Was Ready to Buy Truck Camper

Hi Folks,
My wife and I are in our early 60s. We currently have a Lance Trailer, which is a high quality unit, but it's a hassle to unhitch and has very limited ground clearance. It's fine for nicely graded dirt roads, but that's about it. We want to do more back country, crummy road, boon docking. We live in Southern California, and enjoy the local deserts and occasional longer trips around the big four corners West. In a year or two, we will be able to slow down with work and want to do more ambitious exploring into Northern Canada a Alaska. I was ready to buy a Lance 950s truck camper or a Arctic Fox 990--both heavy truck campers with side outs.
I was also planning on buying one ton dually truck, which I believe is the best way to go for essentially 4500 lbs of fully loaded camper.

I then came across a blog, where this fellow extolled the virtues of 5th wheels as follows:

"""The small (26FT type) fifth wheel simply cannot be beat
1) hookup & unhook in 5 mins (TC I have seen folks scared to take em off at CG's cause of the drama 2 get em back on; quickest time i have seen is 25 mins on a SRW- with a lot of stress)
2) very inexpensive; low cost compare to any reasonable RV (any hard side TC Lance, Artic Fox etc.. heck even the TT & tent trailers R not much cheaper
3) Large holding tanks and battery compartment
4) comfort and livability
5) all-season,
6) plentiful storage
7) best tow platform
8) Best height profile (unless it is a tent trailer & some TT's) hardside TC.. they higher than small 5er's & not nearly as safe on the road.. vast majority of TC owners R over their GVWR
9) more stable on the road.. (no concern with all the aftermarket equipment u have 2 buy 2 make the TC stable on the road) no concern about GVWR;
no need to worry about.. Can i go with full tanks of water etc..can I bring the extra beer;) no need to stress about OH what can we bring & what do we have 2 leave behind... Love watching the convo with husband & wife.. (if u left ur stuff i could bring more of mine :)
10) Length? most TC have carriers on the front & back cause they need storage..this increases the length to say 22ft for truck + 2@4ft carriers = 30 ft long; never mind about the TC's that pull trailers for their stuff; Yipes!; the 26ft 5er has only 22ft behind the truck
11) very maneuvable? 90 degree turns
see link for Example if u have short bed truck
http://www.goevergreenrv.com/page/107/Reese-Revolution-5th-Wheel-Hitch
12) compared to a TC u have more tow vehicle options (with TC u have to have minimum 4 a small TC a 3/4 ton truck) 5er Can be a half ton truck;
26Ft only weighs about 6k lbs with 900lbs in the box
13) 5er's are more marketable when u decide to hold their value more
14) small 5er cheaper to maintain (with a TC u spend more maintaining ur truck (brakes to stop all that weight, springs, tires etc..) your truck cannot be allowed to slip on tire maint etc.. 5er has it's own wheels & brakes & they last a lot longer; People I know with TC's spend a lot of money maintaing their trucks!
Note: unless u are going off into some deep woods ..not just off the beaten path..but deep woods then i would say not to many places that I cannot take a small 5er that u can take ur TC or other RV's. The big TC's on dually's are not deep woods type rv's..
And when u look at REAL WORLD usage.. u will find most do not take their RV's into the deep woods... off the beaten path is accessable by the small fifth wheels.""""

So Now, I am thinking "not so fast" on the truck camper. I never thought of 5th wheels as bad to horrible road capable. I also like the idea of not perhaps having to have a dually and one ton truck as a daily commuter.

I found that the Fox Mountain 5th wheelers are marketed as off road capable:
http://www.northwoodmfg.com/index.php?page=makeindex&make=mountain

http://www.northwoodmfg.com/index.php?page=absolute&only=chassis

So, what do you think of a small small 5th wheeler as a substitute for a 4x4 truck camper? I would like something that could be pulled comfortable and safely with a 3/4 ton short bed truck. It's just the two of us.

Bottom line, is a 5th wheeler capable of handling really bad unimproved roads? The Demster Highway?

20 Replies

soos
Explorer II
Nov 05, 2014
We own both and enjoy both but as everyone says, for offroad, the TC wins hands down.

Its a completely different way of traveling though and it took a little getting used to, but once we did, we loved always having everything with us. We spent 4 months traveling up to Alaska this summer. The biggest difference is when you are towing, you get to your destination, unhook, set up, then go off exploring. With a TC you get up, eat, go do whatever exploring you want and when you are done for the day, you find a place to park. In Alaska, thats hardly ever in an RV park. SO much easier to boondock with a TC.
We also found we gained time with the TC. For example, if we are staying in a national park and want to do a long hike. In the 5th wheel that usually means staying 2 nights because we would have to check out by noon (or couldn't check IN until 2) and there isn't usually a place to leave the 5th wheel. With the TC we arrive whenever we want, park in the day use, hike, then go to a spot for the night later in the day. Or we spend the night, move to day use in the morning, then hike as long as we want, no pressure. It was a great perk on our summer trip.

Sue
Likes_to_tow
Nomad
Nov 05, 2014
Another issue we experienced while having truck campers was many campgrounds will let you set up somewhere if you arrive late and they are full. I remember many times being told there were no available spots and then when I told them I had a truck camper they said "oh, in that case just pull over here next to the building and plug in with the coke machine."
Western_Sky_Ran
Explorer II
Nov 04, 2014
We have a 30' fifth-wheel and a Lance Camper. We use both several times a year and love the versatility of the Camper and the openness of the bigger fifth-wheel. If I had to choose one under the same circumstances and situations you described, the camper would win hands down. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can off road and explore the same in a fifth-wheel as you would or could in a camper.

Good luck and happy camping!
hedge
Explorer
Nov 04, 2014
I recently went from a 35' 5th wheel to a truck camper. So far it's working quite well for us but there's just 3 of us + a small dog. We do miss the space once we're camped but I like the ability to explore or stop at small roadside attractions, that was tougher with the 5th wheel.
Likes_to_tow
Nomad
Nov 04, 2014
VTLee wrote:
Right now I have a 9 1/2 ft. pickup camper and a 28ft. 5er. We use both of them during the year depending on where we are going and how long we will be there. We have had 4 different PU campers and two fifth wheels. Did not trade in the pick up camper on the first 5er as they would not give me anything for it and I am glad I kept it. My first 5er was 32 ft. and we traded that in for the 28 ft. as we like to go to state and national parks and the 28 ft. is easier. I can switch between units in less than 45 minutes.

Small world as they say. We had 4 truck campers also, two Skamper soft side models and two hard side. The last one was a Starcraft 10' that we bought new and only used 4 seasons. Had it from Maine to Montana with no issues. Traded it for a 25' 5th wheel and got half of the price we paid for it. Big mistake!! We traded the 25' 5th wheel 5 years later for a 31' that we currently own. I'm having a hard time getting my wife to look at truck campers again. You know how women look at the world through "available closet space" mindset!

One camper will not do everything and there are many advantages to having two different sizes. This is why I have two different size boats!
Grodyman
Explorer
Nov 04, 2014
dasadab wrote:
Thanks for the amazingly helpful replies. They were honest and direct--just what I was looking for. I am going to go the TC route. It was really helpful to get the reality check from you guys. I think 5th wheels are great, I just think that at this time in my life a short go (almost) anywhere rig is what makes the most sense for me. Now, on to shopping for a SRW truck and a quality camper with slide that will be well within the limits of the truck...

What lance trailer do you own?

Gman
dasadab
Explorer
Nov 04, 2014
Thanks for the amazingly helpful replies. They were honest and direct--just what I was looking for. I am going to go the TC route. It was really helpful to get the reality check from you guys. I think 5th wheels are great, I just think that at this time in my life a short go (almost) anywhere rig is what makes the most sense for me. Now, on to shopping for a SRW truck and a quality camper with slide that will be well within the limits of the truck...
RedJeep
Explorer
Nov 04, 2014
I'm at 41' and would simply love to be able to make a right turn without running over every curb. I envy the shorter rigs and TCs; at least until I get setup at the CG.
VTLee
Explorer
Nov 03, 2014
Right now I have a 9 1/2 ft. pickup camper and a 28ft. 5er. We use both of them during the year depending on where we are going and how long we will be there. We have had 4 different PU campers and two fifth wheels. Did not trade in the pick up camper on the first 5er as they would not give me anything for it and I am glad I kept it. My first 5er was 32 ft. and we traded that in for the 28 ft. as we like to go to state and national parks and the 28 ft. is easier. I can switch between units in less than 45 minutes.
Wet_Coast
Explorer
Nov 03, 2014
I have owned different 5 campers; both solid and poptops. We are now in a 5th wheel. It's a step up from any of the campers, but still only 18.5 feet. I know a bunch of you will chuckle as your slides are bigger than my entire unit! We wanted a shorty do keep doing what we are doing.

Most of our camping is industrial backroad activities. We have always liked being able to go down just about any road with the TC, knowing we could always "just turn around". It's a little more complicated with the rig. Sometimes we need to get out and walk the route, but we haven't been scared or stopped by anything yet.

If you find a smaller "light" 5th wheel, there is no reason to go the extra and have dually. I drag our unit around with a Dodge 3500 Cummins 4 X 4 and we don't even know the thing is on the back.

I can drop the 5th faster than I could ever get a camper off the back of any of the trucks. And, feel safer doing it.

As for the Dempster, did it in '81, the second year it was officially open. It's just another gravel road. There is no reason to worry about it. Just take extra spares! So what if there is 300 miles between fuel stops.