Ordered our first ever TT!!

music · May 22, 2012

Well I ended up picking up a small pop-up for cheap due to the fact that it was going to cost me half of what I paid to buy the one I now own, just to rent.

That's exactly how we started, but I ended up rebuilding parts of it, as I wasn't happy with some things I found (another story). We pulled it w/ a minivan from TN to Acadia National Park in Maine, stopping at some great places along the way. That was just before my oldest started school, which would have been ~10 yrs ago. Great memories.

ChevyTech77 · May 22, 2012

I've already replaced the air mattress beds with 1" camping mats under 4" of dual density memory foam, replaced the tires, repacked the wheel bearings and installed a new battery, in the correct location. If she enjoys it, and it needs much else I'll sell the stupid thing and buy the TT that I really wanted lol.

rusty01 · May 23, 2012

Well I ended up picking up a small pop-up for cheap due to the fact that it was going to cost me half of what I paid to buy the one I now own, just to rent. It's certainly nothing special but should at least get the job done. Plus, this way, if the gf DOESN'T like camping, I can sell this thing off and put the money back in the bank, all the same.

It makes it's maden voyage this weekend. Can't wait to be set up at my site and relaxing with a frosty cold mault beverage.

Yeah we attempted the pop up thing. We actually rented one for a week for $250 which wasn't too bad. I'm glad we did! They suck! lol No storage, set up time (of course the battery was dead so I had to hand crank it), noisy (you hear everything outside the camper) and no bath room! Don't get me wrong, pop ups have their place. I'm just glad we rented and didn't purchase as that would have been not so good of a purchase for us. We've camped many years in tents and now that we have 3 children it was time to get something we all could enjoy and have the extra space for friends and family. Good luck with your pop up. Hope the gf likes camping!

rusty01 · May 23, 2012

If it sways without the sway control, you should see what you can do to get more weight on the tongue (load the front of the camper w/ heavier stuff rather than the rear, if you have the option). The sway control features of a good hitch are intended to make a good setup better. I have pulled mine with almost no tension on the WD bars, and there is zero sway... even going faster than you should w/ a trailer this size (over 65). The key is that ours has a very heavy tongue from the factory (over 15% tongue weight). I've been in a vehicle w/ a camper that had too light of a tongue (a 2500 actually), and it was *very bad*. The difference between that camper towing steady and swaying was literally just two bicycles hung onto the rear ladder rack. The tongue on ours is so heavy, that I could put a rick of firewood on the back without overdoing it , but many of the "ultra light" campers purposely keep the tongue light so that it looks good to customers w/ lighter payload and hitch ratings. On these trucks, I'll happily go over the GVWR of the truck a little, if it means a steady tow experience... so long as I stay well within the axle ratings.

Edit: big congrats on the new fun-mobile.

The sway was very minimal at 60 and it was back country road with dips and uneveness so my guess would be that on a nice highway it would have been fine. Also wind was blowing up to 25 mph that day. I think once the bars are in place there will no sway whatsoever. It already has plenty of tongue weight (just under 800 lbs). Also I think I had the height of the ball too high as the camper and truck were almost level with NO wd bars installed! lol I lowered the ball height but have yet to test it out.