Has anyone ever heard of Starcraft slide in truck campers made for Ford? I just bought a "73 slide-in truck camper. The VIN tag and the manual both say "manufacured by StarCraft exclusively for the Ford Motor Company".
The manual is titled "Ford Road Camper " and includes all the instruction and repair info for this large fiberglass camper. I checked google and don't see any information so I thought I'd post here to see how common they were or if anyone else has one.

Here is a pic. the previous owner had set it up on a dually cab/chassis.



Frank

 

??? got wonder if there is any truth to it??? kind of looks like it follows the proper angle for the rear of the cab though...who knows might be...
how much was it and what is the weight of it...looks cool I could see that on one of my dentsides..
good luck w/ it...any more pics?

 

good looking unit for 73 seems to have a lot of bells for the age of camper good looking toy

 

That has to be heavy.
With manuals too! A preferred type I think - but which truck chassis would carrry it?
I could not find anything on google either except this

FORD / Starcraft slide in truck camper - Toronto Travel Trailers, Campers For Sale - Kijiji Toronto

Very good interior - lots of windows!!
Great Price...

 

Check this link:
Popular Science - Google Books

Pretty cool rig.

 

I think that's way cool and way ahead of it's time!

I have a '02 Super Duty with an '03 Lance slide-in camper. My Lance has an aluminum roof and the rest of the exterior is made of a material called Filon.

Along every joint it's sealed with a butyl caulk. If the caulk gets a crack and water gets inside the joint the damage from water intrusion can be massive and extremely expensive to repair.

Your Starcraft on the other hand looks like it has a fiberglass shell which is much less prone to water intrusion issues. I think there are a couple of manufacturers who use a similar construction as your Starcraft.

 

Rockstone, great link! thank you. Interstingly enough the article shows a F350 Camper Special with the extended wheel base. My '77 F250 has had leafs added to the rear suspension so I have no worries about it being able to carry the weight(2900lbs). I thought it was ahead of its time for a '73 as well. Everything works in it and it doesn't have that musty smell most older units have because of leaks. You never know how much things can rot away under the surface.maybe I should bump this into the "rarest option thread"? lolThat is the Kijiji ad that I bought it from. I could have had the deisel rig too for a few more $$, I thought about a deisel swap but too much project for me at the moment, no time, no space.Frank

 

Looks cool. I bet is smells a bit musty being that old.

 

Congratulations!! I looked for a number of years for one down here. They are getting really hard to find. Yes, they were ahead of their time and were made exclusively for Ford.

Have fun with it! (oh, and remember, the 2,900lb weight is BEFORE you fill it up with your stuff, tools, etc.! It will gain many hundreds of pounds! My old Lance camper that matched Burt ended up at 4,000lbs when all was said and done, plus me, the other half and 2 dogs! that's why I put a one tone Dana 70HD rear in and added overloads and air shocks.

Good luck!
Dak

 

Wow, that's a geniune Ford camper. I haven't seen one in a LONG time.

 

I have one too, made for Ford. They were made to show off the camper special trucks I think. I would realy like a copy of that manual. I have pictures of my truck and camper up on Photo Gallery - Home its a great site:

Photo Gallery - Information

email me anytime at warren_bc@shaw.ca

 

looks ike the camper which Ford offered on the f350,140"wheelbase super camper specials . they had a 10,000 gvwr to handle the extra weight of the camper. Redneckryder on this forum has a nice scs he's been trying to get rid of cheap. You could put the two together for a rarely seen factory matched package

 

if you would like to see the factory brocures on your camper , check out page 4 of thread calling all super camper specials. sorry to double post , just thought you might be interested.

 

Great pictures! The brochure is real nice too. This is just what I needed, I'm fab'ing up a bellybar so I can go pick up the camper next weekend. I wasn't sure how far out to come from the side of the box so the pictures helped.
Olkoot, when I get a chance I'll scan the manual and send you a copy. It won't be until after I pick up the camper.

I'm really looking forward to getting it home. I may have gone a little over board with my fabrication, I used 2" , 3/16 square tubing, It's gonna add another hundred pounds to the truck!
Curious to get up on the scales with all tanks filled and see how much it's going to weigh.

Thanks to everyone for the links, very much appreciated.

Frank

 

That's a pretty sweet camper. I have never seen one of those.