an upgrade of sorts

[caheaton]

Hello. After being a tent camper all my life, I finally purchased my first camper. The wife and I had been planning on purchasing a small travel trailer, but since I'm new to towing I decided the pop up route is probably a better place to start...easier to tow and store. Only drawback is that it does seem to take just as long to set up and tear down as it did our tent and screen house. Positives are it sure is great having a furnace!

This is what we bought in the middle of Feb. A 2021 Rockwood Freedom 2318G with the optional shower / toilet combo. We finally were able to take it out this past weekend for its maiden voyage. Temperatures were still too cold at night to use the water system, but as mentioned, the heat was nice :-) . We also bought a small microwave and have placed it in the space that was likely meant for a TV (small counter space by the queen bed that has electric outlet and antenna connection). That's also a nice plus. Bring leftovers from home and warm them in the microwave for a quick meal.

Here's the camper setup during it's maiden trip to Clifty Falls State Park in IN.


We still have all of our tent camping gear. I plan on using it when I camp solo and my wife still plans on using it when she goes on trips with her girlfriends (she doesn't want anything to do with learning to tow ;-) ). Plus there will still be times when a desired campground may have only tent spaces available....

[toedtoes]

Re: an upgrade of sorts

Congrats! Popups really don't speed up the setting up or taking down processes, they just get you off the ground and offer some creature comforts in easier ways (like the furnace).

Just watch the levelling. With a popup, you can trouble setting up the beds or door if the rig is off level too much.

[caheaton]

Re: an upgrade of sorts

Exactly! I forgot to bring my BEL leveler and we had a moderate lean towards the slide out (driver) side. This resulted in the door not fitting very well. Was able to get the door installed good enough for the two nights we camped, but next time I'll be sure not to forget the leveler! Being out of level also prevented me from using the fridge :-( (but we had coolers and it was cool enough for one bag of ice to suffice....).

[caheaton]

Re: an upgrade of sorts

Exactly! I forgot to bring my BEL leveler and we had a moderate lean towards the slide out (driver) side. This resulted in the door not fitting very well. Was able to get the door installed good enough for the two nights we camped, but next time I'll be sure not to forget the leveler! Being out of level also prevented me from using the fridge :-( (but we had coolers and it was cool enough for one bag of ice to suffice....).

Also, don't trust phone apps for levelling! Our friends phone said we were out of level by about 2 degrees, my phone said I was level and my bubble level, eyes and body told me were were way our of level!

[toedtoes]

Re: an upgrade of sorts

With both my campers, I initially leveled off the bottom shelf of the fridges. Once that was level, I added a big wall mounted T level where I could easily see it showing it as level. For the motorhome, I added a circle level right behind the driver's seat for easy checks.

Fortunately, for the fridge, as long as you are within one line of level, you should be OK to run it.

The BAL leveler is great. I tried leveling the trailer with blocks, like I do with the motorhome, but it really was a pain. Not to mention that it made it impossible to chock the trailer due to the hitch wheels. With the BAL, it levels and chocks in one step.

[francegelom]

Congratulations! It's a good one just that pop up always take time and makes set up take a while. I would advise if you can still get travel trailer, try to get one.

[francegelom]

It's a good one just that pop up always take time and makes set up take a while. I would advise if you can still get travel trailer, try to get one.