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larkyblast's avatar
larkyblast
Explorer
May 29, 2019

Overwhelmed with camper choices; insight appreciated

I am hoping those of you with more experience can help us make up our mind on a new truck camper.
We have a 3500 Ram SRW diesel truck and would like to sometimes tow a trailer with the camper. This will be used for long weekends or other week long trips, not a full time rig. We will rarely be at a serviced campground and often will be driving it off pavement. We plan to use it a lot in the winter, (real winter in Canada so -20 type temperatures).
We currently have a 1978 8' camper that works great, but is a pain to load due to the manual jacks. We do not have a generator and are not sure we want to get one. Our current gravity furnace will heat with no power and we like that, but the camper is too cold to use below -10 or so and we worry about the integrity of our super old furnace. We do not have any power in our current camper, no AC, run fridge of propane and all solar lights. It does get wicked hot in there, so a fan would be nice.

We want to upgrade to something more comfortable. Our needs are power jacks and good windows and furnace for winter. We would like a bathroom this time, but are fine with a cassette toilet, a shower and water heater would be nice for summer, but we are fine not using water in winter. We do not need a microwave or TV or AC. We do not want a slide due to maintenance and weight.

We initially had a very small budget but now it seems to grow constantly.... We've looked at new Adventurer and Northern Lites as well as 2007 Lance 845 and 2005 Adventurer 810WS. The Lance was interesting as it had the built in generator and power jacks. It was very well used though. It was cheaper than the used adventurers. The new northern lites or bigfoots are too expensive for us, even if we expand our budget. I have found a few 2014-2016 northern lites used from the RV rental place... we could afford it but worry about the wear and tear.


I am also very interested in a new Cirrus 720 or 820 primarily because of the Alde heating system. The problem we are seeing with all of the other campers is the intense propane and battery usage a forced air furnace will take. We know we can change to a diesel or catalytic heater, but that does not seem as good as the alde heat in the cirrus. Also, it's been hard to find models with double pane windows which we think is probably necessary. I would have to buy the Cirrus from a dealer far away though and would not be able to see it in person, this is daunting.

We are extremely busy so do not have a lot of time to modify or tinker with the new camper, so minimal mods would be prefered.
I just want to get camping but the more I look the further away I am from choosing...
I appreciate any insight, I know this is a broad question but hope to gain a bit of clarity from other users.

28 Replies

  • As others have noted, we need more details about the truck/tires/wheels. I’d also put Host on the list. Althought it might be nice to buy a new one, they haven’t changed that much in the past decade or so other than floorplans. I’d look at used.

    When you say comfortable, what are the areas of comfort you are seeking? Better bed, more seating, better bathroom, etc.

    Finally, how set are you on keeping a SRW. That is typically the most limiting factor compared to buying a DRW.
  • larkyblast wrote:
    ...We have a 3500 Ram SRW diesel truck . .....

    What year truck/ what size wheels? If you have the 17" rims, then this component will be a weakest link as there is limited choice tires to have enough load carrying capabilities. Keep this in mind as you continue your research.
  • Might be better to down scale to smaller but new than buy a bigger older ones.

    The jump in RV technology goes by leaps available on new models.

    I don't know about your current unit, but heater of newer ones run on propane -- and powerful at that.
  • larkyblast wrote:
    and would like to sometimes tow a trailer with the camper...........


    A heavy trailer combined with an SRW truck and a long hitch extension can greatly reduce the weight of camper you can haul. What weight and type of trailer will you be pulling?

    I hauled our old Lance truck camper on two different SRW trucks for many years towing a light aluminum boat. But when I started towing a 7,500 car hauler trailer, I had to go to a DRW truck.

    bradw
  • As the saying goes: One battery, one night ...
    Some thoughts:
    Alde is good. The Sweden/Norway travelers here swear by it.
    A fuel cell is an expensive alternative to a generator.
    Solar will probably have limitations in short, cloudy or even snowy winter days. It works great in summer.
    More battery capacity will help, lithium batteries are lighter, have more capacity, and cost more.
    Additional insulation in the camper will help, they all have room for improvement.
    I am not sure if it is a good idea to let the camper cool down during the day. A lot of the energy saved is needed to bring the temperature back up.
    Maybe someone with personal experience with your type of weather will chime in.
  • Having SRW and need for towing automatically narrows your search to campers in 2000 lb range.
    More or less, that require some research, but if you want generator, you should think about getting one inside the trailer.
    Campers "weighting much more than expected" is very common issue, so not an easy choice.
    I check CL listing this morning and this is one of super-light campers, , but will it work for you?
    light camper

    Remote-controlled jacks are not cheap if you want to add them.
  • I think you're downplaying just how cold it is here, keeping the interior even at 10 degrees (50 F) for the night, and not heating during the day will drain your battery in one night in my experience.
  • "Intense" is overplaying it, unless you're trying to maintain 72 degrees in the camper 24/7.

    The other advice I have is, nobody is going to be able to tell you what camper to buy. You have to shop around, look them over, compare features, inspect for condition. Any camper you buy is going to need some work, even a new one.