Saline,
Unlike the boys above, I am not a nay sayer. A 2002 Ford 250 w/7.3 motor is a winner. With only two adults, I don't see any reason not to buy the 825. I run a 1998 Lance Lite 165-s 8'6" SB truck camper, an older version of the 825 and have been to all the places you mentioned above with it. Capt. Eddie will not be coming along on the trips you and I go on. It's apples and oranges. If i needed space, I'd go with a big one like he he has. Coming up from the Lipincot lead mine to the Racetrack:
A narrow clearance on the White Rim Trail, Utah.
Coming down off Engineer Pass, CO. elev. just under 14K ft. elevation.
Moving across the wash toward Saline Valley:
On the Mojave Road:
It is the narrowest (86"),
least tall (6'4" inside), full service, hard side truck camper i could find at the time. It has everything two consenting adults need, just everything is small, diminutive, less. The biggest problem was the steep learning curve on how to equip and adjust all the hardware so it would not pull itself apart on twisty trails. I have beat the 'whee' out of this thing with a wooden frame and aluminum siding and it is still in one piece, albeit with some road rash. A lot of that has to do with pressure in the tires. On washboard, I air down to about 30/28 (on the super singles) playing with the pressure and drive on the wrong side of the road, right on the shoulder as I find the washboard is less aggregious.
What was the width of the 825? If it's wider than 86" I would at least look at the Lance 865, (or the long bed version). That is the updated version of what I run. Be sure to get the 4 season package if you buy new. There is a whole protocol on guides:
/tie down adjustment for situational awareness/bed mats/bed connections/weight distribution/storage solutions, and the like.
Part of the success, so far, has been the upgrading of the .75t. Dodge.
Two sets of secondaries (overload) springs above the regular pack.
Stable loads
Rancho 9K adjustatable shocks (or equivelent)
Duplex or super single rear tires/wheels
Here is a ditty i wrote about tie downs and the physics of a pickup box vs. a vs. a Truck Camper:
Let's look at the internal physics here. A pick up truck bed will twist (rack) with the four bolts holding it to the frame of the truck. This only becomes a problem if you have a TC in the bed and go off-road, as most TC's are built to resist flexing. Early on in my ongoing TC education i tore one of those four 3/8's inch bolts right thru the bracket. Hm? too much stress here. What to do? I used a thick fender washer and re installed the bolt. It has been fine.
What i learned was to allow the bed to flex but loosen the rear tie downs to limp in order to allow the box to lift at the rear, one side or the other, as the rearmost part of the frame has the most rack. In my assessment of the relative weight of my TC (which has a very long front overhang) front vs. rear I found most of the weight is on the front two jacks with maybe 20% on the rear. No, I have not scientifically weighed these, but just note how much resistance is on each MANUAL jack as i try to lift. So I keep the front tie down snug (not tight) and loosen the rears mightily to allow for lift. Push come to shove, it's kind of a Zen thing. I have been on some pretty tortuous roads lately using this system and so far, so good. The TC is not pulling itself apart. What I'm trying to do is take tension out of the picture. So how do you keep the box in the bed if it's not snugly tied down?
A combination of hardware including:
1. Sturdy tie downs with easily adjustable tension. My Happie Crappie tie downs are good enough as the fronts have a stiff spring in the bezel, and the rears tie to the bumper which has some flex, enough to need no internal spring; or so the engineers at Lance believe. But that set up is for flat, paved roads with an occasional pull off in the gravel to by some apricots.
2. Centering brackets. They actually transfer the stress from the tie downs to the base shear wall of the TC. If using the brackets you can actually loosen the tie downs. I use the Lance brackets, but there are some great home-made ones by fellows on here that I would much rather have.
3. A thin, fluted rubber bed mat. This helps further keep the TC from sliding, rocking or swaying from side to side. If the TC is too close to the roof of the cab, then build up a framework underneath but don't just use a thicker mat as the sway will return.
4. On the inside rear of a p.u. there are footman's loops to tie down cargo. I'm going to start using these with 1K pound ratchet straps to keep the TC from wanting to slide out the back when going up a very steep hill. By doing this I may be able to loosen the side tie downs a bit looser too. My bro John now used much heavier ratchet straps to tie down his OUTFITTER! after he found his frame was being racked by too much tension on his factory tie downs and he has a '99 long bed, 7.3, Ford pickup that does a lot of flexing.
One of the successes of my set up is that i have a Dodge hydro formed short bed frame, a stiffy, which gets not a lot of rack front to back as it's so short. I also have an 8 foot, 6 inch floor on my TC which hangs over the rear about 20 inches. That's 20 inches that are not being racked by the frame twisting.
There really is NO way to make a pickup bed into a three-point bed, like so many of the high bucks euro campers use. Going to a flatbed with a three-point system is very do able and will mitigate the set up trying to pull itself apart as the platform remains flatform.
And, of course, take the jacks off when you get the camper loaded on the truck.
I hang over on RV.net the Truck Camper Forum where most of the hard-core Truck Camper people call it their home forum.
regards, as always, jefe
