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.
