Any pro/con discussion on campers for the box of a pickup?

NickR

NickR

Well-known member
I currently drive a suburban and have no shortage of camping gear, but I think getting an ext cab pickup with a camper in the back would be a pretty good way to go. My recent relocation has put me in a pretty good area, and well within a few hours of some great places. I think a camper would be more comfortable and a lot less hassle than messing with the tent and all related gear - it should consolidate all that stuff to reduce packing and unpacking, plus be cooler in the summer and warmer in the early spring / late fall. And it would allow me to pull a fishing or duck boat to the destination.

Any commentary from those with experience or observations would be great. Would a half ton ext cab w/ shortbox work? I wouldn't be interested in an ext cab w/ long box.

Thanks!!

NR
 
Over the years I've done the tent camping, camper on a truck and pull behind camper.
Each one seems to have it's own set of pro's and con's.

The tent can be taken and setup almost anywhere, but can be cramped and cold.

The pickup camper is compact and convenient, but it's a tight fit inside when a few big guys try to get up and ready in the morning at the same time. Also, if you need to travel to town to get supplies during the hunt, you have to pack it all up to go and unpack when you get back.

The pull behind camper has plenty of room inside and can be set up and left if you go to town for more gas or shells, but tougher to pull a boat behind. (can be done though)

I always thought of customizing an enclosed cargo trailer with fold up bunks, tables and heater that I could haul my boat (and mayby trailer too) inside.
Seemed like that would be the best of all scenarios, I just never got around to actually doing it! ;-)
 
Nick, I've done the trk 1/2ton 6.5' bed w/ 8' camper route and it works well for no more than 2 guys for hunting. If you put a standard 8' slide in camper in 6' bed it's going to have to use a hitch w/extension to the trailer. Plan on buying a 3/4 ton or helper leaf springs also. They say half ton can handle it but it's like " a fat girl in the high wire act @ circus"
I ditched the slide in camper and bought a used 30' c class Rv thats the way to go, Then tell your better half no more roughing it baby. Use it for the family in summer and hunting in fall. There is not much difference in gas mileage between the truck w/ camper to the rv either. They both handle like dump trucks. The rv actually pulls boat trailer better than truck.

Gene R.
 
Nick,
Are you looking for a way to handle just you and your gear? If so, I have a suggestion which has worked well for me over the years. I even made a six week journey thru Canada and Alaska this way.

I have an fiberglass topper shell on the box of my pickup ( extended cab w/ 6.5ft. box). It has a slight rise to it above cab height which gives enough headroom when seated inside the shell. I have a plywood bunk for sleeping on one half and a table and stove on the other half. This leaves about 22 inch aisle down the middle. I have two pull out trays mounted on the underside of the table. I can comfortably sit on my bunk, cook a meal on the stove and pull out a tray (still attached to the table) to eat on.

Plenty of storage room under the bed and table for most of the gear I need. Some gear can go in the back seat of the extended cab and I can still pull my boat. The bunk and table are made to be removable and I can go from all set up, to empty shell in about ten minutes if I need to use my truck to haul something big.
 
Have you ever read travels with Charlie by Stienbeck? Long story short he makes you want to put a camper on your truck and head west.
 
Nick,

I've had 3 truck campers and 1 travel trailer. The truck campers for me are well suited to the type of camping I do.
Advantages are: being able to get them into tight areas, take less room to store, great for taking to races (Knoxville Nationals. Park in almost anyparking spot), daytrips with family and friends (fireworks, picnics, ball games. Built in toilet & fridge), worked out of town in my last one the last 2 summers, easy to pull toys behind.
Disadvantages: Limited interior room (only an issue to us on rainy days when the kids were young. We spend most time outside when camping), have to take camper along when running for supplies(minor issue to me), limited cargo room(easily cured by hitch hauler, small trailer or packing stuff in the boat).

As I write this I'm sitting on the porch of a KOA cabin on the edge of Cody, Wy wishing I had found another camper before this family vacation! KOA cabins wouldn't be bad if they had a decent mattress on the bed!

If you want a brand recommendation check out Northstar. They make units suitable for shortbox applications, they even build some for small trucks.
http://www.northstarcampers.com/

Give me a call next week if you want to talk about it. I can give you some advice on tie downs, hitch extensions & the like.

Jim S
319-560-3453 Cell
 
Nick, I have some pretty strong opinions about this one. I have had a slide in camper since '87 and would not consider any other way of camping (hunting). We have taken ours to Alaska and lived in it for 5 weeks, that is why we bought it. We have a Scamper brand that is not made anymore and I am digging my heels in about geting rid of it. My wife wants to get a class C motorhome to travel with when and if we retire but I want to hang on to it for hunting. It is a bit crowded but for one or two really good friends it cannot be beat especially on a 4wd. I hunt by myself mostly and it is a castle for a guy and a dog. When we first got it we had it on a '72 Chev 3/4 ton and that is how we went to Alaska and many trips since. But with it getting a solid 10 mpg I tried it on my '02 Silverado and it works just fine even with the short bed and being a 1/2 toner. I have air bags but never got around to getting them in, don't need them. You will need a hitch extender to pull a trailer. I will try to get some pics together for you, it may work better to E-mail them. I have a devil of a time posting pics (another story).
 
Thanks for all the replies. I generally hunt and adventure alone or with one other person - friend, brother, cousin, whatever.

I probably won't be in a position to do anything on this topic until probably next year, at best, so I'm doing the homework part now. I just hung up my tent and a whole bunch of stuff in somebody's garage to hopefully dry out over the weekend. Looks like it might get soggy again next week, though. A hardsided camper sure sounds good!

I was under the impression that if a guy was going to stay somewhere for a few days, the camper could be slid out of the pickup box for ease of driving the boat and pickup around. Is that false? Packing everything each morning to go hunting/fishing/exploring kinda seems like a pain, although I'm sure a routine develops.

Thanks for all the commentary, keep it coming!

NR
 
I was under the impression that if a guy was going to stay somewhere for a few days, the camper could be slid out of the pickup box for ease of driving the boat and pickup around. Is that false?
Click to expand...


Nick,

In theory that is possible but in practice, not something I've seen anyone do. The camper jack support system is not very stable by itself. If you decide to remove the truck, I'd suggest having some solid supports to let the camper down onto. Then again, transporting such supports creates yet another storage issue.
 
Nick,

Some campers can be used out of the truck, Lance and Northstar are 2 brands that I know. A friend of mine has a Lance that is very solid and stable when off the truck. The Weekender that I just sold was not made for out of truck use. You could feel the floor flex when it was off the truck.

If you're thinking you will want to take the camper off at camp or you will be loading/unloading to use the truck throughout the week go for the electric jack option. It may sound a bit pricey, $895 on a Northstar, but you will be glad you did.

As far as packing everything up to go somewhere, it's not as bad as it sounds. You will develop some habits and routines that will make it fairly painless. You will tend to keep your campsite neat and uncluttered since you will learn to keep stuff put away and organized to make moving as simple as possible. When I was working out of town last year, I could get up in the morning & be on the road in 10 minutes. TV antenna was put down after the 10 pm news, get up & make the bed, switch the fridge to gas, roll up the power cord & on the road. I would leave my leveling planks lay so I could pull back on them when I got back.

Jim S
 
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