What happened to pickup truck based "C"s?

Under mine is four bolts. one at each corner and couple straps inbetween. Cruise America used to swap out the house part or truck part when one or the other would get totaled. But they stopped that around 2005 I believe. Labor cost didn't pay to exchange them anymore, what I was told by ex-employee. We picked up ours when CA sold them out of their fleet because they were over 5 years old (no more tax write off, and depreciated to zero) and they were making way for their new European model that they called Compact which is even smaller.




google "chassis mounted camper" then switch to image mode you'll see a few others. Your right nothing really newer at a reasonable cost and very few 4x4.

Look for ads in what some people call them "23p" because that is what Cruise America called them when Thor (four winds) made them to Cruise spec's. Maybe you can find the house part from the truck part got smashed?

Yes, more room than a camper but you'll loose some room up front with engine not being tucked in. I would like to get one as a spare or put on Dodge 2006 or newer with the Cummins 5.9 and 4x4. I'm not sure about 4x4 though. Mine leaves drive way at 10,380 pounds. While I like ours and it has turned out to be the best RV traveling machine that we've owned. But I'm not sure there is that big of market or somebody would be making them. No walk thru to house part. But I do like having something in front of me besides just a windshield. No slide out. There is many pluses and many minuses.

Twice now we have been approached and people that wanted to take pic's of underneath and figure out what it would take to build their own. If you ever plan one out, underneath I think would be the hard part. Getting the right size tanks to fit in the space you have to work with.

I'm not knocking what is available out there, which is very few. But darn do they want a ton of money for them.
You'll notice what I have in my sig line? This thing is perfect for us on short trips. Not very good for long time as in snowbirding, at least for us. Wives biggest complaint on shorter trips is removing heavy pans of food out of micro, because it's mounted to high.

Here is a tour of one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HgkX_bkd08

Ford relies on the econoline. Chevy class C uses a real truck frame, and will typically have a higher weight rating than the same floor plan on a Ford.

4x4 is rare because of cost, weight and and CG issues. Of course, custom builders will build to your specifications.

The van chassie also reduces the overall length for the same interior space making it easier to squeeze into smaller sites and makes it easier to get from the ****pit to the back without going outside. Plus there are efficiencies from only building on a single platform.

Almost no one takes a MH off roading. In addition with the large rear overhangs a limited slip gives you pretty good traction in most conditions. There just isn't a lot of demand for a 4x4 pickup based MH, so it's limited to a couple small volume specialty companies.

Thor has two models built on the F550 chasis with the 6.7 PS.

I don't see the advantage of a 4X4 class C.It would be nice on icy roads but actual 4X4 in the mountains raises terror on heavy vehicles from the twisting and bending going over rocks and ruts.

Dualies with weight on them goes in remarkable places giving lot's of traction,more so than single tires.

Width and ground clearance are the keys to getting into remote places,atleast in Idaho.Having logged most of my life,I have taken many trailers/fifth wheels and motorhomes into remote places and just don't see where 4X4 would benefit on a motorhome for "normal" off pavement camping.

I have owned several 4X4 pickups with a camper on the back and chose my currant Class C over pickup camper because of room inside.It is narrower than a Lance 8.5 and I have the clearance of a new 4X4,maybe more than some I see.My unit is 21ft.6" long bumper to bumper and my sons 2500 HD is 19 ft long making it about the length of a pickup and 9 ft camper.

99.5% 0f all my camping is off pavement on old logging roads and un-maintained roads where ground clearance and camper width is very important to get to the places I go.

Anything lower to the ground or wider would not have made it to this place I just got back from at the end of the road at a trail head.I s****ed just a little going in and out and a limb took off my cell antenna..



The only advantage I see to a pickup chassis is getting to the motor for maintenance.

I have been driving pickup chassis 4x4 Class C RV's for over 20 years. Love them. Current one is a 2006 Tiger. A niche market, yes, but judging from the number of people who ask about mine I'd say that manufacturers could sell more of them if they made them.

Tiger is coming out with a new model soon, the Javan. They plan to make it simpler, fewer options available, and therefore less expensive that the current models.

Javan Tiger sneak peek

I wouldn't be surprised if a market opened up for these, especially as a second vehicle.

The funny thing is that with all the space-saving innovations I've seen in a class "B" to make such a relatively small van usable, a class "C" on a pickup truck could easily borrow from those techniques for even more usable room. Things like aisle showers come to mind that are easily implemented, especially with a basement, and would add more room to a small pickup based "C".

Tiger4x4RV wrote:
I have been driving pickup chassis 4x4 Class C RV's for over 20 years. Love them. Current one is a 2006 Tiger. A niche market, yes, but judging from the number of people who ask about mine I'd say that manufacturers could sell more of them if they made them.

Tiger is coming out with a new model soon, the Javan. They plan to make it simpler, fewer options available, and therefore less expensive that the current models.

Javan Tiger sneak peek

Thanks for posting this. Do people pay MSRP for these or should you expect a discount like other RVs?

SkiMore wrote:
Thanks for posting this. Do people pay MSRP for these or should you expect a discount like other RVs?

Sorry. I have no clue. Talk to the factory folks. Their contact info is on the page I sent.

In 2006, I ordered my Tiger online, picking options from a price list, no negotiation. The company is now under different ownership.

Born Free also has several models on the F-550 chassis, including 4x4 & diesel options.