truck camper 101

NEOK wrote:
As another poster stated you will need tie downs and possibly a hitch extension to tow your boat and this can be a substantial investment, especially if you are going to change trucks in another year. I would suggest you might want to spend that year looking at truck campers and once you decide on one pick a truck that is appropriately sized for the TC. Having made those two decisions could also help you make a decision on the tie downs and hitch extension to match your needs.

As far as a long bed vs short bed trucks and campers, either one can work depending on your wants and needs. As previously mentioned you do give up storage space and holding tank capacity with a short bed TC. My wife and I get by fine with a short bed truck and camper. A couple of advantages for us are the truck easily fits in the garage and less length enables us to fit in smaller compsites and less overall length when towing a boat.

I think this response more closely approximates my own thoughts. As I stated, my DW has no interest in camping anymore so any camping, other than camping for hunting which I do annually at the same place, will be limited to either me going solo or with my son or a bud who likes to see the country as I do. I, too, want the smaller footprint as compared to my present 3/4 ton Sierra even if it means I'll be restricted in some ways. Remember, I'll be coming from a fiver to this so while it is a big change, I'll be doing it with my eyes wide open (if I pull the trigger).

Thanks to all for your comments. As I stated before, I'm researching the practicality of doing this with a 1/2 ton because, for 90% of the time, that is all I need and am willing to put up with the limitations (I think).

Along those same lines, as suggested by GeoBoy, I'm presently exploring the Northstar line of popups. Just wondering what y'all think of that as a choice for a TC (if I can get the weights right.)