Currently in my camper trailer (Eagle Iriquos), as soon as the breeze gets to Fresh rating (28-38kmph) the canvas starts to flap. When it gets to strong and above (38.5kmph +) the flapping irritates my wife no end as she is a light sleeper.
We are planning on upgrading our camper trailer to small off-road caravan sometime next year and we are starting to draw up a list of possible replacements. We looked a couple of pop top caravans and my better half was worried about the vynal pop top flapping.
Can any pop top owners out there let me know how their rig goes in strong winds.
The answer must be yes, how do I know this, well I have a box of anti-flappers for "Pop Tops", so they must suffer from flap!
PS I am just trying them out, I have a full height van.
Many pop top owners drop the roof of their setup in inclement weather, probably to overcome these type of issues. Seems an easy solution if your sleeping anyway!
We have a pop top and have no flapping problems with the vinyl of the pop top.
The vinyl of the awning flaps in a wind, but this would also happen in a full height van
Biggest nuisance we have is the rain noise on the roof, even though we have tin roof at home, it seems so loud.
We have a pop top and have no flapping problems with the vinyl of the pop top. The vinyl of the awning flaps in a wind, but this would also happen in a full height van Biggest nuisance we have is the rain noise on the roof, even though we have tin roof at home, it seems so loud.
X2 The pop top does not flap, but the awning can as they will on ony van.
__________________
I was tired yesterday and I'm tired today betcha I'm retired tomorrow. he he.
We have a pop top and have no flapping problems with the vinyl of the pop top. The vinyl of the awning flaps in a wind, but this would also happen in a full height van Biggest nuisance we have is the rain noise on the roof, even though we have tin roof at home, it seems so loud.
G'day. X3. Our vinyl doesn't flap but the awning does hence the anti flappers.
Cheers.
__________________
Jack Cherie and the memory of the four legged kids.
Jim, wife & I are happy poptop owners, no flapping even in very bad weather... annex made a bit/lot of noise though.
Only Poptop drawback we have.... two actually.... they are a bit prone to be colder/hotter according to the weather... gas heater and aircon fixed both of those... other thing is dripping....I can promise your wife will not only hate it but kick you out to fix it.
Dewy night or drizzly rain and the poptop roof drips onto the shoulder of the body below.... torture... old remedy was to chuck the tea towel up there at 3am. Have since stuck some adhesive foam at each corner which almost eliminates the problem. But the real fix is the manufacturer, I see some use a channel shaped rubber seal for when the roof is closed, this seal has a lip which catches the drips coming off the poptop and carries them to the side of the van where the poptop is the same width and the drips fall noiselessly to the ground or down the side of the van. I intend to retro fit something similar to mine.
Otherwise, my low profile towing rig keeps us both very happy.
I have a 16ft pop top van. once the top is locked into position on the inside it activates the outside gas struts. never have a problem, but if your are talking about the annex, that's another thing
When we had our pop top (10 years) we had no problem with flapping vinyl sides...but ours was a 1998 Windsor Dynasty and had one of the smaller sleeves compared to a Coromal for instance.
Regarding the awning, yes it did flap and it seemed to be accentuated because it was attached to the pop tops roof, a lack of solid walls made you feel every gust of wind as it pulled on the roof this was evident even in milder breezes. I did tie down the arms via guy ropes and pegs. We do not notice the same effect now we have the full van.
I agree with dripping...used to drive us mad if it rained as it fell from the roofline onto the corners of the vans body and it seemed so loud.....no dripping in the full van.
We loved our Dynasty pop top and it served us well but we would not go back to a pop top by choice unless height restrictions were an issue.
We also feel that the full van is much quieter inside if you have noisy neighbours and is better insulated....be it hot or cold.
Finally, if you have a bathroom as we do in the newer van it feels more private than if you have a pop top with the same.....to us anyway.
With my old Jayco pop-top I used to leave one end down (bed end) in inclement weather reduced rain noise and ensure water didn't sit on flat roof. - Also there was no flapping in wind when fully extended - the struts kept the bellows taught.
__________________
Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
We have a pop top and have no flapping problems with the vinyl of the pop top. The vinyl of the awning flaps in a wind, but this would also happen in a full height van Biggest nuisance we have is the rain noise on the roof, even though we have tin roof at home, it seems so loud.
G'day. X3. Our vinyl doesn't flap but the awning does hence the anti flappers.
Appreciate the input. I am height restricted at home and cannot fit a full height van unless I park it on the street, which I am reluctant to do.
I was looking at the small off-road hybrids, ie MDC xt 12 as my budget is what I can sell my camper trailer for plus 50k. (10 of that to be spent on the car), and unknown to my spouse another sneaky 5k in fitting it out.
If you get a chance to look into a poptop, they have a vertical anti flap and fold down fillet sewn in to assist the canvas to fold inwards. Around every 1.2 metres. It causes the side to bend inwards centrally. It also stops flapping. At least I have never had a problem in the last 12 years.
In the old days you had to partially come down and then tug at the canvas to stop it catching in the final stage. Them days are long gone....
Our pop-top is a Coromal Seka 505. It's a hi-line, somewhat higher than some pop-tops. That means we can keep the top down reasonably comfortably during inclement weather. We are no taller than 5'7" in the old money so when the lid is down, Nik can get around in the van without ducking and I only have to bend slightly to avoid striking roof handles and the non-standard skylight. Also means we never have to worry about raising the roof for quick stops or overnighters if we don't want. The top-raising handles near the entrance door sometimes came into contact with my scone with the lid down, so I coiled a spirally-cut thick rubber hose around each as a padding. That was a fairly effective protective medium, and didn't affect their use.
The vinyl roof sides don't worry us when it's blowy but like other posters have said, the awning does flap in a wind.
If you can find a higher than average pop-top van like ours, it's a good choice.
I dont know what the wind speed was in Perth's northern suburbs last night but it was howling, litterally and frightening. Inside the pop top it was warm and comfortable with the heater going and NO flapping.
