Truck Camper?

[Selkirk]

I had a chance to tour through a Northern Lite camper at a recent RV show....and really liked it. I can't recall the specific model, but the interior space felt similar to my E19. About the same weight/price as well.

The thought occurred to me that if I was ever in the market for a motorized RV, I would look at that camper combined with a suitable truck as an alternative to a class C. I think the total price would be comparable, but you would end up with a rig that was more flexible to configure for your use case (2wd, 4wd, powertrain, off-road capability, etc), more durable, and much easier to maintain/service.

[DanandDaphne]

Pretty much exactly what John in Santacruz said. The smaller pop up truck campers can get you into more remote areas than you can get to with a trailer, but they don't have a bathroom and shower and aren't very comfortable or roomy.

The big truck campers which require a 3500 dually are really big, high clearance, and top heavy. I don't see people taking them into remote places, not anywhere I wouldn't take our escape. They would definitely do better on long wash boarded dirt roads however like the Dempster highway in the Yukon for example.

[BritCanuck]

I remember looking at truck campers but a couple of points put me off. Per square foot they are the most expensive way to camp, as you do end up needing a pretty hefty truck. Also apparently truck campers can be quite unpleasant to drive as they can be top heavy.

[HarleyD]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

the ultra light popup truck campers like FourWheel don't have toilets or showers. the beds oj almost all those 'cab over' style truck campers are transverse, meaning someone has to climb over the other person to get in and out of bed. and, my wife who's very short and has two bad knees simply can't climb the 4'+ steps up to the bed (same goes for a 5th wheel for her).

we test drove a number of larger truck camper rigs like Lance etc that did have showers/toilets, and found them very heavy and unwieldy even on 3500 dually class trucks, not something I'd remotely consider taking on anything but the flattest most firmly packed dirt road for only a very short distance.

I'll stick with...

John, you left the "fly" open on your trailer

https://www.hallmarkrv.com/campers/hallmark-ute/

Here is the hallmark we had, wet bath and optional N/S sleeping.

[Sean Murry]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

the ultra light popup truck campers like FourWheel don't have toilets or showers. the beds oj almost all those 'cab over' style truck campers are transverse, meaning someone has to climb over the other person to get in and out of bed. and, my wife who's very short and has two bad knees simply can't climb the 4'+ steps up to the bed (same goes for a 5th wheel for her).

we test drove a number of larger truck camper rigs like Lance etc that did have showers/toilets, and found them very heavy and unwieldy even on 3500 dually class trucks, not something I'd remotely consider taking on anything but the flattest most firmly packed dirt road for only a very short distance.

I'll stick with...

The Hallmark pop up campers do offer a cassette toilet. Not as nice as in a trailer with a private bathroom, but it is still available. For a shower they offer an outside shower. So you can get a toilet and shower with a pop up, just a bit more primative

[Red]

Yes I have owned campers and travelled to locations I would not take my trailer into today. Since owning the Escape 19 I still return to those places but do so by camping at near by sites with good access and day tripping with my truck. I have found that with an empty truck I can access some lakes I would not have tried with a camper loaded on.

Escape trailers are not fragile. They handle off highway forestry roads just fine. You will find many locations that are uncrowded with private campsites that can be reached with an Escape. It does take some investigation and exploring to find them particularly when near large urban centers. I recently visited a very nice small lake with 11 spacious forest services campsites. It did not have any services except for one outhouse. The lake was on a gravel forest service road 10 miles off the nearest paved road. The road was mostly in good condition with one steep hill that I used 4x4 mainly because I wanted to go slow. I boondocked for 5 days and did some fly fishing for rainbows to 4 pounds. There were four more lakes in the area that were accessible but two of those I deemed too rough for the trailer. I can't say you will find the same in your area but having a camper wouldn't make a difference.

[Bobbie54]

My parents had a truck camper (4 wheel popup). There turned out to be two downsides. One, Dad only wanted it on the truck when they were using it. It's a little trickier to put on and off than it is to just unhitch a trailer. Two, he bought a new truck in the 90s and the camper no longer fit. I think we can pretty well assume we can always find a trailer hitch for a trailer regardless of the year of the vehicle. Both those things made me glad I didn't buy one (I seriously looked at them.) But a friend has one and enjoys it. On the other hand- hers is pretty small and she never wants to camp more than about 4 nights, she finds heaters are dangerous in it, and although she keeps it on the truck, she never uses the truck it's own except for camping.

[PJBrendel]

Wow, so much helpful information here!
I agree, either will provide lots of fun and great memories. I haven't been in a truck camper yet. Which may actually be the deterring factor in this decision. I'm heading to Florida tomorrow and will be looking at truck campers in Jacksonville next week. I'm limiting myself to the short bed campers since a long bed crew cab is just too much as a daily driver here on Long Island, NY. I have been looking at the GMC3500. The short bed Northern Lite camper will be within the weight limit of the truck. I agree that many people with truck campers go beyond the weight limit of the truck. Which is something I want to avoid. I have read about the struggle some people have getting their campers to ride comfortably.
I do want a four season camper so the popup style, in most cases, won't work. I don't plan on towing anything extra, so that makes the Escape even more appealing. And as someone mentioned, the 5.0 tows really well.
I thank you all for your input. I'm hoping to make a decision before the end of November so i can order the appropriate tow vehicle.

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by PJBrendel

Wow, so much helpful information here!
I agree, either will provide lots of fun and great memories. I haven't been in a truck camper yet. Which may actually be the deterring factor in this decision. I'm heading to Florida tomorrow and will be looking at truck campers in Jacksonville next week. I'm limiting myself to the short bed campers since a long bed crew cab is just too much as a daily driver here on Long Island, NY. I have been looking at the GMC3500. The short bed Northern Lite camper will be within the weight limit of the truck. I agree that many people with truck campers go beyond the weight limit of the truck. Which is something I want to avoid. I have read about the struggle some people have getting their campers to ride comfortably.
I do want a four season camper so the popup style, in most cases, won't work. I don't plan on towing anything extra, so that makes the Escape even more appealing. And as someone mentioned, the 5.0 tows really well.
I thank you all for your input. I'm hoping to make a decision before the end of November so i can order the appropriate tow vehicle.

if yo want to see a 5.0... I'm an hour south of Jax.. I'll be here and available to Nov 7. Escapes aren't designed as 4 season trailers...

[PJBrendel]

Sofmerc, that a very kind offer. I'm staying in Port Orange. I'll have to check vehicle availability. I certainly will shoot up there if I can. I'm glad you mentioned that the 5.0 is not for winter camping. I have to think about that. My son was hoping to use it in the winter.

[Sean Murry]

We have used our Escape 19 through 4 seasons, but in winter we need to go without water within the trailer as others have mentioned. We have camped in temperatures as low as -25 celcius while cross country skiing in Manning Park BC. So we don't have onboard water but the trailer does provide a very warm and comfortable environment, but it is not a true 4 season trailer. BigFoot does offer a 4 season trailer as do other manufacturers.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by HarleyD

John, you left the "fly" open on your trailer...

heh, actually, that pic is at a dump station, hooked up and waiting for the grey tank to drain.

[leecallahan]

I placed a deposit for an Escape 5.0 TA in October 2021. At that time, I sold my 2018 fifth-wheel due to high resale value. I knew that the build wait-time was going to be very long. I purchased a small soft-side truck camper, 2022 Palomino SS-1251 which had a small wet bath / shower. I hoped that due to its light weight and low overall height that my mileage would be fantastic. My truck is a 2018 Ram 3500 4X4 SRW 6'4" bed 6.7L Cummins Diesel / Asin Transmission. My mileage with the truck camper was better than my previous fifth-wheel but was not as good as I expected. My 2023 Escape 5.0 TA gets better mileage when being towed.

If I could go back in time, I would not have purchased the SS-1251 truck camper; would have bought a small box trailer and modified it into a RV. The truck camper ended up being terribly small. I ended up removing the dinette table and installing a smaller wall-mounted folding table in an attempt to make more open floor space. The diameter of the shower curtain was very small; I installed a new wider shower-curtain track which moderately helped. I did not like the tankless water heater especially when boondocking; water was wasted waiting for the water to heat up after the faucet was turned on.

I am very pleased having the 5.0. Love the internal space, overall height and towing mileage. I can drive into parking lots and gas stations where I would never have dared do so with my previous fifth-wheel.

[Deva]

Originally Posted by PJBrendel

Wow, so much helpful information here!
I agree, either will provide lots of fun and great memories. I haven't been in a truck camper yet. Which may actually be the deterring factor in this decision. I'm heading to Florida tomorrow and will be looking at truck campers in Jacksonville next week. I'm limiting myself to the short bed campers since a long bed crew cab is just too much as a daily driver here on Long Island, NY. I have been looking at the GMC3500. The short bed Northern Lite camper will be within the weight limit of the truck. I agree that many people with truck campers go beyond the weight limit of the truck. Which is something I want to avoid. I have read about the struggle some people have getting their campers to ride comfortably.
I do want a four season camper so the popup style, in most cases, won't work. I don't plan on towing anything extra, so that makes the Escape even more appealing. And as someone mentioned, the 5.0 tows really well.
I thank you all for your input. I'm hoping to make a decision before the end of November so i can order the appropriate tow vehicle.

Back story: Planned on truck/camper combo in 2020. I had been in a camper van since 2017 traveling for work and for fun. Covid arrived on the scene and I was so busy working and preoccupied with death and dying everything was put on hold. 2022 arrived and there were no dually trucks to be had due to Covid and chip shortage. I decided to go with regular pickup and 5.0 TA. Put my deposit down and the price was raised exponentially twice (maybe three times, I can’t remember) and Escape refused to lock in the price until the options were solidified, which was about three months before construction was to begin. Waiting time was about two years. I kept active on this blog and on the Escape website, listening to everyone, pros and cons. In March ‘22 I decided to cancel due to some legit poor quality control issues, 2 year wait time with no give on freezing price, even if you paid up front. I got my deposit back and was happy I did so because I just didn’t like the vibe the guy in charge was giving off. I just didn’t trust the company anymore. Long story short, in November 22 I ordered a NL 9.6 truck camper and SCOURED the nation for a truck, even ordering one to my specs, but the auto company was just not producing HD trucks. If one showed up on a lot, it was snatched up way over priced. I stayed in my van and just kept looking, looking, looking. Finally found one that was not the trim level I wanted and was more than I really wanted to pay. Camper arrived at the dealer In January 2023. In December 2022, the truck was still sitting on the lot and I bought it. More than I wanted to pay but a steal for the trim level. I absolutely love the ease of driving, fitting in a regular space, never having to pay to park it, I can live out of it anywhere. It rides great, passes semis without a hitch, and goes anywhere. I do go “off road” with it but obviously using common sense and going very slow. It’s not a Jeep, with or without the camper. Some paved roads are worse than some dirt roads. I don’t ever have to hook up unless I want to or need to run the furnace all night, and then it takes less than 5 minutes. That being said, I’m delighted by all the recent good feedback from escape customers. A 5.0 may still be in my future if I change the kind of camping/working I’m currently doing. My camper weighs 2880 dry. My trucks payload is 6200. I chose the Sportsman because I didn’t want all the (to me) unnecessary stuff like TV/radio etc. NL’s have 600w on the roof standard now. It’s small, there’s no getting around that. I live in it full time and have learned to travel light, but I think that’s a good thing. It’s just me and a medium sized dog. Don’t think I could tolerate another person in this space. No matter what you decide on, you’ll make it work. I personally would never buy a TC with a slide out. Too heavy and slides fail. Many TC (and other RV’s for that matter) are useless unless slides are out. That’s not for me, but it might be for you. I suggest writing pros and cons of each down on paper and trying you best to be objective. If you’ll be traveling with someone , they deserve equal say. Good luck!

[WillyB]

For those who have some extra pocket change and want to camp "anywhere".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw0V9QpcRvc

[John in Santa Cruz]

Was a hilarious bit on YouTube by the Donut folks last summer who broke one of those they were testing,... Off road recovery folks couldn't hardly budge the heavy beast. I think the drive shaft snapped.

[WillyB]

Can you image your Escape hanging off a cliff like this? Oh My!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEgAs1fROyY

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by WillyB

Can you image your Escape hanging off a cliff like this? Oh My!

Rory (Trailmater) rocks!

Here's Donut Media breaking their test vehicle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3uQcxdyAA0

and here's Matt's Off Road Recovery recovering it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lha1PmfRAvw

(as Matt was the 3rd party called to recover this, they picked up and trail installed a new drive shaft)


edit: ok, its not an Earth Roamer, its one of their competitors, but same basic idea, rugged fancy camper on an F550 crew cab chassis.

[MyronL]

For me, my decision would hinge on satisfying four separate needs: the bed, a toilet, convenience, and the price. I know wiggle room is all relative to a will to compromise and adjust. Got to have the toilet, need to sleep two, am comfortably lazy, but ain't rich.

[Deva]

Originally Posted by WillyB

Can you image your Escape hanging off a cliff like this? Oh My!

Some of these people have more money than common sense. It’s like these decked out off road sprinter vans that run about 200,000 and probably never leaves the campground. With full hookups. Not there’s anything wrong with full hook-ups, but I think people who have a good amount of money are just jumping into this with wallets wide open because it’s the thing to do. Used to be not too long ago the only people who lived in vans and pick-ups were those who had no money. That whole vibe has been hi-jacked by the rich and not very famous. ����*♀️