2020 Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) CAMP-X pop-up slide-in pickup camper (renamed "Back Country" as of 2023)

[Shawn M]

Did you measure your pickup bed rails from the floor of the bed to the top of the rails at the front, middle and rear of your box? Curious if that year F350 has different rail height from front to back. Also, how does the cabover angle look compared to the cab and rest of the pickup? One side effect of angling the camper may be making the cabover/roofline angled compared to the rest of the truck. If the cabover looks angled too, then perhaps it is sitting uneven on the brackets or horse mats/runners. I used cut lengths of horsemat on mine. Didn't use the whole mat, as the installer did, because the whole mat weighed about 90 lbs if I recall correctly for the 50" width. I cut just the strip width I needed (about 5" wide and 6.5' long) to support the extrusion. OEV confirmed that the support needs to be around the footprint perimeter (extrusion) and doesn't need to be in the middle of the floor (and, importantly, should not be higher in the middle of the floor than what is supporting the perimeter extrusion).

My Camp-X has rubber footings around the perimeter and was not intended to sit on horse mats. However, my F350 has a higher cab than most 1/2 ton trucks and I needed to add horse mats for clearance. It appears the mats and rubber footers are compressing more close to the cab and I just needed to shim that area up more.

 

[Chadx]

Good find and thanks for the followup. I believe OEV has different puck heights available, so they may be able to send you the appropriate height for your rig. My camper is pre-puck so my height adjustment is 100% horse mat.

 

[BeaverMan]

For those who have the Ohmmu battery, how is it working out?

 

[Shawn M]

Could anyone recommend a small tool kit for the Camp-X? I believe most if not all of the parts are English, not Metric. Is that correct? I haven’t needed a tool set yet, but I know the day will come.

 

[Chadx]

No specific tool kit, because there are only a handful of tools needed. Most of these you'll likely have in whatever tool kit you already carry in your pickup. All fasteners are, indeed, SAE rather than Metric. Tangent: This bugs me. Ha. Even though I'm in the U.S.A., everything I own and work on is metric (pickup, dirtbikes, ATVs, snowmobile/snowbike, bicycles/MTB, etc.) plus metric is more intuitive so having to also have SAE isn't ideal. But Arnold explained SAE is the more accepted standard for the entire North American RV industry so that is what they went with, which makes good sense. Only thing I own that is still SAE is my enclosed trailer and that is likely SAE for the same reason. On to the tools...

Keep in mind that the following list applies to my 2020 CAMP-X. Some fasteners may be different on older or newer model year campers, but the following will give you a starting point. Just go over the entire thing and try each and every fastener to ensure you have the appropriately sized bit/tool.

Allen wrench or Allen sockets:
1/8"
5/32"
3/16"

Sockets and/or Combination wrench:
3/8"
7/16"
1/2"
9/16" (these big nut/bolts are on the jack stands)

Square bit - Solar and rooftop cable holders, access portal rings, parts on the exterior door
S1
S2

Torx bit - parts on the exterior door
T25

Phillips and Standard screw drivers

Open end adjustable wrench (crescent wrench)

This list doesn't include any propane line or plumbing tools.

 

[Shawn M]

No specific tool kit, because there are only a handful of tools needed. Most of these you'll likely have in whatever tool kit you already carry in your pickup. All fasteners are, indeed, SAE rather than Metric. Tangent: This bugs me. Ha. Even though I'm in the U.S.A., everything I own and work on is metric (pickup, dirtbikes, ATVs, snowmobiles, snobike, bicycles, etc.) and metric is more intuitive so having to also have SAE isn't ideal. But Arnold explained SAE is the more accepted for the RV industry so that is what they went with, which makes good sense. Only thing I own that is still SAE is my enclosed trailer and that is likely SAE for the same reason. On to the tools...

Keep in mind that the following list applies to my 2020 CAMP-X. Some fasteners may be different on older or newer campers, but the following will give you a starting point.

Allen wrench or allen sockets:
1/8"
5/32"
3/16"

Sockets and/or Combination wrench:
3/8"
7/16"
1/2"
9/16" (these big ones are for the jack stands)

Phillips and Standard screw drivers
Open end adjustable wrench (crescent wrench)

Odd ones that may not be needed:
Square bit (solar and rooftop cable holders, access portal rings, parts on the door)
Torx bit (parts on the door)

This doesn't include any propane line or plumbing tools.

Once again, Chadx to the rescue! Thanks Chad, I'm using this list for my tool bag. Shawn

 

[Chadx]

It was bugging me that I didn't include the specific Torx and Square bit sizes so I went out to confirm. I updated my post above, for completeness, but these are the sizes....

Square bit - Solar and rooftop cable holders, access portal rings, parts on the exterior door
S1
S2

Torx bit - parts on the exterior door
T25

 

[Herbie]

I'm not the first to raise this question - but I'd love to see more ideas on how people are storing clothing. I'm guess most people use the under-stove/sink area for cooking and food. The rear compartment would be for the Potti if you had one (we would), that leaves only the under-fridge space and the under-floor cubby, right? Not sure the available spaces would get it done for us.

 

[Chadx]

We keep our clothes in a duffle bag just like any other traveling we do. Easiest to set where ever we need it to go through it. When popped up, throw the two bags up on the bed. When popped down and traveling, put them on the floor for low center of gravity (though, depending on the thickness of your bag and bedding situation, there may be room to keep it on the bed even with the top down). No wrong way to do it, but that's what we prefer.

 

[Herbie]

Ah, ok. Yeah, we had to get past the old "duffle-shuffle" - with three people in a small rig, everything has to have a dedicated home, otherwise you're just constantly shifting things around any time you move between activities.

Thanks.

 

[mk216v]

Ah, ok. Yeah, we had to get past the old "duffle-shuffle" - with three people in a small rig, everything has to have a dedicated home, otherwise you're just constantly shifting things around any time you move between activities.

Thanks.

Definitely agreed. The only detail I like in the FWC flatbed (XP Camper/Nimbl has it too) is the under-bed strut-assisted clothing storage, so that some clothes/etc have a dedicated home. Would be nice to see OVE incorporate that, although it'd result in a taller cabover bed section.

 

[PaulPritchard]

Has anyone loaded a pop-up camper on a late model Tundra TRD Pro pickup? I'm getting ready to buy a new Camp-X camper next month and want to get anyone's experience with a similar set up. I've learned a lot about pop-up campers and especially the Camp-X -- particularly from chadx on this forum. I know I will be over weight with this set up. My plan is to use my current Tundra until the new Tundra generation models are out - with substantially upgraded load capacity. If the new load capacity isn't enough I will have to go with Ford or RAM, but I'm really a Toyota guy. BTW I bought my TRD Pro with the hope I can get a decent trade-in allowance for the new model. I will be installing load E tires along with airbags on my TRD Pro this month.

 

[Chadx]

Load E tires and airbags will get you mostly there. Late model TRD Pro have the same max payload capacity as my 2013 Tundra 4.6. The primary difference is mine is a DC with 6.5' bed and your Pro is a Crew Cab, so your payload will be sitting 1' further back on the chassis. It's not ideal, but if you drive conservatively, it will get you by. There are others that have CAMP-X in crew cab fullsize pickups. All Fullsize pickups need to be driven with care/caution when loaded right up to max payload. We just got back (literally 30 minutes ago) from another 24 hour overlanding trip through the mountains. Nothing too crazy but to give some point of reference, on most of our trips while on the forest service roads, we probably spend 1 out of every 5 hours in low range 4x4. I'm still impressed with how easily the Tundra handles the load, though in all honesty, I would be even more comfortable if our rig was an HD. I like having a cushion in payload for unexpected situations when out on the highways which are the main times that I feel an HD would perform better (curves/lean and emergency braking). That being said, driving smart goes a long ways.

No one seems to know exactly when the new Tundra will hit the ground and be available. Anxious to see those details myself. Fingers crossed for a "heavy half ton" option on the Tundra. Us pickup camper users don't need huge, gas guzzling HD engines and towing power (I'm super happy with out "little" 4.6 liter V8); We just need payload capacity and appropriate braking capacity to support that payload; don't need braking capacity to slow down 14,000lb of trailer. Ha. I'll be looking for a new truck next year and trying to decide between a fullsize and HD (and will consider all the options like re-working/re-springing suspension on a fullsize). The big consideration for us will be if, sometime during the lifetime of the next pickup, we change from a CAMP-X to a CAMP-HBE which, in my opinion, would sway us over to an HD unless a very capable fullsize package comes along since I don't see any now.

 

[al415]

@PaulPritchard

This link is to a video of my friend’s truck; Raven on a TRD Tundra. This particular video doesn’t address his suspension set up but I believe he mentions aspects of it during the walk around and if you post a question, I’m sure he’d be happy to tell you his setup.

 

[PaulPritchard]

@PaulPritchard

This link is to a video of my friend’s truck; Raven on a TRD Tundra. This particular video doesn’t address his suspension set up but I believe he mentions aspects of it during the walk around and if you post a question, I’m sure he’d be happy to tell you his setup.

Thank you al415. I appreciate this input. What a nice rig this is.