What truck/camper combo won't shake apart off road, i.e. Dalton Hwy?

[tacollie]

For me, roads like Scofield Pass (which often have disclaimers like "expert 4x4 only" on maps) are narrow with obstacles and big dropoffs immediatley to the side of the road. It may be fine if you know you're the only one on the road, but the problem (for me) is encountering oncoming vehicles. The bigger your vehicle is (or the other person's) the less likely you'll be able to pass each other. So one of you needs to back up until you get to a wide enough part of the road to safely pass. That can be a hair raising experience on a road like that.

This is a good point. I've done Scofield in smaller vehicles and I know I could do it in my F250 with the camper. I don't do it in the F250 because it is rude to everyone else in the trail imo. At a certain point it's better to tow a smaller vehicle or rent one. Just my .02

That may be a good option for 84FLH.

 

[deserteagle56]

Not just oncoming vehicles that are a problem on narrow shelf roads like that. Too often, rock slides happen, or big trees roll down the mountain and land on the road. Then you are faced with having to back up a long ways to turn around; if you have a camper mounted rearward visibility is very limited so you'd better have a spotter and a lot of time.

I'm very leery of traveling a shelf road unless I'm on my dirt bike or quad.

 

[simple]

Watching the video of the guy doing Scofield on a dirt bike leads me to think that route is more of a trail than a road. I would classify that as 2 track off road. At least that section.

 

[andy_b]

Maybe I got off on a tangent. To the OP, Schofield Pass is not the norm for Forest Service Roads. I get your point, in addition to the Dalton Hwy, you're also looking to explore and get out there on rougher dirt roads and want something that can handle rough-ish dirt roads without a problem.

Actually, you have highlighted great points about Schofield, Crystal Mine, and other trails in that region. These mountain passes and old mining roads are not difficult, per se. Their exposure makes them interesting and the amount of traffic they get artificially creates some tension that more "hardcore" one-way trails may not have. These are pretty simple in short wheelbase Jeeps and similar vehicles and get more difficult the longer and wider the trucks get for the reasons you mentioned.

The Dalton Highway, by comparison, despite its remoteness and scale, is just a road. As others have highlighted, any car can and does drive it routinely.

A hardsided camper with the features needed would be a huge headache on the specific trails in the videos. It can definitely be done but at the risk of being "that guy." I suppose a question to ask yourself, OP, is if you're willing to do that?

Finally, to answer the original question asked, I think a Total Composites box, outfitted by the builder of your choice, on a 550/5500 chassis to your liking, would be ideal.

 

[simple]

I'm curious to see some case studies with TC boxes and Scout campers that have been worked hard for a few years.

 

[Oka 374]

Back in 2012-13 us Aussies bought a secondhand F250 super duty LWB 4wd with a 5.4 litre gas V8 with just over 200k kms on it in Canada and after fitting a brand new Real - Lite poptop truck camper spent 10 months travelling the US and Canada. We covered over 55,000km as we criss crossed the North American continent.
We travelled the Dempster to Inuvik, Top of the World Highway, Canol out into the NW Territories, Alaska, most of the major cities on both coasts, the Labrador Highway and a huge number of National Parks, BLM lands and lots of quite difficult low range 4wd tracks that we probably shouldn't have been on.
The truck never let us down and in that 55k km we had to replace a fuel filter, serpentine belt and belt tensioner in Gander Newfoundland, a rear diff cover that rusted from the outside in in New Brunswick and two front tyres in Halifax Nova Scotia.
Prior to the trip we had the truck fully serviced with new tyres, new battery and full fluid replacement.
We experienced all four seasons including getting caught in a blizzard in Colorado and really enjoyed the hospitality of the Canadian and American people.
As long as the vehicle is in good order, you can get parts for it anywhere on the American continent and you drive to conditions a standard vehicle witll take you anywhere. Our trauck camper weighed just over 1100 kg and whicle the rear end dropped a bit it never gave us any cause for concern even on hard 4wd tracks.

 

[NOPEC]

Back in 2012-13 us Aussies bought a secondhand F250 super duty LWB 4wd with a 5.4 litre gas V8 with just over 200k kms on it in Canada and after fitting a brand new Real - Lite poptop truck camper spent 10 months travelling the US and Canada. We covered over 55,000km as we criss crossed the North American continent.
We travelled the Dempster to Inuvik, Top of the World Highway, Canol out into the NW Territories, Alaska, most of the major cities on both coasts, the Labrador Highway and a huge number of National Parks, BLM lands and lots of quite difficult low range 4wd tracks that we probably shouldn't have been on.
The truck never let us down and in that 55k km we had to replace a fuel filter, serpentine belt and belt tensioner in Gander Newfoundland, a rear diff cover that rusted from the outside in in New Brunswick and two front tyres in Halifax Nova Scotia.
Prior to the trip we had the truck fully serviced with new tyres, new battery and full fluid replacement.
We experienced all four seasons including getting caught in a blizzard in Colorado and really enjoyed the hospitality of the Canadian and American people.
As long as the vehicle is in good order, you can get parts for it anywhere on the American continent and you drive to conditions a standard vehicle witll take you anywhere. Our trauck camper weighed just over 1100 kg and whicle the rear end dropped a bit it never gave us any cause for concern even on hard 4wd tracks.

84FLH

Referencing your original post, you will not get better advice and examples of real world experience of exactly what you want to do, from these folks here (OKA 374) that have actually done it.

Simply fast forward by ten years your vehicle gas engine choice (5.4 is getting pretty long in the tooth and it is getting harder to find them with lowish milage), plan to add on the extension of the Dempster to take in Tuktoyuktuk and don't shed too many tears that most of the Trans Labrador Highway has been paved (progress, I guess..). It is still just as beautiful as it ever was. Buy a modest, stock 3/4 or 1 ton 4WD pickup truck, match it with a modest slide in camper and you are set.

 

[fisher205]

Hey fisher205;

Saw that ad when it was first posted. The blowby issue and the "fair amount of rot in the rear" statement made me reconsider.

The Alaskan campers have the coolest look of all the popups, I think. But their interiors seem kind of austere. But I've only seen photos and never been inside one. Being inside is a whole lot different than looking at pictures.

How cold did it get on your Alaska trip, and did the camper furnace keep the inside warm, as opposed to not cold? How did you keep water supply lines from freezing?

I have been in that camper to -17. (not on the Alaska trip). It was warm but had to wear extra clothes. We kept the temp lower because were conserving propane. The biggest problem was that I was only running a single battery at the time. The furnace will not run under 50% battery to protect the battery. it would shut down at about 5 in the morning. I guess it is a good time to get up and make coffee anyway.

 

[84FLH]

.... you're also looking to explore and get out there on rougher dirt roads and want something that can handle rough-ish dirt roads without a problem.

Yes. This exactly! Thanks for articulating what I should have, but wasn't able to.

The question for me is, what manufacturer's hard side would best lend itself to this kind of exploration.

 

[84FLH]

Not just oncoming vehicles that are a problem on narrow shelf roads like that. Too often, rock slides happen, or big trees roll down the mountain and land on the road. Then you are faced with having to back up a long ways to turn around; if you have a camper mounted rearward visibility is very limited so you'd better have a spotter and a lot of time.

I'm very leery of traveling a shelf road unless I'm on my dirt bike or quad.
View attachment 763288

What a view! And a classic ride, too! Indestructible Honda XR.

BUT that drop off is no joke. Sitting in my office, looking at that pic, I'm thinking, "Yeah, I'd definitely walk it. And I might MTB it. But motorcycle? With that drop off? After seeing that guy launch into Devil's Potbelly or whatever they call it? Hmmmm. Maybe not!"

 

[84FLH]

Back in 2012-13 us Aussies bought a secondhand F250 super duty LWB 4wd with a 5.4 litre gas V8 with just over 200k kms on it in Canada and after fitting a brand new Real - Lite poptop truck camper spent 10 months travelling the US and Canada. We covered over 55,000km as we criss crossed the North American continent.
We travelled the Dempster to Inuvik, Top of the World Highway, Canol out into the NW Territories, Alaska, most of the major cities on both coasts, the Labrador Highway and a huge number of National Parks, BLM lands and lots of quite difficult low range 4wd tracks that we probably shouldn't have been on.
The truck never let us down and in that 55k km we had to replace a fuel filter, serpentine belt and belt tensioner in Gander Newfoundland, a rear diff cover that rusted from the outside in in New Brunswick and two front tyres in Halifax Nova Scotia.
Prior to the trip we had the truck fully serviced with new tyres, new battery and full fluid replacement.
We experienced all four seasons including getting caught in a blizzard in Colorado and really enjoyed the hospitality of the Canadian and American people.
As long as the vehicle is in good order, you can get parts for it anywhere on the American continent and you drive to conditions a standard vehicle witll take you anywhere. Our trauck camper weighed just over 1100 kg and whicle the rear end dropped a bit it never gave us any cause for concern even on hard 4wd tracks.

Oka;

What a grand trip! Thanks for sharing your experience.

What year was the truck? With about 180,000 miles and average mileage of 15,000/year, I'm guessing around 2000 model year?

How did the 5.4 perform at highway speed (60-70 mph...although 60-65 is good enough for me)? Did it have enough oomph to pass other vehicles swiftly?

 

[84FLH]

fisher_205;

That rig was yours? The one for $8k? Well, I'll be....!

-17 is darned, darned, darned cold. I had to put a sweater on just reading your post.

Did you ever put the second battery in?

I'm starting to think the Alaskan might be the best of both worlds for me. The low profile is good for 'off road', such as I would drive; and while it pops up, it has hard sides, not fabric. A good condition 8 footer would be something I should consider.

I may be able to fabricate some type of stowable/folding enclosure as a shower over the toilet, and plumb hot/cold water to it. Drainage would need to be figured out. If the enclosure could be made to seal fairly firm against the sealing when setting it up, and an exhaust fan was in that ceiling, then steam entry into the camper would be mitigated. A bottom seal on the enclosure would also help, but the execution presents a different problem than sealing against the mostly flat ceiling.

I believe the concept has merit. One of the upper tier (>$150k, IIRC) popups has a setup like this, IIRC; a folding, solid wall shower enclosure.

I also wonder if folding cabinets could be added under the existing camper cabinets. These folding cabinets would be the exact same width, height, depth as the existing cabinets. Piano hinge would affix these new cabinets to the old cabinets thusly; one side of the hinge would be fastened along the length of the bottom front edge of the existing cabinets, and the other side of the hinge fastened along the length of the top front edge of the new cabinets.

Thus, the new bottom cabinet becomes a "folding" ("swinging" would be more precise terminology) cabinet. It swings down and then under the existing cabinets, and is locked into place for use during camp. It swings up and abuts door-to-door with the new cabinet for traveling, being locked in place, of course.

In both positions, "usage" and "travel" the new cabinet is very close to the existing cabinet. The exact distance of closeness would be figured in part by the piano hinge dimensions. But I'm guessing that distance would be around 1/4".

Hmmm......

 

[84FLH]

Buy a modest, stock 3/4 or 1 ton 4WD pickup truck, match it with a modest slide in camper and you are set.

Thanks, NOPEC (like the handle). Straight out, simple, good advice. 10 times better than Nike's "Just do it".

 

[Regcabguy]

Forget the "pass through" , total waste of money and unnecessary.

The 7.3 IDI is slower than a volkswagen van. I owned one. The 5.9 Cummins is far superior to that motor in every way.

Thank you. My friend's got $7K worth of Banks on it and my 1998 with a Edge EZ would smoke it.

 

[1000arms]

... I'm starting to think the Alaskan might be the best of both worlds for me. The low profile is good for 'off road', such as I would drive; and while it pops up, it has hard sides, not fabric. A good condition 8 footer would be something I should consider. ...

The interior height might (or might not) be an issue for you. 6'3" to 6'4" based on the "Alaskan Buyers Guide" https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/buyers-guide/pop-up-truck-campers/alaskan-camper/ Alaskan Campers used to (and may still) do custom stuff.

The following quote "The interior height of the Alaskan 8.5FD is 6’3”. I am precisely this height and somehow found the interior head room comfortable. The cabover height was a bit tight for me to fully sit up, but the main living area was fine." is from https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/camper-reviews/2019-alaskan-8-5fd-review/

Keep in mind that that pickup truck beds vary. A spacer may be needed to lift the camper so that the cabover clears the cab, especially with older campers and some newer trucks. This wastes space and raises the center of gravity compared to a camper built for a specific truck. The quote "Our 2020 Ford has a pair of stumpy outboard fin-like antennas at the rear of the cab roof further reducing the clearance by a couple inches. To have at least 2 inches of clearance over our Ford’s cab, I used Dow Styrofoam Blue Board rigid XPS insulation in a 4-inch-thick x 4-foot x 8-foot block. It has a “non-compressibility” of 25 pounds per square inch. This is important. It is also very hard to find." is from https://www.truckcamperadventure.com/out-with-the-old-truck-and-camper-in-with-the-new/

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