Full timing in a truck camper.

Freep wrote:
I have read the warnings in my TC manual that says the TC is not designed for full timing and can result in humidity build up, mold, etc...

Thoughts?

Interesting, what TC?

I have tried to compare cost of truck/TC to motels, and with out question the truck/TC is much more convenient and cheaper for me. The more I camp, and the more out of the way places I camp the more true it is. I typically use my trucks as my daily drivers, therefor there is no added cost for insurance, maintenance, tires, and related stuff than if I just had a car to drive to a motel.

When traveling in my truck/TC I can stop and spend the night just about anyplace I want for $30 or less. I can camp in the forest or my destination without having to drive many miles from a motel. Did I mention the probability of dirty beds in motels? Look at a mattress with a black light sometime.

When I camp in places where I use my Suzuki Samurai, it can be several miles to a motel, and most likely during 4x4 season no vacancies. Not a problem if you have a truck/TC.

Superwrench wrote:
To answer a few replies: known the wife for 58 years, been married 44 years. We have spent two weeks in a 3 man tent for two weeks in the rain. Mostly plan on sitting outside at night and sleeping in the TC during the day. I can't be in the sun. We used to camp off the back of two BMW motorcycles and plan on packing that way. My 3500 Ram dually is an 04 with only 60K miles. I bought it new and maintain it myself. It is a regular cab not a crew cab so I have a greater load capacity. Dodge does not make a pickup in the 4500/5500 class only cab chassis. Besides my truck is paid for. GM and Ford are not an option. In 12 years my wife has not become comfortable hitching or driving our rig. We plan on staying in campgrounds, mostly state parks and federal. We prefer full hook-up but can tolerate water and electric. So we won't be hauling a lot of water. I also plan on skipping most options and some standard like the ladder. After my liver transplant I fell and messed up my back. I can't handle another fall.

I read this as you aren't going off roading or boondocking in tough to get to locations.

This is almost exclusively about hitching up the trailer.

Horses for Courses: Truck campers are great if you are trying to go down rough back roads. For staying in campgrounds with hookups, they work but are a major compromise.

There are some options to making hitching easier. If your truck doesn't have one, you can get an after market backup camera. Aimed at the hitch she can see exactly what she's doing. Or is there some other part of the process, she struggles with.

As others have suggested a small to medium size Class C will have far more room and if you trade in the truck, may be cheaper than a monster truck camper.

Another alternative to consider is a 5th Wheel, especially if you don't want to give up the truck. Not that travel trailers are hard to hitch but with a 5th Wheel it's even easier. You just back up into the pin til it latches on. Lock it in place and you are hitched. No chains or torsion bars and because the hitch is in the truck bed, you can watch it in the rear view mirror to make sure you are lined up. Towing is nicer than a TT (though again a properly set up TT shouldn't tow poorly).

Lots of options and I don't think a truck camper is way down on the list to meet your needs.

When it comes to keeping a camper small and still having conveniences, the issue of wet versus dry bath comes up. Many of the larger campers have huge dry baths. That is great for the few minutes a day when you shower, but otherwise you need a bigger camper and lose lots of living and storage space.

I can only say I was pleasantly surprised at the functionality of our small wet bath. The area under the shower head, the shower curtain, and floor are soaked. Most of the rest of the bath is pretty much dry. After a shower, it literally takes 30 seconds to squeegee the walls and floor to almost total dryness. I open the vent, pull the humidity out of the shower area with the Fantastic fan and that is all that is needed.

I highly recommend a wet bath over the space needed for a dry bath.

Freep wrote:
I have read the warnings in my TC manual that says the TC is not designed for full timing and can result in humidity build up, mold, etc...

Thoughts?

We started out in the winter and used heat pretty much constantly. Humidity can indeed build up. Even in cold weather it is important to have some ventilation especially when cooking or showering. After we moved on to temps which were above freezing, the dampness issue quickly abated. In fact camper air can start to feel too dry due to the furnace.

We never had any serious humidity issues and certainly no mold. At least we were not aware of any issues. Until I lifted the mattress to retrieve a weight lifter belt I had stored there. It was damp and was indeed starting to get moldy. I found under cold, damp conditions I needed to lift the mattress every couple of weeks and make sure it was dry underneath. Since then I sealed and painted the bare plywood that was under the mattress and that made a huge difference.

Campers vary greatly for winter use. Mine is more a 3 season camper. It does great when night time temps drop down to about freezing or a bit below. When the temps drop to the low 20s at night and stay below freezing in the day, it is time to move on. It is too cold for my camper but also too cold for me. I don't like cold anymore. I know people who like to camp in the snow and cold. Again they need to provide ventilation. Even then it is best to give up trying to keep a warm camper. It works better to bundle up and keep the camper in the cool 60 degree range.

My wife and I have talked about possibly taking off for a year or so and live in our Lance 1172.
I believe between the campers size and pulling a 7x12 enclosed cargo trailer for the 'stuff' plus
carrying our 2 Honda trail 90's the camper would be quite comfortable. We're not the type that spends all of our time inside the camper. We travel because we want see the country. Additionally, the 1172 has a couch, a dinette, a large dry bath, a queen sized bed with a TV, another TV down by the dinette, a satellite dish and countless conveniences. I don't see the camper as a sacrifice ..

I have read the warnings in my TC manual that says the TC is not designed for full timing and can result in humidity build up, mold, etc...

Thoughts?

mkirsch wrote:
A person should be able to say, "You're nuts" and list some valid reasons why they personally would not want to fulltime in a TC, without being called a naysayer and/or derided for offering their opinion.

Should we all just link arms and parrot, "You'll be fiiiine! Go for it!"

Then in 6 months your wife is filing for divorce after 44 years. Oops.

Maybe differing opinions will give you something to think about that you hadn't? We all tend to run headlong into things with rose-colored glasses on.

It could also be that not everyone is like you and your wife! My wife was happy to set out full time in a truck camper. In fact she pushed me into it a year earlier than we had planned. The space and comforts were never an issue for either of us. We set out as full timers without any RV experience. In fact we had owned the RV for months while selling our house, but did not use it even once. We did an instant transition to fulltime with no serious issues.

Super 8 is a helluva deal.

The cost of RV living can start at 25 to 50 dollars a night for RV parks or the equivalent with hook ups. Many State parks are now charging over $30 per night.

Then there is the cost of insurance, fuel, maintenance and depreciation. Depreciation costs are huge on a new camper. At a minimum, I would guess we are looking at RV costs of at least $5000 per year. With all the costs factored in I would guess it would motels even at $200 a night would be a lot cheaper for even a month or two of use per year.

I am freshly reminded of the cost of tires. In 7 years and 70K miles, I have had to tires with road damage. That required replacement of 4 tires. This week I had to replace two tires that are 5 years old. That is the maximum life I would consider for most truck camper or trailer tires.