Most suitable brand for the roughest roads?

I owned an Arctic Fox camper for almost 6 years and put at least 10,000km of gravel roads on it, much of them in terrible condition. Its pretty much all the camping i did was lakes that were accessible only by truck. I was super paranoid of the slide falling apart or going out of alignment or something. But after all that time and mileage not one structural issue with that camper. Definitely well built and suitable to beat on. Had a northern-lite previous to that which held up equally well but did not have the slide.

3 things:

1) Most folks over load their trucks. Hence, all the interest in suspension mods on this forum. You want to stay well under your trucks GVWR WITHOUT suspension mods. You and your truck will be much happier.

2) Most campers stick out past the truck bed. On rough roads, this rear section gets blasted with sand, dirt, mud, water, etc. The rear over hang can contribute to ground clearance issues, and make it difficult or impossible to turn around in a tight space. Buy a camper that fits completely in the truck bed.

3) Folks here love their north-south queen beds. Forget about it. Those long cab overs will flex and fail with extended off road use. Get yourself an east-west bed.

What you want is, small, light, and mobile.


(PS. Since that photo was taken, I've completely removed the four corner hydraulic jacks. This gives better clearance, and, shaved 124 pounds off the payload).

Any of the quality brands I think will hold up to a lot of forest roads. The old AF seems to do fine with them. Can beat it down 10,20,40 mi of forest road and the biggest issue is maybe a cabinet popped open of something.
I'm more worried about the truck! (But I'm overloaded, lol)
But if that's your main gig, then I agree with above. Smaller, lighter, simpler.......or that sweet ram flatbed with the pop up posted above! Love it!

The key to traveling washboards is the speed, not the weight or shocks. You find the right speed, you can glide over them. Of course, that speed may also contribute to the washboards. When we find ourselves on roads that have less than desirable surface conditions, we just slow down.

I have heard of users saying the Wolf Creek by Northwood Mfg (same manufacture as Arctic Fox) was there choice of camper for off road usage.


Click Here for an owner who uses his campers off road extensively.

JimH has the idea. The heavier TC you have, the greater chance of something going bad on bad roads. A no frills truck camper with minimum features is best. Whether wood or aluminum is debatable. No air conditioning on roof. Smaller tanks advisable because of the added weight. No basement. No popouts. A pop up is best for overhead clearance of trees and rocks, but my bro John has already pulled his 9.5 OUTFITTER! apart on rough roads. Only a few nails were still in along the lower shear wall. The rest had popped out when his '99 Ford frame got the twists and the tie downs were too tight . It is not a one piece box. It is a shoe box with a detached roof. The potential for racking does not help the rigidity or shear strength.
The technique of the driver, ( like knowing where the speed sweet spot is on certain roads; driving on the reverse side and very edge on washboard where the rivulets are facing the best way; trying as much as possible to keep the axles parallel to each other and thus keeping the frame from twisting); build of the truck, and ability to regulate the tire pressure for differing road conditions and constant adjusting of the tie downs to fit the conditions are the best attributes to look for. Most of that comes by hard (so to speak) experience. Most of my experience came from a lifetime of Jeeping which I transferred to the TC. Picking and choosing the route on the Pinion Mountain Jeep Trail, Anza 2004:

4wc's are well built but you don't get a whole lot for the money.that's why we went northstar,and we go waaaay off road.so far so good.

You can put a flat bed on your truck to gain more interior space,

Right here....

Four Wheel campers

My Outfitter Apex 8 has been some pretty rough places. I think it's suited for rough roads, narrow places, and back.