Long Term Stay Camper on or Off

I appreciate all the feedback. Once I retire, I plan to work a season at Yellowstone and possibly other Parks. I know having a fifth wheel would probably be better for a long term stay but I really like the versatility of the truck camper for short term stays and boondocking. I also like the idea of having a small jeep type vehicle pulled along for short day trips.

Even if we are at a location for a week or so, we have a tendency to leave the site almost every day to visit the area and we find it's always nice to have the camper with us. For that reason, we have yet to remove the camper while on the road.

bwc wrote:
It stays on all the time. Hasn't been off the truck since 2011.

Same here. The only difference, it has been on my truck since 2008

But, I have "get around vehicles" ~ mountain bikes, kayaks, skis and motorcycles with me. Oh yeah, boots, too. So leaving the truck and camper back at camp, is not as much as a problem it might be for others.

b

I don't take mine off, but if you are talking weeks in one place, I'd probably take it off. NOTE: you do need to determine if your camper was designed to work off or not. Some here have had holding tanks break loose. In that case, using some type of support like the multipart plywood ones that people make might be helpful to provide the support.

The TC always comes off. It makes for easier movement of the boat.

Off almost every time unless we are moving from day to day, If I wanted to leave it on all the time I would have got a class C

With us, it depends on not only how long we plan to stay at one site but the nature of the trip and if we are towing our Jeep or not. With the Jeep in tow, the TC tends to stay on the truck, regardless of the length of the stay. Without the Jeep, anything approaching a week, we will remove the TC and just drive the truck. However, that is not always the case, as our one ton crew cab long wheel base truck is not very "urban" friendly for using as a daily driver. Since we use our TC as our distance traveling rig, such as our trips to Alaska, we don't stay in one place long enough to justify taking the TC off the truck. I have also been known to rent a car locally if we need one.

On a trip to Maggie Valley NC, a couple of years back, we had to take the TC off the previous truck, as it had to go to a Dodge dealer in Waynesville, NC for a bad water pump. They had to keep the truck for a couple of days to get the parts from Atlanta, so we rented a car and used the TC at the campground for sleeping, etc.

If a couple day trip I leave it on, if 5 days or a week at a campground it comes off and leave sewer hose, waterhose,electric hooked up,slide out extended ect. Don't have to undo all these things to go to town.

It stays on all the time. Hasn't been off the truck since 2011.