how do you carry your stuff in the TC

We have a hitch-mounted cargo tray which I sometimes haul wood on. I've also put a big rubbermaid tub on the floor of the camper filled with firewood. We heat our home with wood, so it's hard to justify buying camp fire wood... plus it's always been too wet to burn when we have.

If the dogs are with us, we haul the chairs on the floor of the camper and the dogs in the back seat area of the truck (removed the actual back seats). If dogs aren't with us, we put the chairs in the back seat of the truck, and I stash the chairs at night in the back seat of the truck regardless of dogs - they're with us in the camper at night.

We have a cheapo bike rack for my wife's Honda Fit which is very easily hooked up on the front of the truck on frame elements under the hood. If we're taking bikes, they go on the front bike rack.

We often take day trips or go to drive-in movies in wife's car. Our lawn chairs hang perfectly on the bike rack. That being the case, I've thought of hauling chairs on the front of the truck, but I think they'd block my radiator and my chairs would get painted with bug guts.

If I had a generator, it would go on the cargo tray or in the back seat, as dictated by dogs, weather, and security concerns.

portscanner wrote:
I also went from a Toy Hauler to a TC.

My $0.02
* Eliminate the unneeded stuff.
* I occasionally pull a trailer (with the toy I used to put in the Toy Hauler)

Same here.
I wanted s a TC so I could camp and haul my Jeep places. So I sold the toy hauler and made a huge down payment on a new truck, then 3 months later I bought the camper. I've had the camper for 4 camping seasons now.

with the toy hauler, I'd haul stuff like generator, tools, firewood, etc. in the back of the truck - I had a canopy, so it was secure and out of the weather.

Bedlam wrote:

Having a TC is so much more flexible than our TH since you can take different size garages with you based on need or no garage at all. Even with a 20' garage, my overall length is 45' which still makes getting around easy. When nothing is hanging off the hitch, I am only 22' bumper to bumper.

In addition to wanting a TC so I could haul my Jeep on a flatbed, it got to the point where it was just me camping in the toy hauler, and the toy hauler was overkill for one person.

I haul a cooler or fridge in the backseat of the truck (crew cab).

There's not much that needs to be stowed in the camper, but sometimes I put stuff on the bed.

The rest of my stuff, including the toys that used to be in the toy hauler, end up in the little garage

Which garage I take with me depends on the length of the trip, what I plan to do at my destination, or how much other stuff I need to haul:



Sometimes I take the big garage:

crosscheck wrote:
Welcome aboard.
Now where do you put all of that stuff that seems so critical to camping?

Our gennie goes in a rear side compartment which has a sliding tray. Easy to slide in and out.

Lots of the other stuff goes into the folded down back seats in the crew. We boondocks a lot, sometimes for a few weeks so we fill up the back seats with:

1) 20# bottle propane and small BBQ.
2) tub of firewood
3) small gas can for genny which almost never gets used.
4) tool box, socket set,
5) 3 paddles for the canoe, 2 life jackets.
6) extra liquids( drinking water, beer, wine, pop,)
7) tub for bike helmets, extra boots and shoes, camelbaks, bike tools etc. bike pump.
8) 2 large comfortable zero gravity lounge chairs.
9) dog food and the dog if staying in BC or Canada.

Behind the seats, emergency stuff like tow chains, come-a-long, 2 shovels, 20 ton jack, rope, bow saw , hammer.

Everything else gets stored in the camper itself. Hardly know the stuff is there.

Dave

Ditto in my 8' Apex. I just discovered the wonders of removing the back seats in my double cab pickup and all the stuff I can put in that space! I had an extra 30# propane tank under the dinette. Folding camp chairs and a table on the dinette. Bicycle on receiver hitch rack. It all works well.
I also went all LED lighting and with one Group 27 battery and the 120W solar panel, I don't use the generator at all. The microwave took a hike since I hardly ever used it. And that saved big on generator use as well.

We went from fulltimig in a 40' fiver and FL60 to our sig rig. It was not hard to downsize at all. Kitchen has 2 plates, bowls, etc, 3 pots. Nearly every thing does double or triple duty. 2 folding chairs and table in the back seat of the truck, radio equipment in the truck. Cooler back there if we carry one. Generator is built in.

Linens....one set of sheets, one set towels each. Clothes for a week. Basement holds a small shovel, outside towels, folding step, extension cord, two awning hooks, lynx levelers.

We are still eliminating stuff, simple is better....

I put anchor loops on either side of the dinette and the chairs are strapped to the wall when we travel.

I decided a small fire was all that was necessary for a small group of people so I took a deep dish Ford hubcap from around 1938 that I bought in rough shape at a flea market for $2 and made a portable fire cap that sit on a 1lb coffee can (an old steel one). I use 3-4" chunks of wax logs as the core of my fire and supplement with scraps from under my table saw. Since the wood is kilned dried no bugs. Small fires small chunks, I find 1"x1"x4" is a nice size. I can carry enough fire wood for about 3 fires in a square bucket like you buy kitty litter in. All packs in a wheel well with other stuff.

By going all LED and being power conscience we can go 4-5 days on one type 27 battery, no generator needed. I do carry a jumper battery pack in the wheel well in case we miscalculate and need an extra day, I have the camper wired so I can run from the jumper if needed.

You can get a lot more in your dry storage areas by adding hooks and tie downs to better organize the space. Extra extension cord and compact roll up hose get packed in the propane tank compartment.

I do have an aluminum box that I put on a front hitch for one big trip each year where I can fit everything inside.

I make heavy use of the storage in the wheel wells. Just use water proof containers/bags for anything that can't get a little wet.

Spend some time just sitting in your camper and get creative with the space.

We downsized from a Class A and have owned the camper for two years. I changed all of the bed area cabinets to shelves. We don't have a TV so that cabinet was converted too; I keep kitchen stuff in it. We have a basement model but my husband snagged the drawer for fishing rods.

We have a crew cab and use Rubbermaid totes which are packed based on where we are going. Backseat usually has 2-4 totes, plus the set up tote, a small cooler for travel day and extra pop.

Chairs ride on the ladder. A folding camp table slides between the camper and ladder rack.

BBQ rides on floor under dinette.

I too use the backseat of the extended cab, but the real gem is the space around the wheel wells that some campers allow access to. One side of mine is for all the beverages, the other side is for the empties and the dirty laundry.

The choice of a truck camper is one that value mobility over being able to take every possible piece of camping gear. The advantage is that it takes us 3 minutes to pull into a campsite and be done and about 3 minutes to get back on the road again.

We do not haul firewood and it is a bad practice anyway as you may be transporting bugs and disease as you travel. I have a brush saw and a small axe if wood is available for gleaning or buy it at the camping spot. We use camp chairs that collapse and slide into fabric tubes so they take very little space.

We purposely bought a truck with an extended cab and the back of the cab is used for storing things we do not want in the camper or items we want to get to quickly while traveling.

I added two solar panels to the camper roof so no need for a generator to keep the batteries charged. If we do hit high temps we travel to higher or cooler country to avoid using the AC but if that is not practical we will spend a night at a campgound with 110v AC shorepower and plugin.

JumboJet wrote:
Here is how I carry some extra items:

You probably want to roll the awning up while travelling, though. :B

67avion wrote:

woodhog wrote:
We took out all the seats in the rear of the truck and also push the camper backwards in the truck box about 18 inches, made a large storage area..

I wonder if you could expand more on pushing the camper backwards. Are there weight issues with the center of gravity? Did you build a blocking device to secure the camper in the front? Any photos?

it sounds like a good way to pick up space, though I haven't run across it.

Our camper is the long bed Northstar Arrow, the COG is under the "S" in Northstar, or by that little dot in the picture...
It can go back further than it is in this picture.

You just nail together a small bulkhead out 2x4 where the front of the tub is and wedge it between the tub and the truckbed front.

The more junk you put in the space the greater improvement on the COG lost by moving the camper back, all our heavy outdoor stuff goes in this hole...
Of course it all depends on the COG of your camper model...

You also gain access to the area on both sides under the front turnbuckle attachment areas from the outside..right back overtop of the inner wheel wheels.