[ Outline ] · Standard · Linear+ Why A Truck Camper Part 1 of 2, A Closer Look at Why?

[garbinator]

Part 1 of 2

I am probably the only one in the bunch who runs in my travel group who runs a 19 ½ ft. fully self contained camper with all the amenities, including a propane powered gen set. My entire unit is older, but I didn’t wish to mortgage myself to death over the lot.

The reason I always wanted a cabover camper is simple. Portability. It’s also known as the SUV of the RV world. I suppose the primary reason we love it is at this point in our lives we enjoy getting into very tight campgrounds other units just cannot even attempt. Depending on the trip and time of year, desert dirt roads can at times offer-up washed out portions making it necessary to either get the shovel out or navigate your way around or possibly through it. With a 4X4 truck camper oftentimes these obstacles are not an issue.

Pretty much all sewer and drain pipes are not exposed to the various drag points such as rocks, washouts, down branches unimproved roads are generally known for. The four wheel drive pickup sits high enough within reason keeping all under carriage vulnerable areas out of harms way. Having low range capability offers the dry camper yet another important option once they leave the pavement. In the past, I have had my tree pruner sit on top of the camper with pruning shears at the high ready position, together with an FM walkie talkie, working our way into some serious backwoods country were only high ground clearance tent campers usually trod. So…portability, ease of negotiating very tight spots, simple leveling options, able to tow most toys with ease. A very important priority factor… makes for some of the worlds finest camp spots known to modern man.
Maintenance and repair.

With only a pickup acting as the modern day mule, the care and feeding it requires is that of any other daily driver out there. Rv repairs are oftentimes greater than your typical $85 an hour garage rate. Depending on your chosen poison, a Class “A” motor coach running a big diesel pusher can run as high as $150 an hour in repairs. Another truly big consideration is licensing, if you choose, there is none, if you only wish to be an honest Abe then you would register your camper with the DMV paying only a one time charge of $72. That’s it!
Economy of use.

My wife seldom refuses to go dry camping during mid winter. She knows I’ll keep her warm & comfy. Our camper sports only one deep cycle battery at what I believe to be a 94 amp capacity. During our waking hours we are not on the trail, we run our propane generator if we’re on a weekend only trip, if we are camping for weeks, we use a Honda 2000i for even more economy. I will speak of the propane generator later as that subject is probably the most talked about in all of the truck camper forums as a rule, generally, people don’t want anything to do with them because they are dependant on propane. Sad. On every campout we’ve been on with friends during cold snowing nights have us leaving our small 12 volt electric heater running at usually give or take 55 degrees (While Sleeping). As our small heater only manages to spew out just over 8000btu’s it translate into a unit that does not overly tax the battery. Nor does it tax the propane tank. Keep in mind our small area to heat, coupled with its excellent insulation qualities, combined with central heating ducts assures pretty even heat distribution throughout.

Now, how many times have I been in three axel toy haulers freezing my buns off all because they can’t run the 48,000btu heater for very long before the batteries die? All because they don’t wish to make a run down to Kernville for propane, or run their big generators from compartments with little to know sound proofing, all the while, their poor wives freeze! That translates to no heat at all during the coldest time at night. 5 to 6000 watt generators eat fuel at a pretty good clip per hour. Dry camping for weeks will soon prove the need for more fuel. Of course, the more people housed, showered and cooked must also prove an important factor. Then there is always the black tank to take into consideration. My point being, bigger equals larger area, greater comfort, enough room for an actual Lazy Boy rocker recliner, but requires quite a bit of fuel to maintain operationally.

Whereas the Lance camper, with only one battery, will only use just under half of a seven gallon propane tank in a 10 day period of daily use. Two people. That is with the alternating between Honda generator (battery recharging mainly) and AM propane generator use from using the microwave so much. In all actuality, I have only had to resort to my backup 7 gallon propane tank a few times. Each one was because we used the generator and the A/C dang near 12 hours a day and much of the night while camping in mid summer’s heat. When I say continuous I mean just that.

[truckmaniac]

The Garbinator’s rule of thumb: Always drive with tow/haul mode ON when hauling camper. You will experience one of the most amazing functions of the Allison transmission as it begins to since your slowing down and begins its down-shifting action. Oftentimes totally eliminating your need to brake at all.

DO NOT USE THE TOW HAUL MODE DURING ICY CONDITIONS!!!!

I was returning from South Texas to West Texas after a few days of fishing and ran into an ice storm just South of Sweetwater, where the terrain is hilly, with constant up & down grades. As I topped one hill, traveling between 35-40 mph, and started down the other side the Allison Transmission decided to "grade brake" (down shift) which engaged the surge brakes on the boat trailer that was in-tow and the fun began.

The entire rig (2006 Chevy K2500 4x4 Duramax, Brand New 2008 Lance 825 & 2005 Ranger Z21 Comanche) jack-knifed, did a 180 and flipped over. The truck & camper were "totalled", the trailer was totalled, however the boat sustained minimal damage, since it came off the trailer and landed right-side-up on the icy tall grass.

As a side note: I have always used the Torklift system with my truck campers. The camper did not come loose from the truck and is what kept the rig from "rolling". The Wrecker Service, since they knew it was a "total" didn't make any effort to "ease" the rig back onto it's tires, yet the camper stayed on. In fact, neither the Torklift brackets or Fast Guns were damaged. The owner of the wrecker service told me that he had worked 15 truck camper "flip or roll-overs" in the past 19 years and all but 1 were on single rear wheel trucks. In all 15 cases the campers came off the truck. Of the 15, 12 of the trucks were using the Happi-jack systems and the remaining 3 looked to be some kind of home-made rigging. He was definitely impressed with Torklift. I took his advice and now drive a Ford F350 1-ton dually.

[Murdog]

DO NOT USE THE TOW HAUL MODE DURING ICY CONDITIONS!!!!

I was returning from South Texas to West Texas after a few days of fishing and ran into an ice storm just South of Sweetwater, where the terrain is hilly, with constant up & down grades. As I topped one hill, traveling between 35-40 mph, and started down the other side the Allison Transmission decided to "grade brake" (down shift) which engaged the surge brakes on the boat trailer that was in-tow and the fun began.

The entire rig (2006 Chevy K2500 4x4 Duramax, Brand New 2008 Lance 825 & 2005 Ranger Z21 Comanche) jack-knifed, did a 180 and flipped over.  The truck & camper were "totalled", the trailer was totalled, however the boat sustained minimal damage, since it came off the trailer and landed right-side-up on the icy tall grass.

As a side note:  I have always used the Torklift system with my truck campers. The camper did not come loose from the truck and is what kept the rig from "rolling".  The Wrecker Service, since they knew it was a "total" didn't make any effort to "ease" the rig back onto it's tires, yet the camper stayed on.  In fact, neither the Torklift brackets or Fast Guns were damaged.  The owner of the wrecker service told me that he had worked 15 truck camper "flip or roll-overs" in the past 19 years and all but 1 were on single rear wheel trucks. In all 15 cases the campers came off the truck.  Of the 15, 12 of the trucks were using the Happi-jack systems and the remaining 3 looked to be some kind of home-made rigging.  He was definitely impressed with Torklift.  I took his advice and now drive a Ford F350 1-ton dually.

I agree that using the Tow/Haul mode in slippery conditions is risky, even if not towing. The downshifting that occurs in tow/haul mode is not precisely predictable. On an icy downhill I want as much control as possible and do not want any unplanned downshifts especially say on a icy corner.