Hi PipeRunner! Welcome to the forum and your plans are doable, with the right equipment and planning. Sorry I am late to the party here, as I am not always near easily accessible internet, mostly by choice. :B
There has been tons of great advice already here. My suggestion would be to do exactly what you are doing, making the decision for a 4 season Camper and Truck. With what you are planning, don’t scrimp on the size of truck. I have a F550 and would suggest you to think not less than an F350/3500. Now for TC, be sure to understand not everyone has experience for weeks to months of living in their TC during extreme conditions. Lots of things can be done with the Weekenders that most TCs are used for. You will get lots of good advice from them too, but not the full story. After a few days of use, a TC can rest, dry out, charge up the batteries, but not when you are living in it full time. When you get to that stage of planning, come back and ask about that. For now, plan on the truck and camper. Reddog has some excellent suggestions. Even though I have spent many continuous weeks in my TC in single digits and less temperatures, in a Slide Camper, I do not recommend one. Both Summer heat (I grew up and worked harvest on the Great Plains) and Extreme Winter Cold (worked 35+ years in the Rocky Mountains in the outdoors), don’t get a TC with a slide. While I love having my slide, I have the ability to live without it and with it. Typically when it gets below 20*F, I never put the slide out. While the furnace is a battery robber, you will need this running to maintain the core temperature of your camper. I also use a WAVE 6 heater, but it is not very effective for keeping up with Cold Creep when temperatures begin to drop below 20*F.
It sounds like you are already familiar with my rig, as you mentioned some of my amenities in an early post. I certainly recommend redundancy (when it is 8*F and your generator stops running, you need a backup plan, ask me how I know this). I also concur with the earlier suggestions of a Flat Bed or a Service/Utility Body (I have the latter). One thing that I really like, in the winter time, are my outside service body cabinets become extra freezer compartments to keep food stuffs. Also, if you are going the way of a new truck, consider the option of a longer bed, as I did. There will be lots of opportunities to utilize PM/Private Messages with many, I would suggest you keep things out here, as there are many others that are thinking of doing exactly what you, and I, are planning to do and can benefit from your budding project. Oh, yeah, get a pair of gloves and stocking cap to sleep in, when you are sleeping on those cold nights. That is my first tip for you, from a Four Season Full-Time Truck Camper. There are lots of plusses in going forward with your plans. Just be careful with the advice you hear from some. But here you have a great reservoir of information from almost all of the people here. No question is too simple, just ask.
b
