does anyone keep their folding camper/trailer tent outside all year long covered up and protected from the elements and if so have they suffered any damage at all . i am buying a folding camper next week but have no choice to store it other than my back yard will it be ok and whenever its a nice day take the opportunity to give it an airing cheers...stewey
My brother keeps his trailer tent in the back garden. It was on the grass with an extra tarpaulin over it & when they opened it up after last winter they found a bit of mould on the cushions & canvas. Now theyve put it on hardstanding & keep the canvas, curtains & cushions in the house. I think the problem was perhaps damp coming up from the ground so hopefully it'll be better on hardstanding,
I hope the camper that you're going to see is going to be the one for you!!!
We keep ours on the drive, all we do at the end of the season is bring in all matresses cushions curtains etc, we have a winter cover but we put plastic boxes(balls,plantpots etc can be used) underneath along the middle so no rain water can collect in puddles.
we have never had any damp or mould patches(fingers crossed, haven't opened it up this year)
we keep ours in the garden,we take the awnings,cushions/mattresses out over winter,just leaving the main canvas on,but we open it up to air every now and then,works for us
Ours is stored outside, we don't have a winter cover yet, everything is left inside and this is the 2nd winter, it's all been fine. We use the bubble wrap that it came with new to put underneath the cover, as advised by campshop owner. We also open up once a month to air if we can. We have stored our previous trailer tent and fc in this way.
We strip ours of everything at the end of the season canvas matresses cushions etc,. The only problem to watch out for is the tyre walls cracking. I am looking to replace both tyres this year as this winter has done more damaged than I had expected
We keep our Pathfinder outside all year, We only had 1 problem when it was over-wintered next to a hedge, damp and mould. soon came off with a milton wash. and we haven't got a winter cover yet! We do lay bubble wrap over the beds and a piece of plyboard over the centre gap, and have suffered no ill effects.
We keep ours outside with a winter cover on and it jacked up at the front, so that the water runs off the back. Also a strip of board under the cover to give it a sort of ridge to further help water run off. So far (touch wood) no problems with damp, but we do open it up on the odd sunny day for an airing.
As David Wilson has posted, beware of tyre cracking. The weight of the unit is on them all year round.If you can move it a foot or so every now and then this may help. What I did was visit my local scrapyard with my spare and bought a couple of wheels the same with tyres and put these on as winter wheels this way I can still move the unit if need be. I reduced the tyre pressures on my road wheels to half pressure, and stored them in the garden shed rapped in an old blanket.I know it takes time to do this, but it will be worth it in the long run. I also take off the cabin canvas(It's only held on to the beds with 3 wood screw each end on a Fiesta) and take out the mattresses and seating and store them in the attic. I can sleep like a log during the winter months without any worry about the weather. As you may gather by my posting I was caught out a few years ago and had to replace all the canvas and bedding of a unit when the rain got in through a tear in the outer cover and forced me to miss a whole year of camping.
------------- Corpogreen esq
dead horse
and
donkey buyer
We have taken the same action following advice on these forums. The canvas on our Conway Counrtyman is also so easy to remove that we have stored it it the attic with the cushions, curtains and awning.The mattresses are a perfect fit under the bed in the spare room. The unit is on hard standing (on axle stands) with a winter cover in place . I checked today and the inside is completely dry, just can't wait to get everything back into place ready for Easter weekend.