Adamis wrote:
"That being said, if you don't have any brand loyalty then you are in good shape to maximize your dollar to vehicle ratio more than the rest of us that are stuck in our ways."
Wow, you are an observant prophet! About a month ago my next-door neighbor, Rob, traveled to ID to visit family and stopped in at a mom-and-pop truck sales room with a historically low overhead. They sold the big 3. Rob was set on buying a new RAM 2 series with expressed desire to fit it with a truck camper. He had a TC before, but that was 20 years ago. He dickered with the staff and while he could not bring himself to pay the excruciating RAM diesel penalty, he got such a low price on a new GM D-MAX diesel/Allison, 2 series, 4WD SB Crew cab that he drove it home and is now looking at a used Lance 815. He is very happy he had no brand loyalty and just looked for the best buy. You can't get him out of he thing.
My neighbor, Ken, two doors down (and 6 acres away) bought a great running 1995 RAM V-10, 4WD, 2 series, single cab, LB, Deluxe camper shell, 60K miles for $3500 a few months ago and plans to put a light weight camper on it. Plenty of power here if you can keep up with the gas tank. The key is he doesn't drive it much so it doesn't cost him a lot to operate but when he pulls his 4 horse trailer: no problem. What he pays in a low fuel economy is offset by the very low initial price.
I'll be the first to raise my hand to admit that most of us are stuck in our little cocoon of bias. I can also see the age of everyone who responded to this thread by how they tried to protect their turf. However, I do think this is a worthy discussion as the major part of Truck Camping is the truck itself. You can tinker a bit with your camper if you have the chops, but everyone wants to tinker with the truck, at least a little bit. I especially like the folks on here who took the time to offer actual numbers, years and characteristics of rigs in THEIR actual experience, not 2nd hand, or hearsay.
jefe. Here's the latest iteration of 'flat fender': The tail end looks pretty high until the camper is loaded on and the rig becomes more or less level.
"That being said, if you don't have any brand loyalty then you are in good shape to maximize your dollar to vehicle ratio more than the rest of us that are stuck in our ways."
Wow, you are an observant prophet! About a month ago my next-door neighbor, Rob, traveled to ID to visit family and stopped in at a mom-and-pop truck sales room with a historically low overhead. They sold the big 3. Rob was set on buying a new RAM 2 series with expressed desire to fit it with a truck camper. He had a TC before, but that was 20 years ago. He dickered with the staff and while he could not bring himself to pay the excruciating RAM diesel penalty, he got such a low price on a new GM D-MAX diesel/Allison, 2 series, 4WD SB Crew cab that he drove it home and is now looking at a used Lance 815. He is very happy he had no brand loyalty and just looked for the best buy. You can't get him out of he thing.
My neighbor, Ken, two doors down (and 6 acres away) bought a great running 1995 RAM V-10, 4WD, 2 series, single cab, LB, Deluxe camper shell, 60K miles for $3500 a few months ago and plans to put a light weight camper on it. Plenty of power here if you can keep up with the gas tank. The key is he doesn't drive it much so it doesn't cost him a lot to operate but when he pulls his 4 horse trailer: no problem. What he pays in a low fuel economy is offset by the very low initial price.
I'll be the first to raise my hand to admit that most of us are stuck in our little cocoon of bias. I can also see the age of everyone who responded to this thread by how they tried to protect their turf. However, I do think this is a worthy discussion as the major part of Truck Camping is the truck itself. You can tinker a bit with your camper if you have the chops, but everyone wants to tinker with the truck, at least a little bit. I especially like the folks on here who took the time to offer actual numbers, years and characteristics of rigs in THEIR actual experience, not 2nd hand, or hearsay.
jefe. Here's the latest iteration of 'flat fender': The tail end looks pretty high until the camper is loaded on and the rig becomes more or less level.
Buy the looks of the O.P's lack of any truck or camper at all in his particulars, I'll stay clear of the brand loyalty bandwagon drumbeating and simply ask the obvious question of the O.P.
Why not choose a camper first and then find THE truck that has the load rating with the power and stopping power to comfortably haul it? This may take a while. Write down all the features you can do with, and do without. Find the specimen that fits the features you REALLY need. It just takes one. It's out there. This takes a lot of leg work on your account, especially when chasing after a used TC. No amount of friendly advice is worth the price you paid for it, because they are using their bias not yours.
I for one just got lucky with little knowledge of the interaction between truck payload and camper weight and fit. Many others failed to change their paradigm from tow to haul mode and way under rated the load rating of the truck and wound up with way too much camper for said conveyance.
The other not so obvious starting place is: How and under what conditions are you going to use the truck camper? Always on pavement and plying organized campgrounds? 19.5 tires sound like a good bet to me. High, wide and handsome sounds good also. Going on poor dirt roads or worse? This becomes a whole 'nother animal. Lighter; narrower; not so tall; maybe pop up; 4WD; good ramp approach/breakover/and departure. How much are you going to use said rig? Lots of miles or full time= as many creature comforts as you can carry. There is so much to know you just need to jump in, make your mistakes and move on. When I was a hard core jeeper we used to say," Jeeps are built not bought". I use a lot of that same 'ongoing project' attitude on my XTC, to the eternal consternation of my wife.
jefe
this is my 15 year project truck with new steel Stockton wheels and 35" tires sans camper:
and a pic of my 8 leaf, 3 phase rear suspension
Why not choose a camper first and then find THE truck that has the load rating with the power and stopping power to comfortably haul it? This may take a while. Write down all the features you can do with, and do without. Find the specimen that fits the features you REALLY need. It just takes one. It's out there. This takes a lot of leg work on your account, especially when chasing after a used TC. No amount of friendly advice is worth the price you paid for it, because they are using their bias not yours.
I for one just got lucky with little knowledge of the interaction between truck payload and camper weight and fit. Many others failed to change their paradigm from tow to haul mode and way under rated the load rating of the truck and wound up with way too much camper for said conveyance.
The other not so obvious starting place is: How and under what conditions are you going to use the truck camper? Always on pavement and plying organized campgrounds? 19.5 tires sound like a good bet to me. High, wide and handsome sounds good also. Going on poor dirt roads or worse? This becomes a whole 'nother animal. Lighter; narrower; not so tall; maybe pop up; 4WD; good ramp approach/breakover/and departure. How much are you going to use said rig? Lots of miles or full time= as many creature comforts as you can carry. There is so much to know you just need to jump in, make your mistakes and move on. When I was a hard core jeeper we used to say," Jeeps are built not bought". I use a lot of that same 'ongoing project' attitude on my XTC, to the eternal consternation of my wife.
jefe
this is my 15 year project truck with new steel Stockton wheels and 35" tires sans camper:
and a pic of my 8 leaf, 3 phase rear suspension
