Senior A Frame Trailer Campers

[NormTn]

My wife ,2 daughters, 2 small doogs and I have camped in a tent for 16 years (kids for half that time) Then pop up for 17 years, we are picking up an A212 next week. Looking forward to the next 20 years in this one.

[Pooneil]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

Happy Camping!

[Bob P]

After I started this thread. A question was brought up as to the definition of Senior A Frame Camper. Perhaps a better title could have been "Seasoned A Frame Campers." The purpose of the thread was to meet others that have camped for a very long time, and are still doing so. But now in an A frame trailer. The response has been really wonderful, and it is such a good experience reading all the postings. Thank you to those that have posted, and I hope more folks will continue to do so. Happy Camping.

[Butch Wilson]

Everything in life is compromise ! My wife and I started in a tent, progressed to a pop up when our kids were small ! Got out of camping, distracted by careers and raising kids. My wife and I decided we had better take that trip we always talked about "cross country in a camper" so we purchased a used fleetwood pop up and headed out. The trip was great but at times we looked like Ricky and Lucy in the "Long, long trailer" movie. The trip gave us a chance to look at likes and dislikes . We discovered setting up and taking down a pop up was a lot of work, and the darn canvas was always wet from rain or dew. We liked the easy towing for 10,000 miles. We almost froze on the northern route in early June, decided tent campers were not warm . When we got home we went to our dealer and traded for a Flagstaff t21QBHW. The perfect fit for the two of us seniors ! Who knows what next year will bring !

[ziggy52]

Originally Posted by DobeFanatic

I am a Senior retired with two Dobermans. I had a popup tent type camper for 4 years, but after back surgery, pulling out the bed ends was just too much. The A frame I have had now for 3 years is perfect for me, can have it up and ready in 5 minutes. Easy to tow with Chrysler Town n Country minivan.

Can you store your a frame in your garage when not in use? Will it fit?
I am thinking of getting an A frame. Would you advise to get one with a bathroom set up or without? If you set up the table for a bed for an adult is it comfortable and roomy? The bed and table seem to be larger if you leave out the bathroom.
I have tent camped for 45 years and done extensive long distance bicycle touring and decided to have a new adventure.
Thanks for your input.

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by ziggy52

Can you store your a frame in your garage when not in use? Will it fit?
I am thinking of getting an A frame. Would you advise to get one with a bathroom set up or without? If you set up the table for a bed for an adult is it comfortable and roomy? The bed and table seem to be larger if you leave out the bathroom.
I have tent camped for 45 years and done extensive long distance bicycle touring and decided to have a new adventure.
Thanks for your input.

We picked the base model A122 specifically because it would fit comfortably in our 19.5ft garage stall. Lack of the extra storage in the bigger models was no big deal to us because we wanted to keep everything simple enough to make an overnight trip pleasurable without much effort on our part.

Other requirements: Had to tow with our minivan. Total cost less than $15K (we stayed several thousand under).

Previously, we had owned a Coleman Westlake (12ft box) PUP. We carried bicycles for the family on the roof, and generally took too much stuff, along with friends for the kids. Overnighters were just too much work.

But we learned from our previous experience that we never used the "indoor" toilet and shower due to privacy issues with teenage kids. It was just easier and simpler to use campground facilities. The included Portapotty gives us a tax deduction for the loan interest.

Garage storage lets us decide to go on a trip (or not go if the weather is awful) with about 2 hours prep. Ideally, I plug in the camper to charge batteries and pre-cool the fridge a night or two before. Bedding, kitchen stuff (except for food), cold weather camp clothing, etc., is permanently stored in the A-frame, and refreshed after a trip. Morning of trip, we load 2 medium coolers with food and drink, a gym bag of clothes and bathroom kit, EZ-up, and outdoor carpet for camper door into the minivan. I unplug, add water to tank (if needed), hook up, and go.

For comfortable sleep, we added mattress toppers for both dinette bed and main bed. Both are now as comfortable as our bed at home.

To run heater while dry camping for up to 4 nights, we added dual 6V golf cart batteries (232 AH each). If the dog comes with us on a trip, I usually sleep on the dinette. That way I don't crawl over DW to take dog out or go for an early morning walk.

Drawbacks:

There is little floor space in an A122. There's barely enough floor space for both of us to stand at the same time (I'm chubby). Getting dressed/changed is one person at a time.

The dinette table is unnecessarily heavy. Someday, I will build a lighter replacement.

Good Things (compared to normal Pop-Up):

Rockwood A-frames come very well equipped standard. Microwave, car stereo, LED lighting inside, outside shower (we use for hot water source for picnic table), dual propane tanks, spare tire, external lights and speaker, coax in, blinds or curtains for windows. We added mattress toppers and 2 battery setup.

Very fast setup and take-down. I can single-handedly setup entire site in 45 minutes. Most difficult and time-consuming item is EZ-up over the picnic table.

Fits in garage. In new house, I can open the A-frame inside the garage.

Tows very nicely with Equalizer WDH/anti-sway. DW is comfortable driving rig while towing - it's that good. Ready to camp weight is about 2,800 lbs.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[Bob P]

Originally Posted by ziggy52

Can you store your a frame in your garage when not in use? Will it fit?
I am thinking of getting an A frame. Would you advise to get one with a bathroom set up or without? If you set up the table for a bed for an adult is it comfortable and roomy? The bed and table seem to be larger if you leave out the bathroom.
I have tent camped for 45 years and done extensive long distance bicycle touring and decided to have a new adventure.
Thanks for your input.

We have a new Flagstaff T12TST. It does have just the cassette potty. We really enjoy having the potty and the cassette toilet is much better than the normal port a potty.
We are of the age that a midnight potty call can be much less of a problem with having a toilet in the trailer. It did make it so we do have have the dinette being both the bed and the table. Sacrifices. Also our trailer fits in a 20X20 foot garage. Not much clearance, but it does fit. We have the tool box on the front, and come in about 18' 19" long. The three things that we needed was, something light enough to tow with our mini van, a potty, and that it fit in the garage. We were able to meet our needs and have a hard sided trailer that is easy to take up and down. Happy Campers.

[ziggy52]

Originally Posted by pgandw

We picked the base model A122 specifically because it would fit comfortably in our 19.5ft garage stall. Lack of the extra storage in the bigger models was no big deal to us because we wanted to keep everything simple enough to make an overnight trip pleasurable without much effort on our part.

Other requirements: Had to tow with our minivan. Total cost less than $15K (we stayed several thousand under).

Previously, we had owned a Coleman Westlake (12ft box) PUP. We carried bicycles for the family on the roof, and generally took too much stuff, along with friends for the kids. Overnighters were just too much work.

But we learned from our previous experience that we never used the "indoor" toilet and shower due to privacy issues with teenage kids. It was just easier and simpler to use campground facilities. The included Portapotty gives us a tax deduction for the loan interest.

Garage storage lets us decide to go on a trip (or not go if the weather is awful) with about 2 hours prep. Ideally, I plug in the camper to charge batteries and pre-cool the fridge a night or two before. Bedding, kitchen stuff (except for food), cold weather camp clothing, etc., is permanently stored in the A-frame, and refreshed after a trip. Morning of trip, we load 2 medium coolers with food and drink, a gym bag of clothes and bathroom kit, EZ-up, and outdoor carpet for camper door into the minivan. I unplug, add water to tank (if needed), hook up, and go.

For comfortable sleep, we added mattress toppers for both dinette bed and main bed. Both are now as comfortable as our bed at home.

To run heater while dry camping for up to 4 nights, we added dual 6V golf cart batteries (232 AH each). If the dog comes with us on a trip, I usually sleep on the dinette. That way I don't crawl over DW to take dog out or go for an early morning walk.

Drawbacks:

There is little floor space in an A122. There's barely enough floor space for both of us to stand at the same time (I'm chubby). Getting dressed/changed is one person at a time.

The dinette table is unnecessarily heavy. Someday, I will build a lighter replacement.

Good Things (compared to normal Pop-Up):

Rockwood A-frames come very well equipped standard. Microwave, car stereo, LED lighting inside, outside shower (we use for hot water source for picnic table), dual propane tanks, spare tire, external lights and speaker, coax in, blinds or curtains for windows. We added mattress toppers and 2 battery setup.

Very fast setup and take-down. I can single-handedly setup entire site in 45 minutes. Most difficult and time-consuming item is EZ-up over the picnic table.

Fits in garage. In new house, I can open the A-frame inside the garage.

Tows very nicely with Equalizer WDH/anti-sway. DW is comfortable driving rig while towing - it's that good. Ready to camp weight is about 2,800 lbs.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

Thanks for all the information and advice Fred.
Can't wait till retirement. Coming soon.

Zig
No rig yet.
Couldn't pull it if I had it.
Suburban passed on to that big car lot in the sky.

[DobeFanatic]

Originally Posted by ziggy52

Can you store your a frame in your garage when not in use? Will it fit?
I am thinking of getting an A frame. Would you advise to get one with a bathroom set up or without? If you set up the table for a bed for an adult is it comfortable and roomy? The bed and table seem to be larger if you leave out the bathroom.
I have tent camped for 45 years and done extensive long distance bicycle touring and decided to have a new adventure.
Thanks for your input.

Mine fits in an open carport with plenty of room on one side to come and go. Since I don't use the dinette, I removed the table and put in a smaller Coleman collapsible table just for me. I use the far bench for a large container of can goods, coffee can, bags of cereal premeasured and so on. I have used a port a pot in this one and prefer a built in pot as I had in my previous pup camper. The port a pot can store under the table, I leave it out during the night hours for convenience. If I had the built in pot, I would lose a lot of storage on the door side under the bench that currently holds lantern, paper goods, lamp, a few tools, TP and flashlight- all easy to reach from within. I survive well with the port a pot and every extra bit of storage is very important in an A frame.There is no odor and I empty it when I dump the grey tank every 3 days. I also put in a 2 inch mattress topper. I have never used the heated mattress setup. Elec outlets are an issue as two are located flush against the mattress area, basically making them unusable.

[Bluepill]

This thread is so positive, I almost don't want to post about problems that I have found on my camper. I do consider them important, so I will share. I found that the 12 volt wiring under the floor is not properly run in some places. Photos below:



ABOVE: This is GOOD ROUTING. Wires go though frame members with an insulated collar.



3 BELOW: This is BAD ROUTING. Wires sit directly on sharp edges, making them prone to rub the insulation and short circuit.








The large red wire goes to battery positive, and is not fused until it gets to the circuit breaker under the floor. The middle photo of the three "Bad" is in the front of the trailer, before the breaker. If this shorts out, it can create a high current flow that could possibly start a fire or battery explosion. The blue wire shown in the second and third "Bad" photos, is for the brakes. If this shorts against the frame, it can disable the brakes.

The fix was simple. I bought 1/2" poly hose (for lawn sprinkler systems) at Lowes. 50 feet for under ten bucks. I then slit the hose and fit it over the wire runs and secured with zip ties. See Below:

[mzak]

Bluepill, thanks for posting pics. I have some of this plastic pipe left over from sprinkler installation so I think I will do the same. Could also use plastic wire loom used in autos for more flexibility where wires bend.

[ziggy52]

Originally Posted by DobeFanatic

Mine fits in an open carport with plenty of room on one side to come and go. Since I don't use the dinette, I removed the table and put in a smaller Coleman collapsible table just for me. I use the far bench for a large container of can goods, coffee can, bags of cereal premeasured and so on. I have used a port a pot in this one and prefer a built in pot as I had in my previous pup camper. The port a pot can store under the table, I leave it out during the night hours for convenience. If I had the built in pot, I would lose a lot of storage on the door side under the bench that currently holds lantern, paper goods, lamp, a few tools, TP and flashlight- all easy to reach from within. I survive well with the port a pot and every extra bit of storage is very important in an A frame.There is no odor and I empty it when I dump the grey tank every 3 days. I also put in a 2 inch mattress topper. I have never used the heated mattress setup. Elec outlets are an issue as two are located flush against the mattress area, basically making them unusable.

Thanks for the advice. Also do you use or recommend a stabilizer when towing?

[Bluepill]

I do not use a weight distribution hitch. The rig is stable to about 65 MPH. Above that it is prone to sway when I am being passed. I manually apply the trailer brakes to settle it down again. I usually tow at 62 MPH for overall gas mileage and safety, so it's not an issue.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by ziggy52

Also do you use or recommend a stabilizer when towing?

I think you mean a Weight Distributing Hitch or WDH.

if so, I love my 4pt Equal-i-zer.

[Gramps42]

I just returned from a 3week trip to northern Forida where the temp went down to 24 and we were as warm as toast. Our only complaint is the stereo gets terrible reception. Looking to replace it with DVD combo if I can figure how to remove this stereo

[Bob P]

Originally Posted by royboy334

I just returned from a 3week trip to northern Forida where the temp went down to 24 and we were as warm as toast. Our only complaint is the stereo gets terrible reception. Looking to replace it with DVD combo if I can figure how to remove this stereo

Before you decide to replace the stereo in your unit. You might consider using an external source for your music. If your existing stereo unit has an aux jack to plug in an external source, you might want to consider this. I am bit surprised that your on board stereo does not have a cd player built in.

[Gramps42]

I do have a CD player, but I would like news, weather and on my long trips to urban areas where I often camp (military bases) an occasional DVD would be welcome. I travel alone much of the time and would like to listen to someone beside my own voice telling me what I should have done. If I want music, I can listen to my iphone

[Bob P]

Sorry royboy334. I obviously did not understand your comment. Good luck in solving your issue. Happy Camping.

[stevetoney]

After retiring from the military some 7-8 years ago -- I'm approach the next retirement phase of no longer "working" but enjoying retirement in my early 60's. I have camped/backpacked since college and plan to do more traveling - camping when I move to this new phase next year.

I have been researching camper -- and think A-frame popup is the best fit for me. This thread help convince me further.. right now think of the A213HW as it works for single and those times a buddy or friend can join on a trip..

working through the whole outfitting and modification thoughts -- loved the mod for a trailer hitch add-on -- for me not a motorcycle, but an added storage platform for generator - etc -- also looking to add heavy duty dual battery setup and a solar setup for boondocks as well

so any sharing of outfitting and modification of the A-frame is welcome

thanks

[D-mo]

Welcome . ..