Thread: Soft floor campers - tail gate hinge on drivers or passenger sides?

Our hard floor hinges to the rear. Most campsites are long and narrow so rear hinges works best in them. The camper is the width of a parking space.
I've been looking at front folding campers recently, which have the advantage of folding in their own length and not needing extra space.
I don't like the idea of folding to either side.

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Our soft floor camper is an Outback camper that used to be made in Wangarra. It folds to the drivers side. The only time it is an issue is when forced to use a caravan site with a concrete slab. Having it fold on drivers side and having the annexe over the slab forces the tent door to the rear of the site. Having it fold the other way would alleviate this issue.

I believe Outback campers are now made to fold to the passenger side.

Cheers Chris

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Our hard floor hinges to the rear. Most campsites are long and narrow so rear hinges works best in them. The camper is the width of a parking space.
I've been looking at front folding campers recently, which have the advantage of folding in their own length and not needing extra space.
I don't like the idea of folding to either side.

Sent from my GT-P5210 using AULRO mobile app

We're not even entertaining the idea of a rear or forward folding hardfloor. The budget is around $6k which will get a reasonable quality Australian made trailer and softfloor tent combo second hand. By the time any annexes are thrown up the foot print is not that different (with the exception of some softfloors which are getting to be ridiculous sizes), but I agree a forward or rear fold camper would be best for compact camp sites.

Our Dingo offroad softfloor has a traditional style drop down tailgate with a slide out kitchen on the LH side, the tent folds out to the RH side.
I didnt think the left or right side made much difference i just didnt want a rear fold as then the tent can only be as wide as the trailer which is usually 5ft. Where as a side fold will be generally 7ft long so gives a wider floor tent area.

Our soft floor camper folds to the passenger side and the tailgate hinges the drivers side. My opinion is you want the tailgate to hinge to the opposite side the tent folds out. Personally I would always want a camper that folds to the passenger side that way if you have to pull over anywhere and for whatever reason put the tent up it is always away from the traffic.

Dont know about you but in traffic is the last place i would be opening the tent, besides you would only want access to the kitchen for a cuppa stop so that wouldnt be a problem.

I have a Pinnacle soft floor camper and the tent on mine folds out left and right yep two rooms one each side .
My tailgate hinges from the left and also has a slide out kitchen.
Personally i`ve never had the need nor do i ever want to camp that close to a road to worry about it

I've got a Tambo Cooper.



The tailgate hinges to the passenger side and the tent comes off the drivers side.

The whole top also lifts from the passenger side ( Whether it's setup or packed.)


When I'd had to grab something out of the trailer on the side of a busy road, I've been glad it lifted on the protected side.

But like the others, I'd never camp near a busy road, so set up this isn't an issue.