Agreed, though the argument I always hear pertains to the off road limitations of a hard sided camper. Though I (coming from someone who's idea off road is a 1985 4Runner on 35s) feel that any vehicle that can carry even a pop up camper is already limited to off-road by the sheer nature of the vehicle.
To Pop Up or not to Pop Up?
- Thread starter Mack M
- Start date
Yep, at the end of the day, you are totally right now that I think about it, that pretty much sums it up!
I've looked at those too, and they seem really innovative and cool, but I wrestle with the idea of leaving it on the truck all the time and resealing the bed each time would get tiresome. If the main goal was off-road with a comfortable place to camp, that would be my #1 choice, but as I'm older now, the main goal is comfort, so I think having a slide in wins.
I 100% agree that a hard sided camper is a limitation off road. Based on your initial post, the livability and storage affording by a bigger truck and hard side camper probably provides more value than pure off road performance. Based on your travel aspirations, I don't think that you'll be too disappointed.
A F350 or bigger is what I'd chose vs a Tundra or similar.
Yep, I think you’re right.
vintageracer
To Infinity and Beyond!
The Alaskans are HEAVY!
That means bigger truck to haul it.
Maybe not the best solution.
THIS is the best solution I have seen based upon your original question.
Light, short, powerful, very off-road capable, not tall and comfortable at the end of the day.
Enjoy all 25 pages!
Guess who's back!?! Atl-atl's K5 Blazer + Four Wheel Camper "The Crawlin Cabin" documentation thread!
Here we go. I started my search for a K5 Blazer with a Four Wheel Camper almost exactly five years ago when I first came across them and wound up with the FWC Hawk I had in my Dodge Ram 2500. Since then I have remodeled three campers, one in a very substantial way(Tacoma Fleet). A year ago I...
forum.expeditionportal.com
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dirtnsmores
Active member
What did the OP decide on?
I have an OVRLND Campers pop up camper that I absolutely love. The company lets you do a lot of customization during manufacturing. I opted to have a higher cabover so I can fit more bedding up there when it's collapsed. I side effect benefit of this is the entire interior height of the camper is taller inside when collapsed. It's tall enough for me to set up a chair and sit down with plenty of headroom left. My 9 year old daughter can fully stand up in it. Because of this I set up the interior build out (remember it's bare) to be fully useful with the camper collapsed. I use it daily during lunch breaks at work, at the park for the kids sports, road trip stops, etc. We can use the toilet, fridge is accessible, TV, lower area bed/couch, storage, etc. It's a good option if you don't want to go with a hard-sided camper.
I have an OVRLND Campers pop up camper that I absolutely love. The company lets you do a lot of customization during manufacturing. I opted to have a higher cabover so I can fit more bedding up there when it's collapsed. I side effect benefit of this is the entire interior height of the camper is taller inside when collapsed. It's tall enough for me to set up a chair and sit down with plenty of headroom left. My 9 year old daughter can fully stand up in it. Because of this I set up the interior build out (remember it's bare) to be fully useful with the camper collapsed. I use it daily during lunch breaks at work, at the park for the kids sports, road trip stops, etc. We can use the toilet, fridge is accessible, TV, lower area bed/couch, storage, etc. It's a good option if you don't want to go with a hard-sided camper.
Old thread but thought that I would follow up to provide perspective, since it's cold and not much to do today 
I ended up (shortly after this thread) buying a Bison 8 ft slide in hard side and an F250. I bought a shell and built it out. After about a year or so, I sold it as I needed cash for my business, that was last summer. Liked the camper and build, here is what I learned, for anyone that may read this in the future.
I ended up (shortly after this thread) buying a Bison 8 ft slide in hard side and an F250. I bought a shell and built it out. After about a year or so, I sold it as I needed cash for my business, that was last summer. Liked the camper and build, here is what I learned, for anyone that may read this in the future.
- The quietness of the hard side was very nice.
- The ability to stealth camp was very nice.
- The Bison camper seems very well made, I'm not sure I would buy one again. The product was nice, but the business was pretty rough and the ordering/pickup/after purchase experience wasn't the best.
- If I were to do a hard side again (I likely will) I wouldn't do a slide in. In our cross winds in Colorado and Wyoming, it was stressful driving with the straps. I knew they would hold, but in cross wind situations, it made me very nervous. If I was to do a hard side again, I would do a flatbed, which would feel more secure.
- The F250, expectedly, held the camper with little fuss and is definitely the way to go, can't believe I was considering a half ton. So much more stable than my old Silverado 1500 with a pop up ATC camper I had many years ago. HD truck is the way in my opinion for any substantial camper.
I'll note that all slide-in camper tie down systems are not created equal. There are a wide variety of tie down systems. Using straps to stock bed tie downs being the least robust and I'd personally have concern with that as well, though it's not backed up with any evidence for knowledge of failures. Next level up would be four turnbuckles into eye bolts bolted through the bed of the pickup with large washers or small 2" - 4" backer plates (our first slide-in camper had this). Next level up in robustness would be turnbuckles going to strong bed brackets that are through-bolted using the pickup's bed bolts and/or under-bed brackets bolted to the pickup frame. I'd also put the Supertramp Campers pin/slot front mount and rear turnbuckle mount system in this highest category.
Turnbuckles to well-mounted bed bracket are not going anywhere and I wouldn't shy away from a slide-in hard sided camper with a good tie down system simply because some other slide-in campers come with a sub-par tie down system.
rruff
Explorer
Just another anecdote... with tire and suspension upgrades, I have no issues in wind or curves with my truck camper (9.2' floor, sleeping berth, 75"ceiling, 80" wide)...even though one of the suspension upgrades was removing the sway bar! It's also far better in wind while parked than I expected.
In the last 2 years I've twice driven the through the Salt River Canyon (steep and twisty) from Show Low to Globe, when fully loaded. No trouble exceeding the speed limit or keeping up with normal cars on the switchbacks. No one wanted to pass. I think it's ok. But it makes sense that a heavier duty truck will perform better in stock form... 1/2 tons are designed to ride decent for daily driving empty.
Absolutely. I was quite confident the straps that were through reinforced eye bolts in my bed wouldn't fail, but driving across I-70 with a constant 30-40 mph cross wind, was nerve-racking, as I could see the camper leaning in my side mirrors. With a large side surface area and relatively small footprint, it can definitely move a bit. I noticed the same when doing some mild off-roading. I feel like a flatbed with 4 corners secured to the bed with fastguns would feel a bit more confidence inspiring.
Definitely. Interesting about the sway bar, did you remove it for articulation reasons offroad?
rruff
Explorer
It lets each tire react independently to bumps as well; probably the bigger benefit.
The handling was sloppy with stock shocks, but better shocks fixed that.
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