Pop-up camper or travel trailer?

So, I've almost got my wife talked in to buying a camper- popup or travel trailer. I've got 3 kids now so i need something to sleep at least 5 people. I've googled and googled different kinds of light weight campers but want to know from some fellow Tacoma owners what our trucks are capable of towing when your all loaded down for a weekend of camping. Also, what kind of camper do you have for a family of 4 or 5? Pictures and details would be awesome. If you've had a popup and a travel trailer what did you like/dislike? I won't be taking it off road or anything, just State and National Parks.
Thanks in advance!!

 

This will definitely not fit your needs but here is my Starcraft comet. We love this thing. I can drag it at 80 and only takes me about 7 min to set up. Has all the amenities of a big one but in a small package.

 

about 3500lb ready to camp, tows well, 25ft long opened up, has slide out dinette easy to move around inside. 19ft hitch to spare when closed. has more room when opened up than many full sized campers.
YMMV

a miserable weekend at a KOA on the OBX

a much better weekend at a campground 45miles from the house

locked and loaded waiting for the next trip

 

That's awesome, this exactly the information I was looking for. Do you need a weight distributing hitch for a pop up like that? I've seen some smaller popups without the slide out and I think those may get a little too cramped on those "miserable" weekends!!

 

I wish I could cram all of us in an A-frame like that. No canvas to mess with on one of those!!

 

We've used a pop-up for years and I think you get more space for the money with one . They are easy to tow, don't catch a lot of wind and will give you a lot of space when set up. But they take a lot longer to set up and break down. Especially a PITA doing either in rain. But once up they are comfortable if you go with one of the bigger ones.

But sometime in the next year or 2 we are going to go with a travel trailer. It will be heavier, harder to tow, catch more wind, and cost more. But being able to keep everything in there year round, and the ability to set it up quickly will be worth it to us. On multi day trips it is possible to simply pull over and sleep in it while still hitched to the truck.

 

Easy to tow and not catching wind are big for me. My plan is to take about 2-3 weeks next summer and plan a route out West from Tennessee to see New Mexico, Arizona, southern Utah and Colorado.

 

with this camper the weight is too close to the tire capacity (in my opinion) to use a WDH, i have air bags on my DCSB to level things out, the tongue weight on mine is ~430lb so it’s heavy. it tows well. I pull same camper with my 5spd 3rd gen 4Runner also with bags, it does have brakes so a brake controller is needed, and they are very effective (especially on the Runner) keep it level and tires right and it pulls well.
The miserable part wasn’t so much the rain but that the camp ground was flooded, look close and you’ll see water standing everywhere, the mat was useless, the river you see behind was actually the cut across for the next row behind us, it was 10” deep the width of the campground.
my dog was not happy, there was no where for him to lay down, he hated getting wet and doesn’t like being locked up in the camper either. his favorite spot is under the camper.
There was a high dollar Class A pusher across from us sitting in a foot of water.

 

I can imagine all that rain took quite a while to dry out the camper...what kind of air bags are you running, Ride rites?

 

it rained while we were there, but most of the water was there prior to our arrival. Wet camper wasn’t really an issue, it got set up again when we got home. Drainage at the really expensive camp ground ($90 a night ) and not knowing it wasn’t going to drain off.
Hatteras KOA, we had been there a few times prior, loved the place, great for kids.
They had made several changes since we had been there the last time, one was building bungalows on stilts in front of the kids play area.
The play area and bounce pillow were visible from the first three rows of camping area, perfect, i didn’t have to be on top of the kid and i could chill, mom could do her thing as well. it really put a damper on the place for us. Then the water drainage issue the last time we were there. For the kind of money they charge to be there, it better damn well be almost disney like.
We haven’t been back since that trip, from what i hear drainage has only slightly improved in 5yrs.

Yes, ride rites, they work well. ride well

 

Outer Banks is on the bucket list for sure. It looks awesome!! I think i'm sold on the ride rites for air bags.

 

15' 2400# dry. Can sleep 5-6, bunk beds, shower, microwave, ac, (no oven), good storage, awning, space for a tv if desired, radio.
If you keep your eyes open you can find good deals at the end of summer.

 

That's nice!! What model is that?

 

Jayco Flight Baja 15.

 

We’re in the same boat. Want to camp more often with our 3 kids, and thinking that a camper or trailer will make it
more enjoyable.

Biggest complaint from the fam has been unloading and setting up taking what seems like an eternity. Starting to bring bikes and camp for longer than 2 days at a time has us thinking about a camper or trailer as being better than the ground tent, but it needs to be able to reach more remote sites to gain the privacy we like.

 

We did the pop up thing for years, I grew to hate them. You have to set it up, load it, pack it down, then set it up again, move everything to camping position. Then repeat it all over again. We have a small motorhome now, and park it, put the awning out, and set up some chairs.

If we didn’t have the motorhome we would have a hybrid, that way you can feel like you’re camping outdoors (that was the only thing I liked about the pop up, feels like camping) and it’s much easier to set up camp.

 

So i would love to have a motorhome but i'm not sure we would have time to camp enough to really use it. The popup just seems like a cheaper way to get everyone camping with a few amenities like AC and heat and a bed up off the ground. Personally i would rather be in a tent but three kids aged 5 and under in a tent is challenging to say the least.

 

Look at small hybrids, they aren’t much more than a larger pop up

 

4 teenage boys plus mom and me. 01 jayco eagle fs10. 2200lbs loaded. Scored for 500 bucks on craigslist. Just needed a good cleaning.

 

My Casita. It's lightweight fiberglass.