Stick with truck camper or go for RV?

Every thing in life is a trade off. I don't believe you can find a universal MH to do everything for a price you can afford. If you start with this premise, ask yourself how much time will I spend off road in mud,sand etc. vs dirt roads in remote areas. TC's have very little fresh water storage vs 80- 100 gals in a small Class A which will also have more living space and be more comfortable to live in which is what you want to do. It will have levelers to stabilize the MH also. You get 17 mpgs now with a TC, if you really think how you will work travel and live I would say you will get 20+mpg with a small Class A and a tow car. I would use the Class A as a house to live in and drive close to where you want to go remotely then use your 4 wheel drive car to get to your job site run into town to buy grocery's,etc. You will find you will put as many miles or more on your tow car as on the MH. I have a 33 ft Class A that gets 8.7 mpgs and a small tow car that get 40 mpgs so my total for the set up is 23 mpgs. Most of my camping is on dirt roads and do a lot of exploring in the tow car. Also if you are really camping/living remotely a small tow car is nice to run into town when something on your MH breaks and you need parts from a auto parts store rather than calling a tow truck to tow you out. When I camped on the beach in San Padre island I stayed in a NF CG but took the tow car along the beach there were many camping for free along the beach. If you got stuck or had a break down it was very expensive to tow you out. Just another perspective for you to think about.