek, sheep screek, and american fork canyon tibble fork areas. It is not very high flipping the springs would help gain a bit of clearance for some trails with small ledges or rocks that are over basketball size. I have towed it with a 95 toyota 4 runner and only had an issue due to the runner not having a brake controller. Having the use of the electric brakes would have been nice with the long windy steep hills I was on. knowing that I did not have the controller I just took it extra slow and only had one issue of being pushed by the thing in a small patch of loose gravel. I have since upgraded to an 07 explorer that still does not have the brake controller but has no issues on even the dirt roads with the trailer. I even pull it behind my tonka on the short trips that my wife does not want to go on. Doing so i go much slower and am overly careful when it comes to corners and hills. The whole trailer is lucky to weigh over 1500# with all the additional gear and stuff in it but it is large. I plan on getting a controller shortly for my vehicles and would not suggets any trailer without breaks specially if you will be towing it down any trails that are not paved.
 
Twisted

Twisted

NEEDAMONEYTREE
Location
Evanston WY
Have you looked at the Starcraft 10 or 11RT? We have an 11RT and have taken it up some fairly difficult trails. We pulled it out to South Dakota with the 2007 JKUR on 33's. It pulled ok. The JK used quite a bit of fuel, but that was to be expected. Overall, it has been a nice trailer. Fits 4 or 5 fairly comfortably. Shower, toilet, outside shower, atv deck. Maybe a little heavy for what you're looking for, but maybe worth a look.
 
spencurai

spencurai

Purple Burglar Alarm
Location
WVC,UT
I know it's not a pop up and is only good for two but I love my Little Guy 5-wide. I sacrifice 1mpg towing it to Moab and back and it is hard sided so cold weather is no problem at all. I opted to not go for their offroad version since it is poorly executed and WAY too heavy for an offroad trailer so I am going to do my own conversion for offroad. I tow it down the pretty tame dirt roads with no problems. Unfortunately it is out of your price range since they are relatively new and way out of your 2k$ price range.

fjandlittleguy.jpg
 
ZUKEYPR

ZUKEYPR

Registered User
Location
651.78 miles East of the Rubicon
spencurai said:
I know it's not a pop up and is only good for two but I love my Little Guy 5-wide. I sacrifice 1mpg towing it to Moab and back and it is hard sided so cold weather is no problem at all. I opted to not go for their offroad version since it is poorly executed and WAY too heavy for an offroad trailer so I am going to do my own conversion for offroad. I tow it down the pretty tame dirt roads with no problems. Unfortunately it is out of your price range since they are relatively new and way out of your 2k$ price range.

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That would be OK for one person but not for three folks, one being 6'3" 220lbs and a big Siberian Husky. I knew they were small but wow it is really dorfed by your rig. You're right the bigger so called off orad ones I would question their ability to stand up to all that jarring. As far as the full size tear drop trailer goes (not what I'm looking for) this is the bomb. http://tinycamper.com/teardrop550ultra.htm
 
ZUKEYPR

ZUKEYPR

Registered User
Location
651.78 miles East of the Rubicon
Twisted said:
Have you looked at the Starcraft 10 or 11RT? We have an 11RT and have taken it up some fairly difficult trails. We pulled it out to South Dakota with the 2007 JKUR on 33's. It pulled ok. The JK used quite a bit of fuel, but that was to be expected. Overall, it has been a nice trailer. Fits 4 or 5 fairly comfortably. Shower, toilet, outside shower, atv deck. Maybe a little heavy for what you're looking for, but maybe worth a look.
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Looks just like the Banshee. Do they not make that model anymore? I'm not seeing it on their site.
 
spencurai

spencurai

Purple Burglar Alarm
Location
WVC,UT
ZUKEYPR said:
That would be OK for one person but not for three folks, one being 6'3" 220lbs and a big Siberian Husky. I knew they were small but wow it is really dorfed by your rig. You're right the bigger so called off orad ones I would question their ability to stand up to all that jarring. As far as the full size tear drop trailer goes (not what I'm looking for) this is the bomb. http://tinycamper.com/teardrop550ultra.htm
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3 people no way...It works great for two people, I'm 6'4" 300lbs and the GF is 5'11". The 5' wide is essentially a queen size inside, the 6' wide is essentially a king. They are compact and VERY sturdy. The offroad package is just way overbuilt, I don't doubt its ability to stand up to the jarring, just too heavy. They put an enormous skid plate system on it making it look like a boat where they should have kept it flat bottom and run lighter weight armoring. I think their offroad package adds like 500+lbs to the system which is out of line in my opinion.

The cool thing they do if you have the 10+ grand to pay for it is complete custom builds, they will build you anything you want and the cabinets are all amish built so you know they are sturdy. I don't plan on making a trail dragger with a pintle hitch and expedition gear...just a nice compact comfortable place to sleep at base camp. It is super simple and that is just the way I like it. Having an onboard battery is slightly too complicated for my taste but convenient when the need for light and 12v power arises. I went with the trailer without onboard water or built in stove top, just a plain galley.
 
ZUKEYPR

ZUKEYPR

Registered User
Location
651.78 miles East of the Rubicon
spencurai said:
They have just about every model at the Mark Miller dealer on 3734 state in Salt Lake. http://www.markmillermotors.net/exotic-used-inventory/index.htm

They have the Aliners too which are REALLY cool, I love them but again there are too many gadgets on them for my liking. You should go check them out and crawl all over them...their dealership has just about every model you can imagine for the teardrops.

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Been there....they are moving that dealership in a few weeks and discontinuing to carry that line......at least that was what the sales person told me last week but he could of been trying to use a BS "impending doom Close" on me. Either way it didn't work.
 
Twisted

Twisted

NEEDAMONEYTREE
Location
Evanston WY
ZUKEYPR said:
Looks just like the Banshee. Do they not make that model anymore? I'm not seeing it on their site.
Click to expand...

Looks like you are right, I don't see it on their site either. Not sure when they stopped offering the model. We bought ours new in 06'. Still in great shape, been really impressed with how well everything has stayed together. Might be worth it if you could find a used one somewhere.
 
hedonist

hedonist

Active Member
Supporting Member
Love mine! It's the smallest one Coleman makes (8ft box). I have towed it all over the Uintas and the Desert. Never had a problem and it has held up great over the last 3yrs. I think it's a 97. The heat its great when it's 2 degrees outside:)
The only other thing I want to do is add a little bit bigger tires. I get a little nervous beating the current ones up on the rocks. Never had a problem thus far.
 

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hedonist

hedonist

Active Member
Supporting Member
p.s. Zukeypr, I have some real good connections at Motor Sports land. If you are in the market I can set you up with some friends down there. You tell them what you are looking for and if they get something in they will let me know. I stole mine with 2 full propane tanks and a new battery for 1,500. Not saying they will take care of you like they did me,) but they are cool guys and are great to work with. Just a thought:)
 
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