Loved my '74 Apache Roamer (1987-2005). Pulled it with various vehicles, last one was my '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee (4WD Quadra-trac trans). I still have the Jeep. Had a transmission cooler on the Jeep. It overheated pulling the camper up Monteagle Mtn on I-24 in TN so the radiator cap was replaced and it never overheated again.
The problem with Apaches is that the "living hinge" on the bed ends and lift parts are the thing that goes out. I solved the lift problem by replacing the pin in the gear box with a sturdier pin and flipped the plastic lift chain end to end so the damaged chain links were never used. The hinges was replaced with cut down sections of pipe heat tape (slides right into the grooves with a bit of pure silicone lubrication). There should still be a webpage/forum for them. They have quite a fan base. I remodeled and "upgraded" my camper beyond their comfort level. I thought too far outside the box in their opinion. I also used my camper far more than any of them as well. We normally did week long trips at least once per month and most weekends... fulltimed in it for 3 months (summer in SC foothills while house hunting) and then 18 months (over a winter in Chattanooga before buying yet another house).
Since my daughter bought an old Lance slide-in truck camper and put it on a F250 truck, I find it more and more appealing. We take it into town for any shopping or when we take the dog to the dog park. That is several times a week. It got 6mpg on the interstate but puttering around town, it gets about 14mpg (similar to one of the Jeeps). IF I were to buy another camper (I live in a bus), I would go with a slide in truck camper (NOT wood framed as I have been the one who has repaired all water damaged framing) on a flatbed 350/450 truck with an enclosed car hauler for my jeep, upright freezer and washer/dryer. That would haul everything and I could occasionally tow my old Jeep 4 down. And get rid of the bus. The truck camper would be my fulltime home. The truck camper would not be removed from the truck.
