Restoring and modifying a pop-up camper for overlanding.

When my dad passed a year ago, I inherited a lot of neglected vehicles and a few awesome firearms.

One of the vehicles is a 2008 Fleetwood Taos pop-up camper. He used it to travel all over the US in to attend rifle matches and bird hunt.

Like most of his stuff, it was rode hard and put away wet. I haven't had the time to even open it up and check it out in the year since he passed.

Today, I finally opened it. I assumed it would be moldy, damaged, and a train wreck.

It wasn't! Yeah, it was dirty and needs some love. But, it is worthy of being saved. I plan on restoring it, then modifying it for off-road exploration.

I started a new YouTube series for the project.

https://youtu.be/v_FCLw1wVMo?si=53MP5aDSUkMSiVOc

 

Can't like that your dad passed, but I like that you're getting busy on a camping rig! Good luck!

 

Axle flip, larger tires, easy to get some additional ground clearance

 

Did a ton of sanding and work today on the front yoke area. Still need to fix the pigtail and a little more painting before the front section is done.

 

I got the camper mostly done as far as cleaning and painting, then flipped the axle and went from 22" tires to 26" tires...




I took it into the woods Friday afternoon and spent the night camping in the Idaho woods. Lift worked well, camper worked well, and it was a success as far as getting it back to working condition.





But...

I found that I mostly just used the camper as a place to sleep. Cooking inside of it was hot, and the sink and water system was little better than a 5-gallon jug with a spout. I still set up a folding table next to it for meal prep, organizing supplies, and the water jug for washing hands, cleaning dishes, etc.

I still had to inflate an air mattress to sleep on, and set up my sleeping bag. Cranking up the pop-up and getting it set up took longer than setting up my tent in my utility trailer. And the utility trailer lets me haul my ATV, UTV, Motorcycle, or two pontoon float tubes into the woods. The pop-up only lets me bring one float tube strapped to the top.



I think I'm going to sell the pop-up and just go back to the utility trailer and tent, unless I find a great deal on a smaller toy hauler that can get into the deep woods.

 

We have had a couple pop up’s that I restored and used for a year and then sold; I enjoy the renovation part of taking broken campers and making them usable again. That said, the pop ups were always a pain in the ass. You couldn’t really haul anything in them so the bed of the truck was stacked full of supplies and everything you needed to camp. And as you said it took a long time to set up once you got to the destination.

we now have an rpod and love it. We can store everything we need in the camper and save the bed to load up bikes, kayaks, etc. I can’t tent camp after three back surgeries but love being outdoors. My wife hikes the Appalachia trail and could live in the wilderness. The camper is a great compromise. I would continue to look for a smaller travel trailer that might need some work - you obviously know what you’re doing. Sometimes you can get a really good deal on something someone is trying to unload just because it has a soft floor or something like that. Spend a weekend reskinning the floor and you’re in business!!!