In the just more than a year of Pop-up truck camper ownership I have spent more than 30 nights in the camper with my wife and 2 small children. From trips to the river, boondocking next high Sierra lakes located up remote 4x4 trails, huddled inside cooking and playing cards next to the heater when the mountains dealt us a surprise fall snow storm. To a week spent meandering the California Cost from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz and every beach and coastal range mountain hideaway in between, and day trips where a toddler needed a quiet shady nap, or when a potential day ruiner, like a surprise mud puddle was solved by a warm outside shower and well stocked wardrobe inside; we have come to consider our camper not just or best gear purchase, but our best family decision for bringing us together and creating memories.
In the 14 months, 15,000 miles and 30 nights or Hallmark/F250 combohas not let us down or shown any sign of breaking a sweat except for one small exception; the turnbuckles. I have bent and broken turnbuckles, straightend the hooks when CalTrans misplaced a steel trench cover, had to reposition the camper when it came lose while tackling a particularly rutted trail. In general they have detracted from the family overlanding bliss
In my short time as truck camper owner I have decided that the turnbuckle system we use is not ideal for off-road travel. I’ve upgraded my hardware with lock washer and lock bolts but still find myself adjusting at every gas stop. I’ve spoken with the good folks at Torklift and they advised me that off-road use voids the warranty so I’ve eliminated them as an option. I stopped by Earthroamers facility on recent trip to Denver and it’s seems that they have the perfect offroad mounting system (frame mounted in the front, articulated in the rear) but you lose the versatility of having a pick-up truck when the camper is not removable (although astoundingly perfect machines I still haven’t processed the price tag). And lastly I spoke to a tech at Fourwheel campers. When I described my problems he told me that in the old days they used to have a bolt that went though the camper and into the truck frame. He said this was by far the best connecting system except for the fact that it was extremely difficult and time consuming to mount the camper. One could spend an hour plus shimmying the camper trying to get camper and truck bolt holes to line up.
Despite the caution I’m beginning to think a direct to frame mounting system is what we should be looking for. Has anyone custom made one or heard of a product that allows this but solves the problem of alignment and quick mounting?
In the 14 months, 15,000 miles and 30 nights or Hallmark/F250 combohas not let us down or shown any sign of breaking a sweat except for one small exception; the turnbuckles. I have bent and broken turnbuckles, straightend the hooks when CalTrans misplaced a steel trench cover, had to reposition the camper when it came lose while tackling a particularly rutted trail. In general they have detracted from the family overlanding bliss
In my short time as truck camper owner I have decided that the turnbuckle system we use is not ideal for off-road travel. I’ve upgraded my hardware with lock washer and lock bolts but still find myself adjusting at every gas stop. I’ve spoken with the good folks at Torklift and they advised me that off-road use voids the warranty so I’ve eliminated them as an option. I stopped by Earthroamers facility on recent trip to Denver and it’s seems that they have the perfect offroad mounting system (frame mounted in the front, articulated in the rear) but you lose the versatility of having a pick-up truck when the camper is not removable (although astoundingly perfect machines I still haven’t processed the price tag). And lastly I spoke to a tech at Fourwheel campers. When I described my problems he told me that in the old days they used to have a bolt that went though the camper and into the truck frame. He said this was by far the best connecting system except for the fact that it was extremely difficult and time consuming to mount the camper. One could spend an hour plus shimmying the camper trying to get camper and truck bolt holes to line up.
Despite the caution I’m beginning to think a direct to frame mounting system is what we should be looking for. Has anyone custom made one or heard of a product that allows this but solves the problem of alignment and quick mounting?
