Joining the ranks - got a popup

Blaze

Blaze

The Jeeper Reaper
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Location
Wake Forest, NC
We've been talking about doing this for a while now, finally did it. Was trying to sell an S10 here at the shop and a guy offered me this in trade.

It is a 2000 Viking popup. The flooring was a little rotted and he replaced it but never laid any linoleum back down. We're going to do some kind of newer flooring, clean it up and haul the kiddos out to the camp ground!

Pretty excited about this. Eventually we'll be able to pull it down to Uwharrie with the XJ and spend the weekend.

Pic is only partially set up, I'm working today and just had it out to check things before trading.
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This thing is almost ready for camping! I laid down a bit of caulk on the floor in the seams where the previous owner repaired the floor. Overall pretty solid repair, just needed touchup. My son Chase and I ran to the store and got some new flooring, he picked it out. Got vinyl plank flooring, the ones that float, not peel and stick. Pretty happy with them, need to go get one more box to finish up one side, but almost done!

Before - like a bad kitchen
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After - like a bad kitchen with decent flooring
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All set up and ready for camping!
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It looks like your cables in the back are not lifting the camper top fully. There are many sites that have adjustment procedures
 
Bought mine from a member on here that put grommets every foot or so in the bottom vinyl tails that hang down below the 2 beds. I take "S" hooks in them and thread them with a rope and it seals off the bottom much better with no chance of falling out at night. I HIGHLY recommend that mod!

That along with 1" memory egg foam and it sleeps better than our bed.

We absolutely love ours! No way would I go with an RV after the pop-up experience. Takes a tad longer to set up than an RV but it's a lot more like camping.

Mine's a 98 model Viking. Not much difference.
 
Thanks @Willc I'll look in to that. I didn't notice it was off until you said something. I didn't actually have it cranked all the way up, it was about an inch or so from full lift.

@6BangBronk that's a great idea for the grommets and S-hooks. I'll definitely do that.
 
OK, I think I found the problem. The rear pulley for the Goshen system is attached to a metal rail across the back of the camper. That metal rail is bent in slightly, probably because the system was not maintained and the grease is probably dry. My thought at least. I am going to grease the shit out of the system and weld a reinforcing bar on and reattach the pulley to see if that corrects it.
 
OK, so now I'm on the hook, we reserved a campsite for April 16th. Now I definitely need to finish this thing up.

Last night I climbed under and greased up the zerk fittings and lubed the rear pulley. Tonight I am going to grab the comealong from my shop and bring it home to straighten out that rear crossmember before reinforcing it.

I also ordered a new battery box and am going to rewire the 4-pin trailer plug to a 7-pin. I am going to use that to charge the battery on the pup and also am going to run an LED backup light on the trailer to help me back it in my driveway at night.

And I also bought a grommet kit and some s-hooks with paracord to draw it down tight like @6BangBronk recommended.
 
We hit Falls Lake and Jordan regular. Went down to Rolling View last year during a predicted rainy weekend and it turned off sunny. We were the only ones there. Was weird showering with the wife in the women's shower. Felt eerie as hell too though fishing at night out in the middle of nowhere by ourselves.

Took it up to mountains in TN this past New Years for a party cause nowhere close by to stay (heavy drinking was involved) and temp dropped to 22-23 at night. It definitely takes 2 to camp like that... Plus booze! And of course preferably the opposite gender to make a cocoon with.

We carry basically a survival package in ours. Just add food and throw the bikes in the back with an ice cooler and we're set for a weekend. Me and wife go at a drop of the hat.

We've learned that if you hit anywhere local during Memorial Day weekend you better go a day early or make reservations or you'll be grilling steaks at home instead. They start rolling in around noon on Thursday and booked around 8-9 PM for the rest of the weekend.
 
Yeah, we are going to hit Holly Point, it is only a couple of miles from our house so it'll be a good test for it. We hit Rolling View sometimes too for tent camping. Nice campground. We used to tent camp a lot, and still do occasionally. My problem is that after my back injury a few years back, sleeping on the ground in a tent does not agree with me. Even with mats and things, still just can't get comfortable. This should make that a whole lot better.

And we probably won't go anywhere Memorial Day. We hate traffic and will probably end up drinking and hanging out at the house if we did anything. We can always set the camper up in the back yard, it's almost like camping. :lol:
 
You guys actually make me jealous. I wanted a pop up to hybridize into a do all. Tote the camper and 4x4 or motorcycles.....Had it all planned with easy on off trailer system, water in the rails of gooseneck, all sorts of shit. Then the wife sees the mobile homes on wheels. So I'm down to bicycles and kayaks. I like my camper don't get me wrong but it's nothing like camping in mom and dad's pop up when I was little. :beer:
 
6BangBronk said:
One trip and you will never lay your head in a pitch tent ever again... They will spoil ya.
Click to expand...
My wife did the tent camping one time (no mattress)....the pop-up has spoiled her. I plan on putting a hitch on my Catalina & taking to some of the overnight car shows. I do look silly pulling in the campground in an F-350 dually crew cab pulling a pop-up.
 
Got the flooring all done. I also tried to wire a new 7-pin trailer plug and mount the reverse lights. There is a bad short somewhere in the wiring that is causing a backfeed into the trailer system. If I hook any one wire up, all three are active. Somewhere the wires are touching. I bought a trailer wire junction box and mounted it on the tongue, then wired the 7-pin to that. I'm going to sort out the wiring next week sometime, as well as repair the lift mechanism.
 
Oh yea a couple other mods to consider...

My wrench that raises the jacks was shot (stripped out) so I made a whole new one out of an old socket so that I use a socket wrench and it goes a lot faster.
I haven't replaced my stock trailer tongue jack yet but it's days are numbered. About couldn't get it loaded one day when a helper didn't know how to operate it and unscrewed the lever to readjust on the side. We had to get a team of campers to help us lift it back up.

Oh yea, remember to lower the jacks when camping!!! :eek: I didn't know their importance during my first run. I was up early and cleaning fish for breakfast and wife hopped up to run to other side to wake up daughter and son in law. I heard screams and ran back up hill to see the pop-up pointed up in air before it came crashing back down when she climbed back to other side to balance it back out. Jacks down is a huge must!
The wooden blocks that the original owner had in there is always used as well. Gives much better support than the jacks by themselves.

We're planning Badin Lake in 2 weeks...
 
So we got our first campout in the popup in this last weekend. We had an absolute blast. I still need to do the wiring, but we went to Holly Point which is only a couple miles straight down the road from my house. I still don't have the rear adjusted completely right, but I'll get that handled before the next trip. The camper worked perfectly and it was one of the best nights sleep I have had camping in a long time. Other than it being cold as shit and I forgot to bring anything other than a t-shirt. :lol:
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