I'm a drag racer and did the motorhome thing pulling my 24" race trailer and hated it. After racing, fighting a motorhome was no fun.
I've got this 03 DRW DuraMax I've had for 5 years. It's great pulls the 6600lb trailer like it's not there and gets 14MPG 65MPH. Problem is I can't sleep in it.
So, I think we need a truck camper for the long trips lasting 4-5 nights. I pretty much know my way around pickups and towing trailers but, know zilch about truck campers.
What we'd like is a wet bath, no slide, AC, TV, the usual stuff, and a light unit. My trailer doesn't have a long tongue so 8'-8'6" floor is the limit.
Any suggestions about what ot get and what to look out for? Want new, will end up with used probably.
For starters you have come to the right place.There is a wealth of information on here that will assist you and help guide you in the right direction. lots of very friendly and knowledgable people here on the TC forum that will gladly give you advice.
The best advice I can give to you is to do alot of research and utilize the search features of the forum and you will be amazed at the info you will learn. I also knew very little about truck campers, but after months of reading and researching I felt alot more confident about buying our camper.It is in my opinion the most versitle rv you can buy.
Blake
2011 Ford F-350 CC SWB 4X4 SRW 6.2L 4.30 Gears Torklift tiedowns/Fastguns
2011 Northstar Laredo SC 4ea.AGM'S 240 watts of solar and some other stuff.
You may want to look at something like my Lance 815. Lightweight at ~2000#, only 8' 6", and decent tanks for a weekend (18 fresh/11 gray/13 black). Biggest downfall is single propane tank and the east-west bed.
It will come to the back edge of your bumper so won't interfer with the hitch. I initially used mine to pull my Scrambler on a trailer which weighed 5,800 and never had an issue.
One of the nice things is they can usually be found about 6 years old for well under $10k. Even my wife loves ours and it was like pulling teeth the first time or two to get her to go with me.
Photo Albums
2004.5 Ram 3500 4x4 Quad-Cab SRW CTD 6-spd
2004 Lance 815 (an upgrade from my prev 2005 35' fiver )
DW (homemaker), 1 DD @ Clemson in Civil Eng (Dec 2013) w/SIL, 1 DD Tech Grad (home but employed), 2 DFs (meow)
Near the top of the thread list in the TC forum is a sticky More Truck Camper Info!!!! Inside there is a link North American TC manufacturers. Might I suggest you browse your way through this list looking at models available and see what catches your eye.
nomad7 wrote: My trailer doesn't have a long tongue so 8'-8'6" floor is the limit.
You are not limited on camper length. You can buy an extended reciver hitch for your truck and haul an 11' camper if you want to. Google: Torklift Superhitch
this is a 10'11" Lance on an Diesel F350 with a torklift super hitch and 48" supertruss extension with a Husky Weight Dristributing hitch pulli a 23' Sundowner 3 horse trailer full of dressage horses.
it is quite doable
* This post was
edited 11/19/11 04:27am by an administrator/moderator *
03 F350 Diesel 4x4 Crew Cab long bed, 08 Lance 1055, Rancho 9000xl, Air Lift air Bags, Torqlift tiedowns,stable loads, super hitch, 48" super truss, Toyo 285/75R16 Opencountry HT
Thanks for the welcome. I did belong to this forum when I had the motorhome. It was a help then, too.
I'm a TC newbie but, definitely not a truck newbie. As I ordered the trucks, fire engines, etc for municipality I worked for I'm pretty sensitive to tires and wheels, and load balance. I've seen so many rigs on the road that are obviously overloaded with white knuckled owners driving them.
So, yes, I will look at all the resources here and those recommended. The search is ahlf the fun.
BTW, I really don't see a lot of TCs here in Florida like I expected.
There are people who do exactly what you want to do very comfortably from the Vancouver BC area, to all across the Western US, wherever there is a race for them to participate in.
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