Our journey to pick truck camper, a question
We have made our camper selection. It has been a long journey for us to come to the decision.
Original priorities were
Pop-up
Flatbed
Passenger side entry
Rear dinette seating
North South sleeping
At least 30 gallons of freshwater
Ability to have canoe and solar on the roof.
Ability to be lived in off the truck
We were in Colorado planning on visiting the Outfitter Camper factory until we were informed that they had no campers in production. Upon further enquiry with others in the camping industry, I heard that Outfitter was having financial issues. We chose to pass on an Outfitter camper.
While in Colorado, we visited the Hallmark Camper factory and were very impressed with the quality and available options of their pop-ups. The roof lift is electric and can take up to 400 pounds. They did quote us a price for a custom camper (they only occasionally build a flatbed side entry) but is was over twice what they normally charge for their standard slide in camper.
We then drove up to the Four Wheel Camper dealer in Jackson Hole Wyoming and who loaned us his new Four Wheel Fleet Ute which is a flatbed side entry for the weekend. Quite spacious and innovative floor plan. Unfortunately, the pop-up roof is manual and my wife had great difficulty lifting it. It has to have a platform support if taken off the truck and lived in.
We visited the Alaskan Camper factory which has an electric roof lift that could handle the solar and canoe. We left having concerns about the flip up sides on the pop-up roof. It would appear that insects and moisture could enter easily.
XP camper presently can not be used when off of the truck. Mark did discuss with me trying to modify the support system so that it can be lived in off of the truck. We decided to pass because of the cost and no North South sleeping arrangement.
My wife also visited the Northstar factory and liked the quality. However the pop-up roof has a hand crank lifting system with a weight limitation of only 100 lbs in the roof. Rex at Northstar also showed my wife their hard side campers which she liked.
After much more soul searching and revisiting our priorities, we have put a hearty deposit down on a
Northstar Escape Pod 900SD
Hard side
Flatbed
Passenger side entry
North South sleeping
9 x 7 Ft floor plan
Rear dinette
2000 dry weight
Northstar builds side entry campers in hardside and pop-up for the overseas market and this camper is used off road in Australia
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hgdu2xbyc8o&feature=youtube_gdata_player&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dhgdu2xbyc8o%26feature%3Dyoutube_gdata_player
We will have 40 gallons of freshwater
300 watts of solar on the roof
Roof rack for the canoe
Dual AGM batteries
Camper will be built in March.
My present plan is to put this on a yet to be purchased 1 ton, diesel, long bed truck.
FIRST QUESTION IS
Wife does not want scissor steps for camper access. Does anybody have thoughts on other options?
I found this flip up stairs on an Australia camper but have as of yet gotten no additional information. Has anyone done this here in the US.
http://www.freedomoffroad.com.au/product/7/northstar_trackmaster_9/photo_gallery
XP Camper has a pull out stairs that stores within the flatbed.
http://www.xpcamper.com/features.html
Presently, you have to buy their flatbed to get the steps but at a cost of $12,000. The flatbed does have a 3 point suspension, lockable storage rear bumper, rear lights, 4 lockable under flatbed storage drawers and a long pull out rear drawer. Does anyone know of a source for this pull out stairs that stores within the flatbed?
Original priorities were
Pop-up
Flatbed
Passenger side entry
Rear dinette seating
North South sleeping
At least 30 gallons of freshwater
Ability to have canoe and solar on the roof.
Ability to be lived in off the truck
We were in Colorado planning on visiting the Outfitter Camper factory until we were informed that they had no campers in production. Upon further enquiry with others in the camping industry, I heard that Outfitter was having financial issues. We chose to pass on an Outfitter camper.
While in Colorado, we visited the Hallmark Camper factory and were very impressed with the quality and available options of their pop-ups. The roof lift is electric and can take up to 400 pounds. They did quote us a price for a custom camper (they only occasionally build a flatbed side entry) but is was over twice what they normally charge for their standard slide in camper.
We then drove up to the Four Wheel Camper dealer in Jackson Hole Wyoming and who loaned us his new Four Wheel Fleet Ute which is a flatbed side entry for the weekend. Quite spacious and innovative floor plan. Unfortunately, the pop-up roof is manual and my wife had great difficulty lifting it. It has to have a platform support if taken off the truck and lived in.
We visited the Alaskan Camper factory which has an electric roof lift that could handle the solar and canoe. We left having concerns about the flip up sides on the pop-up roof. It would appear that insects and moisture could enter easily.
XP camper presently can not be used when off of the truck. Mark did discuss with me trying to modify the support system so that it can be lived in off of the truck. We decided to pass because of the cost and no North South sleeping arrangement.
My wife also visited the Northstar factory and liked the quality. However the pop-up roof has a hand crank lifting system with a weight limitation of only 100 lbs in the roof. Rex at Northstar also showed my wife their hard side campers which she liked.
After much more soul searching and revisiting our priorities, we have put a hearty deposit down on a
Northstar Escape Pod 900SD
Hard side
Flatbed
Passenger side entry
North South sleeping
9 x 7 Ft floor plan
Rear dinette
2000 dry weight
Northstar builds side entry campers in hardside and pop-up for the overseas market and this camper is used off road in Australia
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hgdu2xbyc8o&feature=youtube_gdata_player&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dhgdu2xbyc8o%26feature%3Dyoutube_gdata_player
We will have 40 gallons of freshwater
300 watts of solar on the roof
Roof rack for the canoe
Dual AGM batteries
Camper will be built in March.
My present plan is to put this on a yet to be purchased 1 ton, diesel, long bed truck.
FIRST QUESTION IS
Wife does not want scissor steps for camper access. Does anybody have thoughts on other options?
I found this flip up stairs on an Australia camper but have as of yet gotten no additional information. Has anyone done this here in the US.
http://www.freedomoffroad.com.au/product/7/northstar_trackmaster_9/photo_gallery
XP Camper has a pull out stairs that stores within the flatbed.
http://www.xpcamper.com/features.html
Presently, you have to buy their flatbed to get the steps but at a cost of $12,000. The flatbed does have a 3 point suspension, lockable storage rear bumper, rear lights, 4 lockable under flatbed storage drawers and a long pull out rear drawer. Does anyone know of a source for this pull out stairs that stores within the flatbed?
