Hello All,
I am relatively new to Expedition Portal. I've mainly trolled and read threads for information and enlightenment. Why? Because I haven't purchased a truck camper, and possibly looking to do so in the future. I've looked at the new 2014 Hawk pop-up truck camper (a.k.a. TC) camper by FWC at a local dealer, and was impressed. However I live in the upper Midwest where temperatures can get cold in spring and fall. I love to fish and tent camp mainly on the flowages within the state where I was born, raised, and schooled. Yep, I'm a Badger from the great state of WI. I do like my 4 seasons, and below 0 doesn't faze me. I can always dress for the cold especially with modern day clothing. However I can only take so much off in hot weather to stay cool.
My only surviving older brother and his wife now reside in AZ. He has tried to steer me toward a hard-side truck camper. I like the ideal of the hard-side camper because you can remove it from the box of the pickup truck to act as a base camp. Most of the pop-up campers need support after removing from the pickup box for continued camping. Because of the temperature variance in my home state and additional functionality I basically agree with him because of the desire for 4 season functionality. I have looked at a new Lance 825 TC. I own an old Ranger Supercab with 4L V6 with over 185K miles which I pull an old 14' fishing boat with a very reliable old 25 HP Evinrude. It all reliably works, and doesn't leak any oil. Most important it is all paid for. The old Ranger with the boat in tow, fishing, and camping gear packed does not get great gas mileage. I don't care because it is reliable. Like all things in life nothing stays the same. So at some point in the future I most likely will be upgrading the truck, fishing boat, and probably camping gear which would include a truck camper. With the age of the Ranger I may have to replace fairly soon, or possibly with fingers crossed not for a few years. If the cost of maintenance became unreasonably high, then I may have to purchase a new truck sooner rather than later. The order of purchase has not been pre-determined, but the end result must work. Lot of ifs to get there, but we'll see. Historically I'm a Ford guy. My father and Mother after retirement use to travel south with a 30' camper. My father eventually replaced the Ford with a Dodge Cummings diesel. My dad said it was one of the best decisions that he ever made because semi trailers on the express-way were no longer an adventure. God bless ma and dad for what they taught me. My now deceased older brothers were Ford guys, and recreational cowboys with their horse trailer / campers all over the country. Both had some problems with their Ford diesels. The general ideal is to camp in the TC while towing the newer boat. I'd say the boat that I'm looking at conservatively will be no more than 3k lbs. I don't see the hitch weight of the boat being over 300 lbs., however packing gear could change the equation for long trips. So I'm thinking payload would be me (200 Lbs), other trip goer's (max 3 x max 250 lbs = 750 lbs), TC (est 2500 lbs), gear (500 lbs), gas in truck (max 37.5 gal x 6lbs/gal = 225 lbs) , water in TC ([Fresh 30 + Grey 11 + Black 14] x 10 = 550 Lbs.), boat trailer hitch weight (300 lbs), Food & fluids in TC (100 lbs), and fudge factor of 300 lbs totalling 5425 lbs. I'm not married to Ford, but historically I'm a Ford guy.
Now granted I put a lot of leeway in the above numbers. I probably wouldn't be traveling with grey and black water (-250 lbs), and move food & drink to cooler in boat (-100), and take fudge factor to 100 Lbs (-200) leaving me with 4875 lbs. For me the minimum truck cab would be a SuperCab 4x4. But still in order to provide a cushion if I'm understanding everything on payload, I'd need a Ford F350 dually to have that cushion. I thought a F250 for sure, but am surprised when I look at Ford's 2015 Super Duty Specs per URL's below, and the numbers above to provide flexibility.
Ford SD Specs:
http://www.ford.com/trucks/superduty/specifications/payload
Ford Towing Guide with Max Cargo Capacity:
http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/towingguides/15RV&TT_Ford_SuperDtyPU_Sep30.pdf
Having said all that without having spent a dime I would appreciate your thoughts on the most flexible package of truck, truck engine, and truck camper given the potential that this combination may be with me for some years to come.
Thank You!
--
Regards,
CampNFish
I am relatively new to Expedition Portal. I've mainly trolled and read threads for information and enlightenment. Why? Because I haven't purchased a truck camper, and possibly looking to do so in the future. I've looked at the new 2014 Hawk pop-up truck camper (a.k.a. TC) camper by FWC at a local dealer, and was impressed. However I live in the upper Midwest where temperatures can get cold in spring and fall. I love to fish and tent camp mainly on the flowages within the state where I was born, raised, and schooled. Yep, I'm a Badger from the great state of WI. I do like my 4 seasons, and below 0 doesn't faze me. I can always dress for the cold especially with modern day clothing. However I can only take so much off in hot weather to stay cool.
My only surviving older brother and his wife now reside in AZ. He has tried to steer me toward a hard-side truck camper. I like the ideal of the hard-side camper because you can remove it from the box of the pickup truck to act as a base camp. Most of the pop-up campers need support after removing from the pickup box for continued camping. Because of the temperature variance in my home state and additional functionality I basically agree with him because of the desire for 4 season functionality. I have looked at a new Lance 825 TC. I own an old Ranger Supercab with 4L V6 with over 185K miles which I pull an old 14' fishing boat with a very reliable old 25 HP Evinrude. It all reliably works, and doesn't leak any oil. Most important it is all paid for. The old Ranger with the boat in tow, fishing, and camping gear packed does not get great gas mileage. I don't care because it is reliable. Like all things in life nothing stays the same. So at some point in the future I most likely will be upgrading the truck, fishing boat, and probably camping gear which would include a truck camper. With the age of the Ranger I may have to replace fairly soon, or possibly with fingers crossed not for a few years. If the cost of maintenance became unreasonably high, then I may have to purchase a new truck sooner rather than later. The order of purchase has not been pre-determined, but the end result must work. Lot of ifs to get there, but we'll see. Historically I'm a Ford guy. My father and Mother after retirement use to travel south with a 30' camper. My father eventually replaced the Ford with a Dodge Cummings diesel. My dad said it was one of the best decisions that he ever made because semi trailers on the express-way were no longer an adventure. God bless ma and dad for what they taught me. My now deceased older brothers were Ford guys, and recreational cowboys with their horse trailer / campers all over the country. Both had some problems with their Ford diesels. The general ideal is to camp in the TC while towing the newer boat. I'd say the boat that I'm looking at conservatively will be no more than 3k lbs. I don't see the hitch weight of the boat being over 300 lbs., however packing gear could change the equation for long trips. So I'm thinking payload would be me (200 Lbs), other trip goer's (max 3 x max 250 lbs = 750 lbs), TC (est 2500 lbs), gear (500 lbs), gas in truck (max 37.5 gal x 6lbs/gal = 225 lbs) , water in TC ([Fresh 30 + Grey 11 + Black 14] x 10 = 550 Lbs.), boat trailer hitch weight (300 lbs), Food & fluids in TC (100 lbs), and fudge factor of 300 lbs totalling 5425 lbs. I'm not married to Ford, but historically I'm a Ford guy.
Now granted I put a lot of leeway in the above numbers. I probably wouldn't be traveling with grey and black water (-250 lbs), and move food & drink to cooler in boat (-100), and take fudge factor to 100 Lbs (-200) leaving me with 4875 lbs. For me the minimum truck cab would be a SuperCab 4x4. But still in order to provide a cushion if I'm understanding everything on payload, I'd need a Ford F350 dually to have that cushion. I thought a F250 for sure, but am surprised when I look at Ford's 2015 Super Duty Specs per URL's below, and the numbers above to provide flexibility.
Ford SD Specs:
http://www.ford.com/trucks/superduty/specifications/payload
Ford Towing Guide with Max Cargo Capacity:
http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/towingguides/15RV&TT_Ford_SuperDtyPU_Sep30.pdf
Having said all that without having spent a dime I would appreciate your thoughts on the most flexible package of truck, truck engine, and truck camper given the potential that this combination may be with me for some years to come.
Thank You!
--
Regards,
CampNFish
