Mostly Off Road T/C Questions
Please, pardon my ignorance. My background: off road/remote/lightweight camping, lot of it in Jeeps, motorcycles, backpacking, ultra light fishing, etc., often in poor conditions (cold, snowing, we...
Forum Discussion
DW makes a good point. In my experience (some on here would just think it's hyperbole) in going over thousands of miles of dirt roads or worse hauling a wood frame Lance Lite, I have had more issues with the truck, by far, than the camper. After every hair raising trip I'm am truly amazed at how this stapled, aluminum sheathed box has held together. It might have something to do with my regimen of constantly playing with the tie down tension to fit the situation. That way chances are less that you could just pull your camper apart, piece by piece. Also, i constantly vary the speed to fit the road in front of me and follow any route that allows the least frame flexing. You develop an eye for that. On a recent trip through the back country of Death Valley we had a very rocky, rough stretch of jeep trail, about 70 miles over 1.5 days. The going was slow and I had to worm my way with those wide super singles through a road basically narrower than my rear track. So, what happened? The outer edge of the rear tires took a beating with big chunks bitten off; the new Gen4 front track bar came loose; the 158K mi. factory tie rod ends were now rattlers; the drag link was loose; the 4 links needed a lube; basically the entire front end had about 5 yrs. worth of wear in 6 days. So, i would say there is a higher maintainence danger off road with the truck itself than with the camper. I'm willing to pay the price and keep an eye open to get to the places I formerly got to in my Jeep CJ-8. The only time the box is in jeopardy in the desert is when you get the axles twisted up and the frame does it's twisting act and the flimsy metal truck bed tries to contour to the frame via those four 3/8" bolts holding it down and tries to take the camper box with it. I get that dynamic.
Now let me address DW's question: I think a well appointed H.D. truck, IS enough to carry a small camper. Remember the prime directive for XTC. You want: too much truck; too little camper. Also, your goals affect your purchase. If you are mostly going off road, then the smallest, soft side camper with few ammenties is the ticket. If, like us, long time out on the road travel plans during fall and winter are in the picture, then a small hard side can fit the bill.
Once you start getting farther and farther into the aftermarket and away from a stock truck, your repair bills will start going up to support said awayness. Most aftermarket items have too little engineering time in the saddle compared to the legions of lawyers looking over the engineers' shoulders at the factory. Seems that didn't help with the current Fiat/Ram Buy back. But i see that as a management issue rather than a legal or engineering issue.
Speaking of aftermarket, you should see a piece on my on going drivetrain upgrade after this week. As we speak, an Eaton/Detroit, 35 spline, True Trac, gear driven L.S. is being installed in my front Dana 60. Essentially, all the internal parts are upgraded to Dana 70 spec. and unless you are jumping the truck, the D-60 will hold up to lots of abuse. This should be the end of my quest for front end tough and better traction in snow and ice.
jefe
Now let me address DW's question: I think a well appointed H.D. truck, IS enough to carry a small camper. Remember the prime directive for XTC. You want: too much truck; too little camper. Also, your goals affect your purchase. If you are mostly going off road, then the smallest, soft side camper with few ammenties is the ticket. If, like us, long time out on the road travel plans during fall and winter are in the picture, then a small hard side can fit the bill.
Once you start getting farther and farther into the aftermarket and away from a stock truck, your repair bills will start going up to support said awayness. Most aftermarket items have too little engineering time in the saddle compared to the legions of lawyers looking over the engineers' shoulders at the factory. Seems that didn't help with the current Fiat/Ram Buy back. But i see that as a management issue rather than a legal or engineering issue.
Speaking of aftermarket, you should see a piece on my on going drivetrain upgrade after this week. As we speak, an Eaton/Detroit, 35 spline, True Trac, gear driven L.S. is being installed in my front Dana 60. Essentially, all the internal parts are upgraded to Dana 70 spec. and unless you are jumping the truck, the D-60 will hold up to lots of abuse. This should be the end of my quest for front end tough and better traction in snow and ice.
jefe
