Any pop-up truck campers that aren't obscenely wide? Trying to find the ideal one

[Sentinelist]

I'm still casually looking for a cab-over pop-up camper, not in the market until at least next year, but I'm finding it off-putting that most all of the ones I've seen so far are about a foot wider on each side than the truck. Especially without having a dually setup, and somewhat limited parking at home, this is an unattractive proposition.

I'm looking for an 8' setup (no overhang) that is not much wider (I'll give a few inches) than the truck itself and fully self-contained (shower, toilet, HVAC). Large cab-over with a queen bed (quad-cab) ideal, but definitely a pop-up. Do I have any options?

 

[DEnd]

If you have a full size truck Phoenix Custom Campers can build you one. Otherwise it's an issue of interior space, much smaller than a full size pickup and there just isn't enough room inside to do much of a camper.

 

[Sentinelist]

That'd be great, but I should have mentioned I'm looking for something pre-fab and ideally several years old on my budget. I'm finding good candidates for $5k on Craigslist, but they either have the overhang, are too wide, or are hard-sides.

 

[UHAULER]

I would be looking at the Northstars. I just picked up an 03 TC650. Outside width is 84", hangs over the side less than 6".

 

[ripperj]

North Star popups are 7' wide, which is narrower than many, but they dont show up around here used too often, not sure about Texas. If you really need to stay the same width as the truck, you may be stuck with just a cap with a sleep platform on top of drawers.

 

[1stDeuce]

I have an early '90's Hallmark UTE, which is "normal" size. It certainly doesn't hang a foot over the sides of my truck. ?? I just measured it and it's 2-1/2" shy of 7' wide. It hangs over the bed rails about 5", which is barely enough for the jacks to clear the fender flare when I put it on or take it off. If you're looking at huge hard side campers on dually trucks and thinking that a pop up camper is just that with a pop top, you're mistaken! Most of the soft side campers are not much wider than the truck if you have a full size, and if you really want narrow, you can buy one meant for a mid size truck and it'll be exactly as wide as your full size, but I don't know how you'll get it in and out of the truck... I think the Four Wheel Eagle model fits this description, and I know Hallmark makes a "mid size" model too, or at least they used to.

I think you'll be surprised how many campers aren't really that huge once you start looking!
Happy Shopping!
Chris

 

[Larry]

I can’t stand the looks of the campers hanging over the side of the truck bed or past the tailgate, etc. Width was a big concern of mine as well as I didn’t the camper to be any wider than the truck bed for off-roadabilty plus I didn’t want to run camper mirrors, etc. The camper also needed to fit inside the bed with the tailgate shut. As with many of the custom things I wanted, only Phoenix Campers said yes to all of my wants. FWC basically said we build what we build, take it or leave it (I don't think they took me as a serious customer when I told them the camper was going on a 1978). The Hallmark was very nice but it too was way too big and heavy where they didn’t seem interested in making anything custom outside of their usual cookie cutter dimensions either.

I may have lost some interior space but a narrow footprint was more important to me than interior space. I am not that big of a guy anyway. As DEnd said, about the only way you are going to get a narrow one is to have Phoenix build you whatever you want.

Here’s mine nice and narrow… It looks like it was custom made for the truck..... because it was :sombrero:

 

[modernbeat]

Any chance that a mid or mini truck sized camper would fit rail-to-rail on a full sized?

 

[John E Davies]

So this is too much width for you?

That's a very nice used Outfitter Caribou 8ft for sale near me...... If you take the jacks off there isn't much to bang into stuff. It doesn't have a shower or toilet, but you could install a porta potty or even a built in cassette toilet. Price is $7000....

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[Sentinelist]

I've heard of the Northstars but haven't been able to find one yet- DFW has a pretty big RV base so most anything will turn up with some patience, I think. What do you guys think about a Pine Mountain? There's a 2005 nearby at a great price that might do the job (lavatory unknown yet).

Deuce- I went through your Hallmark thread, well done! You're the kind of guy I want to buy a camper from. Love all the mods as well. Something like yours would be about right, and glad it sounds like you recommend them.

John- that Caribou would be about perfect as well. Those are the dimensions I'm looking for, and definitely maximizing the cab-over area (I have a 4-dr) with a queen bed. About $7k is a good price for a setup like that and probably as much as I'm willing to spend. Hoping for something more around the 5k mark and within 20 years of age or less (and been covered- I have no time to then tackle a wood rot project!). I'd take the jacks off indeed. Bolt down to the bed? Those tie bars wouldn't be needed if so, right? I'm going for a rather permanent, clean look.

Larry- very tidy! Looks great. I just need something bigger and cheaper.

 

[1stDeuce]

Larry, does your camper sleep length wise then? It seems like it would be too narrow to sleep across, unless you're only 5' tall. I should read your camper thread again and see how it's laid out... I will admit, the hallmark looks pretty big from some angles, but mostly because it's 8.5' long and in a shortbox. I've been in a few 6-1/2' campers, and they are TINY inside. I think for two people, it would be fine, but for my gf and I and two 75lb dogs, the extra room is much appreciated. I wish I had an outside shower, but I don't want a bathroom inside, and I don't want to loose the storage space that a hot water heater takes up, so we make do with a 12v shower and a 4 gallon water jug. With 3 burners on the stove, I can have a shower for two ready in less than 15 minutes!

As for worrying about the width of the camper, if you're intending to put it on a crew cab longbox, you're pretty limited how far off the beaten path you'll be anyway. I've had my truck in some pretty tight spots, and overall length seems to be the limit, not the width of the camper. I'm sure there are places I could go w/o it that I won't fit with it, but I have a jeep for real offroad adventuring, and the truck and camper are for milder exploring. For a little more offroad than I've done so far, check out Locrawln's chevy build. He's got a Hawk in a full size chevy, and it doesn't seem to hang over much at all. (camper pics ~pg 9)

Good luck finding a camper, there are lots of them out there to choose from!! If I could make one recommendation above all others, it would be to find one that was stored inside if you're looking to get a used camper. Truck campers don't seem to take the weather well...
Chris

 

[Sentinelist]

Yeah, it's 8' and a full cab-over or nothing for me. If it was just for me, I wouldn't want the lavatory, but it's probably the only way I'll get my wife to come along! Plus, I have 2 young boys. And the MIL could join us as well. No dogs, yet.

The overhang and width isn't about clearing challenging trails for me, it's purely aesthetics. It just looks half-assed when it's half-assed. I'm trying to take my time to go about this properly, but we'll see. Logging roads and small streams are about as off-road as I intend to take this long beast- I know I won't be following any Wranglers anywhere! I also may not even do a lift on the thing to keep the stock setup as reliable as possible.

I have no choice, unless I pony up for storage which I'd rather not do, than to leave my future camper outside (again, likely 'permanently' fixed to the truck). But it's Dallas. Is a largely dry climate OK if the thing is well-sealed??

 

[redthies]

There is nothing wrong with leaving an RV outside. That's what they are built for! Nothing "half-assed" about having a bigger camper than the footprint of your bed. Some of us want a bit more space. If you are building a dedicated explorer like Larry's, then what he's done with his Phoenix makes perfect sense. For what your planned uses are, it makes no sense to worry about a bit of width, especially given the truck you bought, and the plan to leave it stock. The truck will become the limiting factor long before the camper will.

Don't get me wrong, your truck and camper should meet your wish list, but I see nothing "half assed" about the way other people build their rigs.

Not a pop-up, but I have owned them before. Function is more important than looks to me, but I don't see how this looks bad either?

 

[Larry]

Larry, does your camper sleep length wise then? It seems like it would be too narrow to sleep across, unless you're only 5' tall. I should read your camper thread again and see how it's laid out... I will admit, the hallmark looks pretty big from some angles, but mostly because it's 8.5' long and in a shortbox. I've been in a few 6-1/2' campers, and they are TINY inside. Chris

Chris,

It can sleep both ways, length wise and width wise. I am only 5’6 and can stretch out across the top of the cab with no issue. The top bunk does expand to make a larger bed which gives more room to lie at an angle if needed. The camper was built with the intention of double occupancy at most.

The top bunk slides out over the stove and sink to make a larger bed. When I go out alone I just leave the top bunk in the closed position so the stove and sink aren’t covered.

The dinette also makes into a bed. As odd as it sounds, my mother in law is my usual travel companion on the yearly desert trips with my buddies as my wife and FIL would not do well living in the outdoors for 5 to 10 days at a time. MIL takes the top bunk and I sleep on the bottom dinette bed. It’s very comfy too but again, I am not a very big guy either.

It is a compact camper so bathroom amenities must go on the outside. Shower / bathroom stall. Warm water from the water heater makes for a nice shower even on a hot summer day.

 

[Sentinelist]

Larry- that's a pretty clever setup!

redtheis- sorry my wording was a bit harsh, I just want a sleek looking rig since coming into the fold here reading up on the EarthRoamer. Yours looks good as do most on here, I just don't want a setup that clearly doesn't fit well together.

Here's one I'm looking at: http://dallas.craigslist.org/******/for/4201239690.html