We are selling our airstream to buy a camper. We have been shopping for the best one. We want a slide that will work well in cold weather as well as hot weather. Please help narrow down the choices with what is the best on the market. Our budget is up to 30K.
Good luck! Everyone here has their own opinion on what is the "best". I had the same questions as you and got a lot of help on this forum before we bought our second camper. The best advice we got, "was look at as many different ones as you can". None of them have everything. Some features are better than others, but may lack the quality you are looking for. Some have better floor plans, but don't have the structural engineering you want. Some are too high, some too heavy. Good bathroom layout, but no room in the kitchen, etc., etc., When someone jumps in here and adamantly states a specific brand, write it down, and then go look at one. Compare as many as you can find. If you have 30k, you can pretty much get whatever suits you. Searching and looking is half the fun. Once you finally decide on what suits you, you won't have any regrets because you didn't investigate the one someone else claims is the "best". One thing, I think we will all agree on. You need to know the payload capacity of the truck you plan to load. That in itself may narrow your search for what is "best". Happy hunting!
I used to have a 1972 Coachman (back in 1992) that had a forward bathroom, the full width of the camper. It had a wet bath, with a closet on the drivers side, water heater under the sink on the passenger side. The sink fed the hose that was the shower line.
When you open the closet, this door blocked off the front 3' of the camper, to give privacy in the bath, and makes a nice sized dressing room. There was a orange (yes it was built in 1972) tinted plexiglass window (3 of them slid to one side, or the other) to block off the cabover from the bathroom. The interior was also orange.
This camper had a "Basement" of sorts, that had the black water tank under the dinette area. It was a very efficient layout, and I think Western RV is making this layout now. My Coachman was only 9' box length, probably the smallest camper with a full sized shower (even though the shower pan also had a toilet in the middle of it (thus called a "Wet Bath")). I really liked being able to sit on the toilet and shower. There was a shower curtain that protected everything in the bathroom from getting wet.
With this forward bath layout, you can have a slide-out dinette, and this will make lots of extra room.
When shopping for this camper, I looked at some campers with passenger side entrance. This was a very long camper - about 11' from the rear of the cab. However I had a SRW F-350 truck, and that camper would need a DRW truck, because the weight was so far back behind the rear axel. Also it was in a rental pool, and even though it was only 2 years old, the wear and tear showed. I think that camper was a Carabio model.
The floorplan is the most important thing in a camper. It is so compact, so getting the most into a small space is what is required.
Also with your single rear wheels, you have to keep an eye on your camper weight - to not exceed the GVWR. 9,900 pounds on SRW Ford F-350.
Good Luck, Fred.
Money can't buy happiness but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche or Country Coach!
If there's a WILL, I want to be in it!
I havn't been everywhere, but it's on my list.
many thanks for all your help. we have plenty of time and plan to see as many as we can. we have learned of many we have never heard of and look forward to seeing them all.
art
They all have their plus's and negatives. We absolutely love our Lance. Very well made and smartly designed. They have gotten even better than our `97 Squire 4000. It is 9'6" box, with a Queen size bed in the cab over, cabinets and compartments up there, was pre-wire for stereo, speakers, TV and AC. IT has all of them now. 3-way frig, wet shower, sink, outside shower, range, oven, range hood, hot & cold running water, furnace, heated waste water compartment, one cabinet doubles as a 150lbs. and under bunk, table makes either a single or double bed, nice battery compartment, plus, it has doors near the floor so you can access that normally wasted space between the sides of the truck and the camper ahead of the wheel wells. That way you can put that junk that would be in your way there.
The only complaint I have, and I think they have since corrected it, is if the table is in the double bed configuration, I can't get my big A** in the bathroom.
It is really easy to do upgrades in your camper, too. Oh, it has a micro-wave in it as well. The new ones are built in with the hood and have taller cabinets, now.
The roof is safe to walk on and it was designed to use on or off the truck. (Putting jacks under the front lower section gets the wiggle out of the unit when off the truck.)
It has an exterior receptacle and exterior lighting.
The new Lances have an exterior hook up for outdoor LP appliances. Really nice.
Slide outs are outstanding. But, unfortunately, not in my budget. We are content.
Oh, Lances have one piece Aluminum roofs with a 10 year warrantee, not rubber. Stays nice an cool.
If you want it, someone has it.
Use your search engines and type in Truck Campers. There is a fair amount to pick from. But, variety will vary from region to region.
Another thought. I live in Maryland, but bought my Lance in Delaware. You use your truck tags on the back of your camper. So, since I bought it in Delaware, I paid NO taxes!!
Real savings!!
Good Luck!
Preston Stevens
Member United Four Wheel Drive Associations, Baltimore 4 Wheelers, Middle Atlantic 4WDA, NRA, Maryland Forests Association, Tread Lightly!, Good Sam
`97 Lance Squire 4000, `98 Dodge BR2500 4x4 Ext.Cab CTD, `97 Jeep TJ, `90 Jeep Cherokee Laredo
There are a lot of good brands out there go look at them some mite have things in them that you don/t like and cost a lot more when the
other one you look at mite have everything you are looking for and you and the wife like a lot and cost less Good Luck
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