The best two days of a camper owner's life

[Fisher_Bill]

Well we said goodby to our 2000 Arctic Fox 1140 last Saturday, signed, sealed and delivered.

Now to fill that empty feeling (in our driveway) with a new to us Fifth wheel.

We're looking at a 2010 North Shore Select Model with a rear kitchen, problem is we need to travel 4+ hours to see it but hope to make a decision this weekend.

I cannot begin to thank everyone on this particular forum for all of the knowledge I've gained about RV's in general, always been a great resource and a great bunch of members so I'll always monitor the camper section but will now spend time learning about 5ers.

Happy travels,

Bill

[deltabravo]

DutchmenSport wrote:
When I saw the title of your post, I immediately thought, "The 2 best days? ... the day you buy it, the day you sell it."

That was exactly my conclusion too.

I love my Arctic Fox 811. I bought it new in 2009, 2 months after buying the truck. I bought the truck specifically to haul a truck camper.
I downsized from a Desert Fox toy hauler, and used the funds from that sale to make a huge down payment on the truck.

[anutami]

Two best days for us are always the next two....

[SidecarFlip]

Good luck to you as well. My wife and I looked at a TT at one time but the kind of camping we do, it don't work. You cannot take a trailered RV off road. It is nice to have the storage but it's not nice to deal with in out scenario.

[Bob_Shaw]

Ok, two best days, the day you buy it and the first day of camping in it.

[jimh406]

Good luck finding your next "right" one.

[Fisher_Bill]

I guess one of the factors was once we land I've never felt like dismounting the camper so we can drive around, looks easier to drop landing gear and pull pin and go, it will be a new experience for sure, BTW, I been pulling ocean boats most of my adult life so not worried too much about tight places (Yet!)

[Namlehse]

As someone that's coming from a 5th wheel, going to a TC.. I think you're going to be surprised how much work it is to set one up and tear it down. More so the work comes from taking it place to place as well. You have to be so careful when picking your routes, finding parks you can fit in, planning so far a head that it's just not worth it.

Setup and teardown generally took an hour or two and that's with the hydraulic leveling. We LOVED our 5th wheel, however it was a huge hassle to take anywhere, so much so that it wasn't worth it for anything less than three days. Add to that most people can't take a 5th wheel home meaning you're forced to find storage when it's not in use. Then you have to take everything to it, pack, and then hitch up to go.

For us, we're going to a TC to ease the burden of dealing with a 5th wheel lol.

We took a net loss of around $2,200 from buying to selling. The key is to buy at the best possible price. Was only listed for two weeks when we sold it. I will miss the storage however.

[Fisher_Bill]

You are right in saying many good days, we took a chance on this camper because it was knocked down in a drive way and we bought it from a business that buys totaled rigs at auction so it was a good deal and they were proud of their work.

The reason we're so happy is because everyone told us we'd never get our money back out of it but the CL gods shined down on us and we actually came out ahead.

That just does not happen for us thus the title.

While we were able to use it 5-6 times a year on my best days it took a whole hour to;

Remove tonneau cover
remove tailgate
Add super truss
jack up camper
load camper
tie down camper

Now we're looking forward to a 5-10 minute hitching and go, I think we'll make many more weekend trips because of it.

DutchmenSport wrote:
When I saw the title of your post, I immediately thought, "The 2 best days? ... the day you buy it, the day you sell it."

I don't think I really agree with that though. Not a truck camper, but we've had many, many, many "best days" with all of our campers. It's hard to say which one was "best".

Congrats on your new purchase, and keep fond those memories of your Truck Camper. Your experiences will be a bit different now, .... not bad at all... just different. Embrace the changes and enjoy every moment you have!

And ... nothing wrong with reading and contributing to all the various forums either!

[DutchmenSport]

When I saw the title of your post, I immediately thought, "The 2 best days? ... the day you buy it, the day you sell it."

I don't think I really agree with that though. Not a truck camper, but we've had many, many, many "best days" with all of our campers. It's hard to say which one was "best".

Congrats on your new purchase, and keep fond those memories of your Truck Camper. Your experiences will be a bit different now, .... not bad at all... just different. Embrace the changes and enjoy every moment you have!

And ... nothing wrong with reading and contributing to all the various forums either!

[LadyRVer]

Congrats.... you will find the right fifth-wheel. Good luck with the 2010 you are looking at. I like to check the truck camper section and I have a fifth-wheel... LOL. Have a 2500, long bed, so if I watch weight and length, I should be able to find something if I decide to go that route.