I wanna hear from you! Newbie Needs some Guidance

I did not read all the posts carefully, but.....are you planning to travel with a dog ? Have you discussed the bed and how to get in and out at night ?

JD5150 wrote:

Yes transients. That is the only way to do it in my opinion. Waking up somewhere new every day or every other day is king. Staying in a big motorhome or big camper trailer sitting in an RV park. Hell No! I would rather live in a house.

How do some of these hobo's afford it? I don't know but I would make sure I had a steady income coming in because I would want to be moving every day or every other day. I'm actually setting myself up to do this here in the near future.

We bought a house sitting next to desert mountain over a year ago.
About every other day we see homeless guy walking down from the mountain and go shopping, where nearest grocery story is over a mile from us, or 2 miles from his place.
Guy is pulling small cart on a rope and carrying water bottles on his arms.
I figured out he has to have small income to go shopping reguraly and lives in place with million dollar views.
We hike there and see couple of caves and spots with abounded camps, but looks like the guy appreciate privacy and walks higher to the canyon where no hikers go.

How do some of these hobo's afford it?

Probably because there not all hobo's,whatever that means this day and age.I was logging for Intermountain Helicopters in remote Idaho and saw an old school bus parked with the workers...I thought the same until I asked,it was one of the pilots school bus he had remodeled to live in while working away.They said it looked like a 50K RV inside..Hardly a hobo/trancient and the financial means to have whatever he wanted!

Different people need different things to full time in a camper of any sort.Three of us and two dogs lived for a couple years in a 24 ft Beaver Class C while still owning our place in town.I know a couple of people who full time in 9ft and under truck campers and are happy campers,others get claustrophobic in a 40 ft motorhome or fifth wheel.

Also there are those that see 100K rigs and automatically think they have more money than brains trying to get off grid,so to speak,in these super expensive and new rigs.

I just went from a 21 ft class C to my truck camper because the class C could not get into the places I like to get and the twisting and torquing trying to get there had more of an effect on the frame mounted C.Trying to keep in water tight was a major problem using it the way I did.

Depending on your needs and where your most comfortable camping,bigger is not always better.

All in all though in my opinion a Class C is a better option to travel and stay in RV parks full time while a truck camper is a better option for those that spend more time off the pavement in hard to get places.As far as 4X4 or not,I have taken logging trucks chained up where 4X4's could not get without chains so that is also subjective to those that have been there done that in both.

Good luck to the op and your choice for your intended uses.

On the advice to buy the biggest truck you can afford, think of it this way: It's one thing to load up and head to the local campground for some sun and fun on Friday afternoon. It's a whole other thing to load up and hit the road for months/years/forever. With one you can get away with a barely adequate truck to haul the camper because you're not going far and not doing it very often. With the other you will quickly get sick of a barely adequate truck, if the barely adequate truck doesn't get sick of you first. You can pretty much figure out which goes where.

Grit dog wrote:
Lol, people that full time in Honda SUV s and old ice cream trucks are transients....I guess that’s full time rv ing.

Pop up nice off road, but having to live in a glorified tent for 2 years and raise and lower the roof every day don’t seem practical.

Yes transients. That is the only way to do it in my opinion. Waking up somewhere new every day or every other day is king. Staying in a big motorhome or big camper trailer sitting in an RV park. Hell No! I would rather live in a house.

How do some of these hobo's afford it? I don't know but I would make sure I had a steady income coming in because I would want to be moving every day or every other day. I'm actually setting myself up to do this here in the near future. I been running my own business since 1993. Hoping to retire soon with some rental properties paid for. Sell out my business and live off the rental properties income. I will have my daughter manage it so I will never have to be here. Only to come and visit her and my grandkids :)

This couple lives full time in a mini popup truck camper and also has rental house the rent out for income.
https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/camper-lifestyle/from-airbnb-to-home-free/

Wanna hear,
There are a lot of 'ifs' associated with selecting a long term camping/traveling motational device.
If you want to be successful at this, buy the largest truck you can afford.
If you are going to be on pavement with a tiny bit of level dirt or gravel, then you don't need 4WD.
If you are going to travel in the North country during winter, then you may want to have 4WD, or at least good set of chains for dually drive wheels on a 2WD.
If you are a seasoned tent camper at heart, then a smaller domicile will suffice because it will feel like a huge upgrade. It's all perspective.
If you are going to be out a long time or even full time, then you want the largest rig you can afford. The longer time you are out the larger living space you will want. This is what BKA full times in: F-550/huge Lance camper/4WD/winch/trailer with other motational devices/tremendous amount of solar with storage batteries.

If you and yours are young, and have NO claustrophobia, you can get by with smaller. Do not discount this possible snag.
If you plan on boondocking a lot, both urban and rural, make your choice the most innocuous looking, blend in with the scene rig you can.
If traveling/camping in dead of Winter, make sure you have the most insulation possible in said rig.
If away from cities, you want larger tanks that will sustain you for a week or two.
I'm with Brad on the choice of a class C for you. A 24-26 foot class C dually 350-450 with a Ford 350-450, V-10 gas, and the best approach angle/breakover angle/departure angle with an upgrade locking rear differential should get you where you want to go in style and without breaking the bank.
Another option is to buy a used truck and camper combo already as a unit. Minimum 350/3500, dually, gas or diesel. You may have to cast your net far and wide to get the right rig. They are around and more than a few folks on this forum have gone that route. The "debugging" process has already been made.
We've camped/stealth camped hundreds of nights in our tiny, 20 year old 8'6" Lance; it's like an old shoe, and I still go looking to get way out in the rough with our smallest, narrowest, least tall camper where you are on your own with ever possible need for self extraction; so there is no reason for us to upgrade to a Class C or MoHo.

My last advice (worth what you paid for it) is to take a bonafide RV guru with you when inspecting possible buys. He/She will find the flaws and be able to negotiate the price down for you.

Lol, people that full time in Honda SUV s and old ice cream trucks are transients....I guess that’s full time rv ing.

Pop up nice off road, but having to live in a glorified tent for 2 years and raise and lower the roof every day don’t seem practical.

matthasnofriends wrote:
Appreciate everyone's responses! You guys are all very helpful. Thanks for asking these:

1) plan to finance truck and purchase used camper outright. budget is approx. 35k and under, 10k and under, respectfully.
2) mix of both. definitely want to hit the backcountry fairly extensively, hence wanting the cabover.
3) used
4) besides camper, no.
5) minimal.

sonuvabug wrote:
Before anyone can really answer your questions ... you need to provide a little more information:

1) What's your budget for the truck & truck camper?
2) Where/how do you plan to travel i.e. mostly superslabs and paved roads or back country boondocking via forest roads etc?
3) Preference for new(ness) vs. used equipment?
4) Will you be towing anything behind you on this trip?
5) What's your level of maintenance/mechanical know-how?

As a guiding principle, you first acquire the truck camper that suits your needs, then match the truck to carry it.

3 thoughts. 1) Some RV rentals places sell off their truck and truck camper inventories every year or two years. You may want to look at those options. i.e. here in my next of the woods, Fraserway RV rents for a couple of years then sells those truck/TC units
sales.fraserway.com

Your USD$45,000 budget would easily cover the cost of one of their 2 year old combination rental sell offs.

2) You may wish to consider a pop up truck camper. This is basely largely on your desire to hit the back country. A hard side, even without a slide out gets pretty big pretty fast and makes it tougher to go off road. A dually will also present some challenges regarding getting too far off road.

3) Last idea, you and your lady might want to rent a unit a couple of times and see how and what works for you. You have a lot of options (as demonstrated by the breadth of opinions expressed in this thread) and it would serve you well to give yourselves a trial run or two before locking in on any one approach.

I don't think it matters anymore what you full time in. This is 2018. I know some who full time in a Four Wheel Hawk pop up truck camper. Some who full time in a Honda Element and many with some being couples who full time in a regular length cargo vans with a regular roof height. Many who do it in minivans.

Some day I will be full time and trust me it won't be in a big a$$ motor home. Non slide truck camper or a Ford Transit high roof is what I would choose. I have had a truck camper with a slide out back in 2010. I hated the slide out. I do own a medium roof Ford Transit that I use for my business everyday. Takes a special kind of person to live in a small a$$ area. I couldn't live full time in a Honda Element but could full time in a truck camper with out a slide or a high roof Ford Transit.

Whizbang is 100% correct and for long term full time, the ole Minnie Winnie is more economical, practical and bang for the buck EXCEPT, in the winter, or on/off forest roads, or tight quarters turning, or those odd ball times when you need good approach or departure angle. Also with only one vehicle, one of the more important pluses of a TC, if you're in one spot for a bit, the TC is easy to drop and you got a normal vehicle for driving around. I'd say this is the biggest benefit full timing if you don't have a second vehicle. Who wants to drive the Moho every day to go fishing, get coffee, laundry, whatever.

Cool factor is a secondary concern, but it's cool to get compliments on our setup too.