I promised my wife before I went out an bought a pop-up camper we would rent one, So I've signed up to rent one during spring break and I'm hauling her and the kids to Florida for Spring break (Big Lagoon State Park). I'm pretty sure it will be a Fleetwood Yuma.
My questions is, what items are a must have to make the pop-up experience as pleasant as possible, i.e... do you have to have Lynx levelers or are they just a luxury? We will be camping in a sandy area so do I need sand pads? etc...
Weather should be in the 50's to 70's so we will have heaters just in case, and we tent camped last year so we have some equipment.
I'm towing with a Pontiac Montana (3,500 tow rating). It has a class II hitch.. do I really need a class III?
Any hints, help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I love the whole camping experience and really would like my family to have a good time as well.
Thanks in advance and keep on camping.
1 Minivan
1 DW
2 great kids
Eureka Copper Canyon 1312
& a really old Sears tent
lotsa fun
You don't need Lynx levelers. That is a luxury. A few pieces of 1x6 and 2x6 will work just fine for under the tires and under the levelers.
Ask the renting dealership to provide an extension cord for the electric. I've needed an extension cord at about 25% of the CGs I've visited.
Your Van has a max towing of 3,500. A class II hitch has a max of 3500 lbs. They are matched. Going to a class III gains you nothing.
Does the van have a towing package which includes a transmission cooler? If not a good trans cooler is a must!!!!
Pay attention to the amount of cargo you put in the van and add the hitch weight.
Get some decent mirrors. The kind that strap onto your existing mirror may work or check ebay for McKesh mirrors. These ones are showing some wear but for the price it may be a good purchase for your situation.
A good rug or something to catch the sand prior to entering the trailer is a must.
We rented a popup three years ago. Just like you, we wanted to try one before purchasing...
The rental place provided a xeroxed list of some of the stuff we needed.
IIRC: a hose (you may as well buy a safe white one right away), a water pressure regulator, a 5 gallon pail to catch gray water, wheel chocks, leveling boards and a 12" level.
Talk to them ahead of time so you can have the proper size hitch ball - at the correct height and the proper electrical connector
Of course you will also need the regular camping stuff like food, cooking equiipment, sleeping bags, etc
Jeff
Jeff
To be sure, take pretty much everything you take with you tent camping. (Sans tent of course).
For the vehicle, as stated above, make sure you have the proper electrical hookup. Since you are testing it, I doubt I'd upgrade a tranny cooler & elec brakes unless it's a heavy pup. Just don't do 85 trying to get there. Keep it out of Overdrive and drive like a granny.
If you're trying to convince your wife to get a pop-up, add a few luxury items.
Florida weather in March/April can be unpredictable. You can sweat during the day, freeze at night (yes, 99% humidity can make 60 degrees chilly. Therefore:
Electric Blankets - they're on clearance right now @ Walmart if you don't have them. Any cool morning these are nice.
If no AC in the pup, bring a fan.
If there is a rooftop, you won't need portable heaters. the heat strip and the blankets will keep you toasty.
otherwise: big fluffy pillows, comforter, fishing poles, tv/dvd, misc games (in case of rain), firewood, and anything else that'll fit.
Florida Parks are excellent. I haven't been to Big Lagoon, but all 10 I have been to have been great. (I'm off to Sebastian inlet in 2 weeks) All kept up nicely and most have had the bathrooms upgraded in the last few years. All sites will be for the most part level, gravel or hard packed sand. Hookups are right where you need them (or will say on reserve america if not).
Unless the rental Co. provides them, Lynx levelers are not necessary, particularly since you will be in a state park campground. I use 2X6's for my 11RT, even in the desert.
A DRINKING water hose is a must. If the rental Co. charges extra for that, check the price to buy one, as it may be almost equal.
I personally use hookups very little, but when I do have never needed an extension cord. You are camping in an area that you could find and buy one pretty easily down there should you really require it.
If you bring all of the things that you normally use for tent camping, you will have what you need. It may not be optimized for PUP camping, but it will definitely be usable. We still use sleeping bags in the PUP. We use double zip together bags, and they are cozy and warm.
One big key to success is to make sure the renting dealer shows you how to setup and startup EVERYTHING! You should also insist that they let you do a round of setup by yourself to find what you missed.
The Yuma's weights are pretty well suited to your TV. They do come with electric brakes, I don't know if they will be required to be hooked up (here in CA, any trailer over 1500 lbs. requires brakes), but they do make a BIG difference. If you are getting a brake controller installed for this trip, since you are also planning on getting a PUP yourself, go with the Prodigy from the start. It isn't that much more expensive, and is the best around.
I wouldn't worry about upgrading anything else on the TV at this point, not for a single trip. The transmission cooler would definitely be a consideration for continued towing (if your Montana doesn't have it already.)
Have a great trip, wish I could be there too!
Jim & JoAnne
2007 Toyota Tundra Double Cab
2004 Starcraft 11RT
To answer your question, air-conditioning and a portable refrigerator are a must have.
Regarding your tow vehicle, for the distance you are planning on traveling, I personally would not recommend it. It is strictly a matter of safety. Having owned a Dodge Grand Caravan and towing with it one time, it became clear to me how unsafe it really was. I even upgraded to a class 3 hitch and purchased an equalizer WDH. A B&M tranny cooler was added as well as an electric brake controller. Those mini vans are just not meant to tow, even with the lightest of trailers. There are others who disagree, however, don’t be mis-led by the #3500 tow rating in your manual. In fact, the Grand Caravan manual even stated that any trailer over #2000 must have a WDH. My guess is that your TV manual states the same. Given the fact that you only have a class 2 hitch, you will not be able to utilize a WDH. Without a WDH, your van will sag severely in the rear thus taking a substantial amount of vehicle weight off of the front tires. When this happens, your steering and overall control of the vehicle is severely compromised. Whatever your decision ends up being, I urge you to consider the safety of yourself and your family. Good luck to you.
goodcruisin wrote: Your Van has a max towing of 3,500. A class II hitch has a max of 3500 lbs. They are matched. Going to a class III gains you nothing.
Bad advice. Class II hitches have two notable differences which may or may not matter depending on the popup in question.
First, you are limited to 350 pounds of tongue weight.
Second, you can't add a Weight Distribution hitch to a class II hitch.
Since I don't know what popup you are renting, or how heavy it is, you will have to take a look at it's weight and determine if you are OK sticking with the class II hitch. The best advice is to look at the GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight = maximum trailer can weigh fully loaded) of the trailer and take 12% of it as tongue weight. For example, a 3500 GVW popup will have 420 pounds of tongue weight if loaded to it's maximum payload and the load is distributed properly. Obviously, in the above example a class II hitch is insufficient as the 350 max tongue weight ratings wouldn't carry the trailer's real tongue weight safely.
My advice, if you are renting a popup, try to find one that has no more than 300 pounds of tongue weight. More than 300 pounds will sag your van pretty bad without a Weight Distributing hitch. As you aren't likely getting a weight distributing hitch as part of the rental it's best to stick to a weight that won't require one. Working the numbers backwards a popup with a 300 pound tongue weight will have a maximum GVW of 2500 pounds.
That is a pretty good estimate of a trailer you can safely tow with your minivan without extra equipment or modifications.
-Jimmy
'04 Ford Freestar (Primary tow vehicle) '05 Subaru Forester (Backup tow vehicle) '65 Bethany popup (best popups ever made!) Looking for a tow vehicle Minivan towing
I towed a 12' flagstaff for 4 years with a Pontiac Montana with the towing package. With the towing package, I believe that the Montana would be a great tow vehicle for the Yuma. The GVWR of the 2008 Yuma is 2400 pounds, which is much lighter than my flagstaff was. If your Montana does not have a towing package, then you may want to invest in an aux. transmission cooler (especially if you are going to use this vehicle as a primary tow vehicle if you convince your DW to purchase one). The other nice feature of the towing package, is the automatic load leveling system, which maintained a level towing attitude.
I agree with some of the other posters, with regards to the lynx levelers. Get some 2x6, and cut some 18"-24" lengths and some 6"x6" blocks for the stabilizer jacks and tongue jack. A drinking water hose is a must.
As for anything else, pack as if you were taking the tent, and if necessary, in Florida, how far can you be from a Wally-World?
Anyway, I loved the Montana as a PUP hauler, so use your common sense, and enjoy the trip.
Sean, Maureen, 4 Kids and a Shih-Tzu
2003 Rockwood Roo 21
2004 GMC Envoy XL (4.2 L V6)
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