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RE: Slide when mounted to truck
there is no reason to lug a 4,000 lbs brick around on my back while going for a day trip, is there?
There are lots of reasons to keep it on. Have a bathroom with you, charge the batteries, have a kitchen with you, have food with you, have your stuff with you, have your pets with you, take a nap, play cards, do crafts while your husband uses a spotting scope, etc.
I will admit English is not my first language so I am guessing my posts are very confusing to people. We are going to be staying with our horses in the desert in a camp that has horse corals etc. We need to go to town once a week to buy groceries, get hay. We also may go to town to have a cup of coffee, also planning on hauling our horses to local state and national park trails for day trips. What on earth would I need a camper for if I go out for coffee to a local coffee shop or if I go to get groceries in town or if I go to a local horse trail to ride all day? Waste of gas, more difficult to get around town/park/whatever, no need to carry my whole "mobile house" with me with all my belongings and leave it on some trailhead unattended while we are away riding our horses all day - all negatives in my mind. What is the gain? That I may need to go to the bathroom when I get back to the trailhead? That while I am in town, I may want to nap after shopping? I can do that when I get back to camp :). This is not a boondocking situation in the middle of nowhere, we are going to be in a proper camp. Yes it is a remote area (Big Bend in SW Texas) but it is not somewhere where we will be in camp the whole time in the same spot and not leave it for something else. What am I missing here? :)
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ognend
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12/19/22 08:15pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Slide when mounted to truck
If I'm level, I put the slide out. You can unlock the tiedowns to help level.
We almost never unload the TC while traveling.
Times two! You can also level with the orange leveling blocks, place them under your tires and drive on. they help a ton.
My original post said exactly that - that I do not want to unload camper each night while I am getting to the final destination. I also said that when I do get to the final destination, I will spend six weeks there so I do plan on taking the camper off - I need to buy groceries once a week, hay for the horses, haul to trails for day trips, there is no reason to lug a 4,000 lbs brick around on my back while going for a day trip, is there? Some of you guys sound like this is a religious conviction, not pragmatic stuff :)
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ognend
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12/19/22 07:27pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Slide when mounted to truck
I never, ever take the camper off during a camping trip. First the fit is really tight, barely 1/4" clearance in the tailgate opening. Next I use the wheel well space. It is packed with paper goods, tools, extra boots, dirty clothes, etc.
Finally and most importantly, I really like having the camper with me at all times. I like having my own kitchen for hot meals, like using my own rest room facilities, and I have even been known to take a midday nap.
In years and many hundreds of nights of camping, I only put down the corner jacks once. That was during a hurricane with 50-60 mph winds. Think twice if you do put down the jacks. As a precaution, you might want to undo the tiedowns just in the rare case that you develop a flat tire.
I am going to spend six weeks camping at the final destination. Why would I NOT take the camper off the truck? I need to go to town once a week to buy hay, groceries etc.,not to mention hauling horses to local trails for day trips etc. Why would I want to take the camper with me on every one of those trips when I don't have to? BTW, I have a flatbed (and no toolboxes) so taking the camper on and off is a pretty simple affair for me.
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ognend
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12/19/22 07:24pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Slide when mounted to truck
as a fellow horseman and owner of a truck camper with a slide and having trailered my horses coast to coast doing the Horse Hotel route. I don't take the camper off the truck and I don't disconnect the trailer. I off load the horses get them bedded down watered and fed and muck the trailer and fill the water buckets before stuff can freeze over. Then I pull to where ever I am spending the night at the facility (usually where they have a electrical hook up for me) Level the truck, extend the rear jacks to just touching , extend the slides and call it good. Make sure you have your Coggins and Horse health Certificate or they will not allow you to off load your horse for the night. and make sure you enter all weigh and ag stations with signage that all vehicles hauling livestock must enter. have proof of horse ownership with you too.
Thanks! Yeah, that was the gist of my post - I was NOT planning on offloading the camper on the single night stays but will definitely take it off for the 6 week stay in Big Bend :)
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ognend
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12/19/22 07:22pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Slide when mounted to truck
the question is - can I open the slide while camper is on the truck with all the torklifts connecting the camper to my truck.
If you are level and nothing is blocking the slide from opening then yes, you want to be level so the gears for the slide don't work harder than they already have to. I always make sure to set my emergency brake as well when parked, just my OCD self. You will figure out if you want all the jacks down or just the back jacks or no jacks your first night, depends on how stable you want the camper while in it, only takes a few minutes to deploy them to just touch enough to take a bit of weight.
Also make sure you lock your truck and have your keys with you and have a backup plan for if something happens while in the camper, know your exits. This world is a crazy place and you need to prepare for such things.
Thank you! (yes, I concur about all the precautions and planning, we used to camp in a horse trailer with living quarters, I am one of those more paranoid types that tries to prepare for everything) :)
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ognend
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12/19/22 11:06am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Slide when mounted to truck
Sorry all, I think I was not clear enough. When we camp, we take the truck camper off at the final destination where we stay for days. All we have done is local trips where we get to camp the same day so the camper comes off so we can use the truck for local stuff.
This time around our final destination is 6 day drive away and at the final destination we are taking the camper off since we will be there for 6 weeks.
However, the trip there is 6 nights at different places each night - so I am not planning on taking the camper off. Since I have no experience camping with the camper ON the truck, the question is - can I open the slide while camper is on the truck with all the torklifts connecting the camper to my truck.
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ognend
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12/19/22 09:17am |
Truck Campers
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Slide when mounted to truck
Hello all. We always take our camper off the truck when camping. This winter we are headed to SW TX and NM and it will take us 6 nights to get there, each night staying at a different place (we haul horses behind us in case you are wondering why so slow). I don't want to take the camper off each night and put it on - what do people do? Leave on bed attached to truck bed? Drop jacks enough to touch ground and disconnect from bed for the night while camper is still "above" bed? We have a slide out too so - can you open the slide if you are connected to the bed with your torklifts?
To add more info - it is a flatbed mounted Palomino 2910. Thanks!
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ognend
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12/19/22 07:44am |
Truck Campers
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