Looking for an A frame camper

loki008 · 01-24-2014, 12:14 PM

I have been doing some research into campers and I am of the mindset that I think an A frame fits my needs the best in terms of features vs comfort.

Just for some background information. I go camping 2-3 times a summer. Currently we go car camping. One of the trips is generally a Saturday to following Sunday trip in New Hampshire near Mt Washington.

I would like something that is comfortable for 2 people sleeping most of the time and but can fit up to 4 without being too crowded. In addition I like the fact that the hard walls offer a bit more protection from the weather and privacy than a canvas popup, also it seems that the fiberglass likely is more durable and would last longer than the canvas of a popup.

As for camping, it would be mostly dry. I may pick up a small honda inverter generator but for the most part I would be running off of propane and likely not using the A/C functionality. The heater being able to be run off of propane is a nice feature as it can get chilly at night even in the summer where we go. But i suspect that the camper will retain heat better than our current tent setup.

Towing wise I will be using a 2006 SAAB 9-5 station wagon. It has a type II receiver. I understand that I will have to pay attention to the loading due to the tongue weight but do not see any issues.

With all this in mind I have decided that the Rockwood A122 is the best fit. But I am interested to see if there are any other recommendations. I know that Flagstaff has a clone of this model, but in my area (Connecticut) there seems to be more Rockwood dealers that carry the A frame models.

I am not sure if this is a bit of a No - No on these forums, and if it is i apologize and i will remove it. But i am curious as to what is considered a good price on these. From what I have seen the MSRP seems to be made up on the fly from the dealers and the numbers seem to be just about everywhere. The local RV place has an A122S listed at an MSRP of close to $15k and a "show price" of $12k. They are saying since they are in the RV warranty Forever program and they offer lifetime warranties on their units that its already a great value and they wont move off of $12k. Where as with some research I have found a few units in the $9900 price range. Is this a good price, or is there even more room for negotiation to be found on these units? I likely wont be buying for another month or 2 and realistically dont need delivery until the end of July so I am willing to work my timing to line up with when a dealer is making an order. Any advice that could be given would be appreciated. I have some experience with car buying however this type of purchase seems to be light on hard pricing data to become educated with.

Any thoughts, comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.

mlsa3 · 01-24-2014, 12:57 PM

I probably can't be as much help as many here since I've only had my camper for two days and haven't been camping in it yet but I'll try to help.

First, the Rockwood and Flagstaff campers are the exact same camper other than the name and maybe the design of the fabric may be different...Forest River makes both of them....sort of like GMC trucks and Chevrolet trucks are identical other than the the name.

If I'm not mistaken the A122 is the one without the front sliding storage...to me and this is strictly a personal opinion the $15,000 is way too much. The show price of $12,000 is much better but I still got a better price than that but mine was a 2013 model. I bought the A128S which is the Rockwood and has the front sliding storage for much less than that.

Again to me it's the perfect size for two people....unless they were small kids the camper would be awfully small for 4 people...unless you don't mind sleeping really really close.

Good luck with your choice.

1A Camper · 01-24-2014, 02:22 PM

Here is where we bought our, I know it is too far away but will give you an Idea what a fair price is, I think other have beat these prices but not by a lot. New Campers In Stock | Roberts Sales - Denver, Colorado A frams are at the bottom of the page.

They have one price, do not deal but they do not have any add on, no dealer prep. Just Tax.

For what you describe the A frame is a good match

And welcome to the board.

RenFaire Camper · 01-24-2014, 04:07 PM

Just a point while the heater runs of propane it still needs electricity for the blower fan. I've found that the battery will lose charge after about 10 hours of running the lights and blower even with LED replacement. However if the day is sunny my solar panel will recharge the battery enough for the battery to last three full nights. I've the T12BH which the wife and I love it roomy enough for the two of us and two med-large dogs. The extra storage under the perm. bed is nice We have replaced the dinning table as it was to large and unstable for us. I love the front bike deck which I've mod'ed to take a storage box. Now everthing we need for camping is there just hook up and take off.

lonewolf465 · 01-24-2014, 04:08 PM

We have a 2012 Flagstaff. Don't know about towing with your rig since we use a Ford F150 EcoBoost. Traveled to Alaska last summer, just short of 10,000 miles without a single issue. About 1000 miles was on gravel roads. Just the two of us and we were comfortable, but we are old backpackers. Four adults will be cozy if you spend a lot of time in the rig. When I was dealing on our outfit, the dealer said this was the first one he had sold and really couldn't provide much for feedback from other customers. I used that to our advantage and got a new rig for under $10K. Storage is limited and I sometimes wondered about getting one with the front storage unit------then I remember we get into areas where length can be a problem. We get off the beaten path.

loki008 · 01-24-2014, 04:26 PM

Thanks for the feedback. In terms of space it likely would be just 2 people 99% of the time, but we go camping as a group and just would like the ability where if there is thunderstorms or something during setup we could fit another couple if we needed to for the night.

For power that's good to hear the heater will run the night, I'd likely recharge during the day. Does anyone know what the recharge time is on one of those inverter Honda generators? I'm sure it depends on the charger and other factors but a rough ball park would be nice.

Additionally I've been looking at the screenroom option. looks like it runs around $600 which seems quite pricey for what it is. I'd love to hear from someone who has one if they enjoy it and if they would buy it again if they had to replace their trailer today. I've also heard that they are a bit cumbersome to setup and take down. If that is the case it almost sounds like some poles and a large tarp would be almost as easy to setup and about $500 cheaper.

loki008 · 01-24-2014, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonewolf465

We have a 2012 Flagstaff. Don't know about towing with your rig since we use a Ford F150 EcoBoost. Traveled to Alaska last summer, just short of 10,000 miles without a single issue. About 1000 miles was on gravel roads.

Thanks. I'd expect there wouldn't be too much issues here. The car is rated for 3500lbs and has about 280hp with around 290 ft/lb for torque. I tow a 16" boat currently and it does quite well with that. The tongue weight is limited by the class II hitch but with proper loading that should be quite manageable

lonewolf465 · 01-24-2014, 04:39 PM

We have a 12 x 14 Magellan screen house and a 10 x 10 EZ up. Both were around $80. They serve our purpose but sometimes we appear as minimalists to others.

CincyED · 01-24-2014, 05:33 PM

There is one in the classified section
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...per-53084.html

loki008 · 01-24-2014, 05:37 PM

Thanks for the heads up. Wisconsin is a bit of a haul for me and I'm not sure how all the warranties transfers

1A Camper · 01-24-2014, 05:53 PM

Our dealer said the group 24 battery that is supplied with the trailer is to small and upgraded the battery to a group 27 on his nickle. While he was at it I had him add a second one on my Nickle. I find that I can easy get 2 night on a battery or 4 days total.
As for gas. The nights were running about 30 degrees ( we had one night at 25* ) say an average 35 degrees say 60* during the day. It took 10 nights to run one tank of gas out. We set the temp to 62 at night, and higher during the day when we were not there. Hot water tank was off most of the time. We have all LED lights. The ice box was running on gas the whole time. We do not run our fan continual, only when the furnace is heating.
We do not sit much more then 4 days so we are moving often and the TV (Tow Vehicle ) charges the trailer battery. So far I have not use my solar cells or Gen.
Battery charging, as you know, will take up to 24 hours to bring a battery up to 100%. A battery can be charge fairly quickly from 50% to 80% in an hour or 2. It is even better to make it 1 hour in the morning and a hour in the afternoon if you need 2 hours. I would get a fair DVM to measure voltage so you have some idea what the battery is doing.

Also some have had luck getting the dealer to throw in the tent as part of a deal on the trailer.

SurveyorWI · 01-24-2014, 05:58 PM

If you want to drive to wisconsin, I'm selling my barely used 2014 forest river rockwood a122bh. Pm me for details if interested.

rockfordroo · 01-24-2014, 06:49 PM

Quote:

also it seems that the fiberglass likely is more durable and would last longer than the canvas of a popup

I had a 1988 Coleman Sequoia popup for 20 years. I never had a problem with the canvas.

You'll have a lot more room in a popup, but folding it up in the rain isn't a treat.

Pooneil · 01-25-2014, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

I had a 1988 Coleman Sequoia popup for 20 years. I never had a problem with the canvas.

You'll have a lot more room in a popup, but folding it up in the rain isn't a treat.

I had a Coleman pop up too. Canvas durability never crossed my mind. For most of us, it doesn't get enough sun exposure over the life of the trailer to be of any consequence. The main worry is mildew from getting closed up wet. If it does get ruined, it is user replaceable. I sold mine to get an A-frame because, among many reasons, I too had closed mine in the rain one too many times. Another reason is the negative R value of canvas the made it practically impossible to cool in the long gulf coast summers. My A-frame solved these and other problems nicely.

Loki008, it sounds like your SAAB 9-5 TV is capable enough. But I would be sure on tongue weight before I bought one. Take a scale to your dealer and weigh the tongue of a trailer that has a battery and propane tanks on it. It may be close to 350#. My loaded A-122S is over 400#. Load balancing can help, somewhat, but the axle on FR a-frames is pretty far back and what little floor space there is behind the axle on an A-122 to put heavy items like coolers, won't offset much tongue weight.

Get the numbers you need to make an educated decision.

D-mo · 01-25-2014, 12:24 PM

have to agree with tom here on the balancing of the trailer .. there really isnt much room for that due to the positioning of the axle/wheel assembly.
FR was offering a lifetime warranty too me when we bought our trailer too ... for an extra 100 bucks or so. I really had to quiz the dealer about this ... but got it anyways. it covers the exterior, interior wood stuctures, and the flooring. All the rest of the unit is covered by separate warranties by their respective manufacturer. So the bottom line of this is ... this warranty should never increase or effect the pricing of each unit.

welcome to the board .. d-mo

rawlus · 01-26-2014, 08:36 PM

I too think tongue weight is going to be an issue. Given that you mentioned you have a class II hitch, I believe tongue weight limits on class ii are 300/350lbs..... You are close to the working edge there on tongue weight and getting close on trailer weight.

Assuming you are packing your truck/back end of the car for camping too.. I think that's pushing the vehicle to its max limits.. It's your car and all, but that plus it's front wheel drive (iirc) and you're going to the white mountains... Just seems like a lot of wear and tear on the vehicle. I would absolutely add a high efficiency tranny cooler here and you'll have to figure out how to hook up the electric brake system as well... You may even need additional suspension help due to the tongue weight.
So figure that into the cost of the camper.

I think if you're in the $10-12k range for price you should be satisfied.

I would explore the campers in your area and inquire if you can hook the camper up to your car just to see how much suspension droop you get. I would expect the fenders to drop very close to the tires....

loki008 · 01-27-2014, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rawlus

I too think tongue weight is going to be an issue. Given that you mentioned you have a class II hitch, I believe tongue weight limits on class ii are 300/350lbs..... You are close to the working edge there on tongue weight and getting close on trailer weight.

Assuming you are packing your truck/back end of the car for camping too.. I think that's pushing the vehicle to its max limits.. It's your car and all, but that plus it's front wheel drive (iirc) and you're going to the white mountains... Just seems like a lot of wear and tear on the vehicle. I would absolutely add a high efficiency tranny cooler here and you'll have to figure out how to hook up the electric brake system as well... You may even need additional suspension help due to the tongue weight.
So figure that into the cost of the camper.

I think if you're in the $10-12k range for price you should be satisfied.

I would explore the campers in your area and inquire if you can hook the camper up to your car just to see how much suspension droop you get. I would expect the fenders to drop very close to the tires....

I likely will not be loading up the back of the car all that much. I'd imagine most of the camping stuff would be stored under the bed (at leas the heavier stuff).

As for the suspension I am already planning on replacing my suspension with some Bilstein HD shocks as its getting about time to replace the shocks.

Pooneil · 01-28-2014, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loki008

I likely will not be loading up the back of the car all that much. I'd imagine most of the camping stuff would be stored under the bed (at leas the heavier stuff).

I also pack my camper not my TV. Cloths and the dry food box go in the camper. The fridge works very well so I don't usually take a cooler.

My TV does carry my bike and/or kayak, but that is a different matter.

KnG · 02-03-2014, 05:44 PM

We paid close to the $15K out the door, but then we are in North California and we seem to pay more for stuff!
We have three of us in the A-frame for our camping trips; DH, myself and our teenage son who is now bigger than mom!! The reason we got the camper now was to take him on more camping trips since that is what he likes. Would rather enjoy our time with him before he gets to old to want to hang with mom and dad! It could get a bit crowded with four adults moving around, but should fit comfortably for sleeping and eating.

loki008 · 02-04-2014, 09:42 AM

Alright, I have decided to bite the bullet on the A122. Figured the slightly lower tongue weight would be appreciated for my TV.

After doing a ton of shopping around I decided to go with Vermont Country Campers as its not too bad of a drive for the pick up and I'll be able to make a bit of a weekend out of it and try out the camper before bringing it home.

Also there was the advantage of that they are just placing their orders right now and I was able to get one of the 122s units swapped out for a 122 and was able to save a bit. It should be in from Rockwood in about 4-6 weeks with plenty of time for the start of the summer.

Overall I was able to get the unit with the screen room for under $10k new. So i am quite pleased with this. It is worth the drive for sure as the local dealer here in CT wouldn't go below $12k without the screen room.

Now comes the hardest part, waiting.

Thanks everyone for your input and advice

You may also like: