school me on truck campers

[tombodad]

You are not limited to a length as much as weight. I have seen some HUGE units on short beds, honestly I would not want one as they do not look safe.

My TC is a 92 and has everything that you mention without the air (around here the air is not a big issue and I did not want the extra weight of a air unit that I would seldom use), and I do not have an outside shower but for me not a big issue. I do have a long bed as I had the option of buying a truck for the TC so that is something that I decided on, again not a big issue as I see many short beds with TCer's.

The biggest issue for age is to make sure that they are solid. If they have no water damage then age is not a big thing. Water damage will kill a new unit as much as an old unit. Again for me - I went with a Northen Lite as I wanted a lighter unit and I love the fiberglass for being water proof and better in the cold.

After a recent 1800 mile, 9 day camping excursion up and down the oregon/norcal coast, we want a truck camper more than ever.
I am definitely thinking the fiberglass type, also. I like the weight savings and insulation, and I think they look much cooler.

Also, I think I will stay with 8.5', if only for maneuverability. Are there many of these with a wet bath? Brand suggestions?

 

[Photomike]

First understand that I am biased - I really do love my NL.

You have two choices for a fiberglass Northern Lite and Bigfoot.

Many of the things that are true of the NL is also true of a Bigfoot. One thing that I have found with the Bigfoot's of the same age as my NL is that the BF's look there age and NL's seem to age better - could be many reasons.

Nothing at all wrong with a 8'5", I have a 9'6" and like the compromise between the size and the weight but mine is on a long box..

Yes a wet bath is available in the 8' version.

Many things to consider. The older units tend to be lighter, newer units have a lot of cool layout changes.

 

[ben2go]

No one has even mentioned it.I am surprised.An option is buying a goose neck trailer,mounting a small slide in camper on the front, and loading your play pig on the back.You would still be pushing the towing, and weight limits, but it would be safer than having a high center of gravity.I do not trust hitch extensions.I have seen them fail and kill people around here in the mountains.However,some of those accidents are probably related to operator error or bad owner installs.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

If you're still out there,
The path you are going down has been trod by many a jeeper. What set up can you conjure to have a place to sleep/camp in and tow your jeep, safely? I tried flat towing my CJ8 but had nothing but almost-tragic woe. Those 37x14.50's had a mind of their own.
The reason I'm responding is that you have the same truck as I do (except i'm SB and you're LB) with the same camper package secondary springs. I've done a capacity build-up by adding another set of 1 ton secondaries to the pack, + Stable Loads, giving a defacto 1.25 ton loading for the rear axle. The camper package was the defacto SRW 1 ton in 2001-02, although they would not reflect that in the posted load rating. I added Rancho shocks set on 9. I installed 33x15.50 Mickey Thompson lug tires (3750 lb. E rating) on 12" wide rims to give the rr axle the Super Single or Duplex loading. I added a steering box brace. A 15K pound Warn Winch and beast deflecting bumper. The best thing I added was a Lance Lite 165-s, 8'6" camper. It has everything you had on your wish list except AC. It's 4" less tall and 6" narrower than the full-size campers on the road, weighing in at around 1800 lbs. I've found you don't want anything on the roof when traveling off-road. You want to keep the weight down as low as possible. I seem to be a lone voice in the wilderness, but a hard side, with the right set up can stay up with the soft side campers in most situations. When comparing a soft side to a hard side folks always cite the weight up high. But is it? It's mostly air. Plus a soft side has that heavy metal scissor mechanism up high. I'm only about 10" higher than my brother's high-bucks pop up. So, here are some pix: the truck;

mine is on the left. Quite a size difference:

here it is 8 years ago towing my CJ8:CGVW is about 15,400 pounds. Trailer only weighs 1100 lbs.

The car trailer is a 7000 pound max with two 3500 pound axles.

I use a 20" extension on my class V hitch with no woes.

narrow girth

With my long range expo rack with extra fuel and firewood for Death Valley.

regards, as always, jefe

 

[jhrodd]

You could always get a real truck. No suspension modifications needed. No hitch extension.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

Jeffrey,
Jeffrey here. You mean the green Jeep FC-170? It is a cool rig. The one towing, is it a 4WD? Looks to have a narrow stance and a high center of gravity. How is the box attached to the frame or bed? It does have a nice, short wheel base, an advantage on winding jeep trails. What it is the height on that box? Real truck campers come in a lot of different configs.
regards, as always, jefe

 

[gm4x4lover]

I have a 2000 ford f350 drw with a 10.5 foot camper. I also tow my K5 behind it on a heavy equipment trailer. It has been up many back roads and light wheeling to disperced camping area's. Most of the time its not real far off the beaten path together. My total weight for all is in the neighborhood of 22,000 lbs. We do like to get into the back country with the camper but not usually when we have the trailer. That size camper with the dual wheels feels very stable. 2 reasons for the heavy equipment trailer: 1 standard car trailers are to narrow for the wide width of the k5, 2 the big brakes on the trailer are really nice for stopping in the mountains. I dont ever feel over loaded and never have felt unsafe. And for the light beaten path camping/wheeling we do the larger size camper is nice.

 

[Explorer0863]

There are many, many options and styles. A few years ago, when I bought mine, I probably looked at more than 20 TCs. Compared brands and features within my budget. Once I knew exactly what I wanted, I started my search for that specific make and model. I already had the 1 ton Ram, so I knew that I could easily carry any TC and tow my Rangie behind. I bought a Lance with a side entry, easier for me to tow and enter the camper when I was towing. I only added air springs and adjustable shocks. Of course, I bought a 48 inch extension to be able to tow.

 

[805gregg]

I've got a 9'6" Lance, the origional owners towed a trailer with a Jeep on it with a 24" extension for years

 

[RedRocker]

This is a setup I had a few years back, sold the Foot, but back in the market for another TC.

 

[ChuckB]

I just wanted to say this is a great thread. First time in this forum and I'm learning a lot. I'm thinking about going with with a TC (just started researching) and eventually towing an FJ40 behind. Thanks for the info!

 

[Truck Camper Porn]

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