$1500 Bargain - What’s the LEAST Expensive Way to Get into Trailer Camping? 

I had a VERY similar experience with a 1989 Starcraft pop up. One item you might consider is ditching the built in stove and sink and go with a large refrigerator/cooler. I would NEVER cook inside the camper. Never. Never. Never. Get a folding table and two burner camp stove and do your cooking outside the rig. I also rigged up a cheap faucet / hand washing station with parts from Harbor Freight. Augment you’re campsite with an EZ Up awning and you have a great campsite set up.

I just finished refurbishing a 1994 Jayco. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun too. I bought it for $300.00 and spent $2000 fixing it. Complete make-over!

When I was a kid my dad would hook up the station wagon to one of these and take our family of six to the beach for a week. Great memories and great times.

Tow it behind the Samurai on the overland trip.

It's a lot of fun when your kids are little. They will always remember that you all went camping

You are a wise, frugal man. And I love that you let your children pick the paint color! They matched the upholstery perfectly.

Love the family project, your kids will remember working on the camper for the rest of their lives. Also, always love to see the R51 Pathfinder make an appearance.

Made in Indiana like 95% of all campers😄 Someone kept good care of it over the years. Canvas looks great considering age.

Nathan, (my brother has the same name) Big Truck Big Rv youtube channel just did a video on camper fridges. You probably already know what you need, but he does cover some of the newer types of fridges, specifically the 12 volt only type. Other than that I would replace the cushions/mattresses (who wants to sleep on 30 year old, potentially molded stuff) and LED lights. Great thing is it is small and everything appears accessible, making it easy to work on.

The wife and I did a similar project about a year ago. A couple little things that helped make it feel more homey was installing peel and stick wood laminate flooring and LED lighting. We also made homemade curtains and covers for the upholstery. All in,, we spent under $200 and it totally transformed our camping experience.

I hope this brings you and your family countless hours of family fun times together. Enjoy every minute because before you know it your kids will be grown up and gone. It happens way to quickly. I look back at camping with my boys as some of the happiest times in my life.

For the roof, you should spray on white bedliner! It really looks great, and acts as a waterproofer.

Great little trailer...Did much of the same with mine years ago bought a 94 Coleman for $900 and spent another $600 or so painted the entire interior and put in that fake stick on vinyl wood floor. Used for years and loved it

We bought a Sun Lite cabover pop up camper beginning of summer last yr. Paid $1200. Has a 3 way fridge, heater, 25 gal. water tank with a 6 gal. water heater, outdoor shower and indoor sink and a 3 burner stove. Everything works great. Did have to replace and clean a few parts. Biggest problem was a leak in the back of the roof. Ended up have to cut the band board around the edge and replace it with 2x6 lumber. Then put a pvc membrane roof on it. Also replaced the old roof vent with the same one you did with the fan. Wiring was already in. We usually go off grid so we have a battery and an inverter. Perfect camper for the wife and 2 dogs and I.

Dicor on the fan cut out will work better to seal it. Also, your camper is nose up and a 3” drop hitch should level the trailer and possibly remove the bounce. Check the speed rating on those tires however as they look pretty light weight and may not be rated for greater than 65-70 mph.

"She, who must be obeyed" lol

I have almost this exact same pop-up. I absolutely love it. I'm a mom w/5 kids and a hubby and when they were young, we all fit in it no problem. Great memories. Cheers!

Congrats on giving your family an abundant future of memories to come!!!

Congratulations Nathan on your camper may it bring you and your family great adventures and fun

This video made me laugh, I can not tell you how many camping hours my father spent talking to himself in how to get things leveled and balanced out to get beds out and sink base up and beds balanced. One time in the pitch of night - trailer was definetely not balanced in the morning we found ourselves in the middle of a muddy field. And cockeyed. We used to roll our eyes. Often times dad wasted too long to stop travelling and set up in pitch black of night.. Dad would hand mom the flashlight and kept telling her to hold it straight, Daniel Boone he was not. Not to mention tear down and making sure all was folded i to itself properly to get top down and latched. But we have lotza memories. Keep on rolling. 😁😃😄😅😆

Great video information on an inexpensive way to get your family into camping and the outdoors. I did the exact same thing 38 years ago with my kids and family. It earned us a trip from Ohio to Yellowstone N.P. There are advantages to this type of camper and also disadvantages. But for the most part it will be a great family memory maker. Happy for you. Even with a heater these are not great for winter camping, but a big plastic tarp over it will add much more insulating power from dead air space around it. I've done it all with many types of campers. The best thing is, ENJOY your time together.

Awesome project - popup campers are easy towing, relatively comfortable and easy to store. Good move on going for a camper without the "whiffle tree" gadget that the crank models work with. Never had a problem, but pumped gallons of synthetic grease down the cable tubes.

Super job. Looks great for the age, for sure. This was the 1st camping experience I ever had, Just priceless memories. My best friends parents would take us from Upstate NY to further upstate and to the far eastern coast. Long Island. Mystic Seaport area etc. Just wonderful!

I went camping with my aunt and uncle in one of these as a kid. It's made me want one for a long time.

My grandfather just passed away he used to take me fishing and camp in a camper like that that brings back memories

Had Coleman that I bought from a co-worker. We had it for a number of years and did a couple of great little trips in it. The best one was from Vancouver Canada down the coast to Southern Oregon and the dunes down there. It towed great behind my 2nd Gen Tacoma and on the freeway it was fine at 65-70mph. Enjoy the trailer Nathan and I hope that your kids enjoy the memories that your family will be making .

Buy a couple of tubes of Dicor self leveling sealer and slather it over everything that has an opening, especially that new roof vent you installed and the screws holding it down. That vent will leak the way you have it installed.

Great video, thanks Nathan! My girlfriend and I bought a pop-up last year as our first foray into camping. We're in the UK and they're pretty rare over here, but we managed to find a US import 2004 Forest River Flagstaff 176ED for only £1500. It's in great shape and we've slowly spent time getting everything else working, like the furnace and water pump. The roof vent on ours has also started leaking recently too. It tows really nicely behind our Jeep Grand Wagoneer and I can't wait to take it around the country once we're allowed to travel again!

Absolutely great video! Well done restoring that beautiful rig.

Cool project man I’m with you on calling it a tent trailer. It’s a grown mans tent. Spent most of my life crawling in an out of ground tents ⛺️ with the boy scouts and I’m so over that that pop up looks cool. Thanks for sharing

I certainly enjoy watching people who like to buy, build on a budget . This would be something I could handle getting involved with and at that price point it is so much more inviting. Loved this video.

We had an old camper like that growing up. We have so many horrible stories about that thing, but the last story is the best. My dad was driving from our old home to our new home across a couple states. He's about 20 miles from the new place and people are passing him and waving and honking and blinking lights. He waves and looks at them like they're all crazy. After about five or 10 minutes he sees a cloud of billowing smoke behind him and he pulls over. The camper is one fire and it's got a full propane tank on the front. Dad jumps in the truck and floors it! He gets on the cell phone and calls the small town ahead to tell them there's a fire (small volunteer fire department); they ask where is it?!?! He says, just show up at the station... I'll bring it to you. When they put it out the thing was shelled. They saved the propane tank. They didn't even charge him for putting it out since they didn't have to drive anywhere. Hilarious. So glad that thing had the viking funeral on the road it deserved - wished I could have been there (kind of). I always bust out laughing thinking of dad doing 70 doing an Illinois highway towing that camper with flames shooting out everywhere. Madness.

We had a Rockwood camper almost exactly like this one. 1985 model. Paid $2,700 for it new. We used it for over 25 years. Took it all over Texas...the Hill Country, Lakes, prairies, rivers but had the best times camping on the beach near Corpus Christi.....the kids had a blast. We sold it in 2011 for $1,000 cash. ....the best cheap vacations ever !

My parents had one when we were kids as well. Went down most of the east coast one summer. Great memories. Cool project you have there.

Great deal and I like the blue. Tires are worth it for sure, I call it "cheap insurance" also make sure the hubs are packed with grease still.

Nice score on the pup! We had a 96 crank up Coleman. It killed my back with the crank on the low rear bumper. We went to a small upright but needed more room so we got a 28 footer. But that sucked with a 26 gallon fuel tank and we couldn't go to the pop up friendly places way back in the woods that we personally like to go to. We found an off road pup with 32" LT mud terrain tires. It's a Viking V-Trec V1 by Coachman that has a hitch height of 23" and more ground clearance then my truck. I scored that for $12k and love it! I highly recommend a domed vent cover for your vent. Camco has them for a good price and let's you keep the vent fan open in the rain while camping. I really like that blue the kids chose in your pup. Good job kiddos.

If you arent in extreme climates, and mainly use the camper for sleeping and some weather protection, these are great. Dry the canvas if possible before packing up, or set up at home to dry and clean/treat with anti mold products. Great little camper to tow easy for moderate 3 season use!

You will need to use self leveling Dicor to seal around the new vent. You should have used butyl tape underneath the vent to seal. The two rear jacks on the pop-up trailer are stabilization jacks. They are not to be used for lifting only to stabilize the trailer when set up. You can get two independent stabilization jacks for the front of the pop-up trailer. We always traveled in pop-up trailers, except for the past nine years where we have been glamping in travel trailers. Actually, we traveled from here in South Jersey to Colorado in our old Coleman pop-up when our kids were young. I towed it with my 2003 Ford Expedition XLT with the 5.4L Triton V8. I am very impressed with this video on your family project! Have fun camping! Colorado is a beautiful state to camp. Keep your speed to no faster than 60 - 65 mph. Your trailer may start to sway causing loss of control. In addition, check your speed rating of your tires, some trailer tires are only rated at 65 mph. I would recommend Goodyear Endurance tires if your keep the trailer long term. They are made in the USA (Alabama) again. You want to avoid the "China bomb" tires, which can blow out.

So glad your family had fun together. Build lots of memories together as you go camping! All the best you you and yours.

First upgrade I made to mine was a slight lift on suspension and larger tires. I do a lot of boondocking and the larger tires greatly helped the off road capability.

With my family we had a StarCraft pop up camper. My parents bought it used in 1976. We slept in it just the 4 of us. My parents slept on one side of it. My self and my sister slept the other side. When I got a little bigger when I was little that I ended up sleeping on the table. We stopped camping in late October 1979. We had our vacation home built in the fall of 1979. When I first walked in it wasn’t furnished yet at that time. We sat on lawn chairs to watch TV. Used a card table with chairs for our meals. In the bedrooms we slept on the bed cushions from the camper to sleep on. We didn’t have any plumbing inside the house and even any appliances in it yet. We used a portable potty in the bathroom. The bathroom was almost finished at that time except for the plumbing. That was our 1st Thanksgiving in that house. We even brought up our 1st cat with us . Even saw a couple hunters in the back of our house that was hunting for deer. My parents had the smaller bedroom because the fuse box had exposed wiring in the back in the closet. My sister and I took the bigger bedroom. We did used the pop up camper during my 10th birthday when my grandparents visited us during a week visit. My parents used the campground to sleep in the camper during that week. My grandparents took my parents bedroom to sleep in. That was late July 1980. We had friends used that camper to stayed in while camping near the house at the campground. We were pretty good friends with the family that owned the campground,too. Myself and my sister were good friends with the owners 2 daughters when they were little. I was almost 6 year older than the oldest daughter of the owner and almost 9 years older than the youngest. I’m still friends with the family. They are the 1st real friends that I had when I was little in camping.

My parents had a similar vintage Sun Lite pop-up. Then we had a Coleman Sun Valley pop-up from 1999 to 2015. We now camp in our Winnebago Minnie Plus travel trailer. Fun times!

Back in 1998, I towed a similar style wind up camper made by Jayco (Australian company) around Australia. It was a 1980 model Jayco Dove. We went 20,000km in three months and had the time of our lives.

Thanks, Nathan! Nice to see another budget build. 👍😁

Love it. My brothers and I still talk about camping with our pop-up when we were little. Best times ever.

I absolutely love TFL's Camper Corner. Congratulations Nathan, you are now an RV owner. Excellent job so far and kudos to getting your family involved in the restoration. Living in the deep South, A/C is a must for our eventual 1st travel trailer purchase, which we are still saving for. The wife also states that our eventual travel trailer must have a bathroom, and not a wet bath. But that's cool with me. I just bought a pickup truck so now its time to save a little $ for the trailer. On a side note, take care of that cut on your index finger.

Congratulations. Lots of fun for the family. The kids will remember this time with fond memories.

I applaud your work and goal. Anytime you can get a family to do a project and have fun together working on it and the camping to follow, it is a good thing! You're making memories that will last a lifetime.

These popup campers are cool. We had one a little bigger than this one. My sister has it now.

Holy cow I love it man. I just got us a 1992 coleman roanoke pop up for 600 bucks. It is in excellent condition no leaks, rot and the lifting system works great. I put new tires on it and replaced the wheel bearings with good quality bearings. I was supposed to go to Hawaii but I bought a pop up because it didn't happen. BTW my 2017 Bighorn Ram 1500 Crew cab 4X4 hemi pulls in incredibly well obviously but in tow/haul mode it slows the truck down by downshifting and saving my brakes. I just went to summit county for four days and we loved it. Plus my truck only needed one brake application coming down from Eisenhower. I love our little pop up camper I also got a Honda 2000 generator for 250 bucks and it was a great buy.

Have just made a deal on a garage kept popup of similar age. Our purchase logic is similar to yours. Tires and repacking bearings is project one. Peel and stick vinyl flooring is the second thing. Painting the wood is three. Ours has a/c and a three way fridge plus furnace. Friend who is selling it to us says the trailer was.only used occasionally. Have fun. We'll be watching your channel for inspiration!

I just bought a canvas pop up Coleman Laramie 1989 camper for $1500. Couldn't be happier with my purchase! I have cleaned it, washed the drapes, can park in the garage. What's not to like!

I bought one while I was in high school for $500. Loved that thing, and I got a ton of use out of it. I ended up putting a cheap Harbor Freight solar panel kit on it, a couple batteries, and a water pump, and it would sleep 4 adults comfortably in their own beds (more for couples). My friends, brother and I took it out to the desert for some dirt bike riding/camping at least once a month for a couple years. I ended up selling it for $600 and buying a Lance 8' truck camper for $800, which I added solar, kept and used heavily for another 10 years and recently sold for $1500. I now have a similar Lance 8'6" with a restroom, which cost me about $3000. Half the fun of owning old campers like this really is restoring and modifying them to your personal taste, knowing you're not really risking a huge financial loss.

Nice job, you might want to add some self leveling sealant like Dicor to cover the vent seams and screws.

I had a pop up 25 years ago. Discovered immediately what I really had was a tent with an axle under it. Nearly impossible to heat and cool, leaked like a sieve. If it was wet or damp when you packed it up to leave the camp site to go home, you had to set it back up when you got home to dry it out. If you didn't get it dry, mold and mildew would set in. I couldn't get rid of it quick enough. Had it about six months. Traded it in on a regular travel trailer and never looked back. It was great fun for the kids....too much work for me.

Great work. Love the kids’ paint job! Out on the Wet coast we’ve had a ton of fun with a tent trailer. We’re a family of 5 and I’ve got a roof top tent on my truck that my oldest sleeps in. Works perfectly and it fits in our garage 👌🏼

Great video Nathan! Love the budget build idea. I've been thinking about a small trailer for awhile since all trailers take a lot of work to rake care of. I used to be wary of these type because of privacy. Figured others wouldn't like music and loud young kids. Now that I'm older, it doesn't pose such a problem. Keep us updated on future repairs and mods!

We have a used popup tent trailer. And we are having a blast of a time with it. Have fun!

We bought a 1973 starcraft tent trailer for $200 in 2011. The canvas and frame were in amazing shape. We fixed up some stuff about $250 and camped in it for 7 years. Loved that trailer differnent floor plan then yours but an amazing amount of storage.

I have a 1991 Flagstaff. Pretty sure its the smallest popup in existence. Paid $400 for it. Fixed the heater, replace the hitch, new tires and wheel bearings, new power converter. We took it on a 1500 mile trip from Montana to Seattle then down the Oregon coast and back home. I treats us pretty well and the Chevy Tahoe doesn't mind pulling it. 3 years later we now have a third kid and a dog. We will be upgrading soon but trying decide if I wanna sell the pop up or use it as a little hunting camper. I only have about $1000 into it and the interior and canvas is in really good shape and my 2 older kids love camping in it.

Love tent trailers. I love feeling connected to the outdoors. Fully enclosed campers with all their luxurious amenities kinda ruin that.

Nathan, that is great you got this little tent camper project for your family! The blue paint is really nice inside. I'd recommend two 12V batteries for more capacity. Nice job installing the 12V roof vent fan unit. It just needs some Dicor self leveling lap sealant to cover the flange and screws. I really enjoy these TFL Camping Corner videos. We're actually camping in our RV this weekend. We got a nice boondocking spot in the mountains of Utah.

I's currently looking into getting a fix'er pop-up camper for me & my kids to reno and use. Thanks for the great video & info. You did a great job and makes me excited for taking on my own project. Hope you & the fam enjoy some great times!

I think it's great that you salvaged something instead of buying new and included your children. I hope you have many joyous camping adventures.

I got a free 1997 rockwood pop up camper last year. So far i got about half of everything fix... I love these thing. Mine weight 1,476 pound.

This was a really well done video. I liked the addition of the photos of what it initially looked like, and I for one love the blue interior. It's such a fun color, and camping is meant to be a fun experience.

We had one like that years ago. Did a cross Canada trip with my wife in a wheelchair (she’s a trooper!) and our son. 12,000 kms in 11 days. Thing shook apart in Nova Scotia. Put back together with angle brackets from Canadian Tire and hung together till home. Sold the thing for same money we paid. Fantastic younger person experience. An adventure.

Just had one given to me by my brother. It's quite a bit larger weighing in at 2600 lbs. Has 2 slideouts and 2 king size beds. Bigger than my wife and I need but hey, it was free! It doesn't really need anything but we are going to fix a couple small issues (broken cabinet, thermostat for heater, etc. And we are going to remodel to our taste and style even though there's nothing wrong with what's there. Fortunately, ours does have trailer brakes so that really helps stopping the 2600 lbs. We've been tenters for awhile now but have been considering getting a camper. We are getting older and the ground is not nice to my wife lol. Getting a great popup from my brother fits the bill perfectly. Surprise to us yesterday that ours is equipped with an outdoor shower and water heater! Bonus!!! Great video. Glad the family could get involved. My wife and I are looking forward to doing our own things to our popup. Great project for these times but won't Interfere with us being able to camp with it.

A Costco solar setup next time you see one is a good add to that type of trailer if you plan to be off grid. Need a battery or 2 for it to work. Also swap out the old lights for LED's.

You need to get some dicor sealant over the screw heads on that roof vent or you will have leaks. Also (as a former tent trailer owner) you'll want to re-waterproof the canvas. There are lots of options for that, I chose an aerosol can of waterproofer. Worked great. Walmart or Amazon.

Nice job. That blue paint will double as bear repellent, too! If you're boon-docking, use two RV batteries in parallel. You can get a week of camping in with juice to spare.

I really like these Camper Corner videos, but can I suggest you make sure to put them all on the same channel please?

You could convert it to electric brakes. That will fix the problem of no brakes. Also, those tyres look very soft. Better check them and make sure you have at least 40psi in them.

Whether it is the most up to date, or older model that is worked on to your particular standard owning one is an awesome investment. That was cool to see, thanks.

I too bought an older tent trailer in much need of 'fixing'. Paid $800 for a 'barn find' that had sat for numerous years. Changed tires & wheels out immediately. I took care of the mechanics and wife re-upholstered the cushions, added new curtains & super cleaned the interior. New brake shoes, parts & a hammer to the others. 3 way refer turned into an ice box. Lots of elbow grease, low dollars & we had a respectable unit. It worked great for a few years. Neighbor always asked for first shot if I wanted to sell it. Sold it to him for what we had into it and bought a new one. 30+ years later and numerous nicer Rv's we still look back fondly.

Good video Nathan. My wife and I had a pop up as our first rv. I loved it kids did too. Now that the kids are grown I’ve tried to get my “she who must be o bayed” to go back to a pop up. No luck so far

Its fun to refurbish older RV's and you save a lot of money. I have done a couple of them and I always made money when I sold them. I have always called those tent trailers instead of pop ups.

My wife and I are currently doing the exact same thing with a different model. Lots of fun it is a great family project these little tent trailers can be towed by just about anything. I tow ours with our Prius. If anybody's curious I can make a video about it.

I can open and close this pop up by myself and I’m 5’4 ... this pop up is fabulous I’m so glad I got this one! So roomy and I forget I’m towing it 😊

I bet you and the family had a ball fixing up the camper. Great idea for family time. That will be memories made for a lifetime.

My first trailer was a '78 Coleman pop-up. The previous owner had built a metal rack that fit between the base and the roof that held a small window unit A/C. ESSENTIAL in texas. Had a lot of fun with that thing. Eventually I sold it along with two motorcycles to buy a fifth-wheel.

Heads up!!!! The axles are not meant for anything other than smooth roads. Ours broke twice, first time doing about 20km on a dirt road and left us to remove it and replace it. Second time it snapped we had it sleeved inside and out and welded. Both times really messed the trip up!

Excellent project! We had one when I was a kid and I consider getting one every couple of years, but never have.

Glad to see Nathan back in more videos, I thought he was replaced by THE SON!

Neighbors had one when I was a kid. When the hooked it to the back of their 1970s era brown sedan and hung those giant camper mirrors on the front fender I thought it was the coolest rig.

The blue and orange give it that retro feel. Good choice

Awesome find . I think it was a great buy and cool for a family project. Hopefully you’ve started an RV segment with TFL. Looking forward to see y’all’s adventures.

You're gonna have a LOT of fun towing that thing around with the family. I highly recommend popups rather than those expensive off-road trailers. Unless you're doing some serious rockcrawling of course. I take my Coleman everywhere and it's been in the family for 30+yrs. My parents took us to countless camping destinations and we enjoyed every moment of it. That's why I decided to buy it off them for a whopping $300. It needed updates, but I know I didn't spend over $2-3k. I now have more than the expensive trailers have. Some things I did, which you could also do: Power center to monitor power A single 100watt Solar panel on the roof charges batteries easily during the day. Convert that water pump to electrical. Use stick down tile flooring. Dual battery to run all electronics. Install USB ports everywhere for the kids and their toys. Dual propane tanks. You're gonna need it when it gets cold as the heater and fridge use a lot over 2-4 days. I went through 2 tanks in 5 days using the heater in 20 degree nights. Put an aluminum roof rack on top to store more gear. Just take it all off when raising the roof. This is expensive, but I removed the axle and purchased a Cruisemaster offroad suspension for more cushion on the trails and larger offroad tires that were softer and have a higher speed rating. A $2k expense which I didn't mind since I'll never let this go. Now for the bad: You should have researched more. Coleman (and maybe Rockwood) is the only brand I'd recommend and so would others who know. They are built like tanks, designed well, and have better layouts and quality materials. You may spend a few hundred more for one up front, but it'll save you headaches in the end. It'll also stay together when taking it offroad. I can see the quality difference in the cabinets, the water pumps versus electric, your loose canvas, the frame is thinner, smaller axle....... Anyways, you'll still enjoy it, but I hope others will read this and research more in the quality differences.

Sold my tent camper to upgrade to a hard side camper, still miss the tent camper as it is a good way to experience the outdoors. I think u will enjoy it

We had a lot of fun with our tent trailer. The canvas is usually the part that needs replacement and that is expensive.

I have very wonderful memories of pop camper camping growing up in the 1990s being a young kid my grandparents took me everywhere camping and I loved it . Very nostalgic video for me

Love the idea of rebuilding a older camper. My family is rebuilding one to. But if I could make a suggestion, you should get some self leveling lap silicone to seal up the seam and screws around the new vent. Would hate to see it leak again on you

Beautiful work of art. The colors were chosen well.

Nathan you're the best. Cool project for you and your fam

Looks good to me Nate! Just wrap those cushions next and add throw pillows for the seats/ couch! Id roll with this any day!

Great video guys!

We bought a pop up camper for 1100. Painted the cabinets white, reupholstered the cushions, and put in some new vinyl flooring and sold it 3 weeks later for 4000. Its pretty simple

I got a used, but in great condition, motorcycle pop up camper for only $750 from the original owner! Pulls behind any car, no matter how small, if you can stick a trailer hitch on it, it will pull my camper...opens up to house a queen size bed, will sleep 4 adults, and I installed the hook up for plug in electric. Beat that!

Nathan! Please do more videos on tfltruck again! You're the best!

We love our use pop up camper/ tent trailer (lol). We bought it for 800.00 us dollars 4 years also using it for the past 4 years too we replacedthe tires and patch the holes in the canvas. I made sure it was safe and sound which it was then we were off to camp. Original canvas when we got it and now it will be replaced when summer is over since it is 34 years old! But other was it has been really good to us.