I would actually be shocked if you payload was as low as 1700lbs! The dry weight on a fully loaded Hawk ranges from 1300 - 1500 depending on the year and exact options. With water, that massive battery bank and people I would be surprised if you were under 2000lbs, but my math could be off.
Campervan to Truck camper - anyone done it?
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I would actually be shocked if you payload was as low as 1700lbs! The dry weight on a fully loaded Hawk ranges from 1300 - 1500 depending on the year and exact options. With water, that massive battery bank and people I would be surprised if you were under 2000lbs, but my math could be off.
Osmo79
Member
We've been toying with the idea of selling our VW Camper and moving to a truck camper or trailer. We would really like to make the truck camper work, but recognize that there will be trade offs. We recently purchased a new 17 Titan XD diesel to replace our aging 04 Tundra and would be using it as a base for our camper build. We really love the truck and felt it a great "middle ground" in capabilities vs going to a full 3/4 ton.
If we go the truck camper route we would be looking at hawk model, or possibly a shell model to transfer over some of our camping gear from the van, as our van does not have the westy interior. If money were no object, a Norweld flatbed and Hawk flatbed model camper would be on order.... Working on it, but haven't been able to sell the wife on that one just yet....
My estimated load going with either a flatbed or regular Hawk model has us sitting at around 1928/ 1953 lbs wet and with passengers. Thats 1050/1075 for the camper, 312 for added options, 166 for water, and 400 for passengers. Our rated payload per the door sticker is 1850 lbs, so before adding any other gear or food, we are already over the payload rating. When you add in our food, tools, clothes, recovery gear etc. we could easily gain another 200-1000 lbs. We figure our current setup is around 500 lbs. This would have us overloaded but not by enough to make me uncomfortable. But add in heavy bumpers, winches, fuel carriers, bikes, canoes, etc. it could easily hit or exceed the 1000 lbs over payload. Going with the shell model is a wash in my opinion as we would still add certain options and with a starting weight of 875 to 975 your not saving much when you add it all up. Is running 500 to 1000 lbs over payload totally unsafe?....I don't know for sure... Sure airbags could be added...or we could all just drive 1 ton dually 4x4's....
Not sure the best answer as all of our situations are different.
We love the ease of parking the van and ease of setup by being able to jump from the driver seat to the rear to pop the top and get the kids out of the car seats. But thats when it gets tough. The car seats have to be unlatched to make the lower bed. and all items stowed behind the rear seat have to be moved. We set up a small 2 man tent to stow the car seats, clothing bags, and other miscellaneous stuff that clutters up the van. It only takes a few minutes to setup, but in the end adds to the packing/ unpacking routine and hampers stealth type camping. Sure we can move this stuff to the front seats, but then we have limited living space as a result.
In our case moving to the truck camper would really give us several benefits over the VW van. I look at setup time as being easier with the truck camper, as our goal would be to keep the floor space clean and utilize built in storage, so no moving boxes or containers etc. before going to bed or using the space. Poping the top and setting up the awning is probably a wash, maybe slight advantage for the van. Not having to move car seats and the other travel related kids stuff would be huge, as it could, all stay in the cab of the truck. The main thing that really seals the deal for us is the truck is a modern vehicle with ice cold air, hot heat and comfortable seats. The truck also has the ability to maintain speed on the highway. The van has no air con, little heat and with only 48 hp is not able to get much over 60mph on the flat. The XD has to be by far the most comfortable vehicle i have ever road tripped in. Who ever designed the seats deserves a serious award. I have lower back pain in just about every vehicle i have driven and in the Titan XD, have done over 1k miles in a day with no issues. The truck also has 4wd and low miles meaning we can feel safer taking less maintained roads and do so without the worry of the breakdowns that could happen when driving the VW. Add to this the van is a third vehicle, and I typically need a truck for work anyway, so going to the truck camper would leave us one less vehicle to maintain and insure.
-Kim
If we go the truck camper route we would be looking at hawk model, or possibly a shell model to transfer over some of our camping gear from the van, as our van does not have the westy interior. If money were no object, a Norweld flatbed and Hawk flatbed model camper would be on order.... Working on it, but haven't been able to sell the wife on that one just yet....
My estimated load going with either a flatbed or regular Hawk model has us sitting at around 1928/ 1953 lbs wet and with passengers. Thats 1050/1075 for the camper, 312 for added options, 166 for water, and 400 for passengers. Our rated payload per the door sticker is 1850 lbs, so before adding any other gear or food, we are already over the payload rating. When you add in our food, tools, clothes, recovery gear etc. we could easily gain another 200-1000 lbs. We figure our current setup is around 500 lbs. This would have us overloaded but not by enough to make me uncomfortable. But add in heavy bumpers, winches, fuel carriers, bikes, canoes, etc. it could easily hit or exceed the 1000 lbs over payload. Going with the shell model is a wash in my opinion as we would still add certain options and with a starting weight of 875 to 975 your not saving much when you add it all up. Is running 500 to 1000 lbs over payload totally unsafe?....I don't know for sure... Sure airbags could be added...or we could all just drive 1 ton dually 4x4's....
Not sure the best answer as all of our situations are different.
We love the ease of parking the van and ease of setup by being able to jump from the driver seat to the rear to pop the top and get the kids out of the car seats. But thats when it gets tough. The car seats have to be unlatched to make the lower bed. and all items stowed behind the rear seat have to be moved. We set up a small 2 man tent to stow the car seats, clothing bags, and other miscellaneous stuff that clutters up the van. It only takes a few minutes to setup, but in the end adds to the packing/ unpacking routine and hampers stealth type camping. Sure we can move this stuff to the front seats, but then we have limited living space as a result.
In our case moving to the truck camper would really give us several benefits over the VW van. I look at setup time as being easier with the truck camper, as our goal would be to keep the floor space clean and utilize built in storage, so no moving boxes or containers etc. before going to bed or using the space. Poping the top and setting up the awning is probably a wash, maybe slight advantage for the van. Not having to move car seats and the other travel related kids stuff would be huge, as it could, all stay in the cab of the truck. The main thing that really seals the deal for us is the truck is a modern vehicle with ice cold air, hot heat and comfortable seats. The truck also has the ability to maintain speed on the highway. The van has no air con, little heat and with only 48 hp is not able to get much over 60mph on the flat. The XD has to be by far the most comfortable vehicle i have ever road tripped in. Who ever designed the seats deserves a serious award. I have lower back pain in just about every vehicle i have driven and in the Titan XD, have done over 1k miles in a day with no issues. The truck also has 4wd and low miles meaning we can feel safer taking less maintained roads and do so without the worry of the breakdowns that could happen when driving the VW. Add to this the van is a third vehicle, and I typically need a truck for work anyway, so going to the truck camper would leave us one less vehicle to maintain and insure.
-Kim
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al_burpe
Observer
Here is a van that seems to solve the car seat problem as it appears the rear bed can be made up with out doing anything to the middle row. While it seems like you could leave the bed made up you would probably need to rearrange your gear that would have to be stored on top of the bed. http://www.trucktrend.com/features/travel/163-1212-travel-the-n6-active-by-roadtrek/#photo-01
calicamper
Expedition Leader
Ive been thinking about our setup and what would be a great setup. For one with kids and our lifetime tent trailer we only base camp with it due to setup and tear down plus the wife and kids do better with the base camp then do day trips exploring the area model. Vs constantly on the move new camp each night. Having said that!!!!!!!
I think a 4dr pickup with a tacoma habitat ie toy garage, then one of these small sort of mini toy hauler low roof height trailers with, rv heater, slide out kitchen and awning would be a great combo. The Habitat would enable me to do solo trips or let me tow a boat, 6ft bed would support a kids bunk o cot with parents in the penthouse. The small toy hauler would be a nice extended season base camp rig.
Were 4 two under 8
I think a 4dr pickup with a tacoma habitat ie toy garage, then one of these small sort of mini toy hauler low roof height trailers with, rv heater, slide out kitchen and awning would be a great combo. The Habitat would enable me to do solo trips or let me tow a boat, 6ft bed would support a kids bunk o cot with parents in the penthouse. The small toy hauler would be a nice extended season base camp rig.
Were 4 two under 8
ViperNL
Observer
Payload amount is after a 150lb driver and a full tank of gas.
You might want to check out the 2018 Ford 2.7 Ecoboost. It's rated 21/19/24 MPG 4WD, has 400 lb-ft torque and 325 HP. I had the 2017 version and it drove like a sports car. It gets better MPG than the Tacoma and is a considerably larger truck with bigger payload.
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I wanted to revive this thread since I may have to make a move sooner than later. My van is developing problems faster than I can fix them; the latest is one of the door hinges snapped in 2 (not an easy fix, nor cheap).
The overwhelming consensus seems to be truck + camper is the best, most versatile route. I'm thinking one of the pop-up toppers (OVRLND, AT Summit) may be the happy medium of functionality and light weight.
The overwhelming consensus seems to be truck + camper is the best, most versatile route. I'm thinking one of the pop-up toppers (OVRLND, AT Summit) may be the happy medium of functionality and light weight.
BlueSkyCamper
Member
I just did what you are thinking of doing. Sold the 1986 VW Westfalia a couple of years ago and bought an 8' shell slide in truck camper (At Cougar) to put on my Toyota Tundra. Still working on the camper build-out, but have noticed a few things making this change. First, the Westy was fast becoming an antique/colector vehicle, I got $25k for mine. I was getting too tense about driving it in the backcountry, and it had all the well documented shortcomings of that period of German engineering and execution. The Toyota is a modern vehicle with all the nice things this brings, and 4WD, and serious towing capacity, and I already had the truck for business/work (the Westy was a 3rd vehicle we used 4-5 times per year). So I eliminated a vehicle and John Hickenlooper gets less of my money here in CO. I still miss the miss the way the Westy drove, sitting over the front wheels, kids on the bench seat in back, easy access to everything while driving and at short stops. Vans are excellent this way when you have kids, but upgrading to a Sprinter-type camper still involved a 3rd vehicle and serious cash. So for now at least the truck camper is our best option since we don't want to tow a camper. While camped, getting in and out of the truck camper is slightly less convenient. The truck camper beds are bigger and more comfortable. The truck camper has fewer windows and less visibility to the outside than the Westy. The truck camper has new kitchen appliances and a furnace that work way better. The 4WD truck takes us into places we could never go with the Westy, and I'm not going to stress if it gets dinged or scratched or even totaled. I can carry more stuff on top of the truck camper. Our kids are out of car seats now, and yes that was a total PITA in the Westy. The Westy was slightly faster at set-up time, but not a huge difference. Converting from seating/eating to sleeping is also a wash. Storage is a wash. Water and propane storage capacity close to a wash, but the truck camper actually has a propane level gauge. One last thing, the Westy has the hippie/left wing/tree hugging liberal statement going on strong still to this day, and one might feel the wrath of the right wing/redneck/conservative on occasion traveling the western US, and it is real and it happened many times to me. Being non-political and a centrist, I feel far less a target in the truck camper. Now I sort of blend in, and I can just have fun camping with my kids without making an accidental statement or being judged and categorized, and I love it. Lots of people admired and commented on my Westy, it was a topic of conversation, and that was fine but I don't miss it because quite a few Westy enthusiasts were not nice people at all. There are now modern vans on the scene (Sprinter, Transit, Nissan) that would be awesome with AWD and a pop top, but just too cost prohibitive for me right now. That's my story and I am sticking to it.
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BlueSkyCamper
Member
Oh, and I went with the AT Cougar instead of the pop top shell (Wildernest, etc.) for the added space and comfort, especially for a family of 4.
kmcintyre
Observer
Like others, I have a 1/2 ton truck w/ a Four Wheel Camper (Eagle) on a RAM 1500 ecodiesel. I have put air springs on it, E rated tires, etc. and it has the power, mpg is about 20 - 21 with a 3.0 liter engine. Has 3.92 gears, etc. I am in the process of putting heavy duty springs on the back as we travel extensively into Mexico, etc. and if one of the airbags had issues, it might not be optimal. As others have stated, when this thing is loaded with fuel, propane, water, 2 people, dog, etc. I am a bit heavy. Not had any issues but if I were going to do it again, I'd look at a 3/4 or 1 ton truck. I just don't need that much engine but the platform would be a bit more weight friendly.
BackBeyond
Member
Over the past 20 years we've had a FWC on a '98 Tacoma, an Outfitter Caribou on a 1/2 ton, and now we have a 1 ton. We enjoyed both the previous rigs, but having gone through this progression we wouldn't consider anything less than a 3/4 ton for any pop-up truck camper. That includes even a FWC shell, especially with 4 people. Yes we did airbags, etc, and for the most part felt "safe enough", but always felt compromised in terms of handling and weight capacity.
IdaSHO
IDACAMPER
If going slide in, as many have mentioned, PLEASE consider what you actually need to safely haul the camper.
Most people have a truck, then find a camper they like, and try to make it work.
More often then not that results in an overloaded, sometime severely, truck.
I advise people to first find the camper they want, then source a truck that can handle it.
As far as truck & slide in vs van, they both have their merits.
But for us the utility of the truck is a big thing, so we stick with a truck.
And as we travel more, and get more near full timing, unloading the camper has become more of a regular thing.
If we find a spot that we like well enough and will be there for more than a few nights, camper comes off.
This makes living out of the camper day to day much easier, and frees up the truck for whatever.
Exploring locally, quick trip into town for supplies, etc.
Most people have a truck, then find a camper they like, and try to make it work.
More often then not that results in an overloaded, sometime severely, truck.
I advise people to first find the camper they want, then source a truck that can handle it.
As far as truck & slide in vs van, they both have their merits.
But for us the utility of the truck is a big thing, so we stick with a truck.
And as we travel more, and get more near full timing, unloading the camper has become more of a regular thing.
If we find a spot that we like well enough and will be there for more than a few nights, camper comes off.
This makes living out of the camper day to day much easier, and frees up the truck for whatever.
Exploring locally, quick trip into town for supplies, etc.
BlueSkyCamper
Member
The 1986 Westy with all four of us, all our gear, food, 13 gal of water, 20lbs propane, canoe on top or bikes on the back or both, now THAT was a handling nightmare. My 4wd Tundra DC with the Cougar shell doesn't even come close to the white knuckle factor of the Westfalia. It is all relative. I'm not advocating over loading a truck, just making the real world comparison for the OP.