Mostly Off Road T/C Questions

bka0721 wrote:
Hi Geodasher. Read your statements and felt that you might be painting pretty solidly with a big paint brush. After reading, posting here for years, I have found many, including myself doing just what you claim is not done, successfully.

While I won't travel the routes many of the XTC users do, I am down those routes in other ways. This means I am traveling on roads and paths that most TC users don't. Paved roads is and are not my usual choice or travel. Also, I am traveling in a BIG hard sided camper, pulling a trailer. For the most part, I have had NO ISSUES with damages or equipment failures in the manner you have detailed. All for the last 7+ years. So maybe I have a better test platform than most. Almost all the equipment, supplied from the original manufactures, are still performing flawlessly. The only thing I have changed? The water pump for a quieter one. Luck? Maybe. More experience and decision making abilities? Possibly. Better chosen equipment for the task? Probably.

Here we can learn from many of those here and this thread has been a perfect outlet for those that have. As has been your comment too, as others may want to check their equipment more frequently than they might have had, before. For that reason, good comment, Geodasher.

b

Absolutely agree about the broad brush. Rough use is relative. Also strongly agree that experience with one's abilities, local conditions and own equipment--whatever that may be--are key. Many factors go into truck camper choice and there is no best choice, so it is good we have options. However, answering the OP's question, I stand by my answer: mass-produced truck campers are not really suited to rough use as I think of it.

We've been four wheeling since the early 80s. Broke the frame in four places on our stock Jeep CJ, so we gained some perspective on bad roads versus terrible ones. We don't do rock crawling and really nasty stuff that requires modified equipment, but we do like to boondock and to take the less traveled road. In our experience stuff breaks over time, some sooner than later.

I'm new to truck campers. Previous outings were tent or trailer. Many outings over the decades. I have inspected numerous rigs, talked with the owners, read the forums, visited factories, and completed a dozen or so trips up to 2 weeks in our present truck. I have been amazed at how the TC industry is so standardized despite the many small manufacturers. Some builds are a little better than others for rugged use but the differences are a matter of degree, not basic design. That said, there are folks here with a LOT more experience. My perspective is just one and I put it out there as what I have learned.

To respond to another post, I don't work work for XPCamper. I thoroughly researched them. There simply isn't anything else quite like it. We dearly wanted one but it was not to be.