Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
Hey gang, I'm hoping to tap the collective wisdom of the TC community here on ExPo, which has a slightly different view of the world than the TC community at large.
We've been happy Van camper owners for many years - our 4x4 Astro/GTRV has taken us a lot of fun places, but our daughter is getting bigger and we're getting to the point where a cozy "Weekender-plus" van isn't meeting all our needs.
We've been looking longingly at some of the latest truck camper offerings out there. Everything from a FWC Hawk Flatbed to the new "wedge" camper stuff (including spending a fair amount of time in a FiftyTen rig this weekend.) I've spent months looking for used Tigers, used FWCs, and a dozen other options. The thing is that our budget is limited enough that we simply can't afford (or justify) "the best". Given the old proverb that "The Best is the enemy of 'good enough'", I'm realizing that the fact that we can't afford a $50-$80k camper build might be stopping us from having a lot of fun.
To whit, I'm now seriously considering other truck campers with the idea that one will get "used up". I know that an aluminum framed FWC will be more durable, but realistically we've got about 8 years before daughter leaves for college, and we aren't going to be doing serious "expedition" travel in that time. Our usage is most likely going to be limited to forest service roads and open SoCal desert travel. Even if we do attempt a bit more rigorous off-road travel, I'm wondering if it's really the end of the world if the camper is basically a useless pile of sticks in a decade. Especially if the alternative is not upgrading our rig and that limits where and how often we travel.
There are a lot more choices in the $8k-$15k range for used (and new!) campers, and some of them do offer some advantages over the "top brand" options in terms of floor plans/layout. At this point, I'm feeling like a $15k used truck and a $10k camper that I can basically pay cash for and use now, beats the $30k camper and $35k truck that I'd have to borrow $$ to purchase, and which I'd probably still be paying off when it was no longer the right fit for an empty-nest family. Maybe it's because I'm a Gen-X "disposable product" culture, but it's actually easier for me to justify throwing away a camper I can pay cash for and "amortize" over 8 years than to finance 2x-3x as much just so I can have a salable asset at the end of the same period.
Am I nuts, here?
More importantly, am I in danger of over-estimating the life of a cheaper, wood-framed TC when subjected to mild "overland" use? (i.e. "Should I expect to not even get 8 years out of something like a Palomino when using it as stated above?")
We've been happy Van camper owners for many years - our 4x4 Astro/GTRV has taken us a lot of fun places, but our daughter is getting bigger and we're getting to the point where a cozy "Weekender-plus" van isn't meeting all our needs.
We've been looking longingly at some of the latest truck camper offerings out there. Everything from a FWC Hawk Flatbed to the new "wedge" camper stuff (including spending a fair amount of time in a FiftyTen rig this weekend.) I've spent months looking for used Tigers, used FWCs, and a dozen other options. The thing is that our budget is limited enough that we simply can't afford (or justify) "the best". Given the old proverb that "The Best is the enemy of 'good enough'", I'm realizing that the fact that we can't afford a $50-$80k camper build might be stopping us from having a lot of fun.
To whit, I'm now seriously considering other truck campers with the idea that one will get "used up". I know that an aluminum framed FWC will be more durable, but realistically we've got about 8 years before daughter leaves for college, and we aren't going to be doing serious "expedition" travel in that time. Our usage is most likely going to be limited to forest service roads and open SoCal desert travel. Even if we do attempt a bit more rigorous off-road travel, I'm wondering if it's really the end of the world if the camper is basically a useless pile of sticks in a decade. Especially if the alternative is not upgrading our rig and that limits where and how often we travel.
There are a lot more choices in the $8k-$15k range for used (and new!) campers, and some of them do offer some advantages over the "top brand" options in terms of floor plans/layout. At this point, I'm feeling like a $15k used truck and a $10k camper that I can basically pay cash for and use now, beats the $30k camper and $35k truck that I'd have to borrow $$ to purchase, and which I'd probably still be paying off when it was no longer the right fit for an empty-nest family. Maybe it's because I'm a Gen-X "disposable product" culture, but it's actually easier for me to justify throwing away a camper I can pay cash for and "amortize" over 8 years than to finance 2x-3x as much just so I can have a salable asset at the end of the same period.
Am I nuts, here?
More importantly, am I in danger of over-estimating the life of a cheaper, wood-framed TC when subjected to mild "overland" use? (i.e. "Should I expect to not even get 8 years out of something like a Palomino when using it as stated above?")
