Small trailer vs. Truck camper

Got onto this thread since friends of ours are in Colombia and find that both they and Keelhauler are the thread. Both couples are good friends from camping on beach near Tulum. We have a 34' 5th wheel which is great for Mexico, Belize and down to Tikal. Would not something that big any further south other than on major roads. Big rigs have been known to make it down Pan American Highway to Argentina but are not good off the turnpikes. We like the idea of a truck camper/small Caseta type TT combination. We have met two older couples (our age of mid-70s) who have taken Caseta type TTs to Argentina. The advantage is that the TT can be set up and you can still take multi-day side trips over rougher roads and through the narrow roads of smaller towns.

Absolutely agree with Almont on having solar (as much as will fit). Have a friend who has 1200 W on his truck camper and motocycle hauling trailer. I believe he has battery banks in both. He is quite innovative.
Reed and Elaine

We decided to leave our 32 foot 5th wheel in Mexico in March 2012 and were going to purchase something smaller to travel around with in the summer when we got home. We waffeled between a smaller 5th wheel and a slide in camper. We finally decided on an older 10.5 foot Northland camper. We threw the cat in the camper and took off for Mexico on the 10th of October 2012 so we could go to places on our own and spend as much time as we wanted before arriving at the La Peñita RV park on 31 Oct. By the time we got to La Peñita, we soundly hated the damned thing. We put it on the market before we even left Mexico in March, 2013 but no takers there. As soon as we got home we took it to a consignment yard in Carson City and took a loss, but were happy to be rid of it. That summer we stumbled across a 2006 Arctic Fox 24.5N which would have been our 1st choice anyway and have been completely happy with it ever since. The moral of this story is, when you are both in your late 60s, overweight, and one has a new knee, campers are extremely hard to get in and out of. ps. The cat is happier too.

We have made eight trips to Mexico in our GMC truck and Citation truck camper. For us this works. The two of us get along quite well with the room we have. Cook many of our meals inside and almost always shower in our camper as well. The truck and camper are a great combination for Mexico. With two solar panels we have dry camped for up to five weeks at a time. If staying at an RV park we will sometimes unload the camper and then have our truck to use. There are pros and cons in every RV. It really is a personal choice. Also truck campers with a truck are not cheap so if you have a budget it would probably be less expensive to purchase a small trailer. If you have any questions on campers you can PM me.
JerBear

Thinking about maybe an alsakan camper right now.

If you go with a trailer, you can get more clearance with an axle kit and you can add shocks and beefy tires. But I think a really beefy truck camper would be better on really bad dirt roads. We take our trailer off road in the US, but very slowly -- ten miles an hour max, while a truck camper can go much faster over major potholes, ruts, and rocks.

Yeah, short-term apartment rent will kill ya. Another thing that I found out is that the best roommate is no roommate.

Just keep in mind that trailers are smaller inside than they look, even considering the hitch length. My "26ft" trailer is 23ft inside and it feels very small, barely enough for me alone.

I'm not spoiled with big houses. It's just that trailers - or any RV - are not build for living. A lot to complain on.

- RVs are narrow, 7.5ft inside (and campers can be narrower yet). Out of my 23ft, 3ft is taken by washroom, so it's in fact 20ft by 7.5ft living/eating/sleeping space.
- RVs are dark, most of them have only a couple of jail windows.
- Low ceiling, typically 6ft 6" or less. 5-ers are taller, but we are not talking 5-ers here.
- Horrible access to cabinets, and cabinets are made for travel, with weird ridges around the opening - presumably to keep your antique porcelain (??) from falling out - and it makes it difficult to get anything in and out. Bottom cabinet is only one, and it has little usable space inside because of the wheel well.
- The dinette table is shaky and benches are a torture to sit on - this is typical for RV. Getting a rig with a coach was the best decision I ever made. 5ft coach is placed across the 7.5ft width, so I have to walk around it, but I still like having it.
- RV furnace is loud like in some old motel, can wake you up, and it takes a lot of propane in cold weather and a lot of battery power. I'm in the process of replacing it with a catalytic heater, silent and way less propane. And so on.

My rig 23*7.5 = 173 square ft, this is smaller than the smallest studio or a motel room that I've seen, and dark and low ceiling. I've been living in small spaces and doing long trips in a tent, but 173 sq.ft is NOT roomy, trust me. And you were talking about trailer 13.5 ft inside? :)

Get a big and wide camper, if you want to be able to live there for months. Bigfoot are expensive, and they retain their value when used, hard even to find a used one. Because they are molded fiberglass, very little frame, so there is less weight and no rot issues. People like them. And they are roomy. 8ft wide, not 6 or 7ft like some other rigs.

Northstar I'm not familiar with, but they are not cheap either, and their current models have laminate "filon" walls that many people in many RV had problems with. This is not the same as aluminum siding, and not the same as molded fiberglass of Bigfoot.

I don't know about "thermopane windows". Window is window. Any window you need to plug with shiny Mylar pipe wrap in summer if you want to keep the heat out. Nothing else works. Same in winter - you need to plug it with styrofoam or something if it gets too cold inside. Though most heat losses are through the walls, there are no real "walls" in RV, mere 1/16" aluminum siding on the outside and 1/4" plywood inside, with 2" pink fibeglass wool between them. Models with "filon" walls typically have block foam insulation in place of a pink "wool".

Almot, Thanks for the information. So far I have narrowed down to a used Northstar camper. It has a cassette toilet and dometic thermopane windows. I can afford it, just this new change in jobs has me thinking more about trailers and the possibilities. I am going to have to rent an apartment or something in the next few weeks, on top of the one I am already renting, and hopefully can find a room mate to help offset to cost of having to rent two places. I am finding that having to rent an apartment for 3 months at a time is a pain in the butt. Many people in my profession stay at extended stay hotels for the 3 months but those go for $300 a week! I am a bit more frugal than that, and don't want to spend a good portion of my earnings on that. RV spaces rent for 350 a month or free if I boondock for a bit which it sounds like there is some possibilities for that around St. George Utah where I will be for at least the next 3 months or more before I head south. A truck camper is huge step up for me and travel down south compared to crappy hostels or a tent or even the front seat of my truck! Either way I think I will be happy with whatever kind of RV camper I end up with.

Dieselburps, it sounds like you will be comfortable in a camper, so if you can find a good one within your budget, I would say - go for it.

Not being a camper guy, I can see that there is indeed a "height issue" with a camper. Or rather a "center of mass" issue. This is why some people buy pop-up campers. Overall height of a "normal" camper on a truck (not a pop-up) looks like the same as trailer so in terms of height clearance a camper isn't worse than trailer. But check the specs yourself, maybe I'm totally off. There are some low trailers and tall campers.

Qtla911 is right - trailer provides more comfort for the money, and is not a problem in Mexico as long as you keep to main roads. It won't take you to some obscure beaches that a camper will. But you can unhook the trailer, leave it on the camp, and take your truck wherever you want. There are trade-offs with either choice. And you mentioned Central America - it's different from Mexico.

You might be able to live in a +20ft trailer while working, more comfort than in a camper. A 17ft trailer is a bit small for fulltime living. For a long term it could be easier and cheaper to rent an apartment close to your work than live in a trailer park.

What I am not sure about is how bad the compromise will be by taking a small trailer 17ft through Mexico and Central America?

In terms of "getting there", camper wins. In terms of inside comfort, check the specs and floorplans. A long camper on a full-size truck bed will provide same room as 17ft trailer. Like I said, 17ft trailer means 13.5 box.

Bigfoot has 17ft long 8ft wide campers. This is MORE room than 13.5 box of 17ft trailer.

Alaskan - the best known manufacturer of pop-ups - has 14ft long 6ft wide campers, as I can discern on their website. Nice pop-ups, but surprisingly poorly made website.

I can only speak for Mexico. We have rved here for the last 14 years using a travel trailer, mostly boondocking, without any issues whatsoever. For us the best and most economical option. The best of both worlds.

Next best would be a Class B which we are considering for travel in South America.

Regardless, I plan to have as much solar and battery as I can afford. What I am not sure about is how bad the compromise will be by taking a small trailer 17ft through Mexico and Central America? I had no problems driving a large full size truck with no air conditioning and little money, but towing a trailer has me questioning how bad it actually would be. The truck camper has the height issue, but easier to maneuver and drive at the expense of less space for when I am back in the states at work.