Should I buy a pop-top caravan?

There are three good reasons why you should buy a caravan with a pop-top roof

Apart from Australia and South Africa, the pop-top caravan is an industry orphan. Unless you spend time in very hot or humid parts, travel in heavily treed off-road areas, or have a storage problem, there’s usually no point to them.

They’re more expensive to build, more prone to water and dust leaks, are structurally less rigid unless additional weighty wall bracing and roof-framing is added, are thermally less efficient, are often challenging to erect and pull down due to high-mounted roof latches and ergonomically challenging lifting mechanisms and offer less cupboard storage.

Have I made my point?

Pop-tops are more aerodynamic for towing

Of course, pop-tops have their rightful place on hybrid off-road vans, where their reduced height allows them to go further into remote bushland areas, as many stand little higher than a large 4x4 with a laden roof-rack.

I can speak from experience here, having once cancelled plans to tow a full-height Trakmaster caravan down a remote track in Central Australia after reports that it mightn’t make it due to low overhead clearance in one sandy gorge near the end.

With a pop-top, it wouldn’t have been a problem.

NOT ALL ALIKE

Fair enough, but not all pop-tops are created equal.

Many pop-tops need high-pressure struts to raise their lid because on off-road variants it can sometimes have the weight of a rooftop air conditioner, a TV antenna and a couple of full-depth solar panels. So, while the extra gas pressure might be fine for raising an additional 30-odd kilos, pulling it down again can be a challenge unless you have a system to bleed pressure out of the struts (or if the roof is raised and lowered electrically as on some models like the Lyfe RV Trakker).

Powered pop-tops take the strain out of set up and pack up

Another problem with most pop-tops is that one of the lifting bars is located over the bed and let me tell you that leaning forward on your knees pushing upwards against a spring or foam base isn’t the easiest thing you’ll ever do. It’s usually this end that needs to be lowered first to ensure the roof aligns properly with the pop-top’s walls and its over-centre body latches.

Another problem with many pop-tops is that the zips that allow all the hot air out and the light in are often at a challenging height, or above a cupboard that makes them hard to reach without a leg up.

TUCK IT IN

Another thing that annoys me with some is that apart from having to be zipped up first, their vinyl or canvas walls tend to billow out when you drop them, so you need to do the rounds of the van, ensuring that everything is tucked in properly before you latch the lid down. If it’s difficult to latch it’s usually because the curtain wall hasn’t folded properly, so you need to raise the roof and do it all again!

A further thing that bugs me is that with pop-tops fitted with roll-out awnings (the majority of the larger ones), you need to flick the awning switch to ‘Open’ before you can raise the top, which in most cases means another operation, standing on a step or using the supplied awning hook.

Look for 'neat' pop-top curtains

And then you need to flip the switch again to ‘Close’ to retract the awning when dropping the top. Not much bother if it’s fine but a pain in the rain and if you’re rolling up a section of wet awning and pop-top skirt you have to pop the top again at the first sunny opportunity to dry them both out. The smaller pop-tops with wind-out awnings don’t have this problem.

HIGH PERFORMANCE POP-TOPS

One of the most impressive pop-tops I’ve experienced was the front-hinged one that Rhinomax fitted to their Scorpion micro-hybrid. Both rear latches were easy to reach, the top rose in a single one-hand movement and when you pulled it down, elastic shock cords around the waist of the ‘curtain’ pulled the slack material inwards, so nothing got left out.

And, if you some reason the rear latches weren’t locked down properly, wind pressure when travelling helped keep the roof down.

Hands up all those pop-top owners who have had that un-nerving experience of seeing their van’s roof rise on a freeway because one or more corners wasn’t latched correctly?

Lifestyle camper with electric pop-top roof

Of course, ease of storage is one of the main reasons many people choose a pop-top on-road caravan over a full-height van and it’s a hard one to argue against.

Garage and carport heights vary considerably, but from our experience most are 2300mm, while the average height of a full-height van is around 2750mm – 200mm or so higher for off-road models.

However, the catch with some garages is that their roller door sits lower than the actual garage top entrance beam. Some roller doors can be elevated higher to overcome this, while others may require repositioning higher into the roof of the garage.

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

Using 14-inch or 15-inch diameter wheels and lower-profile tyres of the right load rating is another way to save on height, as is the more expensive solution of height-adjustable air suspension, while an extreme measure could be changing your pop-top’s wheels for even smaller diameter ones for storage purposes only, like importers do with caravans and race teams do with F1 and Indy Cars cars for air transport.

While most buyers are aware of the compromises that pop-tops inherit, the positives of having their van out of the weather without a cover can outweigh the negatives.

Off-road hybrids often come with a pop-top roof

Not only can the van then be prepared and loaded faster and easier for a trip, but there’s no need to spend an hour or more struggling to get a cover on, or off. Then there’s the cost of a cover to consider too, let alone paying up to $50 a week for storage if you have nowhere to leave it out at home.

Another reason pop-tops are bought is for their greater interior volume when erected, as they can provide up to 100mm more headroom than a caravan; an important issue for many taller people!

Some pop-top owners who travel in the hotter months, or hotter parts, also appreciate the greater air flow through the van as it’s cooler in summer without using the air conditioner. Pop-tops are also less claustrophobic for those that suffer these symptoms.

Many proud pop-top owners cite fuel savings as another reason for their choice, but to be honest, after testing similar vans side by side over a similar course, there’s really not a lot in it.

If your tow tug is a large 4WD, perhaps with a roof rack, then there will be little difference, however if you’re hauling a big full-height caravan with a low family car, then the lower travelling height of the pop-top will mean you need less fuel to shift less air at cruising speeds. Still, that difference might amount to little more than a cup of coffee a day.

There are a few more steps involved with setting up a pop-top

THE WEIGHT ADVANTAGE

Apart from the extra wind resistance, another factor why full-height vans can use more fuel to tow is that they usually weigh more than their pop-top counterparts, despite the extra wall stiffening and additional roof-frame of the pop-top.

This is more to do with manufacturers taking full advantage of the extra wall height to build-in more overhead cupboards -- which people then fill with a lot of the extra stuff they couldn’t fit into a pop-top!

Then there’s cost. Pop-tops are more labour-intensive and take longer to build, use more materials and hence tend to be slightly costlier than a similar-sized full-height van.

So, what’s your choice?

Measure your garage or carport, work out where you want to go, check your age and fitness and you’ll probably have the answer.