Which pop up should we look for.

[smsmith]

Now that the question of AC or no AC is answered (yes AC). Which model should We look for? We will be camping with the grandkids. State parks in Indiana. 6 people most at one time. Just looking for a place to start looking. Maybe an idea you have that we need to think about.
Thanks.

[We_ll_See]

12 foot low wall at a minimum. I would recommend a cassette potty too. Outside accessible storage is great to have as well. Add brakes, air conditioning and make sure the roof doesn't leak. And make sure the tires are in good condition.

[manualman]

Without knowing your tow vehicle, none of us can help you in the slightest. Please share.

You also need to decide what your goals are for this camper. Some folks (me) have a popup because they LIKE the experience of sleeping in tenting and prefer the camper to have minimal complexity (added cost, maintenance and probability of breaking). Others want the luxury RV experience and figure the popup in the cheapest way in (or the most they can tow). This latter group rarely ends up happy in a pup. Best predictor of popup happiness is to spend some time TENT camping. If you LIKE that, but would prefer to eliminate just a few of the hassles (zipper doors, sleeping on the ground, etc), then a pup is probably for you. If you generally don't like tent camping, the pup won't satisfy you for long.

[patperry2766]

Kavoom wrote:
"Get the biggest one your vehicle can tow." What he said, but I would add comfortably. The temptation is to look at your vehicle specs and try to max them out. I am not the tow police, but remember your limits and it is your family in the vehicle.

True. Forgot to add that part. A lot of people consider a pop-up to be small and lightweight, neither of which is the case on my HW pop-up.

[Kavoom]

"Get the biggest one your vehicle can tow." What he said, but I would add comfortably. The temptation is to look at your vehicle specs and try to max them out. I am not the tow police, but remember your limits and it is your family in the vehicle.

[patperry2766]

Rockwood hybrid camper

Maybe this as an option?

It sure would make set up & break down a lot quicker

[patperry2766]

Get the biggest one your vehicle can tow. I have a 14' highwall and with 2 adults, a 15 YO and a 5 YO, it can get crowded pretty quickly with all the stuff that gets brought along

[bondebond]

Pop-up sizes are based on "box "size" which means the length of the lower hard wall section of the PUP where it touches the frame underneath.

They come as small as 6' and range up to as much as 16'. A very common size is a 10' box, which is what I would suggest you look at.

You may have stated elsewhere, but how capable is your tow vehicle? PUPs can very quickly outweigh the tow capabilities of a number of passenger vehicles.

Knowing what you can safely tow is actually where you need to start FIRST, then see what other criteria, wants/needs and options fall within that constraint.

It can actually be quite fun to go shopping for a PUP, see lots of units and sit them, dream and so forth. But you need to do your homework first on what it takes to tow a PUP safely.

You will get into things such as what your state requires if the PUP is above a certain weight, such as its own brakes, etc.

Those won't necessarily steer you away from a particular purchase but you may need to buy a PUP realizing that you will need to add brakes to it to be compliant with the law, if it applies.

Anyway, good luck with the search. Short of renting a PUP (which people say to do all the time but the availability of PUPs for renting in my parts of the world is zero), you just have to sit in a few and imagine what it is like to live inside it for a weekend in the rain: how would you manage cooking (if you decide to cook inside - some chose not to), how do you shuffle the suitcases around, where and how to store food, etc, etc, etc.

If your tow vehicle can support heavier weights, then by all means look at 12' boxes as these generally afford more amenities or make the same ones a little more comfortable. My PUP is actually a highwall unit with a 14' box, which is a major upgrade from our first one that was a standard wall 10' unit. They feel like totally different worlds. The first 10' PUP felt cramped with just the 4 of us and no place to put anything. The 14' high wall is like a cavern with too much storage space - something you never hear a PUP owner say.

[tatest]

How many of the children can you fit in one bed? A popup worked for my family as us older kids left and it got down to Mom, Dad and the three youngest girls, six year age range. The popup was a 12-foot box, roughly queen size at one end, full bed at the other. The three girls "camped out" together in the big end. 1970s, cold-water popup with minimal kitchen, thus really a big tent up off the ground.

Big family to accommodate, you'll want as much seating as possible (for rainy days), an adult end and a kids' end, so I recommend a double-dinette model like Jayco's 1207 floorplans (currently Jay Series, similar floorplan has been other model lines in the past). They currently offer a two-dinette in a 10-foot box (1007) but that has almost no space for six people to move around. The 12-foot box model (12UD) in their cold-water Sport series has similar space, and it will be lighter and less expensive, but not by much. Starcraft (Jayco subsidary) will have equivalent models.

Similar from Forest River, would be Rockwood Freedom 2270 (Flagstaff Mac 227).

I've not shopped other brands (Fleetwood, Viking, Coleman) since I have no dealers for those.

If you want a bathroom, particularly with a shower (which can be nice for just the two of you), selections get more difficult. Forest River is still making bathroom models, but the bathroom takes up a lot of living space, even if you move up to a 14-foot box with the dinette in a slideout. Most bathroom models are single dinette, but Rockwood Premier 2517 and 2716 at least provide a sofa for additional seating.

When popups get this large, they can be heavier and often more expensive than small ultra-lite travel trailers, particularly hybrids which might give you a real bathroom and kitchen, putting the beds into tent pop-outs at one or both ends (like Rockwood Roo, but almost everybody makes a line of these).

[lfloom]

Questions you should be asking:

1) will you want a bathroom? do you plan to show in it?
2) do you see yourself cooking inside or outside most of the time? How out about doing dishes?
3) what are the age and gender of your grandchildren? a king sized bed will easily hold 3 kids, especially if they are small (thought they will grow). One way to look at a king sized bunk end is as a 3 person tent. They are about the same size. A fourth kid in the same space will be a bit tight, esp as they grow older, but that is ok, because they all have dinettes that can convert to a bed, and is actually too small for 6 people anyway, so mostly you will be eating outside.
4) how much can you tow?

[Alabama_Jim]

We had a Coachmen pop up and added an AC and it made traveling much more enjoyable.

[Campfire_Time]

We owned a '93 Jayco 1208, bought new and had for 10 years. Solid camper. If I was looking at pop-ups today my biggest criteria would be a one piece roof, or at least without a center seam. It may be that they are alike that today.

Also I don't know if anyone is making 12 ft boxes anymore but with 6 people I'd be looking for the largest I could afford.

[p220sigman]

With planning to have 6 most of the time, I would look as large as possible. You didn't say what you will be towing with, but that may factor in as well.

We have a 2010 Viking with king beds on each end, slide out dinette, and a couch. Even though the slide only goes out a couple of feet, it makes a huge difference in space inside if we are all in there such as when getting ready for bed or if the weather prevents outdoor activity.

[scrubjaysnest]

We had a 2002 Coleman Mesa, two king beds, 25 feet when open. Went to Alaska in it. Moved up to a 2011 hard sided bifold Trailmanor

[Hideout17]

We had a Coleman and was very happy with it. Most can be outfitted with Ac. See what is a available locally and go see them and look at them like you would a car. Also make sure you have a vehicle able to pull what you want.