Pop up cheap build.

[Jeepmike]

Hello. I am building a pop up with clearance to go overlanding. I have 3 boys under 4 and a wife that wants a/c at night so this was what I can up with. I have $910 in it currently and that includes the purchase of the pop up I don’t plan on dragging it down hard trails but I was tired of dragging when I pulled into the gas stations. My tow vehicle is a 2010 wrangler unlimited auto trans. It has 4.88 gears and 37inch tires. I had the wheels and tires and am thinking I will go down from 33s to 31s.
What do y’all think.

 

[wuebben_7429]

Looks great! I was thinking about doing the same thing with a pop up camper. What did you do to get those tires to fit under the camper?


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[RugerOverland]

That’s awesome! That’s exactly what I want to do. What did you do with suspension?


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[Road]

Hello. I am building a pop up with clearance to go overlanding. I have 3 boys under 4 and a wife that wants a/c at night so this was what I can up with. I have $910 in it currently and that includes the purchase of the pop up I don’t plan on dragging it down hard trails but I was tired of dragging when I pulled into the gas stations. My tow vehicle is a 2010 wrangler unlimited auto trans. It has 4.88 gears and 37inch tires. I had the wheels and tires and am thinking I will go down from 33s to 31s.
What do y’all think.

I think it's gonna be hard to run your AC on the trail. Most rooftop AC's I'm familiar with are 110 and require being hooked up to a 110 outlet, which means shore power or a generator. You're not going to find shore power on the trail or in dispersed camping, but only in organized campgrounds (cost more for sites with outlets), RV parks, or someone's driveway. Running a generator will be a major nuisance to most other people out there within earshot. I know if I'm back country somewhere, I wouldn't want to hear a generator running all night. I'd probably be knocking on your door.

Don't expect to be able to run it from being plugged into an inverter that's hooked up to deep cycle batteries. You'd need quite a big bank of batteries to cover both the initial surge of the AC when it starts and then to keep it running for more than an hour or two.

Here's a link that explains it a bit better: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19812166/gotomsg/19812569.cfm
Here's another one: https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-q/82618-running-5000-btu-airconditioner-w-inverter.html

Other than that, I think it's a cool idea to try setting up a pop up for off-road. Though the axle may not be sturdy enough for dirt and gravel road bumping around, even if you don't do rough trails.

Don't mean to put pin in the balloon, but I think there are a couple things to overcome, main one being the AC, if you want your wife to be happy so she keeps going out there with you.

 

[Jeepmike]

So it is an eight inch lift I built a drop down 2x8 out of square tube. I still have to add more bracing. So for right now it is just able to be moved around in the garage.


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[Jeepmike]

The a/c will be used when we go to camp grounds. I have in inverter generator that will run the a/c during the day. At night we have 2 deep cycle batteries that will run the fans and lights.


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[Jeepmike]

I think it's gonna be hard to run your AC on the trail. Most rooftop AC's I'm familiar with are 110 and require being hooked up to a 110 outlet, which means shore power or a generator. You're not going to find shore power on the trail or in dispersed camping, but only in organized campgrounds (cost more for sites with outlets), RV parks, or someone's driveway. Running a generator will be a major nuisance to most other people out there within earshot. I know if I'm back country somewhere, I wouldn't want to hear a generator running all night. I'd probably be knocking on your door.

Don't expect to be able to run it from being plugged into an inverter that's hooked up to deep cycle batteries. You'd need quite a big bank of batteries to cover both the initial surge of the AC when it starts and then to keep it running for more than an hour or two.

Here's a link that explains it a bit better: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19812166/gotomsg/19812569.cfm
Here's another one: https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-q/82618-running-5000-btu-airconditioner-w-inverter.html

Other than that, I think it's a cool idea to try setting up a pop up for off-road. Though the axle may not be sturdy enough for dirt and gravel road bumping around, even if you don't do rough trails.

Don't mean to put pin in the balloon, but I think there are a couple things to overcome, main one being the AC, if you want your wife to be happy so she keeps going out there with you.

That is some great info. In colorado we won’t need a/c. But at Jeep events we will stay at RV Parks which it will be plugged in. My generator is an inverter type. Which is quiet but not silent. Usually I try to put it in a low area that has trees to break up the sound.


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[Road]

That is some great info. In colorado we won’t need a/c. But at Jeep events we will stay at RV Parks which it will be plugged in. My generator is an inverter type. Which is quiet but not silent. Usually I try to put it in a low area that has trees to break up the sound.

Good, glad it's helpful. I hate butting in with potentially negative news, but it should save some late night aggravation and an unhappy wife if trying to run your AC all night in some places. I know a lot of campgrounds have gen-free camping sections, and then another, separate, section just for those wanting to run a gen.

A lot of guys think they can run an AC or microwave etc from a simple low watt inverter and their starting battery or single deep cycle auxiliary battery. As I wrote elsewhere yesterday, just cause you have an outlet, it doesn't mean you have sufficient power. It's like the "just because you have a checkbook it doesn't mean you have money in the bank" kind of thing.

Be sure to keep us all posted on what you do with your pop up and how it works out!

 

[Jeepmike]

Good, glad it's helpful. I hate butting in with potentially negative news, but it should save some late night aggravation ad an unhappy wife if trying to run your AC all night in some places. I know a lot of campgrounds have gen-free camping sections, and then another, separate, section just for those wanting to run a gen.

A lot of guys think they can run an AC or microwave etc from a simple low watt inverter and their starting battery or single deep cycle auxiliary battery. As I wrote elsewhere yesterday, just cause you have an outlet, it doesn't mean you have sufficient power. It's like the "just because you have a checkbook it doesn't mean you have money in the bank" kind of thing.

Be sure to keep us all posted on what you do with your pop up and how it works out!

Will do. It should work for the stage of life we are in. Thanks for your help


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[Minnella]

Looks good. Im about to begin doing something similar with my fiance and I's 02 Jayco Qwest. I plan to swap the hubs to 5 lug for some 16" OEM Mountaineer wheels and tires and lift it a couple inches.

 

[GPS Adventure Touring]

I am actually in the beginning of doing the same conversion with the same trailer... Looks great!

 

[Graeman]

I think that it looks awesome. I would bet that my wife would like it as well, so I won't show her this post.