for the first time. I’ll be going camping again with the girls again next weekend and will be pulling the pop up for the first time. It’s a bigger pop up, its not small. I’m supposed to practice with my ex for a couple of days but would love some feed back from you guyz.
Practice Backing In Parking Lot
That seems to be the hardest part of newbies about driving one.
When packing it back up, things have to be done in a certain sequence.
I really miss the popup. It was great when we had kids, but the van is so much less work if you only have two people
I still love my ex so
have fun practicing whatever you want to practice.
Paddlin’ on
Richard
Go slow and don’t worry about it.
It is not a big deal and not hard to do at all. Swing your turns a little wider and allow more room when merging because of the pup.
To back up;
– Last Updated: Jul-16-08 6:52 AM EST –
Put one hand on the BOTTOM of your steering wheel and then just turn it the direction you want the trailer to go.
Don't worry that your vehicle is going in the opposite direction. that is how it is supposed to go.
If you do that you'll never have a problem.
The slower you go in reverse, the easier it is.
Don't use speed control, unless you have a extra ultralight PUP. the constant shifting will make your vehicle use more gas.
Same goes with the "overdrive" - Keep it out of overdrive.
When descending steep hills drop it down into a lower gear which will save on your brakes.
What's all this got to do with "paddling questions or advice" ???
Cheers,
JackL
it’s my sleeping
quarters for when i’m out paddling and camping.
Pulling a pop-up
1. Short boats are at a disadvantage. 12 and 13 footers are much bettter.
2. C-1’s allow one to "throw " your torso weight forward allowing pop-ups in smaller river features, but K-1s work OK.
3. Surf a wave or hole, paddle hard to bury the bow, and see what happens. If it turns into an ender, roll back up and try again. If it results in a static pop, make sure to look at the bankside spectators and smile.
Jim
old-school
there’s always one
in the bunch…;-/…lol…ya got me…
how much pop
are we talking about?
http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=chat&tid=913032
let your ex back you up
– Last Updated: Jul-16-08 11:02 AM EST –
(then you can let your foot slip off the brake and whoops!)
Barracuda has it right. Practice on your own in a big space. And on hills, downshift downshift downshift. Or shift out of overdrive.
And - when you're backing up, make yourself use either the rearview mirror OR the side view mirror OR turn your neck and look backward. When you start trying to do all three it mixes you up.
I think you should have called Car Talk, this would have made a great topic!
passing
Be real careful about passing even a farm tractor. You have a lot behind you that must clear before you pull back in. Drive thru parking at the store while pulling pup is good. Try to buy gas before you hook. Do a safety walk around before you start out to make sure everything is right. Have wheel bearings checked for grease or wheel could lock up and flip pup over. Are tires weatherchecked?
my 2 cents
I used to own a pop-up tell I went to a bigger full sized non-pop up. If the site you are at is level you may be able to move/ position the pop-up by hand. I did that on several occasions with mine. Also don’t put it away wet, or if you do, UN pack and air it out ASAP. I know most pop ups have stoves in them, don’t use them inside, many disconnect and connect to the outside. Pop-ups don’t really ventilate well unless you have all the windows wide open. They are a great step up from the cold hard and frequently wet ground. Also check all the lights before you go, brake taillights ect… Tire press too… also don’t forget WHEEL CHOCKS!! don’t disconnect pop up on a hill before the chocks are in, i know that sound like common sense but I have seen it happen at joccasse, luckily the site had a tree that stopped the pop-up from going down the hill. leveling blocks are also good, dont use the jacks to level your pop-up, its not what they are for.
Keep an eye on the kids
Teach them not to go between the pop-up and the vehicle it’s attached to.
lots of good advice
about what to check before heading out. I’ll have a week and a half before we leave to do a run down with the ex.
thanks.
keep the tips coming.
Can’t think of too much more …
… than what has already been given here .
1., make sure you have the correct size toe ball to match the pop-up’s hitch (ie., 1-7/8" , 2" , 2-1/4" etc).
2., watch the trailers wheels (tires) when turnig so you don’t slam them into a curb or worse .
3., DO , make a list of the advise/responses given you here and check them off to be safe .
ps., just a follow up , take along some short pieces of 2 x 8 , to level the low side of pop-up (you know , under low side tire and back onto them slow)
There is one easy way to deal with
backing a pop-up or camping trailer. Find pull through spaces.
Until you have done it for so many
years that it is second nature to you, and then you can seek out those nice remote back in ones that are completely surrounded on three sides by shrubbery and trees, which gives you lots of privacy from the yapping dogs, crying rugrats, million decibel rap, and bubbas radio blaring “the girls in the west have hair on their chests, there worst then the beasts in the east” !
cheers,
JackL
May I suggest another forum to check…
out. it’s where I’ve been hanging out lately.
www.popupexplorer.com
like P-net, there are a great bunch of ex-spurts over there that have lots of great ideas and are extremely friendly.
P
JackL you forgot
…to tell her to put the car in reverse. (don’t assume anything, she’s a woman).
ps: Please don’t let Nanci read this.
Paddlin’ on
Richard
What’s your tow vehicle?
And, what are you putting on top of what?
I mean, like kayaks or canoes on top of the tow vehicle,
or maybe on top of the popup?
A good sized popup requires a good sized tow vehicle.
Tow vehicle should weigh significantly more than the
popup for control, especially if putting boats on top.