What kind of camper do you have?

Check out the Casita Campers if it's just you and the wife.

 

My wife says she wants:

1. Enough room for a comfortable chair
2. Full bathroom (the pop-up has a shower/toilet combo)
3. More room

 

I bought an ultralite 21' Cikira, 2007-well-designed, has everything-nice kitchen, big bright shower w/skylite, heat, a/c, can use gas or electric. Perfect for the Taco. Has a lot of different floor plans.

 

I bought an almost unused 07 Cikira 21' ultralite-it's bunkhouse, which I would not have picked necessarily, but everything was still wrapped in plastic so I decided to work with it so far as the bed was concerned. It's just me and hopefully one other person one day-everything is up to code and it cost me $8500. I haven't used it yet, but plan a 3 week trip in the summer, so that will give me a good idea of how much I like it. The vanity sink is separate from the bathroom. It has a large shower stall with a skylight, which I really like b/c I hate dark little corners, and then the toilet. I like the sink being separate b/c when travelling I've seen places where people could just wash their hands/faces and yet the toilet area was separate, which is real handy.

 

I have an 18ft '07 fun finder X by cruiser rv and it's great. It's just the wife, son (18months) and me. The bathroom could be roomier but it does the job. Dry weight is 2800lb I think? haven't weighted full yet. I will be towing with the tacoma this weekend for the first time. I had a 01 highlander v6 that did a great job towing, but really wanted a truck. I got the rig for just under 10K about 6 months ago. Here it is with the Highlander.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39646792@N07/4561796347/

 

a shitty one that has flown off my truck several times going 70+ still works though minus all the scratches and such. Shitty brackets so I had to fab my own

 

Hey guys I have a chance to get this 2010 Forest River Rockwood Pop-up for $5,200 new It's gonna be for just my wife and I and our 20 lb. dog

Anybody know if these are good little campers?

Ive never owned a pop-up before or any camper for that matter

It has 20,00 btu furnace,heated matress and 3 way fridge

also has removable stove that can hook up outside - pop-up measures 17' open and 8' closed

Thanks for any info on these pop-ups

Financing through bank of America at 9.50% for 5 years $106.00 a month

Is this a good deal?

 

I've seen some fairly old ones in decent shape for half that. I'd pick it up.

 

Picked up a used 2003 Fleetwood (coleman) niagara last weekend (well, 2 weekends ago ).

25' opened up with 2 king size beds. There were 2 used models that I liked when I was looking, a regular non-slide and this one. I thought the slide was nice because of the extra room, plus this has a porta potty in it. Personally I like a wrap around dinette, but this floor plan isn't too bad and will work out well for us. The gf and I are both tall so it was important to us to find a table that we could both sit at without tripping trying to get out or banging our knees while sitting. This limited us to larger ones right off the bat since the small ones have mineature dinettes. Plus I want to bring my 60 lb dog along and bigger is better for her as well.

Total price out the door was $6000 with tax and title. This was one of their premier top of the line models in 2003 so it has some nice features like large fresh water, water heater, furnace, ac, 3way fridge, potty, 2 gas tanks, electric brakes, slide, etc etc. After looking around a bit, this seemed like a good price based on cheaper models I saw on craigslist in worse shape that listed for 4-5K. Put a deposit on it and picked it up a week later and they were practically sold out of pop-ups. Good thing I went when I did! Personally I think it shoulda been a dual axle since dry weight is almost 3100 lbs I think and axle rating is 3600. doesn't leave much room to put crap in. Tacoma pulled it great and I didn't notice a loss of gas mileage for the 50 mile ride home. First trip is planned for the weekend after next.

Here's a couple iphone pics.











tight fit into the garage!

 

Looks nice, but the salesman really sold me on colemans. I think they had those there as well and I was really interested in them since the price was nice. Standard features don't include ANY brakes on the cheaper models. Also, some of their lift systems aren't aluminum so they have a tendency to rust. Other features on the colemans over the rockwoods are rollers on the pullout beds, sunbrella canvas (breathable, mold resistant), better construction, etc. I got the impression that the rockwood were made by coleman, but a cheaper model with stripped down options. They looked nice though. No brakes of any type was a deal breaker for me though.

Check out pop up portal, tons of good info and they really helped me. I would check out used ones first if this is your first camper. You can sell a year later for what you paid since most depreciation is already done. My 2003 smelled and looked brand new inside. They had an awesome top of the line 2006 model with a stove and hard sided bathroom (on a popup!), micro, etc for 10K. If I had the money, I woulda bought that one. It looked like it was never used! New model of the same one was 16K new and you couldn't tell the difference. There are some good deals out there on well kept older ones where you get some nicer options for the same price as new.

 

I tow a 21' starcraft 21ck. Hybrid. (part hardside, part tent camper.) Weigh about 4800. My 2nd gen V6 drops to an average of 10 MPG when towing. Bigger trailers with this truck definately need sway control. We "don't want the tail wagging the dog" as they say.
Buying used...look out for water damage. Leaks are number one cause of issues with campers. Keep the roof sealed/maintained every year. My last camper was 21 years old when we traded her in. Not a single leak.
Wife/GF requirements.... Bathroom, dedicated full time kitchen (no set up), Air Conditioning (and we only camp where we can plug in).
Watch the hitch weight... and definately have the rear spring TSB done if you are towing anything with some weight to it. Ten minute installation for the brake controller on trucks with factory tow package.
Look for the post on TW called "Tacoma Towing Bible"
Great bunch of folks and lots of great info over on RV.net/forums.
Happy Campin!

 

Good point about the leaks. When I went looking, it was raining out luckily. There was an 04 for sale that looked super clean and I liked the layout. Sat on the bed and it was soaking wet. Looked up and it was leaking. Looked around and there was some more signs of leaking. That made the decision on the one I got even easier since there were none. I set it up the night I Brought it home to trial sleep in it. It rained all night long. Good test

 

that is a super tight fit!! i would destroy everything! my brother has a fleetwood E3. looks like yours. slide out and everything. it is jacked up like that earlier jayco. awesome rig. we use it for hunting trips. i admit, my taco strains with a full load. he pulls it with his duramax diesel.

and outdoor shower attachment is king. great deal!!

 

Heres my camper! You guys got a little more room than me....

 

congrats! Whens your first trip?

 

Memorial wee-end...

The wife, myself and our pooch

I see what you mean about the lifts not being aluminum

So what I have been doing is coating the metal lifts with Bombardier Lube

I use it on metal parts on my boat for salt water use and this stuff prevents rust very well

I spray it liberally into a micro fiber rag and wipe down the metal lift bars after I set the rig up each time

 

So where's the toilet and shower?

 

.....um I could pee in the side compartment...it has holes in it.....and for a shower? I just hope it rains....

 

We have 17' Casita. The Tacoma and Casita seem made for each other. Casita's are made like an egg crate - molded top and bottom fiberglass with everything for travel and camping.

http://www.casitatraveltrailers.com/