Your biggest truck camper mistake?

[Canadian_Camper]

Heading out on the road in a couple of days, for our first long trip with our new to us truck camper (having previously owned and travelled extensively with a travel trailer).

What is/was your biggest truck camper mistake?

Hopefully, we can learn from other's mistakes. I'm feeling excited but a bit nervous about travelling with the truck camper as opposed to a travel trailer.

Thanks!

[2BLAZERS]

Though I like our setup overall:

1.I would not do a dry bath with a tiny shower again.
2.doing airbags 1st when SuperSprings was what it needed.
3. Backing up over a curb with the original flip down steps down. 13k does not stop for metal steps.
4. Not doing solar on day 1.
5. Not having an electric awning.

[delosholly]

Our first long trip was on I-40 through OK and NM. So bumpy it caused the TC to move in the bed, turning it at and angle instead of straight. We now have boards in the bed on each side that prevent it from shifting on bumpy roads. No problems since adding them.
I would recommend this addition, is some form.

Best of luck on your trip.
Del

[SoCalDesertRid1]

teambeeson wrote:
Being new to truck campers (coming from a VW bus world oh my) my biggest mistake was thinking I could jack up the camper myself, one jack at a time. After the camper starting "moving" off it's concrete block mounts into the side of my house I realized I needed help. Someday, when I win the lottery, I'll get electric jacks. They'll cost a little over two times what I paid for my '86 Six-Pac. LOL

You can do it by yourself.

I almost never have had help when jacking up any of the 3 campers and 1 jack-up utility body that I've owned so far. I do 5 to 10 cranks or pumps on each jack at a time, going in a circle around the camper, keeping the cranks or pumps even for each jack and watching what the camper is doing. I've never dropped a camper yet doing it that way.

[joerg68]

Too much get-there-itis.

In two separate incidents we managed to back the truck/camper into another vehicle even though one of us was outside monitoring and giving directions. We have an agreed sign language to inform the driver. It did not help. The jack pads leave very nasty dents in the side of a car, much like a can opener...

Take your time and take a break when neccessary.

[rickjo]

Trying to unload with one cabover strut still attached.Funny angles told me something wasn't right but three tries before I noticed the strut. DOH!

Rick

[Buzzcut1]

Biggest mistake, Not going to a Cat Scale the day we picked it up. That load range E blow out of a 3750 rated tire on I5 a few years later almost caused a roll over. Scaled it and went to 19.5s very soon afterwards for safety and peace of mind.

[Buzzcut1]

realter wrote:
Not the biggest mistake, but I was having trouble with the little front window coming out and, fortunately, falling inside, onto the step going up to the bed. Finally figure out this happened when I left the ceiling vent open. Must have created a lot of suction.

Also, I would get someplace and find one of the drawers had come open, and stuff all over the floor. A bungee cord through all 3 drawer pulls fixed that.

just put child safety locks on the inside of the drawer (One on each side), clean look, no opening drawers on the road.

[Vinsil]

Left my camper plugged into my truck (which I found that Ram does not isolate from the factory to pull from the truck batteries) and killing my old batteries. So, I unplug it every time I stop (and new truck batteries).

[teambeeson]

Being new to truck campers (coming from a VW bus world oh my) my biggest mistake was thinking I could jack up the camper myself, one jack at a time. After the camper starting "moving" off it's concrete block mounts into the side of my house I realized I needed help. Someday, when I win the lottery, I'll get electric jacks. They'll cost a little over two times what I paid for my '86 Six-Pac. LOL

[mike_kellie]

Great cross pollination!

[jimh406]

~DJ~ wrote:
Off loading in Michigan :B

Now that is funny! 😄

[_DJ_1]

Off loading in Michigan :B

[Big_Rig1]

Not buying one 50 years ago.

Big Rig (John)

[skyhammer]

My biggest mistake was failing to swing the dually bracket into position when unloading at the campground. I had no trouble unloading and didn't even notice until it came to load the camper back up.
No way to do it with the brackets in without damage to the fenders. Luckily, I was able to lower the camper onto the back of the bed and extend the brackets, then proceed as normal.

[jefe_4x4]

Oh, there were a lot of minor mishaps at the beginning. Just chalk it up to the, "period of adjustment" that we all go through. If you consider your TC and the Truck itself as a work in progress, you get there by degrees, as woes occur. Mistakes? here are but a few:
0. Leaving the jacks on.
1. Driving at first with the camper on like it was the same as my daily drive which was the self-same Dodge 2500.
2. Not really understanding where ten feet, zero inches H, and 86 inches W were.
3. Using the 12v feature of the 3-way fridge for a decade while traveling as the prop pilot would blow out while traveling.
4. Not going with solar much, much sooner.
5. Trying to use a corrugated plastic bed liner under the camper box instead of the current thin, rubber, sticky one.
6. having a camper with a front window at all, single pane windows, precious little insulation, and a moisture sensitive wooden frame.
The above snafus do not outweigh the positive, non-mistakes I've had, like
a. not so tall, narrow, 1745 pounds, wet; no air conditioner
b. paid for the first day I saw it.
c. We are SO used to this archaic box, we just keep fixing it up (mostly maintenance) until that not-so-far-off day when we cannot safely make it up the steps and into the bed.
jefe