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Looking for a pop up camper

Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Messages
224
Reaction score
288
Location
San Saba Tx
Looking for a good deal on a pop up camper.
Not looking for any projects or anything that needs repairs.
It doesn't have to be a late model but it MUST be well cared for, in good working order and ready to go camping.
MUST have AC, Heat, Toilet, Shower, Kitchenette.
I'm usually alone so a lot of sleeping room is not required.
Prefer something within 2 or 3 hours of San Saba Texas but would drive a bit further for the right deal.
I don't have internet on my phone and only on computer in the late evenings so I may be slow responding to messages.
Thanks.............Dave.........
 
I have a 2014 Casita Spirit Delux 17 ft. Used three times I'm fixing to sell. It is not cheap but they sell for alot and hold value. Like brand new. I got this after I owned a pop up.
 
I have a 2014 Casita Spirit Delux 17 ft. Used three times I'm fixing to sell. It is not cheap but they sell for alot and hold value. Like brand new. I got this after I owned a pop up.
Thanks Clay but I will be pulling with a Nissan Frontier so I'm trying to keep the wind resistence and weight to a minimum. I plan on being in the mountains and don't want to over work it.
 
We had an A frame pop up and loved it. No canvas pulled fine with a Toyota Tacoma. Check out RV auction on Cranky Ape each week. They get some pop ups. I will keep looking out for you. I have seen some good deals in past.
 
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Looking for a good deal on a pop up camper.
Not looking for any projects or anything that needs repairs.
It doesn't have to be a late model but it MUST be well cared for, in good working order and ready to go camping.
MUST have AC, Heat, Toilet, Shower, Kitchenette.
I'm usually alone so a lot of sleeping room is not required.
Prefer something within 2 or 3 hours of San Saba Texas but would drive a bit further for the right deal.
I don't have internet on my phone and only on computer in the late evenings so I may be slow responding to messages.
Thanks.............Dave.........

Here's a few listings on Craigslist
 
We used a portable chemical toilet and an outdoor shower on our A Frame. The toilets can be dumped in any plumed toilet. We had hot water on outdoor shower and had a shower tent. I loved the extra space and minalmilst of it. Wife did not. Slim potatohead has some good youtube videos on hard side popups. For a single person a popup is the way to go I M O. With a kayak on top :-D
Enjoy life Slowindown wish I could do what you are planning.
 
Slim Potatohead youtube. Just cool camping videos all over Canada an USA. Mostly in pop up. Cranky ape is auction house mostly for repo motorcycles vehicles campers and boats. They have an inspection yard in Georgetown Tx. Sale ends every Wednesday. Fifty bucks a year to register to buy. I got a 2009 17 ft bay boat Sundance with a 75 evenrude 6 months ago for 3400 bucks plus 10 percent buyer fee. The book is like 8k. They have sites several places in the USA . Easy and honorable folks real business like. They have videos of motors running. Lots of RV but few pop ups come up. But occasionally.
 
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There is a sweet 2016 Flagstaff pop up on Cranky ape this week at Phoenix location. It has two slide outs and loaded. High bid so far is 1100 dollars. Bet it goes for under 5 k you can see what they sold for on Thursday and Friday. Edit I bet it goes low it says missing some cushions. Get it right may be worth the drive. The ones with slides are heavy but pull good.
 
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I don't have anything to sell so can't help you. We did have an Aliner and that was my favorite camper out of what we owned - A T@B and a Casita.
Easy to pull, easy to set up. We stayed at State Parks so no bathroom was not a big deal but you can always get a portable for those late nights.
 
We used a portable chemical toilet and an outdoor shower on our A Frame. The toilets can be dumped in any plumed toilet. We had hot water on outdoor shower and had a shower tent. I loved the extra space and minalmilst of it. Wife did not. Slim potatohead has some good youtube videos on hard side popups. For a single person a popup is the way to go I M O. With a kayak on top :-D
Enjoy life Slowindown wish I could do what you are planning.
I'm still a couple of years from retirement before I can take any extended vacations but that gives me time to get a decent one paid for. I've got a grumpy shoulder that would nix the kayak in a hurry.
 
I have a 2014 Casita Spirit Delux 17 ft. Used three times I'm fixing to sell. It is not cheap but they sell for alot and hold value. Like brand new. I got this after I owned a pop up.
My wife won't tent camp with me and my son, but I'm trying to talk her into letting me rent one of these to "Try Out" to see if she'll camper camp. I've seen these and they are pretty neat for being minimal and easy to pull.
 
I love to camp but not wife's thing. So there I have it :).
Opposite here. Wife likes to camp. Me, not so much. We recently stayed at Tru hotel in Round Rock for a trip to get her Miata and that is my idea of camping. ;-)
Honestly, camping in the campers wasn't bad at all but our preps before leaving was different and it just seems we never could agree. She wanted a bathroom at night so that is how we ended up with a Casita. Sold the Sprinter Van and camper to invest in an apartment complex instead. I don't miss it.

There are deals out there but you need to be ready to go. We got the Aliner for a very fair price from an old lady. I went to get it and she said she must have had 40 calls on it but I called first and was willing to set a time to come out and get it.
 
keep in mind, places with high bear activity restrict soft-sided campers. I think the hard sided A frames allow you to camp anywhere but fold down like a soft-sided pop up.
 
Slim Potatohead youtube. Just cool camping videos all over Canada an USA. Mostly in pop up. Cranky ape is auction house mostly for repo motorcycles vehicles campers and boats. They have an inspection yard in Georgetown Tx. Sale ends every Wednesday. Fifty bucks a year to register to buy. I got a 2009 17 ft bay boat Sundance with a 75 evenrude 6 months ago for 3400 bucks plus 10 percent buyer fee. The book is like 8k. They have sites several places in the USA . Easy and honorable folks real business like. They have videos of motors running. Lots of RV but few pop ups come up. But occasionally.
:thumb::thumb:
 
keep in mind, places with high bear activity restrict soft-sided campers. I think the hard sided A frames allow you to camp anywhere but fold down like a soft-sided pop up.
I didn't know that but it makes sense. I may have to consider other options...Thanks for the info.
 
I have heard some parks have fenced in areas in bear country for soft side. IMO an A Frame hard side pop up is the best way for pop up. Mine was electric lift. I could set it up in less than 3 minutes. The heat pump heated and cooled good plus it had a propane heater and stove and water heater and 3 way refrigerator. Tent type Pop ups have velcro, zippers rods, plastic windows screens ect. and are wobbly and most leak, and hard to heat and cool.. On Youtube Rusty78609 has some great videos on dry camping.
My Casita I pull with my Tacoma V 6 almost as easy as the A Frame Rockwood I had. I do only get 13 mpg at 65mh. Both have electric brakes. Do not get one with out electric brakes if you use a small vehicle. I got the lift kit on our casita for extra ground clearance. My advice is to rent one first, I think Princes Craft in Pflugerville rents them. That dealer in Burnet on corner of 281 and 29 has some cool units. One more thing, I think RV awnings are useless. We love camping at Dos Rios in Mason TX.
 
Thanks Clay but I will be pulling with a Nissan Frontier so I'm trying to keep the wind resistence and weight to a minimum. I plan on being in the mountains and don't want to over work it.


If your frontier has the 4.0 it should pull a Casita fine. I made about 6 trips between Waco and Dallas pulling all my house and garage crap in an enclosed 8 x 12 trailer and even put up with a massive wind and rain storm (the norm for when I end up moving) when I moved and the only thing I regretted not having was a electric brake controller and I am pretty sure a Casita will weigh less than that trailer with all my tools, 3 motorcycles, and a ton of spare parts for a 1985 Jimmy loaded in it. I could do 65 mph all day long no problems, granted we have no mountains. I think the big issue you have with a Pop-up is the lack of everything you are wanting as far as built in accessories. They may have a propane range and an AC unit (doubtful though) but as far as bathroom or shower you'll probably need to make sure you are camping near a creek and bring a shovel and a generator or get a setup at a KOA or similar rv camping place that has complimentary showers facilities and electricity.

All things considered though if you are just looking for an easy hauler and willing to stay at places that are going to provide a shower, water hookup, and power, you should also check into a diy tear drop trailer. It will be super wind resistant, very light, and you can add a good bed roll or mattress to it, have hard sides for animal protection, and build in a porta pot, some water storage, a small window unit for AC, and a portable generator for your window unit while parked. It's kind of on my to do list in the long run.
 
Very few popup campers have a built-in toilet. Too costly, too heavy, too much trouble. Most people who have those porta-shower-toilet corners in their popups end up never using them. Just giving you that info as a 38-year veteran of popups, and somebody who's traded stories with a lot of other owners in campgrounds.

You can buy a good marine toilet for about $60, and they work great in the darkness of your trailer at night. Many popups come with outdoor shower attachments. You can either hook a cabana to them, or - as I do - go out in a bathing suit and hose yourself down.

Coleman trailers were the best! I owned 3 Colemans, beginning in 1982. But if you find one that is a true Coleman, it's pretty old now - pushing 20 years, I'd think. Coleman sold out to Fleetwood. The Coleman-by-Fleetwood campers were mostly pretty good. Once they dropped the Coleman name and just became Fleetwood....... Well, think Fender - CBS guitars. Harley - AMF motorcycles. Of my five popups, #4 was a Fleetwood, and it was a money pit.

I haven't been in the market for a few years. When I bought #5 about 5 or 6 years ago, we eventually settled on a Flagstaff as being about the best all-around popup out there. based on our experiences. By the way, modern Rockwoods are built by the same parent company as Flagstaff, & their models are nearly identical. One should be as good as the other.

Somebody mentioned looking for an A-frame and I would concur that they can be a good choice. If lots of floor space is important, you'll need a popup. If super-easy and quick setup is a higher priority, an A-frame could be a very good choice. Just be aware that you're giving up a lot of floor and storage space in the deal. The main brands are ALiner (the original), Rockwood, and Jayco.

Like motorcycles & boats, good trailer deals are always available if you keep your eye open & have the cash when you need it. Good hunting.
 
This is exactly the model we had but without toilet space. It can be kept under the rear bed and accessed inside or out. The axel has torsion suspention. A liner is better built IMO but alot more pricey. I sold mine for 10k two years ago and if someone could snare this one for 9k it would be a deal. For a one person I would get a smaller one with storage basket in front.
The biggest advantage of A Frame is you can set it up quick and leave it hooked to two vehicle. We would pop ours up just to eat lunch at a roadside park and leave in minutes. Rockwood and others have a plywood deck, but I see no big problems with it. The A/c 's are noisy but work great. They make them with lift kits for rough dirt roads. They have great head room inside. All this is doing is making me want to go RV camping. I have a super quiet 2400 watt generator.
I do like the gray water and black water storage tanks on casita, but Rockwood had a fresh water storage tank . I usually only kept it part full till I got where I was going. Water is heavy. I had a 5 gallon jug outside on A Frame I collected gray water with and would dump away from camp.
 
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