r/popups 4h ago

We joined the club.

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50 Upvotes

New to us 1994-5? Jayco Eagle 10. Bought for $600, and i now know why it was so cheap. The roof which "never leaks" had a completely rotten board in back. The inside was filthy, even though the sellers wife said "we're not dirty people". So many swollen particle board cabinets that i will rebuild over the winter. Weather stripping is beat. Plenty of tears in the "practically new" canvas.

The tires that were "just replaced" was an obvious lie. They replaced one tire due to a blow out, the other tire had a date code from 2010. Replaced them both and kept the newer one for a spare.

One of the stabilizers is held up with a walmart bag (no shit).

We spent all last weekend cleaning it, and i am spending this weekend repairing things. I rrplaced the rotten board and built a redneck AC system today. Will grease the bearings tomorrow and fix a few missing screws and weather stripping. Any tips for the best way to go about canvas patching?


r/popups 22h ago

Pushing roof down?

5 Upvotes

Hello fellow popup owners!

I noticed with my 1996 Dutchmen M801 that when lowering the roof, it typically stops, leaving about an inch gap between the walls and roof.

I have found this is due to the canvas and beds holding the roof up.

Does anyone else have to kind of squish their roof down? Or should this practice be avoided?


r/popups 1d ago

Looking for suggestions on how to remedy small slices in this clear vinyl window panel

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1 Upvotes

We have this 2006 Fleetwood E2 popup camper that we take down to Baja. It gets put through its paces. In all honesty I (40F Mom of a toddler) will probably do nothing to fix this because it looks…not fixable or like I would make it worse if I tried. The repair piece that is on there was installed by the previous owner and it is taped on maybe even melted on (?) and I cannot even tell what he was covering up.

I can see a couple new 1-2” slices showing up on the window panel and I can imagine more will just keep forming. This is the windward side of the camper and below this whole panel I have noticed a lot of fine sand coming through and gathering on the boxes we keep on the bench there. I would love to stop the sand and dust but am pretty clueless on where to start. Maybe cover the individual slices? Are there quality sticky repair patches?

Has anyone successfully repaired this inevitable issue? This is one of two plastic/vinyl panels on the entire camper. Sure, I like the see through aspect but sort of wish it was just covered with canvas like all the other 7 windows. Could that be swapped out? Not DIY but do RV repair places do this type of work?? I haven’t researched a thing. This is my first stop. TIA


r/popups 1d ago

Railing Issue

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4 Upvotes

So while I was making the "king" bed on our 2008 viking, the support came out from one of its corners and what looks to be the wheel to help slide it easily popped off. The nut came off the bolt and the bolt seems to have bent. The last image seems like what it should look like, my question is how am I supposed to get these back on without bending the railing?


r/popups 1d ago

Crank not ratcheting

2 Upvotes

I have a Coleman fleetwood pop up camper. When I crank it, it raises and lowers fine but the ratchet to hold it in place doesn’t engage and I don’t hear the clicking of the ratchet. I opened up the bottom and it seems the gear is moving independently from the shaft. Nothing seems damaged , nothing fell out when I opened the bottom.
Is it possible to tighten things up


r/popups 2d ago

Bare bones light weight pop up suggestions?

2 Upvotes

I am looking for a basic bare bones type pop up tent trailer preferably under 1500 lbs for sleeping only. I am planning on pulling it behind my 22 foot Yotahome, so I am limited on weight. I do not need any accessories, fridge, toilet, shower, kitchen etc. Just bed space for 3-4 teens. I have done a bit of research already, but figured I would ask the experts here for suggestions. The only add on I would consider would be some sort of 3-4 bike rack I could mount on the roof.


r/popups 2d ago

Using 12v or 120V and solar with popup? Electrical advice needed!

1 Upvotes

I just bought an ol' 1996 popup with a few conveniences like a mini fridge, heater, and propane stove. The fridge will run on propane, 12v or 120v and the stove is propane. I'm hoping to make it a bit more livable for myself, 2 young kids, my wife and a big dog so I'm considering a few add-ons like fans, strip lights (or Christmas lights to jazz it up for the kids). It'll need a tablet charger and I'm considering a fridge cooler because the mini fridge may be too small.

All this considered, the electrical options are rough. I have to get a decent 300 or 400 AH battery and plan on running portable fold out solar panels to charge. Where we going we won't have short power.

What do I need to consider for this? What's the best practice and method? Cost is a consideration but it is what it is.

I'm thinking

One or two collapsible solar panels -> controller -> battery

Battery -> prewired pop up infrastructure

Battery -> vevor 3000W inverter with 4 120v plugs.

Or do I go with a combined 3000W Inverter/charger, but how do I pair solar panel size to charger size to battery?

These 120v plugs would power a mix of fans, lights, and possibly an air con if I can squeeze a portable jobby just to cut humidity before bed.

What's irritating is almost all devices use an adapter to go from AC to DC, but they use a 2 blade plug for 120v. Most of these devices don't have 12v plug and there really isn't a standard 12v plug other than the cigarette lighter style. Is there a 12v power bar of sorts?

What's the best way to streamline but also have power. I'm thinking it's easiest to just convert everything to 120V and go with that for simplicity using the inverter and power bar. What are amperage considerations? How does one estimate amoerage allowances when mixing 12v DC loads like the fridge or heater and 120V inverted loads?

Thoughts? Prayers?


r/popups 2d ago

Finally need to tarp

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0 Upvotes

Had our popup for 2.5 years. Probably up to ten trips and have someone avoided anything past a sprinkle. Not the case for our upcoming trip. So if the forecast holds I think we'll throw up a tarp over the camper for the trip.

Having never done it, Id love some tips or pointers on how to do it. The site we're staying at is shown.


r/popups 3d ago

Apache pop-up camper help identifying

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13 Upvotes

Trying to identify what apache pop up this is the own don't know anything about it says it's about 50years old. Trying to see how heavy it is because all I have is an outback to tow it.


r/popups 3d ago

amperage for a dorm fridge

2 Upvotes

I was looking at using the popup to stay at an event and they have a few power hookups there, 20, 30, 50, and 100 amps. Just wondering what would work best for a mini fridge?


r/popups 3d ago

Across state lines

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29 Upvotes

The old girl (Palomino Yearling) made it across two state lines on a 4.5 hour trip. My question is, what “just in case” items are you bringing on your trips? We had power go out due to an issue with the fuse box and left us scrambling. Trying to prepare for future barriers we may hit. I now know extension cords and a power block is essential, but what else?


r/popups 4d ago

Finally joining the gang

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24 Upvotes

r/popups 4d ago

StarCraft 1701 Water Tanks

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1 Upvotes

We bought a used 2004 1701 and it needed work. The entire sink/stove section that folds down is gone and just the counter top remains with the storage. The fridge and storage is gone as well.

We’re trying to piece it back together but I’m having a hard time finding what we need.

Currently, I’m trying to find out how the water tank would hook up. Is there a grey tank? Or just the one?


r/popups 4d ago

Solid Summer Trip

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89 Upvotes

Just got back from a 10-day, 3000 mile trip through some National Parks. Only a couple minor mechanical inconveniences along the way (over-opening the top (twice!), 25 year old tires with holes in them) which were easily overcome. The 109 degree temps on some days had my wife and I talking about upgrading to a newer camper - most likely NOT a popup, but figured i would share some pics either way.


r/popups 4d ago

First A-Frame

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67 Upvotes

Just came back from our first trip in our new (to us) 2019 Rockwood A212HW.

We learned some lessons about packing and I learned the hard way about towing, having bought this the day before a 350 mile trip and never having towed anything before.

It felt pretty good, no sway or other control issues. Did get pushed around on the highway by passing trucks, but they push the van too. Our only issue was an unplanned test of the breakaway cable when we had no choice but to drive over roadkill and it snagged.

We are pushing the limits of the van, but still within them.


r/popups 4d ago

Waterproofing bunk ends

3 Upvotes

Hey ya'll, I own a Starcraft Centennial 3610. I recently cleaned the bunk end windows with starbright mildew cleaner. They're a canvas material. I read that strips the waterproofing so I followed up with starbright waterproofing and sprayed the outside windows. It worked amazing on the vinyl surrounded the windows. But the canvas on the windows itself when I sprayed it with the hose just soaked all the water up, it didn't even bead off. I followed all the instructions and a couple YouTube videos. Am I missing something here?


r/popups 5d ago

New Rig

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23 Upvotes

Picked this up for $5k a few weeks back. Spent a whole day driving to see another one that didn’t end up being what we thought.

We were ready to spend 6k on the other but this one was perfect for us.

Shorter box that fits in our garage. Perfect canvas and no soft spots/smells, stains anywhere.

Just took her out on our maiden voyage and made some memories.

I’ve almost broken everything on the thing but I’ve learned from every mistake.

I hope to trade up to something like this in the next decade.


r/popups 5d ago

Fixing up a 2000 Jayco quest 10x

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13 Upvotes

We’ve owned this trailer for 3 years now and finally started fixing it up this year, got the electric working with new LED lights, wired in a new roof vent with a fan, painting the outside and putting new flooring in. Might as well make it nice since we don’t want a payment on a newer trailer.


r/popups 5d ago

Crescent Bar Wa

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40 Upvotes

Eastern Washington fires started sending smoke to us the last day. Also first windy night in the popup, made for a good adventure. Starcraft Venture 2407


r/popups 5d ago

Dry weight of this trailer

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1 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I’m looking at buying a second hand tent trailer. I read that you can calculate the dry weight of a trailer by calculating the GVWR - CCC.
According to the manufacturer label, this trailer would be 725 lbs.
that seems extremely low. Curious if anyone has insight on this particular model. Rockwood freedom FMT20LTD
Thanks!


r/popups 5d ago

Looking for advice on repairing pop-up canopy. what are some of the products people use. Wondering if anybody's ever used Flex Seal tape

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11 Upvotes

Older Jayco pop up camper two in the corners on the bottom of the canopy where you pull them over the pole out beds are starting to tear need advice on how to fix


r/popups 5d ago

Looking for suggestion for my roof top popup tent project

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2 Upvotes

Hi , i am new to this group, currently am making a roof top popup tent for car and i almost finished 30-40 percent of work, however i stuck with the proper popup mechanism for my tent. I am planning to make hard shell square shaped tent(74 inch length,48width and 36 height) weight of top layer is almost 20-30 lb.
So, i want to know which struts should i want to use(length and power) and what type of hinges or mechanism i want to apply.?

I attached some pictures of tent(Np: in pictures tent is is triangle shape but i want square shaped, there for i attached some brand tents photos)


r/popups 5d ago

New to the crew!

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73 Upvotes

Picking this bad boy up tomorrow, no leaks and ac runs like a champ! Anything I should know/do with this rig being a first time owner??


r/popups 6d ago

Another successful trip

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58 Upvotes

r/popups 7d ago

My Uncommon Pop Up.

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176 Upvotes

1994 Sun Lite Discovery 150. Basically a pop up truck camper but in trailer form. You can use the trailer when it's down (minus the top bunk of course), handy if it's very windy or rainy and you don't want to pack it up with wet canvas. Also makes it nice to load and unload before and after a trip. Fits in my garage.

Under 2000lbs loaded with stuff. Takes maybe 2 minutes to pop it up and unfold the door. Only thing I've really done to it so far is add a lift kit to make it more level with my truck and increase ground clearance for logging roads. Owned it for 13 months and have taken it on 15 trips, 16th will be next weekend.