Camper Selection Assistance Needed
Hello all-- Considering a truck camper and was hoping for some assistance on proper selection. Just sold our travel trailer and a truck camper may be in our near future! My truck (see sig below...
Forum Discussion
Bajaman,
The best thing you have going is a 2WD, F350, upper overloads, and a V-10 gasser. Why so? The very lightest combination of parts. Check the maximum gross vehicle weight. It will be higher than any big, 4WD Honkin' diesel out there. That being said, you are limited by the SRW arrangement, which can be dealt with by installing either much higher rated super single wheels with very high rated tires. This is especially true if you plan to go to Baja, as your moniker suggests. You can air down 16, 17, and 18 inch tires for use on the sands of Baja, which is impossible with 19.5 inch tires/wheels. There are tires for 16's and 18's that are now in the 4000 pound weight range. 17's are deficient in carrying capacity, as a group. Also, short bed campers are much harder to find that aren't beat up like mine.
The other red flag is the, "3 quarts in a 2 quart jar" syndrome. Too many full size people in the space of a box made for 2 or stretching it for a short time, 3 adults. The main thing to keep your eye on is availability. Cast your net wide for a used SB camper. Currently the Lance 825 is the same size but with more modern conveniences and larger tanks. We've had our Lance Lite 165-s SB camper for 18 years and it still serves us well. At only 86 inches wide, it's the lightest, least tall, least wide camper with everything except a microwave, oven, or A/C. It does have a NS Queen bed. wet bath. 2 burner stove. heater. fridge. Solar power. LED lighting. But, all the weight is down low; small tanks; 1842 pounds wet (that means fresh water and propane full up) so works well on our prepared off road Dodge RAM 2500 4WD diesel pickup. At full load, we're right around 10,500 pounds. Click to run short vid.
I cannot get the vid to run, so lets try this: driving on the beach in OR:
The last thing, if you really are a Baja aficionado, is the lack of 4WD. This will exclude a lot of sand running on or near the beach, say of Bahia San Quentin.
jefe
The best thing you have going is a 2WD, F350, upper overloads, and a V-10 gasser. Why so? The very lightest combination of parts. Check the maximum gross vehicle weight. It will be higher than any big, 4WD Honkin' diesel out there. That being said, you are limited by the SRW arrangement, which can be dealt with by installing either much higher rated super single wheels with very high rated tires. This is especially true if you plan to go to Baja, as your moniker suggests. You can air down 16, 17, and 18 inch tires for use on the sands of Baja, which is impossible with 19.5 inch tires/wheels. There are tires for 16's and 18's that are now in the 4000 pound weight range. 17's are deficient in carrying capacity, as a group. Also, short bed campers are much harder to find that aren't beat up like mine.
The other red flag is the, "3 quarts in a 2 quart jar" syndrome. Too many full size people in the space of a box made for 2 or stretching it for a short time, 3 adults. The main thing to keep your eye on is availability. Cast your net wide for a used SB camper. Currently the Lance 825 is the same size but with more modern conveniences and larger tanks. We've had our Lance Lite 165-s SB camper for 18 years and it still serves us well. At only 86 inches wide, it's the lightest, least tall, least wide camper with everything except a microwave, oven, or A/C. It does have a NS Queen bed. wet bath. 2 burner stove. heater. fridge. Solar power. LED lighting. But, all the weight is down low; small tanks; 1842 pounds wet (that means fresh water and propane full up) so works well on our prepared off road Dodge RAM 2500 4WD diesel pickup. At full load, we're right around 10,500 pounds. Click to run short vid.
I cannot get the vid to run, so lets try this: driving on the beach in OR:
The last thing, if you really are a Baja aficionado, is the lack of 4WD. This will exclude a lot of sand running on or near the beach, say of Bahia San Quentin.
jefe
