Never remove camper?

Hi Not sure how many days you will need to carpool. If once a week it may be cheaper to rent a bigger vehicle or pay a friend to use theirs. A lot of things may change over the next seven months that another vehicle may not justify the cost. I hope you can work out an answer that will not break the bank. Bill

Reddog1 wrote:

Eric&Lisa wrote:

H2oSprt wrote:

The truck is 10 yeas old 100k miles, runs good but things are starting to need a bit more maintenance. Thoughts?

The cheapest vehicle to drive is the one you already own. Let's say the alternator or water pump goes out. Sure, you drop a few C-notes this month to fix it. But then it is done. Versus a payment where you drop a lot of C-notes every month for the next 60-72 months!

I have no idea your skill set, and I apologize if the following generalization doesn't fit you. Truck camper people tend to be more do-it-yourself types than the Class-A-parked-at-Camping-World types. You can definitely save time & money by doing a lot of the little maintenance yourself. Transmission filter, fuel filter, air filter, belt, etc.

Keep the truck, get it on a TLC maintenance plan, and go camping!

-Eric

I absolutely agree with Eric's post. Especially if the truck and/or TC are paid for. Paid for or not, cost a lot of money to to replace. Hard for me to imagine very many miles as a kid shuttle.

How many years and how far to shuttle kids might influence my decision, but I doubt it. Once a month or more, I would use the truck for a store run. I seldom take my TC off. I have left it parked for four months, but only a couple of times. My truck is diesel, 250,000. I have no intention of replacing it. I recently had the transmission rebuilt. I intend to repair or have it repaired as it breaks.

Getting off topic a little but I also 100% agree. I have a 2002 GMC 2500HD and other than one annoying thing (no power windows)there really is not a reason to sell, trade or upgrade. IF I was using as a daily driver then I would get a newer truck, but for my camper truck and occasional hauler of large items I have no reason. I can drop 3 - 5 grand a year into the truck for repairs and still be further ahead than buying a new truck. PLUS there is nothing to say that a newer truck will not have problems or end up costing you in non warranty repairs and upgrades.

Eric&Lisa wrote:

H2oSprt wrote:

The truck is 10 yeas old 100k miles, runs good but things are starting to need a bit more maintenance. Thoughts?

The cheapest vehicle to drive is the one you already own. Let's say the alternator or water pump goes out. Sure, you drop a few C-notes this month to fix it. But then it is done. Versus a payment where you drop a lot of C-notes every month for the next 60-72 months!

I have no idea your skill set, and I apologize if the following generalization doesn't fit you. Truck camper people tend to be more do-it-yourself types than the Class-A-parked-at-Camping-World types. You can definitely save time & money by doing a lot of the little maintenance yourself. Transmission filter, fuel filter, air filter, belt, etc.

Keep the truck, get it on a TLC maintenance plan, and go camping!

-Eric

I absolutely agree with Eric's post. Especially if the truck and/or TC are paid for. Paid for or not, cost a lot of money to to replace. Hard for me to imagine very many miles as a kid shuttle.

How many years and how far to shuttle kids might influence my decision, but I doubt it. Once a month or more, I would use the truck for a store run. I seldom take my TC off. I have left it parked for four months, but only a couple of times. My truck is diesel, 250,000. I have no intention of replacing it. I recently had the transmission rebuilt. I intend to repair or have it repaired as it breaks.

H2oSprt wrote:

The truck is 10 yeas old 100k miles, runs good but things are starting to need a bit more maintenance. Thoughts?

The cheapest vehicle to drive is the one you already own. Let's say the alternator or water pump goes out. Sure, you drop a few C-notes this month to fix it. But then it is done. Versus a payment where you drop a lot of C-notes every month for the next 60-72 months!

I have no idea your skill set, and I apologize if the following generalization doesn't fit you. Truck camper people tend to be more do-it-yourself types than the Class-A-parked-at-Camping-World types. You can definitely save time & money by doing a lot of the little maintenance yourself. Transmission filter, fuel filter, air filter, belt, etc.

Keep the truck, get it on a TLC maintenance plan, and go camping!

-Eric

deltabravo wrote:
My camper stays on from June through October. No ill effects so far.

We do the same.

I park my truck in the barn in early November and don't move it again until late March. When parked, it has a full tank of gas, a double-dose of Sta-Bil, a "moth-bar" under the hood, and a battery maintainer.

It probably gets started every month or so and run until it comes up to temperature.

I used my truck with camper on to drive the kids to school for two weeks. We kept getting hurricane scares and I refuse to stay home for another hurricane.

If I were you I would look for an old Suburban or Tahoe. My wife drives a Jeep TL everyday but it only hold 4. We always seem to have two extra kids with us..I found an old 80's Suburban rust free that we may purchase.

H2oSprt wrote:
I love you guys :)

So no worries with a truck sitting for weeks to months at a time?

No worries leaving the camper loaded, but you should at least run the engine of the truck every couple weeks. Ideally drive it a little also, even if only a few feet. Think of the vehicles in a car dealer lot. They sit for months, but they occasionally move the vehicles around the lot to keep things lubricated.

Only concern with letting it sit for a long time is fuel stability and battery.

If diesel, wouldn't worry about it sitting for a few month at all. If gas, add some fuel stabilizer.

The battery is easily taken care of with a trickle charger or solar panel.

Do what you want, but I wouldn't hesitate to leave my camper on the truck all year. Would actually get me out camping even more.

My camper stays on from June through October. No ill effects so far.