advice on hard sided, short bed truck camper with Onan

[outwestbound]

Greetings. Looking for a used camper for a 6-8 month adventure from the US down to Ushuaia Argentina, etc.

I'm looking to spend $7,500-$12,000 or so for a hard sided short bed camper that has or can be fitted with an Onan 2500 watt LP generator. I'll buy a pre-2007 3/4 ton, 4x4, "supercab" truck with a 7.3L or Cummings diesel. I'm hoping to stay within $40,000 all in, truck + camper + up-fit (suspension enhancement, mechanical work, misc stuff to the camper, etc.).

Thinking short bed due to turning radius, but will have to reconsider if I can't get an Onan in it, because I won't see a single 120VAC hookup in South America. I'll put 360-540 watts, 2-3 panels of solar on the roof and get an inverter, with a couple 6 volt AGM batts for about 400 in the batt bank (200 usable). I'll be packing heavy, so I figured a short bed would be designed for a lighter truck, which will give me extra payload, with the 3/4 ton truck. I'd like to carry 50-60 gallons of water, 6-10 gallons of LP, but can keep extra in the truck I guess, since I suspect these are large amounts.

I'm really not an "off roader" per se, so I'm not terribly concerned with being a little top heavy, because it shouldn't matter. Its just that the roads are terrible down there and the rains make many roads 1,000 mile long mud slogs.

Many have suggested Lance, but I'm open to anything that's got a generator and storage (and a short bed hopefully).

Does this exist? Thanks

[Vinsil]

I'll sell you my Wolf Creek, made a short bed truck if you decide on Gritdogs truck, I carried it on aa Megacab just like his. It's premiered for the onan gen set so you could go either way or just use the genset compartment to carry your Honda.

It's newer than your looking will cost you a little more but it will be comfortable and has no issues like an older unit could. Just something to consider, or at least give them a fair shake for newer shortbed campers. North wood quality, would work on the type of truck your considering coming in around 3000 lbs, being a four season unit with decent tank capacity too.

I'm going bigger and bought a long bed truck so it's not being used.

[Grit_dog]

Out westbound, yeah no worries on the truck. I may or may not be keeping it. It's also considerably longer than an ext cab. Yes it's the old 5.9. 07 was the cutoff year, half of the year was the new 6.7 with emissions, but for your purposes, don't rule out deleted 6.7s. You're heading to south, doubt anyone in Argentina cars if your truck has a dpf on the exhaust.
There are MANY deleted diesels for sale that will burn LSD fuel no problem and with that you can get a newer rig without emissions. Something to consider.

I see pretty much any TC save for maybe the smallest pop up fitting in a shipping container well. And even if you get one jammed in there (without the truck) tiring it down or stabilizing it would be another feat. Not sure what you're planning on doing but I'd look real hard at that challenge of its a deal breaker.

[Kayteg1]

From what I know older 3/4 ton trucks with small turning radius don't exist.
Other issue is that camper AC is not only extra weight, but also 1 foot of extra height and I assume that is important factor.
So if we are talking only occasional use, I would get truck to camper window seal and use truck AC for camper cooling.
I did that in 120F heat when my build-in generator show a fist.
That brings the point that Toyota/Nissan camper combo might better suit for the situation.

[noteven]

You can start an a/c with a small generator by using this device:

Micro-air soft start

I am not an "expert" on Mexico, central, and South America travel.

There are reports of issues with trucks like a F350 being admitted to Mexico. Something around the interpetation of "cargo carrying capacity" vs "gross vehicle weight."

Perhaps others with actual experience will post...

If you are looking to use an older truck than the one in your profile and travel the out of the way roads something like an Alaskan on a gasohol engine 4x4 truck make common in the Americas with flatbed and side storage boxes. Mod the camper and outside gen compartment so you open an access door inside the camper and give the rope a pull. Gas in a Honda remote tank kit. Run many hours. Same fuel for truck and gen.

[KD4UPL]

Northstar campers often have a cassette toilet. They also offered an optional storage compartment sized specially for a Honda 2000. I'd be looking for one of those.

[outwestbound]

Grit dog wrote:
Yes they certainly exist.
Couple thoughts.
1. $40k is totally doable and a Ext cab short bed is much better than long bed crew for turning. Addl solid axle trucks like ford or dodge turn tighter then ifs GM trucks.
2. Ditto on the generator. Get a Honda 2000 and figure out how to store it/ lock it up. More versatile than a built in and propane generators really suck down the propane. Guessing gasoline easier to refill than propane out in the bush.
3. Unless you're really needing the space, stay away from the heavy slide out units like Arctic Fox, Eagle Cap etc. for off road considerations. they will have the water / waste capacity you're looking for but there's other ways to carry extra water.
but if you want one of those in a ready to roll rig, I' may be parting ways with the truck in my sig and the camper could go with it......all I'd add for an expedition would be heavier wheels and tires.

1. I'm working though length now. Great advice-thanks. If I'm going to do a truck camper (rather than a class c like 24'), it's for the more "off road" aspects. Also, I can save thousands if it will fit into a shipping container, rather than roll on, roll off, cuz it will be shipped several times, plus a couple ferries. Using 2011 Ford data I just happen to have, the ext cab, short bed is 142" wheel base, vs. ext cab long bed's 158". I drive a 172" WB F350 dully now, and it would not work for my purposes for sure (might as well go with a class c).
2. My existing Honda 2000 is looking like a more practical option.
3. I'm looking at several "types" of truck camper, but more so for getting into a container, than the lower gravity needed for true "off road". I'm not an off roader per se, but I'm looking at pop-ups to get the vertical profile down, and also hard sided, but no slides. I've been universally told that slides are problems in South America, due to the thousands and thousands of miles of brutal dirt washboard, or worse, roads. They just break I'm told and nobody down there has even seen a slide for the most part.

While nice to have a 4 season with big tanks, my concern is that an older truck will have insufficient payload. My 2011 F350 has 4,608 on the door placard sticker. I'd imagine to get 3,500# (real capacity, not the ridiculous marketing materials) from an older truck is pretty good; not sure.
4. Thanks for the offer, but can't do slides on the camper. I'm thinking I'll buy a truck and camper this winter and get it to Florida where I'm from and work on it. If the truck is available in about 45 days, I'm interested. The trip will launch around June 2018. The middle of summer down there at the end of the world is January! How weird is that!

Grit dog, 2007 is the cut off year. Your truck does NOT burn ultra low sulphur diesel correct? ULSD isn't available down there.

Thanks.

[Grit_dog]

Yes they certainly exist.
Couple thoughts.
1. $40k is totally doable and a Ext cab short bed is much better than long bed crew for turning. Addl solid axle trucks like ford or dodge turn tighter then ifs GM trucks.
2. Ditto on the generator. Get a Honda 2000 and figure out how to store it/ lock it up. More versatile than a built in and propane generators really suck down the propane. Guessing gasoline easier to refill than propane out in the bush.
3. Unless you're really needing the space, stay away from the heavy slide out units like Arctic Fox, Eagle Cap etc. for off road considerations. they will have the water / waste capacity you're looking for but there's other ways to carry extra water.
but if you want one of those in a ready to roll rig, I' may be parting ways with the truck in my sig and the camper could go with it......all I'd add for an expedition would be heavier wheels and tires.

[outwestbound]

work2much wrote:
Forget the Onan and bring along a better lighter generator like a honda 2000.

Thanks. I have a Honda 2000 that I could use. Girlfriend wants to avoid getting out of the truck camper to get AC power if I'm not around, but this might not work if an Onan is just too large. She also wants an AC unit just to knock down the heat before sleeping; hence, the generator. I just noticed that Coleman makes 9,200 to 11,000 units, which should run off a Honda 2000, so maybe we'll do that.

Living in one of these truck campers for 9-12 months could become difficult, so I'm looking at options to make it more livable.

Another thing I want, if I can retrofit a unit, is to put a Thetford cassette toilet into a truck camper. I'm buying an older unit, that I'm sure won't have one. I am aware that some newer models offer them now. "Dump" stations are scarce down there. I'd see the cassette as a PITA in the US, but down there, might be nice. Also, getting a truck into a shipping container is an issue on this trip. Turning radius becomes quite important.

[outwestbound]

Kayteg1 wrote:
It really suck when electronic board fails on build-in generator.
Ask me how do I know? And that happen in major US city.
You are not talking about using AC, so I wonder why you want big generator in the first place? With big solars all you need is small back up and even having build-in I was carrying one of those $80 2-cycle generators who was just big enough for micro-oven and battery charging.
I know people who went this direction in 2WD Toyota 4-runner, but they did not have camper, but had a child who celebrated 1-year on the trip.
If turning radius is your big concern, I know Ford switched to coil springs, who cut the radius drastically around 2004, but those Ford come with 6l diesel and I guess you know the deal about them.
The Fords with 7.3 will have bigger radius and I guess Rams from those years will be the same, but why you worry about it so much?

Thanks. Villages in South America can get small and awkward. It's just like travel here. You can stay on the main "tourist" roads, or do excursions off the beaten path. Down there, the excursions are worth doing, but they come at a price of a smaller, more nimble vehicle, from what I'm finding out.

[Kayteg1]

It really suck when electronic board fails on build-in generator.
Ask me how do I know? And that happen in major US city.
You are not talking about using AC, so I wonder why you want big generator in the first place? With big solars all you need is small back up and even having build-in I was carrying one of those $80 2-cycle generators who was just big enough for micro-oven and battery charging.
I know people who went this direction in 2WD Toyota 4-runner, but they did not have camper, but had a child who celebrated 1-year on the trip.
If turning radius is your big concern, I know Ford switched to coil springs, who cut the radius drastically around 2004, but those Ford come with 6l diesel and I guess you know the deal about them.
The Fords with 7.3 will have bigger radius and I guess Rams from those years will be the same, but why you worry about it so much?

[work2much]

Forget the Onan and bring along a better lighter generator like a honda 2000.