First camper:
- Thread starter rystjohn
- Start date
surlydiesel
Adventurer
At 250K, you could have expensive repairs come down the road. I would say keep a rainy day fund just for truck repairs someplace that you won't touch except for needed work on the rig. Like I said above, I love OBS Diesel Fords and have owned 2 of them but at some point the upkeep vs. enjoyment and trouble free use did not equal out. You could buy that same truck with a 351 for 3500.00 and spend 6000 on a camper and the rest of the money on gas to go fun places. If you do get it, I wish you many trouble free miles and yes it will haul a camper great!!!
Cheers,
Jorge
Cheers,
Jorge
Well we decided to wait. We listed out all the pros and cons and while the pros list was longer, the cons were costlier. We don't want to settle at all, and I woke up this morning with a bad feeling lurking in my mind that we were missing something or that we wouldn't be fully pleased.
The searching will continue.
The searching will continue.
Sock Puppet
Adventurer
When in doubt; don't. If it's not the right truck for you then you did the right thing. Patience can be tough when it comes to adventure, but it sounds like you guys are doing the tight thing by taking a little time.
Thanks man. It's been a tough up and down. We want to just figure this out, but like you said - we don't want any doubt at all. The lady and I have a pact - we both have to see the vehicle/camper and we both have to agree on it and feel good. Otherwise it's a no go. I woke up this morning at 5:30AM panicking because I didn't want to buy it anymore....started to think about if it was too much truck, if it had too many miles, that the tires would be hard to find once we went through the two spares, that the rust might spread...it went on and on.
Of course on my motorcycle ride to go get our deposit back, I started thinking that I should just buy it, hahah. It is in fantastic condition, we're just worried that it might not be the BEST choice for us. Especially with the intended use we want from it....
Sock Puppet
Adventurer
Here You go!
This might be something you're interested in:
http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/4522237248.html
"2000 Ford F250 XLT 5 speed Power stroke diesel short bed, 4 door extended cab with back slider window. 4 wheel drive, air shocks, trailer hitch, trailer package. 101302 miles
Hallmark slide-in pop up camper for short bed. Rubber seamless roof. Hot water heater, stove, 3 way refrigerator, heater. Sleeps 4. Outside shower with a "stinky Pete" porta potty room." Fully equipped, just needs food and your ready to go! Includes dishes, pots & pans, silverware, towels, bedding, pillows, porta-potty, stairs AND 2 belly boats with waders. Will consider separating the unit."
This might be something you're interested in:
http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/4522237248.html
"2000 Ford F250 XLT 5 speed Power stroke diesel short bed, 4 door extended cab with back slider window. 4 wheel drive, air shocks, trailer hitch, trailer package. 101302 miles
Hallmark slide-in pop up camper for short bed. Rubber seamless roof. Hot water heater, stove, 3 way refrigerator, heater. Sleeps 4. Outside shower with a "stinky Pete" porta potty room." Fully equipped, just needs food and your ready to go! Includes dishes, pots & pans, silverware, towels, bedding, pillows, porta-potty, stairs AND 2 belly boats with waders. Will consider separating the unit."
surlydiesel
Adventurer
They picked up a clean Diesel Dodge last week. I assume they are still on the search for a camper though.
Sock Puppet
Adventurer
Hmmm...must have missed that. I was on the road last week, so no surprise. Or my memory is going...that might be more likely.
Just wanted to bump this thread and maybe start it up again. Like I mentioned in my previous post, the lady and I purchased a Ram 2500 CTD and we LOVE it!! It came from a reliable seller, had a great history and obviously had been well cared for.
Now we're back on the hunt for a camper. We are looking for some specific models as per WTW and Expedition Portal members' recommendations.
Obviously at the top of the list for our pop-top search is a FWC Grandby (or older model of the 8' variety), an ATC Cougar, and from there various Sunlite and Skamper models. However I'm a little weary in regards to wood-framed campers and potential rot.
For the hard sides we are looking at damn near anything, but have heard good stuff about Lance campers and are keeping our eyes peeled on them.
Our biggest constraints are still the same: distance & money. We want to stay a reasonable driving distance from home (Asheville NC) and within a budget of 4-6k, lower the better.
Right now there is a Grandby in our neighborhood for sale, but it's not in the best of conditions, and the couple selling wants over 8k for it! We've offered 6 at most, and it's sat with a for sale sign now for over a month, slowly coming down from $9,100 to a little over 8k now. But the lady wasn't fully set on this one, and we'd need to put in a decent amount of work on it, as well as add roof racks, solar panels, etc.
There is another one that a fellow WTW member contacted us over, and he is 8hrs away which isn't bad, and it's in the 6k ballpark for us, but it's very bare-bones. We have a list of things we definitely want in our camper (since we'll be full-timing it for a while) and a stove & sink are pretty high up on the list, as well as some kind of table to work at (our income will be mostly from online graphics & web work) and this camper only has a couch and storage. We know the other stuff can be added later, or that we could use camp stoves, but we just don't know how we feel about not having them already installed.
Otherwise we will continue to search!
Now we're back on the hunt for a camper. We are looking for some specific models as per WTW and Expedition Portal members' recommendations.
Obviously at the top of the list for our pop-top search is a FWC Grandby (or older model of the 8' variety), an ATC Cougar, and from there various Sunlite and Skamper models. However I'm a little weary in regards to wood-framed campers and potential rot.
For the hard sides we are looking at damn near anything, but have heard good stuff about Lance campers and are keeping our eyes peeled on them.
Our biggest constraints are still the same: distance & money. We want to stay a reasonable driving distance from home (Asheville NC) and within a budget of 4-6k, lower the better.
Right now there is a Grandby in our neighborhood for sale, but it's not in the best of conditions, and the couple selling wants over 8k for it! We've offered 6 at most, and it's sat with a for sale sign now for over a month, slowly coming down from $9,100 to a little over 8k now. But the lady wasn't fully set on this one, and we'd need to put in a decent amount of work on it, as well as add roof racks, solar panels, etc.
There is another one that a fellow WTW member contacted us over, and he is 8hrs away which isn't bad, and it's in the 6k ballpark for us, but it's very bare-bones. We have a list of things we definitely want in our camper (since we'll be full-timing it for a while) and a stove & sink are pretty high up on the list, as well as some kind of table to work at (our income will be mostly from online graphics & web work) and this camper only has a couch and storage. We know the other stuff can be added later, or that we could use camp stoves, but we just don't know how we feel about not having them already installed.
Otherwise we will continue to search!
lwlankford
New member
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/rvs/4560256571.html saw you were in asheville, i live in clyde. i was hunting for a camper project and came across this hope it might help ya out.
lwlankford
New member
http://hickory.craigslist.org/rvs/4569586659.html
also just remembered there is a hard sided slide in, in canton for sale on a little car lot near the paper mill for 2500 seems like a deal if everything is working similar to the one above... but i looked at it two weeks ago and he thought he had it sold, but still worth a look.
http://www.tomjohnsoncamping.com/Pa...ageId/30553/view/InventoryList/Inventory.aspx both these are more than what you listed wanting to spend but may fit what your looking for and might be able to get a decent price.
As said above the east isnt the best place to find deals on slide in campers. also from my search for one there are 2000 or less and dont look like they would be worth it, or 6000 plus but most are fairly new and in good shape.
also just remembered there is a hard sided slide in, in canton for sale on a little car lot near the paper mill for 2500 seems like a deal if everything is working similar to the one above... but i looked at it two weeks ago and he thought he had it sold, but still worth a look.
http://www.tomjohnsoncamping.com/Pa...ageId/30553/view/InventoryList/Inventory.aspx both these are more than what you listed wanting to spend but may fit what your looking for and might be able to get a decent price.
As said above the east isnt the best place to find deals on slide in campers. also from my search for one there are 2000 or less and dont look like they would be worth it, or 6000 plus but most are fairly new and in good shape.
Last edited:
Thanks so much for your help!
The lady and I have potentially found a FWC in Indiana, but it lacks a sink/stove/fridge. We have a friend who is selling an Engel for cheap, and also have cooking setups that we could use....but we're still on the fence regarding if we want those amenities or not.
We're trying to shy away from wooden-framed campers, so that one in CLT might not work, but the Shadow Cruisers I've heard great stuff about! We will need to take a look at that one!
I actually stopped by the camper in Canton that you're talking about. I wasn't too fond on it's condition, or the asking price he had.
Again, thank you so much, any help is greatly appreciated!!
rangerdogg
Adventurer
I have a shadow cruiser and love mine, look under my camper. Awesome camper we'll built and lots of storage and under bed storage . We'll built
lwlankford
New member
no problem i was just trying to help ya out so i figured id throw some out all over the place