Pop-Up/ Tent Trailers

[carsonc1974]

Really wanting to pick one up for a couple of reasons:
- MY truck is stuck at a shop that is almost 2 hours away. I would like to be able to spend the night out there so i can really spend some time working on the truck.
- It hard to get the girlfriend out there camping in a tent, Im hoping this will help persuade her to come every once in a while.
- We had one as a kid, and I remember it being an absolute blast
- Lastly I would like a place to keep all my gear, so as to not take a couple of hours loading up if we ever wanted/ needed to get out of dodge quickly.



Now my questions:
- Im not looking to spend a whole bunch of money right now, loooking at the lowest end of used trailer. I Probably dont want to spend any more the $2000, but when looking on KSL It seems everyone want at least 50% more then what NADA says its worth. Is this the norm around Here?
- Is there any Got to have features I should look for?
- Any avoid at all cost things I should look for?
- Any advice for or against buying a cheaper tent trailer?

thanks!

 

[frieed]

I still have this one for sale

http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?93203-Tent-Camper-For-Sale&highlight=tent+trailer

 

[carsonc1974]

Frieed, hey thanks for the offer, but im looking for something a little more traditionally along the lines of a popup tent camper.... I would be much more interested in these if i could store all my camping gear in there somehow.

 

[mbryson]

I was going to post on this the other night, but ran into something to do at the house. I've had a truck camper, tent trailer (Coleman) and now a bumper pull bunkhouse travel trailer. By FAR my favorite has been the travel trailer. I'll get into the reasons in a second.

I LOVED the tent trailer to tow behind my XJ. You'd notice it weight wise, but nothing to worry about climbing hills or swaying around or anything. Good match for the vehicle. Towing it behind my '99 F250 was a bit annoying as you couldn't even feel it behind you. I'm a mirror guy but that was my ONLY feedback I was towing anything. So there's the towing part of the trailer.
I HATED the tent trailer and ultimately got rid of it for the following reasons.
-Storage, it's there, but is annoying to use (in the case of open space) or quite cramped. I'm sure some of those factors have changed since my tent trailer was a 1980. However, they are conceptually still very similar/the same so some of that may apply.
-Setup, takes more than a few minutes. In my case, I was usually setting it up myself (not sure why I couldn't have a helper, but it was up to me). Not a big deal under normal circumstances. You level the trailer (easy as you can move the tent trailer around by hand), put the "feet" down, and then start the crank-up top. Once that's done, you pull the beds out, secure the posts of the bed to the trailer body, pull the canvas around the beds and secure that to the bed platform, then go to the other side and repeat. Slide inside the trailer and secure the door to the door frame and wedge the canvas into the doorway. Then you stretch the bows out on the side to complete the tent. While juggling the door, you've unloaded your "open space" to not step on anything. You either have or can now flip your sink/stove/bathroom/whatever appliances up into operation.
Throw your bedding on the bed, arrange your chairs and grab a cold beverage. You deserve it. Depending on the time of year, I would need a shower by completion of setup. Nothing horrible about setup, just not real advantageous vs. a real tent. The exception being that you can leave some small items in storage in the trailer that you want to have with you. The other advantage to a tent trailer over a tent is that you are off the ground so it's a little easier to keep clean than a normal tent.

My conclusion is that a tent trailer is a budget conscious way to get into trailer camping. They are small enough to get into odd places and they are easily towed by most any vehicle. Just like everything else, there will be things you like about it and things you don't care for.

The hardside camp trailer or slide-in camper has more storage and more permanent type setup than the tent trailer. For my $, time, desired experience while camping, I'm going with the hardside. You'd likely have to double your budget to get into something decent. We've talked for a few years about selling our bunkhouse and getting a fifth wheel bunkhouse or a motorhome.

Oh, for your desired budget, I think you could find a decent setup. Have the seller setup the trailer for/with you from unhooking of the vehicle to the point where you're popping a beverage. You'll learn any issues for that trailer during setup.

 

[Unimog]

I worked for an RV dealership for several years back in the 80's/90's. I can say follow mbryson's advice and make sure to set it up completely. Tent trailers are nice and compact, but they are really prone to wearing out and breaking where they lift and the tent part connects. Have they have improved a bunch in the last 20 years?

 

[jeeper]

My experience says that tent trailers SUCK! They really are not all that much better in a storm than a tent. Sand,rain,dust,etc still come in with ease. We have had many issues with the cables and rods breaking on the pop ups.
Small fridges, if they have them at all. Lousy potty for the wife, if they have them at all. Not warm in cold weather.

I would also recommend a small hard side trailer. For $2k you can still get something worth while.

 

[mbryson]

.... We have had many issues with the cables and rods breaking on the pop ups.

There's that. Definitely some maint. there. RVs in general have shitastic construction. Something that moves by design isn't really going to help things.

Small fridges, if they have them at all. ..

No fridge in mine old tent trailer. You bring up another point for me to remember. The cooler would take up the bulk of the "free space" and I pack with a drink cooler and a food cooler (probably a holdover from a different time of my life where I liked have LOTS of cold beverages at my beck and call?).

....Not warm in cold weather.

That was one of the main reasons we moved from the tent trailer. I really don't like to sleep cold. I'm not a happy dude. The other was the setup time.

I would also recommend a small hard side trailer. For $2k you can still get something worth while.

Having a thermostat in the trailer and sleeping on a mattress is awesome when my brothers/dad are out there crawling around in their tents.

I could go on a whole tirade about hard side trailers, but I'll save that for another time. Bigger is better for the most part, but you are stuck with having an appropriate tow vehicle. Again, being not a big fan of RV construction, we avoided a slide. They don't appear to be an issue, but ....

That said, I really like our Gulfstream bunkhouse. The frame is pretty beefy but it's 29' long. The flex does cause some issues with caulk and whatnot. Seems pretty easy to maintain those things. Ours has a one year old fridge (those are NOT cheap) and has a book value of about $6k. Being a quad bunk (rear of trailer) with a master bedroom in the front in this market, I'd want about $7500-7800 for a trailer that has decent storage, fits in a lot of campgrounds (but just barely). I might need to keep it a few more years to amortize the fridge investment to get it back to market value to sell it?

 

[carsonc1974]

Very good points to bring up; I appreciate it. You guys hit the nail on the head with the limitations on vehicles for me right now. I am a full time student and dont have a whole lot of extra $ so am limited both on size of tow vehicle, and initial purchase price. Right now im working on getting my 2001 V6 toyota tacoma back on the road so is what will be the tow vehicle. If I have to spend any more then around 2k to get something to sleep in, I should probably stick with the tent right now, as much as i would like to go take out a small loan and pick up something nice, I just dont think it would be the wisest of decisions right now.