AZcamper69 wrote: My family own a PUP for years. At one point when my father was transfering between duty stations, we lived in the PUP for two months. That was Mom, Dad and five kids. So I know what we are in for.
Just know that childhood memories have a way of "glamorizing" things and your parents' memories might not be as wonderful as yours as they will remember more of what it was truly like as an adult camping (or living) in a pop up.
I grew up camping with 6 of us + a dog in a 10 1/2' truck camper. To hear my mom's version of trips and my version of the same trips you'd think we were from two different families and took completely separate trips!
You will need to determine your tow vehicles towing capacity, then you can look at pop up trailers which are within that weight range.
Fleetwood, Starcraft and Jayco are pretty much the top 3, but there are others. You will find PUP's with potty/shower, and you will have a choice of hardwall or just privacy curtain. You have a choice of cassette potty or residential style ceramic toilet. Many of the new PUP's have both greywater and blackwater holding tanks. You have options for furnace, AC, microwave, 3 burner range with oven, 3-way refrigerator/freezer to name a few. But, all depends upon your vehicles towing capacity.
If you go to RV shows or to dealerships, lay on the bunks, sit on the potties, fake a shower, fake preparing a meal to find a floorplan that will work for you and your wife - and the furkids! (Our furkids love the glide out dinette - they go under the table for their food/water and no one trips over them).
AZcamper69 wrote: All of you have been just great. You have given us a lot to think about. If I had my way I would get the Trail manor model 3124 or 3326. Having said that this is what my wife and I are doing:
1996 Fleetwood Coleman Shenandoah PUP.
Here's what it has:
toilet/shower
hot water heater
3-way refrigerator
sink w/hot-cold water
2 attached awnings(one with screen room
canoe/luggage rack
indoor/outdoor stove
fire extinguisher
indoor/outdoor dining table
no holes
no tears
new tires and spare
propane tank
no A/C but I'm thinking one could be added if necessary.
some very non-discript and ugly yet functional privacy drapes. (we will be redecorating I'm sure.
attractive cushions
sleeps eight
and while the last post said to skip all the buying and selling the purchase price on this unit could not be passed up.
10 day return policy
I think this will be a good start to our tent up grade.
What do ya'll think?
Sounds like a good starter!
2006 Hornet 28BHDS-Bunk House, Dual Slides
2006 Dodge Ram 2500 HD
5.7L Hemi, Factory Towing Package
Reese Brake Controller, WD Hitch and Sway Bar
The PUP I mentioned earlier was an internet scam. Thank goodness I investigate everything when I do business with people. (thanks dad for teaching me not to trust anyone).
So we are going out this weekend to various local dealerships to view models. We are going to be looking at PUPs, expandables, and some ultra-lites (some are lighter than others). Are goal is to create a short list of manufacturers and model that fit our needs.
Here are some (in no particular order)that I like from my internet search:
Airstream Safari sport
Casita
Forest River Surveyor by forest river model-186, model sp189
Fleetwood Orbit sport 716fd
Gulf Stream mini sl 18dbg
Jayco Jay series 1008, select 14hw, Jay feather Ex-port 17c
Skyline
Travel Sport 18rb, xlt sport 16fdb
Star Stream ss3416
Sunvalley
Roadrunner
Viking x-16
Any info on any of these would be appreciated.
another consideration that is coming up is:
no potty - bear in the woods camping
porta-potty -
cassette toilet -
full bath room -
indoor shower versus outdoor shower
I guess it all depends on where you plan to camp but what is the pros and cons on this topic.
Do a good search on Gulfstream - there were several forum members who had nothing but problems with their Gulfstream trailers and with the company itself. To be fair, there are a few happy gulfstream owners on this forum as well. All makers will have some trailers with problems - the big thing is how the company handles the problems and deals with people that will make or break an owners happiness regarding their particular product.
Now....the best thing to do is this:
Take a camera and notebook. snap the brand and model number. Write the brand and model number in the notebook. Now take pics and write down any pros/cons that you see about that particular model. Also write down any options the TT has - i.e. - ladder, spare, water filter, ducted/non-ducted air, stove cover, full lambriquins or just a cheapy small top valance on the windows. Does it have miniblinds or day/night shades? lift up underbed storage, sealed underbelly? Is the shower a full shower with ABS shower walls or just a tub with the walls being the same vinyl wallpaper as the rest of the trailer? Curved shower rod or straight? Write down the MSRP (and what dealer offered to sell it for if it gets that far).
Now come home and pour over that list. Hook camera up to the tv and scroll through with your notebook. Compare apples to apples. Trailer A might be $2000.00 less initially but when compared to trailer B it doesn't have ducted air, ladder, spare, sealed underbelly etc and when outfitted with the same "options" it might turn out to be thousands more $$$ than you initially thought. Now cross off those that don't make your "short list".
Now....take those few trailers left on your short list and go and "camp" in each one. Spend at least an hour in each one (we ended up spending 1 1/2 hours) and pretend to camp - pack the kitchen - where will the dishes go? silverware? knives? pots, pans, bowls? food, dog food, dog bowls for food and water? Now pack clothes, toiletries etc. Sit on the toilet - can you close the door? stand in the shower - do you have to be a contortionist to use the bathroom/shower? Lay on the bed - does one person have to crawl over the other to get out in the middle of the night and will this bother you or get old after awhile? Where will the dogs sleep? where will the bbq, charcoal, hoses and all the hook up stuff be stored? Camping table, tools, camping chairs - where would they go? Also check out the fit and finish of the trailer - do the cabinets sit flush against the walls? Do cabinet door line up? open and close properly? Are countertops installed correctly with no gaps between the wall and countertop? Do handles, doors close properly? Do the cabinets sit flush on floor or are there gaps and uneven-ness against the floor? Make note of anything that might be broken or need to be fixed just in case you buy it and you will want those fixed before you sign papers (before the PDI if possible).
Doing this will give you a good idea as to how that particular trailer will pack and how much cupboard and storage space you have. We crossed off several trailers because the storage areas weren't big enough or there weren't enough for all our hook up stuff and the containers they are stored in. Doing this will narrow down your list and will usually narrow it down to one model. For us it took doing this a couple of times as we ended up crossing everything off our list and starting over with a different floorplan. The trade off is you will get a trailer that works for you and won't have the would have, should have, could have regrets.
Once you've narrowed down the list to the one you want, check out what it sells for on RVDirect or RVWholesalers. They have good prices on their trailers and it will help you to know what to shoot for at your local dealer. Typically 25% off MSRP is a fair deal for all involved. If you know the RVDirect price and your local dealer gets within a thousand or so from that you did pretty good. Just a note: I never let them know I was trying to get them down to the RVDirect price - that can sour some dealers/salesman if you wave that in their face. I just knew the number and had it in mind and figured i'd try to get as close to that as possible.
I hope you didn't think shopping for a trailer was going to be easy
feel free to PM with any questions.
* This post was
edited 04/09/08 09:58am by havedreamwilltravel *
Well now we've gone and done it! We traded in the Equinox for a Trail Blazer and have placed a down on a TrailManor 2027sl. We pick it up the weekend of the 26th. We are having a Equalizer installed and a Tekonsha Prodigy.
We plan to store is on some acreage owned by a family member (about ten minutes away. I think our first camping trip will be there.So we can work it all out before leaving for a long week end.
I'd like to thank ya'll for the help, ideas and suggestions in purchasing our first TT.
Hope to see ya'll on the road.
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We traded in the Equinox for a Trail Blazer and have placed a down on a TrailManor 2027sl. We pick it up the weekend of the 26th. We are having a Equalizer installed and a Tekonsha Prodigy. 
