truck camper or class c?

[NatParkJunkie]

After years of dreaming, I'm planning on buying my first RV this year! I've looked at truck campers and class C's, and I'm torn between the two styles. As I've been evaluating them, I can see definite pros and cons to both, so this post is looking for some feedback from real world experiences from other owners.

about me: I'm an IT consultant, with the ability to work pretty much anywhere as long as I have a reliable internet connection (Verizon grandfathered unlimited data plan). It will be me traveling solo, with the dog. I finally talked my boss into letting me work remotely part-time. Boss made a contingency that I have to have a fixed location (slight bummer, but still moving in the right direction). So I'm planning on spending next winter down south in the general Phoenix area, and back home in Pennsylvania for the summer. The goal will be to establish a general home base at one or maybe two campgrounds somewhere around Phoenix, with the ability to take weekend trips wherever I can.

When vacationing, I love visiting state and national parks out west. I keep eyeballing truck campers as the perfect setup for visiting the parks. They're much more compact to drive around, and you have the ability to offload the camper to use the truck for touring the parks. My biggest concern is overall living space, since I'm still working 40+ hours a week, and also want some space for lounging and kicking up the feet at the end of the day when not visiting a park somewhere. As I've been looking at tuck campers, that leads me to the Lance 1172 that has a dinette/table/desk space for working, and a couch for relaxing.

Looking at the overall length of truck plus camper, I then start thinking I may as well get a 25-26 foot class C that has probably more living and working space with the same overall length. However then I need to tow a toad to get around. Both because when I'm set up working for the week, I won't want to move the camper to get some figurative milk, and I've visited enough national parks to know that I definitely don't want to drive around a class C for touring the parks on a weekend getaway.

Either way, I need to buy a truck camper and a 1 ton truck, or buy a class C and a new tow vehicle, because my car is not flat towable and I don't really want to deal with towing it on a trailer. I'm torn on both types of setups. I see pros and cons of both, neither of which is winning. Looking in the lightly used market, the initial purchase cost of both options seems roughly comparable to each other.
I'm leaning slightly more towards the truck camper route right now.
Does anyone have any advice? Have you switched from a truck camper to a class C or a class C to a truck camper and prefer one or the other? I would appreciate any thoughts or feedback before I start spending lots of money! 🙂

thanks!

[Grit_dog]

No "perfect", do everything well solution imo. That's why there s so many types of RVs.
TC = best for exploring, short term living, not having to tow a toad and of course "cool factor". Lol.


Moho and a toad are practical for full timing, basically what you're doing, but not as convienent for those weekend trips away from base camp, up into the woods.
Truck and TT = kind of the same as the Moho and toad except the toad is pulling the house instead of the other way around.
Ultimate combo for what you're planning for activities imo would be a HD pickup with a lightweight pop up camper for adventuring and a reasonable TT for base camp.

I'm think I'm also a fan of using a pickup truck vs dedicated motor home. Pickup is more versatile.

[maxum1989]

To me, the only reason for you to go the truck camper route would be if you already owned a capable truck. You don't so Class C all the way. I am a pro truck camper guy and I am still saying Class C. I own a truck camper because I already had the truck for pulling my fifth wheel.

[jaycocreek]

There are places,atleast in Idaho,where they do not allow people to take off there pickup campers.They must stay on the pickup at all times.I found this out in Boise Idaho when renting a space for my pickup camper.

[NatParkJunkie]

bka0721 wrote:

NatParkJunkie wrote:

bka0721 wrote:

For me, I use a get around vehicle, motorcycles, for most of my traveling time. Boondocking my TC and going out exploring or running to the store. But a couple of years back I purchased a separate vehicle (Ford Ranger Truck) and installed it in a location

b

thanks bka0721
out of curiosity, why do you use a separate vehicle for running around instead of the truck that the camper sits on? ie: take the TC off the truck and leave it at the campsite.

Hi. Good question. Let me see if I can answer this in a relatable way.

The honest answer is, I don't want to.

It is just too much risk and work, as I carry my camper full time and it has been on the truck since 2009. There has been much discussion over the years of Who or Who Does Not take their campers off once they get to their destination or home. You will find it is more of a rare occasion for someone to take their camper off.

The other factor is my truck is set up for Boondocking and I would lose the ability to access my propane tank and additional potable water tanks. My range for propane is up to 5 months (my time in the National Park) between refills, including weeks below freezing. My range for potable water/gray/black is up to 8 weeks. Only because I have never gone longer and suspect I could but I eventually need to go and get groceries and mail.

The final reason is economics. To be honest, the cost in what fuel and servicing my Diesel truck, for 2016, would be greater than what my 2004 Ford Ranger Truck cost to purchase, used. I commuted my first summer back as a Ranger (I first started in 1977 for 6 seasons) on my BMW GSA during temps in the teens, rain, snow and forest fires and knew I wouldn't return for another season commuting on a Motorcycle. Good used vehicles can be found for very little money. With an F550, your MPG will reflect it's capability and great ability to carry a large load and tow, as well.

If you are planning on taking your camper on and off often, IMHO you will grow tired of this procedure very quickly. It is definitely an advantage for TC owners, but often used by those going out for a weekend or vacation. I do see some of my fellow NPS TC owners taking their campers off and using their trucks in the way you are curious about. But in this situation they are in place for 5 to 6 months and a less complicated set up than I have.

Thanks for bringing a good question here for others to consider too.

b

This is good info too. My thought was to take the camper off and use the truck to drive around. If more people full/part timing end up leaving the camper on the truck all the time, then the class c plus towing a little jeep is making more sense to me.

[NatParkJunkie]

With either style of vehicle, I'm planning on buying used. Although if I go with the TC route, I will probably buy a new truck and a used TC. Lightly used trucks seem to cost about the same if not more than a new truck. and cheaper trucks all have 100K+ miles (don't really want to start with a truck with that many miles).
This is probably going to sound stupid, but budget isn't my main concern. I obviously don't want to spend money unnecessarily, but I'm willing to spend a little more over a longer period of time if I find something that I think will be a better fit. Most of the TC and class C's that I've looked at have been on the east coast, since that's relatively easy for me to get to to see. The first TC I went to look at was a 2002ish Lance for $7K, and I also looked at the new lance 1172 for $50K, and some class C's in between there.

[jaycocreek]

Have you switched from a truck camper to a class C or a class C to a truck camper and prefer one or the other? I would appreciate any thoughts or feedback before I start spending lots of money!

I sold a truck and camper to buy a class C that was capable of everything the truck camper combo was but with more room.Ground clearance was one of my big concerns because all of our camping is done off road in the hills of Idaho.

I finally found one with the clearance of a good 3/4 ton pickup and short enough not to be bothered by most dips or water bars.A 21ft class C with room you just don't see in truck campers..I can take this C anywhere I took my truck camper combo (2wd).

I own a 30ft travel trailer but the length of the combination truck/trailer limited where I could take it.Trailers are for dropping off and using the truck,not taking it back into where you want to go in this country.

With the C I can either tow a small pickup like the Mazda I used to tow with my 24'Beaver or take an ATV trailer and use my Yamaha Rhino to explore where know truck can go.

Yes,the C is harder to work on engine wise but most C's are way lower in miles for the price.Each outdoorsman has his own needs for his area of interest so one shoe don't fit all,in my case the C was a better choice than another truck combo.

[jimh406]

tmartin000 wrote:
There is no way that spending the amount of money you are going to spend for a truck camper AND a Truck is smart.

I guess all of us who have a truck and truck camper are "dumb". 🙂 Of course, that's not true, but we all have to match our situation, and it isn't all about money.

If the argument is about cheaper and the RV will stay in one place for a period of time, then it seems to me a pickup with TT would be the best solution. TTs have one of the cheapest prices per sq ft and there are a lot of used ones on the market.

[tmartin000]

Without a budget from the op, debating the two options is going to render most debates useless.

[thedavidzoo]

Last note.....If you want to spend more and unlike the whiner complaining about lack of quality in the "insulation", then buy a Bigfoot Class C and you WILL BE comfortable in cold wx.

Ahem, calling me a "whiner" is kinda unnecessary. I was just pointing out something the OP might want to consider in the big scheme of things. Of course you can always throw way more money at something and buy "better". Sheeesh.

[kohldad]

Good luck finding a Truck and camper for under $75K that aren't a piece of shizzle.

Brand new diesel truck and used camper totaled less than $50k. Been using the camper for 8 years now with under $100 in repairs. Camper today is worth as much as what I paid for it.

Replaced the truck two years ago with a special ordered gasser, rig would still be under $50k though a diesel would have pushed it to %51k.

[pastorbillv]

My Bigfoot Class C is fully four season and just fine in the winter. My Northern-Lite Camper is also fully four season and just fine in the winter. It sits on my F-350 4WD Dually, so can also handle snow without chaining-up.

There are lots of excellent four season models of both, but you have to decide where you'll be driving relative to chains, etc.

[tmartin000]

There is no way that spending the amount of money you are going to spend for a truck camper AND a Truck is smart.

There are SO MANY class C's in the 26' and under class (new enough to be an E450 (PERFECT for towing) its CRAZY to spend 3x that for a truck/camper.

I just did Yellowstone area for 3 weeks last summer and there were a TON of smaller Class C's out West!!!!

Just think of the convenance of driving, stopping, lunching, driving....without having to get out and drag the dog around. Not every day out West is Sunny! It rains, snows, freezes.....

$25-35K ...... done. Good luck finding a Truck and camper for under $75K that aren't a piece of shizzle.

Good luck with your decision.

Last note.....If you want to spend more and unlike the whiner complaining about lack of quality in the "insulation", then buy a Bigfoot Class C and you WILL BE comfortable in cold wx.

[bka0721]

NatParkJunkie wrote:

bka0721 wrote:

For me, I use a get around vehicle, motorcycles, for most of my traveling time. Boondocking my TC and going out exploring or running to the store. But a couple of years back I purchased a separate vehicle (Ford Ranger Truck) and installed it in a location

b

thanks bka0721
out of curiosity, why do you use a separate vehicle for running around instead of the truck that the camper sits on? ie: take the TC off the truck and leave it at the campsite.

Hi. Good question. Let me see if I can answer this in a relatable way.

The honest answer is, I don't want to.

It is just too much risk and work, as I carry my camper full time and it has been on the truck since 2009. There has been much discussion over the years of Who or Who Does Not take their campers off once they get to their destination or home. You will find it is more of a rare occasion for someone to take their camper off.

The other factor is my truck is set up for Boondocking and I would lose the ability to access my propane tank and additional potable water tanks. My range for propane is up to 5 months (my time in the National Park) between refills, including weeks below freezing. My range for potable water/gray/black is up to 8 weeks. Only because I have never gone longer and suspect I could but I eventually need to go and get groceries and mail.

The final reason is economics. To be honest, the cost in what fuel and servicing my Diesel truck, for 2016, would be greater than what my 2004 Ford Ranger Truck cost to purchase, used. I commuted my first summer back as a Ranger (I first started in 1977 for 6 seasons) on my BMW GSA during temps in the teens, rain, snow and forest fires and knew I wouldn't return for another season commuting on a Motorcycle. Good used vehicles can be found for very little money. With an F550, your MPG will reflect it's capability and great ability to carry a large load and tow, as well.

If you are planning on taking your camper on and off often, IMHO you will grow tired of this procedure very quickly. It is definitely an advantage for TC owners, but often used by those going out for a weekend or vacation. I do see some of my fellow NPS TC owners taking their campers off and using their trucks in the way you are curious about. But in this situation they are in place for 5 to 6 months and a less complicated set up than I have.

Thanks for bringing a good question here for others to consider too.

b

[Photomike]

I have had both a TCer and a Class C. Loved both of them, the TCer was a lot better to go off road (not the crazy stuff just the lesser traveled places). Big draw back was that it was smaller/ less storage and the going from front to back. Love the class C but even with it being the same length of the TCer it is wider and I have issues on some roads that I travel, not the usual roadways but the side routes and areas that I shoot in.

If you can try renting for a week, while it may not tell you everything it will sure help. Also, go used and buy something basic and if it works out upgrade. You may think you know what you want today but after a year or two your needs may change.