NEW GUY Looking for Best Hard Side TC for light off roading

[Scars1989]

So here is my story i am 25 ill be buying a Ford F-350 Dually Super Cab (or extended if u prefer basicly not a 4 door ) with a 8' bed
i am 100% noob to truck campers but not to trucks and off roading but i am also not calling my self a expert
before i get into campers i would like to know what is more important having super light weight how much would be to much with a 6k payload and COG... how do the 2 specs come in to play with off roading i know the COG need to be at or forward of the rear axle beyond that i don't know much
i would like to define the off roading ill be doing it will mostly be on trails but if i need to i would like to be able to travel off trails if i need get to the right camping spot but no MAJOR rock crawling or mud bogging
that said i would like to also have a 6'' lift and 3'' body lift for when i do not have the TC with me. would this lead to way to tall and unstable.
also what is too tall too
as for camper i know i want a hard-side i like them best and ill be going to mostly cold climates. with bears and other not so friendly wild life (i know they got collapsible kinda and the clamshell like the Alaskan dont like dont want i would rather not be able to do or go certain places then not have the hard side.
i would like but not need a dry bath but the toilet has to be the flushing kind
i dont need a slide but if i found one light enough it would be a +
and lastly i would take a larger fridge with the freezer attached over a oven

any imput and info would be great

[Sheriffdoug]

anutami wrote:
I have some experience with light offroading with hard sides. I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a camper, how comfortable you want to be, how much room you need and what type of camping you will be doing.

I started with a northstar laredo, which had the best offroad capability of the campers I have owned. It had the smallest holding tanks, and the cassette toilet filled up in one day. I am not able to dump my tanks while boondocking in anza borrego state park. Sleeping was okay when my kids were very small


My next camper an eagle cap 800 was wider and taller, still great offroad hard side. It provided larger holding tanks but still was a non-basement camper and lacked a bunk bed for my son. As my kids continued to grow I needed more room.


Awesome trip & photos, Thank You.

Then I found the perfect offroad camper (except for the tie downs...that is another story)
The wolf creek 850. This camper is perfect for light off road use. It is taller and I get a bit more sway than the eagle cap, but has huge holding tank capacity, and comfortable sleeping room for a family of 4. I would recommend buy used and find out what you want then upgrade to the camper you really want. Also, I have never seen a dually when we go out on the jeep trails with the camper.


Good luck
Nolan

[whizbang]

DJ has exactly the right rig for 4 wheeling.

A dually is going to be too wide for some trails. A SRW is better.

A regular cab or extended cab SHORT bed is a better choice than a crew cab long bed. A shorter wheel base is less likely to get high centered, and is easier to turn around when you hit a dead end.

Lastly, a pop-up will have a lower center of gravity and will rock and sway less as well as provide better overhead clearance.

And stay with a light weight camper. There is absolutely nothing worse than pounding down a bad road with a seriously overloaded truck.

This isn't just arm chair advice. We've been wheeling campers for 10 years and learning the hard way by doing it wrong with long, tall, overweight rigs.

Post pics when you get set up. Have fun.

[Sheriffdoug]

~DJ~ wrote:

sky_free wrote:


Nice, but he was asking about a hardside.

Hardside or pop up makes no difference in ground clearance. I am just showing what a truck is capable of with a 4" lift.

DJ, Beautiful Rig.

I would not use DRW for offroad use, yours is perfect. Popup Camper & SRW(single rear wheel). Then you can go seriously offroad.

I am currently having a 2008 Ford E350 Sportsmobile 4x4 6.0 diesel penthouse being built at the moment as a second Camper to my Ram 3500 Crew & Eagle Cap 1160(monster tc.

Before, during & after.

















This is how my E350 6.0 diesel will look when finished.

Theres all kinds of vehicles. So, I will have the best of both worlds.

[MORSNOW]

bka0721 wrote:
Now get out there and get some dust and dirt on your own Truck Camper! :B

b

Ya Buddy!

[bka0721]

twodownzero wrote:
That is really awesome that you guys have taken your campers to such remote places.

What else would we do with them? Sit in a campground or my Aunt Alice's driveway? Heck, I could have spent the same money I spent on my Truck and Camper and got a really nice new Motorhome and done just that.

Now get out there and get some dust and dirt on your own Truck Camper! :B

b

[jefe_4x4]

I tried answering here but the server dumped me off into the ether.
Decide on a TC first.
Decide on a truck that is way more than what you need, typically a SRW F350/3500 with all the suspension bells and whistles, including secondaries. A short bed has a shorter turning cirle and thus better off-road. Fewer TC's are available for a shortbed but there is a market for them and the ones I've seen are very good.
Remember, too much truck and a not-so-tall, narrow, lightweight camper is a good thing, off-road.
Keep all the heavy stuff down low.
Depending on how far out you want to get, off-road, a small lift is not bad. Remember the farther you get away from stock the more woes you will have, off-road.
You want some traction aids to keep you going forward, but I don't think a front locker for a TC is needed. Why? Because if you are going to get your axles twisted up enough to need a front locker, you will need more than that to survive. What? By this time you will need to consider a pivoting frame flat bed, either a 3-point or a 4 point diamond shape so as not to pull your camper apart. If you are only on dirt roads, you won't need the lift or traction help beyond the factory rear limited slip. (mostly for surviving roads without the camper on. Not enough ground pressure on the rr axle.)
In any case, get there by degrees. I call it Incrementalism. It's not good or bad it just is.
If I were to go out right now and buy a Truck Camper, it would be a Lance 865 for a short bed. Several of the others mentioned above are tantalizing but way too heavy for me. So, check the actual weight of the prospective camper, not the advertised or guessed at weight.
Carry on. Here's our rig on Soda Dry Lake on the Mojave Road in March:

regards, as always, jefe

[Redsky]

One does not buy a DRW truck to go offroad. There is no need for a DRW truck unless the total load on the rear axles, truck and camper, is going to weigh more than 8,500 lbs. (otherwise SRW with 19.5 rims and tires is an option to get more than the 7500 lbs. possible with stock rims and tires on a SRW truck.

For offroad use I want as narrow and short a vehicle as possible. A DRW crew cab pickup truck with or without a camper is the worst possible choice. Try to find a single military vehicle that has DRW - they don't exist.

[twodownzero]

That is really awesome that you guys have taken your campers to such remote places.

[c_traveler2]

Scars1989 wrote:
So here is my story i am 25 ill be buying a Ford F-350 Dually Super Cab (or extended if u prefer basicly not a 4 door ) with a 8' bed
i am 100% noob to truck campers but not to trucks and off roading but i am also not calling my self a expert
before i get into campers i would like to know what is more important having super light weight how much would be to much with a 6k payload and COG... how do the 2 specs come in to play with off roading i know the COG need to be at or forward of the rear axle beyond that i don't know much
i would like to define the off roading ill be doing it will mostly be on trails but if i need to i would like to be able to travel off trails if i need get to the right camping spot but no MAJOR rock crawling or mud bogging
that said i would like to also have a 6'' lift and 3'' body lift for when i do not have the TC with me. would this lead to way to tall and unstable.
also what is too tall too
as for camper i know i want a hard-side i like them best and ill be going to mostly cold climates. with bears and other not so friendly wild life (i know they got collapsible kinda and the clamshell like the Alaskan dont like dont want i would rather not be able to do or go certain places then not have the hard side.
i would like but not need a dry bath but the toilet has to be the flushing kind
i dont need a slide but if i found one light enough it would be a +
and lastly i would take a larger fridge with the freezer attached over a oven

any imput and info would be great

Welcome to the Truck Camper forum, several of us TCers have hard sides camper and go off road. I myself have a lance 815 (2002), which has worked out very well on different back country trails/roads. Go into the Truck Camper Trip Report and you'll many back country reports and you can see what rigs have been used in these reports.

With Ford's frame flex I personally wouldn't lift my truck with a hard side camper on it, that would increase the the side to side motion that happens during off road stressing components even further than what normally occurs. Keep your camper as low as possible.

Lippincott Pass, Death Valley NP


White Rim Trail, Canyonlands, Ut. jefe4x4 is with us in Dodge with a Lance 165s.


Our trip on the Old Mojave Road through the Joshua Tree Forest, jefe4x4 and c.traver2





White Rim Trail/green River side


South Draw 4x4 trail, outside Capitol Reef NP


As you can see by several of the above photos width is just important as height is.

[anutami]

I have some experience with light offroading with hard sides. I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a camper, how comfortable you want to be, how much room you need and what type of camping you will be doing.

I started with a northstar laredo, which had the best offroad capability of the campers I have owned. It had the smallest holding tanks, and the cassette toilet filled up in one day. I am not able to dump my tanks while boondocking in anza borrego state park. Sleeping was okay when my kids were very small


My next camper an eagle cap 800 was wider and taller, still great offroad hard side. It provided larger holding tanks but still was a non-basement camper and lacked a bunk bed for my son. As my kids continued to grow I needed more room.


Then I found the perfect offroad camper (except for the tie downs...that is another story)
The wolf creek 850. This camper is perfect for light off road use. It is taller and I get a bit more sway than the eagle cap, but has huge holding tank capacity, and comfortable sleeping room for a family of 4. I would recommend buy used and find out what you want then upgrade to the camper you really want. Also, I have never seen a dually when we go out on the jeep trails with the camper.


Good luck
Nolan

[dadwolf2]

Scars1989 wrote:

dadwolf2 wrote:
Dually's are not the best offroad vehicle choice either.

I've had this debate before what's your to cents

My two cents are the same as what I found on Pirate4x4:
"The problems with wheeling a dually are the width, the lack of traction due to ground pressure when unloaded, rocks getting stuck between the duals and they are usually a horribly long wheelbase so they get high-centered easily and take a football field to turn around. It can be done but you are extremely limited."

[KD4UPL]

Northstar campers should be high on your list. A used Lance 815 or 835 would work. A new 825 might be a good choice. Arctic Fox 811 would be another model to look at.
As for the truck there's no way I'd run a body lift and a TC due to the weight not being supported well in the bed.
A suspension lift may work but I'd keep it small. How about a 3 or 4" lift, trim the fenders if you need even larger tires. If you get really wide tires you may need dually brackets on your camper jacks just to clear the tires.

[Scars1989]

dadwolf2 wrote:
Dually's are not the best offroad vehicle choice either.

I've had this debate before what's your to cents

[dadwolf2]

If you are intent on going with a large lift than I think the offroad camp trailer might be your best choice. There are many available and made in the USA. If you aren't in a hurry, attend next year's (May) Overland Expo to see a wide variety of them in person.

[RobertRyan]

sue.t wrote:
Maybe consider a trailer designed for off-roading. Off-road "caravans" are popular in Australia.

Here's one option:
http://www.conqueror.co.za/commander.php

That would be a Campertrailer not Caravan here. The one shown is a South Arican built example that is sold here.