Simple truck camper

We have one of these we brought back from Colorado quite a few years ago. Sold it to our son who used it several years then retired it to the back 40 and there it sits today. Sad end. Scavaged parts over the years and the roof still doesn't leak.

Interesting that one of the most famous truck campers ever is similar to the new Rayzr!
None other than John Steinbeck's "Rocinante"




You can see it in the John Steinbeck museum Salinas California.
Even get a Rocinante imprinted smashed penny like I have!

I think its great that someone is trying to match the payload of 1/2 trucks, and I like innovation in the TC industry. But I was a little surprised at the weight of this one too, though. My old Sunlite Eagle pop-up (with a cab over) was only 1250. I would think in this size target audience there would be more of a market that would pay a few bucks more and have a true light weight rig.

Will be interesting to see how the market responds. I see this as more of a camper shell plus than a truck camper minus. I would like to see one in person.

Personally, I kind of like it. Has some basic features and outdoor shower and a/c option. Good for a single person, or someone who camps solo and doesn't need nor want much. It's much cheaper than their cabovers. Problem is, Travel Lite can't build anything that remotely resembles quality as it is, why bother with building yet another piece of junk that will just leave their owners disappointed and poorer? And they just don't care how bad their stuff is. Not only will I never buy another product from them, I will be sure to let every person I can know just how bad they are until the day I die.

Also, you people talking about balance are assuming it is out of balance. Doesn't make sense to suggest some kind of problem that you don't even know exists or not. They don't hang over the rear of the bed much, if at all. It looks like all the tanks/accessories are as far forward as possible. Looks like a neat design with piss poor execution from this company who leaves customers hanging.

The wife and I camp to fish. We use a truck camper so that we can tow the boat, but off load the camper and have our truck to run around in. I like the idea of the full bed down below. My wife is handicapped, so it would be a plus. Doing completely away with the cabover seems stupid though. A small tapered cabover for wind deflection would be nice, plus it would add a lot of storage. But I digress, have a Travel Lite now and would never buy another. 2013 model and have had to replace the plywood under the bed, and 1/3 of the plywood on the roof. Some folks at Travel Lite, need a foot where the sun never shines.

They couldn't do any better than ~1200lbs?

My guess is they put a big 200lb slab of steel in the floor up front for balance. Something like that shouldn't weigh more than 750lbs. For crying out loud, my 9.5' Palomino with cabover and a functional bathroom says 1680lbs on the sticker, and that's supposedly with full water and propane.

There have been supposedly lightweight campers in the past. All have been flops. I would really like to see something like this take off, but I don't have high hopes.

It sounds more like a product to make their higher-end campers look better to the potential buyer. When they see how much they give up for very little weight savings, they will opt for the camper with the cabover and more creature comforts.

My 6-3" tall friend was perfectly happy camping with his Saab hatchback, so I can understand that there is size/options for everybody, but don't make it 25 pages topic, PLEASE.

Less Stuff wrote:
This company has building similar units for over 40 years.

Capri Campers

I like the looks of my unit better, but it sure doesn't have 6 foot 5 inch headroom.
Plus it is a topper not a camper.(Disclaimer to avoid angry replies)


My truck WITH topper gets 25 mpg on regular gas! That alone makes it beautiful in my view.
Also note the driver is in the middle of my rig. Plus it has coil springs all around which means the best and quietest ride I've ever had even counting the cars we've owned.

The first pic isn't a truck camper, it's a freezer truck :)

JimBollman wrote:
When I saw this I thought it would only be worth while if they made it into a popup so it would be about cab height when down. Also needed to be lighter. Then it would be a nice minimalist camper for travelers that just want a place to sleep and make an occasional meal.

I agree. In the meantime, my "minimalist" TC is a Palomino Bronco popup with the gas system removed (no furnace, no fridge, no stove) - weighs about 1000#; and probably has less wind resistance than the cabover-less design

SugarHillCTD wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
I think with $1500 new it will be market for it.
I can imagine single fisherman or hunter might like it, but I don't think my wife would agree to anything without a slide and full bath.

Lowest price unit is around $5500

That might be a problem ;)