The Care of a Pop-up Trailer

Police Chief Robert Doucet offers us some tips on the care of a pop-up trailer:

1. Be careful sliding the beds in and out so you don't snag and tear the canvas and screens.



2. Do not set the stabilizers tight until after you crank the roof up. You can lower the rear ones until they almost touch the ground. This is so that when you step into the back end of the camper while setting up you won't make it do a wheelie.



3. Never close it up wet for any length of time!



4. There is a winch device under the rear near your hand crank that needs to be cleaned and lubed with WD-40 or similar spray. All the lift cables run to this winch and it collects road grime and dirt. Also clean the cables underneath where you can see them.



5. Clean and grease the wheel bearings once a year regardless of miles. The small 12" wheels spin very fast and the bearings get a real workout.



6. If you have fishtailing problems on the highway, then load more cargo weight in front of the axle. My Starcraft pop-up is real picky about how the weight is distributed front to back, but with the weight distributed correctly we do not need an anti-sway bar.



7. When lowering the roof, triple check the interior for anything that might be sticking up so you don't break something or poke a hole in something. If the beds bind when pulling out or pushing in, stop and look for the cause, because something has gotten in the way, don't force it.



8. Put new tires on every two to three years regardless of miles. They dry rot from age.



9. We built a carport type building for ours to keep it out of the weather and hail.



10. Check all the exterior seams on the box. I scraped a lot of the rubbery, gooey caulking off and recaulked with clear silicon.



11. Your converter is probably not the type that will charge your deep cycle battery (ours isn't).



12. Use an outside cooktop when possible. The mess is a lot less.