8 replies to this topic

[paraparker]

Hi. New here, but have searched around a lot. Researching pop up camper/truck as a replacement next summer for a mostly dead & decaying '72 VW westy that I'm tired of sinking money into & breaking down in (break down record so far: 3 times in 12 miles LOL).

 

It seems to me that most pop ups top out at 6'4" interior open height. As I'm 6'3" this is not ideal at all compared to the ginormous head space I have in my VW. I'm honestly quite surprised this doesn't come up more. Are there no tall people left in the world? Haha.

 

Anyway... I'd love to hear how you tall people deal with this situation. I can't imagine starting a dance party with my wife on a rainy night & pogo-ing against the roof the whole time.

 

The only interior pop up I've found so far that will accommodate my needs is the Northstar 600SS/700SS at 6'11" and they seem to barely be talked about at all on these & other forums. Why is that I wonder? They seem nice. Do they suck or something? :-)

 

Thanks for any & all tips! I'd like to go this direction with camping moving forward, but this height thing is a deal breaker for me. I don't need much space, but I need to be able to stand tall. Don't make me put a Subaru motor in my dead bus! :-)

[RicoV]

Welcome!  As a fellow 6'3"er I can relate to the situation you're facing.  Fortunately our '11 FWC Grandby has ~ 2+" of wiggle height such that I never bump my head against anything, even when wearing hiking boots and with an added 1/2" foam surface over the floor.  Once in a while whatever ball cap I'm wearing might brush one of the knobs on the roof fan/vent, but even that's rare.  I consider it an 'adequate' height for us semi-tall folks, tho' if you were any taller you'd likely be challenged.  Dance parties I would reserve for outdoors.  Good luck with your search.

[paraparker]

Thanks for the reply RicoV... I suppose I should have specified that I'm going to be getting a smaller pickup like a Tacoma. I'll be using that as a daily driver 7-8 months of the year and putting on the camper for the summer season. Grandby looks sweet, but too big for my needs.

[rotti]

I'm closer to 6'4" and my Hawk has plenty of headroom....at least 6'6" I think on the newer models.

My older 83 Grandby was tight. I would just kinda graze the ceiling.

 

Your call on the little trucks and dance parties. Myself, I would never consider anything smaller than my Hawk on a 3/4 ton crew cab. I like all the space I can get.

 

On edit from the FWC site: the full size truck models are 6'6" and the little trucks are 6'4".

Edited by rotti, 22 August 2014 - 07:29 PM.

[mynxd]

Check with Marty and/or Jeff at ATC. They will add 2" in the soft portion of the popup to get you 6'6" in a bobcat model (usually what they put on a Tacoma)

[Mr. Vertical]

Nice Profile Foto!

[williak]

A bit over 6' 3" myself, but no problems standing up or moving around in my 2012 fleet. The lights are placed away from where you stand, so no head banging that way. You will be dancing though, if two of you try to move around in the camper at the same time, but you'll find ways to keep that at a minimum.

[paraparker]

Thanks for the replies. I'll have to check some pop ups out in person I think. We're used to dancing in our VW so that won't change. We're weekend warriors anyway mostly so it'll probably work out just fine. Had dreams of travelling the world in the 'dub, but life got in the way... typical. The VW doesn't really billy goat around the forest service mountain roads around here like we'd like so I think it's gotta find a good home. Sad. Gonna miss it.

[BillM]

The other issue you may have on the smaller campers is bed length.  My wife and I are both 6'1" and felt a little cramped in our Eagle.  I extended the cabover section of the bed 6 inches on the inside and moved the siderails that the bed platform slides out on a similar amount.  Now we don't feel that we are right on the edge of the bed and our feet don't hit the front of the cabover.