The Truck Camper experience comes to an end...

[sky_free]

Today we sold our F350 after selling the Arctic Fox 990 a few weeks ago. We were able to get exactly what we paid for the AF 990 after owning it for 2-years, so that was nice. It sold in 4 days after listing it on Craigslist. We weren't so lucky with the F350. Bought it for $29K and sold it for $23K 2 years later. Turns out very few people are interested in a gasser dually, but it did eventually sell so I can't complain, and the 2-year depreciation of $6k for both isn't too bad.

We decided to sell because we didn't use it as much as we thought we would, and keeping a truck that is only used for hauling the camper is fairly expensive. Add in the storage lot monthly fee and the hot market for RV's and it seemed like a good time. Both the truck and TC require maintenance and it was hard to find time for that.

The AF 990 was super comfortable and functional in every way, but we did end up with a couple of leaks: One from Dicor failure at the front of the cabover that resulted in water pooling on the underside of the cabover with delamination (disclosed to buyer of course). The delam wasn't significant, but was annoying considering the fact that it only spent 2 years outside. I got a quote of $2K to fix it from Northwoods. The other was the skylight over the bathroom. Small cracks developed in 3 of the 4 corners and that thing leaked a surprising amount for such small cracks. The solution was to put Dicor in all 4 corners, but it took me a couple of months to figure out where the water was coming in because I couldn't see them until I got really close. Northwoods said the strong California sun was to blame for that one:? No damage from that leak luckily.

We will be going back to a TT and are going smaller this time. We ordered an Escape 19 that won't be built until Spring 2017. They are only 7' wide and not very tall so we can park it on the side of the house and not pay for storage. Fiberglass construction should be mostly leak-free. If we only use it 3-4 times a year it's not as big of a deal for it to sit there than it was for the truck we sold.

Thanks to everyone here for the great information that helped us along the way!

[sky_free]

getpower1 wrote:
Funny, I kept looking at that truck on cl and almost called to come and look at it. Even though it was gas, there was a draw to it being so new. Couldn't figure out in my head how to work out that amount of money for what I needed though.

Good luck with your new setup.

Ha ha -- it's a small world. I got about 100 calls about it, but everyone seemed to want to tow huge trailers. One guy wanted to lop off 2 of the rear wheels to put a SRW utility bed on it. One wanted to tow a 35' 5er. One guy was bringing over a check and when he got here realized it wasn't a diesel (it was clearly stated in the ad) and drove home disappointed. I ended up spending lots of time educating people and it was kind of a nightmare. The truck was perfect for a large TC, but unfortunately I couldn't say anything here where people are looking for trucks like that due to forum rules.

[getpower1]

Funny, I kept looking at that truck on cl and almost called to come and look at it. Even though it was gas, there was a draw to it being so new. Couldn't figure out in my head how to work out that amount of money for what I needed though.

Good luck with your new setup.

[nomadictxn]

Sky, you make valid points for moving on. I am trying to hang on to my camper and move on to a much newer non slide camper my truck will handle, like a North Star or possibly a Wolf Creek. Whenever I bring it up, the little lady says slide out or TT. I like small and easy, she likes complicated. A 25 ft. minimum trailer with slide or something like your AF 990. That would require a dually for a heavy TC lIke that. (I have a perfectly good truck already). I personally am only interested in 21 ft. TTs or less. Maybe, I will stay quiet and just keep the old lance.
Anyway, best of luck to you sir!

[jmtandem]

Storage was running me $840 / year, but mostly I just hated going back and forth to the storage lot to get it. Having the TT next to the house will be much better. Annual registration was $550. Insurance for the truck and camper another $650 or so. So not really cheaper to keep it, but I get your point. The main issue is that it's just less work to not have to deal with all that.

We all do things because we want to regardless if the dollars really make it a good deal. Your truck camper had no DMV registration like the new trailer will, no tires, no wheel bearings, no 55 mph limit on the highway, etc. It just rode on the truck. I went from an 11 foot truck camper on a dually crew cab to a 31 foot TT and always look back to the simplicity/maneuverability of the TC. I cannot imagine any TC being too large but that is just me. I hope your new set up works well. We have a VW Jetta that has 143,000 miles and it is still doing what it did when new. Reliability should not be an issue with your VW and when they sort out the new/modified/legal or whatever really is the root issue for diesel emissions I might even purchase a new one.

I totally get the storage yard issue. My RV sits on the side of my house.

[sky_free]

jimh425 wrote:
That is small and quite a change. What are you going to tow it with?

The same VW Touareg TDI we towed our original TT with. This one will be at least 800 lbs lighter though. It tows 5,000 lbs comfortably and is rated for 7,700 (although I would never want to tow that much with it!). The one problem is that it has over 100K miles on it now. Still pretty much like new though, and no problems. Maybe after Dieselgate blows over I can get a new one.

Small = yes. One of the mistakes we made with the AF 990 is that it's actually too big. If I had gotten a SRW truck and a smaller non-slide fiberglass TC (Northern Lite or Bigfoot) I think we would still have it. The DRW truck wasn't really great for anything other than hauling the TC. A short-bed SRW super-cab would have been a lot more useful. This is a sad side-bar, but about 6-months before we got the truck we ended up with, I was offered a NEW 2012 F250 SB Supercab 6.7 diesel at a dealership for $37K. It had sat on their lot for more than a year and they just wanted to get rid of it. I have some regrets about not jumping on that.

RoyB wrote:
I have really been yearning for hard sides and being more sustained for my off-road camping in my final years here... The truck camper was always a big dream for me having lived near the high country of AZ and all of the dispersed camping around there... I guess every now calls that MELLO MIKE country haha...

This wasn't a great off-road setup. Carrying somewhere around 5,000 lbs around causes a lot of side-side rocking. The almost 12' height was a real limitation in the woods. Again, smaller would have been better. The TT will be used the same way we used the TC -- mild gravel roads at the most. We have a couple of very long trips planned to the east coast and Alaska.

jmtandem wrote:
How far would $6000 go in truck maintenance and camper storage? Sometimes keeping something is really less expensive than getting rid of it and starting all over with something new. But, if you just had the itch to get new and a TT, I can understand that as well.

Storage was running me $840 / year, but mostly I just hated going back and forth to the storage lot to get it. Having the TT next to the house will be much better. Annual registration was $550. Insurance for the truck and camper another $650 or so. So not really cheaper to keep it, but I get your point. The main issue is that it's just less work to not have to deal with all that.

profdant139 wrote:
The good news is that with an Escape and a decent truck you will still be able to get to some pretty remote areas for camping -- not quite like a TC, but still a lot of fun. (Ask me how I know!) Are you going to flip the axles or lift it in some fashion?

Escape has a high-lift axle option that lifts it 2". I may go for that, but not planning any serious off-road like you do. I enjoy your posts about where you go with your setup! For the off road I do I have a set of 17" wheels with BFG AT K02's for the Touareg that allow me some great mobility. I just sleep in the back. It's a lot more nimble than the F350 dually was, even completely unloaded. If I can't get another Touareg TDI when this one is done, I'll probably get a 4Runner.

This is an example of what we did with the old TT:

jmtandem wrote:

If I read correctly the Arctic Fox truck camper suffered no depreciation in this transaction. They sold it for what they paid for it. The Ford gasser truck, however, suffered $6000 depreciation. That is a chuck of change for something that could be used every day and could pull their new TT.

OK, full disclosure is that I did get a screaming deal when I bought the Arctic Fox TC. The guy that sold it to me took about a $9K loss in 1 year. He was loaded and didn't care. I was lucky. That's not typical, but Arctic Fox is a well respected brand and does better than some on resale in most situations. As for the truck pulling the TT, that would be massive overkill and my wife doesn't like the mostly unloaded ride. Not being able to use it every day around here was a large chunk of the problem. It's too big for me to park where I work.

I will also enjoy the 60+-% increase in mileage I expect pulling this TT. Even on my old 8' wide, 4,500 lb TT I was getting 14.5 MPG. With the Escape I'm thinking maybe around 17.

[jmtandem]

I,M with you if you don,t use it sell it,rv,s and trucks just siting around are a very poor investment they loose money every day,and you still have to take care of them enjoy your new out fit.

If I read correctly the Arctic Fox truck camper suffered no depreciation in this transaction. They sold it for what they paid for it. The Ford gasser truck, however, suffered $6000 depreciation. That is a chuck of change for something that could be used every day and could pull their new TT. But, different strokes for different folks. It is too late to do anything now anyway. They are both sold.

[noteven]

jimh425 wrote:
That is small and quite a change. What are you going to tow it with?

[profdant139]

The good news is that with an Escape and a decent truck you will still be able to get to some pretty remote areas for camping -- not quite like a TC, but still a lot of fun. (Ask me how I know!) Are you going to flip the axles or lift it in some fashion?

[midnightsadie]

I,M with you if you don,t use it sell it,rv,s and trucks just siting around are a very poor investment they loose money every day,and you still have to take care of them enjoy your new out fit.

[jmtandem]

Turns out very few people are interested in a gasser dually, but it did eventually sell so I can't complain, and the 2-year depreciation of $6k for both isn't too bad.

How far would $6000 go in truck maintenance and camper storage? Sometimes keeping something is really less expensive than getting rid of it and starting all over with something new. But, if you just had the itch to get new and a TT, I can understand that as well.

[RoyB]

Looks like you sure had a nice truck camper setup... I would have figured out a way to keep it haha... The only way to go bigger would be the side door entrance and slide for the rear.

I have really been yearning for hard sides and being more sustained for my off-road camping in my final years here... The truck camper was always a big dream for me having lived near the high country of AZ and all of the dispersed camping around there... I guess every now calls that MELLO MIKE country haha... I always had to much goddies that went me everywhere i would go. Not much storage space associated with Truck Campers. It unbelievable how much 'junk' I can carry in my 5x8 front deck, truck bed, and rear seat area...

When you make it to the mid 70s age group I guess they are all just pipe dreams now... Old dogs, children, and watermellon wine is about all that is left so say Tom T...

Roy Ken

[1ofmany]

Sounds like you actually made out pretty well in getting out of your previous combo...how the next segment of your rving life goes well.

[jimh406]

That is small and quite a change. What are you going to tow it with?