Bigfoot Truck Camper reviews sought

[White_Whale]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the site. We presently have a older 11.5 ft. Alpenlite and live in Alaska. We are temped to "upgrade" to a 2500 series Bigfoot 10.4 mainly for the 4 season capabilities. I know they are heavy but my '96 Dodge Cummins is mods to handle the weight.

I realize Bigfoot went out of business and then opened back up after 2010.

I would like to hear from Bigfoot truck camper owners that have bought new since say 2012 and how their units have treated them.

Any problems? Happy with the purchase? Things you would do differently and why?

Thanks
Jim

[bigfootford]

You will not regret getting a Bigfoot!

Ours is 16 years old and has traveled almost 200,000 miles....
If something happened to it I would get another one or a Northerlite.

Jim

[White_Whale]

We put the deposit down on the 2016 10.4

Again thanks for the information. I put our old Alpenlite in Craigslist (figured I would have to put it to bed for the winter then sell in the spring being in Alaska). The second owner (I;m the fourth) saw it and bought it back. He said he regretted ever selling it.

Picking up a 2006 Dodge Cummins 3500 dually today. With a couple of tweaks we should be ready to go.

Cheers
Jim

[White_Whale]

Again, great information thank you for taking the time to write up that review.

[HMS_Beagle]

The Bigfoot overcab bed is "travel queen" sized (don't you love the RV euphemisms?) and is 75 inches long instead of 80. If you are tall (I'm 5' 16" :)) you will hang over a bit.

My first two BigFeet (a 1988 fifth wheel and a 1998 camper) had steel screws throughout the exterior, and they do rust even in sunny California. My current 2008 has stainless screws throughout the exterior, so they have learned something.

One problem IMO with a 30K btu heater in a tiny little camper is it heats up so fast the thermostat can hardly keep up, the temperature overshoots, and the heater is all the time running in purge or cool down mode (fan running but burner off). In my 2008 10.4 I replaced the Atwood 30K heater with a two speed model (pn 38591), 22K output on high and 15 on low. This is a slide in replacement. I am pleased with the result - still plenty of heat when you need it but slower cycle times normally. If I were ordering a new one I would ask for that to be installed.

"Quality" in the RV industry is a very low bar, but as I have said in the past, the quality of the Bigfoot sucks less than almost all the others.

[adamis]

I've only owned my new to me 2001 Bigfoot Camper since January but I am very pleased with it. A couple of things I would consider...

1. If you are tall you may have issues both with head height and bed length. I'm 5'6" and I am fine with the height and bed but I do wonder if someone who is over 6' would have the same experience.

2. Holding Tank Sizes on mine are nearly equal (22 gallons for grey and 18 gallons for black or something close to that) which means my grey is constantly filling before my black. My solution is a twist on gate valve so that I can shuffle between the tanks if necessary.

3. Door height and ladder can be an issue as well. My F350 Dually is 2 wheel drive so it doesn't have a high ride height yet the default scissor ladder my camper came with is barely tall enough for the application. On level ground the ladder is fine but if you get into one of those campsites where the area behind the parking spot slopes down you can end up with some very sloped steps. I think at some point I will see about adding another step to the ladder to assist with this problem.

4.If you are going to have your camper built, DEMAND they use stainless steel screws and bolts for all exterior applications... I literally wrote an e-mail about this last night to Grant. The original owner lived on the coast for 14 years and stored the camper outdoors and the end result is I ended up with exterior screws and bolts that have turned into dust. I've replaced all of the exterior door screws and at least half of them the threads had turned to powder and I was left with a rusty core that thankfully came out. I did have have two where the heads snapped off and there is nothing to do but angle the replacement screw so it goes around the shaft that remains. The ladder has over 60 bolts that had nearly turned to powder as well. I actually had two snap while folding the ladder which alerted me to the issue in the first place. Thankfully I wasn't on the ladder at the time because that would have been dangerous. Needless to say, it took about 2 hours to replace all 60 bolts on the ladder with new stainless steel. I'm now down to the Jack brackets and I'm still at a loss on how to tackle these. The combination of the rust and the tension placed on those screws means I'm almost guaranteed to have lots of heads snapping off when I try to remove them. Worse case scenario I will drill new holes in the brackets and pay someone to patch the old holes in the fiberglass. That will likely be this winter's project...

5. Propane efficiency I find to be extremely good. Just this past week I was on the road for business (primary use of my camper). I had the fridge running all week, heated water for three or four very quick showers plus dishes (grey tank fills fast!), used the heater for a couple of hours (up in Washington State) and even used the generator for a few minutes to run the blender. I believe I used about 3.75 gallons of propane from just one tank. I was quite surprised honestly, I really thought I would have gone through both tanks over the course of a week but it wasn't necessary.

That is my experience so far. Overall, I am extremely happy with my purchase and would certainly consider buying a new Bigfoot if I had the resources (I would demand stainless of course...). I initially set my sights on a Host Mammoth until reality of the weight and finances set in. I like that the Bigfoot is light for my 7.3 F350 Dually and find it comfortable to drive.

[Z-Peller]

White Whale wrote:

If the furnace comes on every 15 minutes how long does one of the 20# propane tanks last on average?

I don't know the answer to that as I only had that one night in those temps and headed for lower elevation:D...heat cycle with that 30,000btu unit is about 1/3 burn time and other 2/3 just fan running, so maybe say 10-15 min per hr burn time??.....( at half flame setting I can get about 8 hrs steady burning out of a #20lb tank on my 64,000btu Campfire In a Can...just saying )

[White_Whale]

jimh425 wrote:

Reddog1 wrote:
The next question is does any other TC do as good or better?

Or, who cares ... 😉

Seriously though, I don't camp where it is cold enough to matter. If I want my furnace to come on less, I can close my slides (to reduce the volume) and turn down the thermostat.

Our present "White Whale" Alpenlite has given us lots of enjoyment and also shelter while hunting. But we live in Alaska and a true 4 season camper that we would not have to convert to "dry" camping for 5 months up here would be great. Thus the look at the Bigfoot.

[jimh406]

Reddog1 wrote:
The next question is does any other TC do as good or better?

Or, who cares ... 😉

Seriously though, I don't camp where it is cold enough to matter. If I want my furnace to come on less, I can close my slides (to reduce the volume) and turn down the thermostat.

[Reddog1]

White Whale wrote:
... If the furnace comes on every 15 minutes how long does one of the 20# propane tanks last on average? ...

The next question is does any other TC do as good or better?

Wayne

[White_Whale]

Z-Peller wrote:
Owned 2002 Bigfoot 2500 9.6 from new until 2016...no problems. Owned 2009 Bigfoot 25RQ trailer from new until 2016...no problems. Ordered 2017 Bigfoot 2500 10.4 camper in May 2016. Was estimated to be 3 months for delivery, but now Grant is saying later this month so will be 4 months from order date. I take this as Bigfoot not rushing their build, and also that they are busy filling orders, so this is all good.
Grant at Bigfoot has always answered my email questions about my camper/trailer even though his re-born company did not build them.
I have complete confidence that my new generation Bigfoot will be as trouble free as my previous rigs were, and that some of the changes Grant has made will make it an even better unit!
My only comment otherwise is to question previous post about camping in -30deg weather with thermostat set at 65deg and furnace only starting once per hr.?
My experience with my BF 9.6 was 10deg F. With thermostat set right down to 50deg and furnace started every 15 min. ( and yes, double windows, 30,000btu furnace etc...they are all built the same)

If the furnace comes on every 15 minutes how long does one of the 20# propane tanks last on average?

Thank you for the other information about your Bigfoot experience.

[Z-Peller]

Owned 2002 Bigfoot 2500 9.6 from new until 2016...no problems. Owned 2009 Bigfoot 25RQ trailer from new until 2016...no problems. Ordered 2017 Bigfoot 2500 10.4 camper in May 2016. Was estimated to be 3 months for delivery, but now Grant is saying later this month so will be 4 months from order date. I take this as Bigfoot not rushing their build, and also that they are busy filling orders, so this is all good.
Grant at Bigfoot has always answered my email questions about my camper/trailer even though his re-born company did not build them.
I have complete confidence that my new generation Bigfoot will be as trouble free as my previous rigs were, and that some of the changes Grant has made will make it an even better unit!
My only comment otherwise is to question previous post about camping in -30deg weather with thermostat set at 65deg and furnace only starting once per hr.?
My experience with my BF 9.6 was 10deg F. With thermostat set right down to 50deg and furnace started every 15 min. ( and yes, double windows, 30,000btu furnace etc...they are all built the same)

[White_Whale]

THANKS!! You guys are making this purchase decision easier and easier. It's just a lot of money to us and we are nervous about it.

Cheers
Jim & Joyce

[bigfootgrey]

We purchased our 2008 Bigfoot 10.4 in 2010 and have had no problems with the camper construction at all. We did have a jack issue and replaced the switch for the battery disconnect. Grant has been very helpful with providing information when we e-mail him. Newer Bigfoot campers are of the same quality with minor changes like countertop material and light fixtures. Bigfoot 2500 series campers have 1.5 inches of insulation and 30,000 btu furnace compared to Northern Lite's 1 inch and 17,000 btu. The company seems to be solid,just like their campers

Bob

[NEOK]

I stated in another post that we visited the Bigfoot factory yesterday (9/1/2016) and they are in production on both truck campers and trailers. The manager and all of the workers we visited with were very helpful and displayed a lot I pride in their product. I know this doesn't answer your question from an owner of a camper manufactured after 2011 but I can tell you that they are not cutting the quality of their campers.

We have a 2008 15c9.5fs truck camper we purchased new in 2009. They have made few changes, mostly cosmetic such as light fixtures, interior choices, LED lighting, etc. We have been very pleased with our Bigfoot and would purchase on again.