Driving Truck & Hardside Camper

[SamCol]

I am looking at buying a pick up and camper. As most of my driving is in the mountains and desert, off road, gravel roads, no serious 4 wheeling. I encounter the usual winds, sharp curves etc. Wondering how well the hard sides handle these conditions. I would put all necessary equip on truck. Seems like a lot of the hard sides I have been behind on the road do a lot of leaning in the curves and when wind gusts hit them. Looks like it would make me uncomfortable. Number of my friends have the pop up campers which are nice but the hard side seems more convenient. Any advice for a new guy appreciated.

[billtex]

Hodag1 wrote:
I went from an Outfitter Apex 9.5 to a Lance 1040 and do not notice much difference in the handling. I also see no difference in the mileage.

That is interesting.
It would be great if you started a thread about your experience with the 2 campers.
I think many would find your perspective interesting.
I know I would like to hear more!

Tx, Bill

[Hodag1]

I went from an Outfitter Apex 9.5 to a Lance 1040 and do not notice much difference in the handling. I also see no difference in the mileage.

[pjay9]

Another point, after you have digested this and probably much more information, then start making decisions, it would be good to ask about specifics...then you'll get more detailed input. You can see the quality of the comments and the thoughfulness. Go Hardside! You'll like it. Good luck!

[SamCol]

Everybody thanks for all the good info. Makes my decisions much easier.

[mike_mck]

I have had 2 hardside campers over the years. Both 11 foot caribou's. 92 and 96.
Both big and heavy.
The first was on a 94 F350 Dually. I did notice significant sway while cornering or more so turning out of a parking lot.

My current rig is a F550 with a pick up bed. Found the rig that is right for me.
Stock and handles the camper like it isn't there in stock form.

There have been a couple comments about set up so I will share a story from last summer.

Went to the Rim country with a group of friends with their toy haulers. I got ther a bit late so had lots of unneeded help to set up. I pulled in put the truck in Park and when the group asked what they could do to help set up My response was I put it in park, I'm set up. Now ask why I have a hard side TC :{)

[DWeikert]

SugarHillCTD wrote:
One thing to keep in mind- some of this is going to come down to experience.

The first time I drove our truck carrying a TC I was very uncomfortable behind the wheel. The truck was properly set up but I was not used to driving with such a heavy cargo.

But over a period of time I got used to how it behaved and became much more comfortable.

It will never handle like a sports car, but now with an even heavier TC I have no problems with twisty back roads. Experience.

Wise words spoken here. Until recently, my daily driver was a Mitsubishi Eclipse. Needless to say when I load the camper on the truck and hit the road the drive is VERY different and can take a few miles to feel comfortable.

The moral here is, don't let the very first impression behind the wheel unnerve you. It's not going to handle like your car. But provided you're not extremely overloaded it will soon feel normal.

[SugarHillCTD]

One thing to keep in mind- some of this is going to come down to experience.

The first time I drove our truck carrying a TC I was very uncomfortable behind the wheel. The truck was properly set up but I was not used to driving with such a heavy cargo.

But over a period of time I got used to how it behaved and became much more comfortable.

It will never handle like a sports car, but now with an even heavier TC I have no problems with twisty back roads. Experience.

[sky_free]

I was worried about the exact same thing before getting our rig. This is the kind of thing that is difficult or impossible to test drive before purchasing. I am amazed at how flat it tracks around corners for an almost 13,000 lbs and winds are a non-issue. The one thing I wish I had more of is power.

[dadwolf2]

I've had a pop-up and now a hardside. I didn't notice any difference in the way the truck handled. If a truck needs some suspension assistance I usually recommend SuperSprings because as an added bonus it really reduces sway too. If your truck doesn't need a suspension assist but you want some additional sway control a Roadmaster or Hellwig sway bar will take care of that (make sure your shocks are good).

There are pros and cons to pop-up vs hardside but unless you really need to duck under low branches or rock outcroppings, IMO, go with a hardside. My hardside is only a couple hundred pounds heavier than my prior pop-up.

[jefe_4x4]

One of the reasons we selected a hardside is that we do a fair amount of stealth or camo camping. See Tioga George's Blog for details. Can't really call it camping, maybe vagabonding or traveling under the radar, as there is nothing outside the truck to indicate any camping. That's the nut: nothing changes shape once you are parked, pull down the shades, and you're in for the night. Truth is we have gotten used to that 240 sq. ft. of living space, know the tight quarters ballet, (also known as the 'belly up, get flatter, pass, and rebound') and were just lucky the day we bought the 165-s that it happen to fit our needs then and well into the future when set up time and effort, and exposure to noise and weather were less desirable.
I'm thinking we could have gotten used to an OUTFITTER! or other high bucks pop-up as time rounds off the edges as you use it, but we're used to what we have and that works for us. YMMV.
IF......I came into a lot of $, I would think mightily toward ordering an XP camper as it has the best of both worlds and a lot of well thought out features. Diesel Appliances? Yep. Aerodynamic? You bet. Just the 'cool' factor is worth something. It has a very slight change of shape, but the shape is so foreign anyway who would know if it has changed shape or not?
I found an 10' Alaskan, hard side pop up, stored inside, in a time warp it looks so unused. The price is right but i have a short bed and this would only work with a long bed with the tailgate down as support for something made in the 1970's. It's pretty heavy. It's still for sale in the Bay Area.
jefe

[rskeans]

Before my 5ver I had a very heavy camper on my RAM. Lots of sway. Added some overload leaf springs and a Helwig sway bar. Made for a very stable setup. But, DW wanted her 5ver back. So I lost.

[kohldad]

I to do a lot of mountain driving and never had a problem with my Lance 815 and 2004 Dodge 3500 with single rear wheels. Only thing I added was the stable loads to engage the overload springs sooner. Think the trick is to not be near the capacity of the truck.

On my new 2015 Ram 3500 with single rear wheels, I have noticed more leaning but still not bad. However, I have not added the stable loads to this truck yet.

A rear anti-sway bar, such as hellwig, is also an option and will greatly help too.

One of the reasons we went with a hard side is we have access to 100% of the items 100% of the time. Granted it isn't hard or take very long to pop the top, but because I stop often, it would be a pain to do it. Much prefer the full height without popping.

[SamCol]

Jefe4x4
Been doing a lot of moteling and tent camping on my fishing and hiking trips. Time for a change. Either pop up or hard side.

[GeoBoy]

When I had my 2006 Northstar Arrow, I installed Timbren's and that really got rid of any sway.