Hey Folks, I'm tossing around the idea of taking a family vacation through the States this winter, and thinking that a truck box camper may be a worthy investment for the trip... I'm looking for experiences from y'all in regard to how it affected the truck, economics, comfort, travelling in general, pros/cons...

We're a family of 4, truck is a 2014 F350/6.7L/Lariat/CC/SB...

I don't see many truck campers around like there used to be. Pics of your setup would be awesome if you are so inclined.

Thanks, (from the attic)

 

Not the hot setup on a short bed truck IMO.

Why not get a nice travel trailer, you can pick them up cheap and if you decide to resell later it will be easier to get rid of than a slide in camper.

 

IMHO family vacation and truck camper don't go together.
Those truck campers are big enough for maybe a friend or 2 to go hunting for a couple days, but thats it.

Buy a little bumper pull trailer, they're cheap, and lots more room.
I got an old one I used when working in AB, and it pulled from AB to MB many many times, and wasn't too bad. Actually fuel economy wasn't too bad at all, either. Nothing like those massive 5th wheel units.

 

I have one on a similar truck to yours. I use it because my idea of camping is getting really out of the way, and for almost all places a trailer can't get you there. The idea of sitting on top of other people at a campground or RV park doesn't appeal to me.

Mines a popup, so lighter weight than the hard sided campers, and less air resistance (get about 16mpg with it), and fits down some pretty knarly trails.

• Main considerations, your truck is a shortbed, which will really limit the camper length to 8.5ft (the same length as my camper).
• Do you want/need a shower and toilet? Mine has one. I don't need it (a shovel is fine!), and it takes up interior space.
• Do you want a popup or hard sided? Ford Super Duty cab's are 3" higher than both older Ford's and the "other 2", so unless your camper was built with Super Duty dimensions in mind, you need to space up the camper.
• Even if your camper can sleep 4, in reality it will probably only have room for 2, unless the others are very small kids. Mine mostly gets used for 2 people, but occasionally travelling with 4 (the other 2 sleeping in a tent).
• You need to consider your GVWR, some of the big campers are heavy, throw a few people on board, water, gear etc. you can easily be over it on a SRW truck.
• You will probably want airbags for the rear springs, and may also want to consider a Hellwig sway bar. I have bags, but not the swaybar (yet).

Here is a pic, boondocking off the Denali Hwy in Alaska

 

HI 96sherm, I cant help you with that but one more person might be able too. Tim Young is on here quite a bit and may have some more good ideas like Big f 350 Adrian. Tim is on the one pager around late evening most days. He has a Dually though.

 

Again, the short bed is very limiting.
A short camper will be VERY crowded for four people.

At the very best you would probably want to bring a tent for the kids.
Or a utility trailer for supplies.
And just use the camper mostly for food preparation and storage.

An 850 size truck camper would be the right size. Take a look.

The advice about getting a travel trailer is sound advice.
The thing about planning on a truck camper is that one needs to find the camper that they like, and THEN buy the truck that can handle it.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Through more research, I find that they weigh a lot more than I had expected. As a family of 4, we are myself/wife/2 girls 6/4... I guess it would be a bit crowded.

I was steering away from the travel trailer idea because I would like it to be a majorly low stress vacation. Trailering doesn't bother me, I tow on a regular basis, but with the family in, its one more thing to consider...

We've been looking into the RV rental systems. They are not as costly as I'd thought either... Many options out there.

 

I'd forget that mine was even back there, even pulling it with the 02 7.3 truck, and it's 28 ft or so.

They make sway bars and stuff that make them ride better, if thats what you want.
Not sure what your budget is, but even older ones, I find, are good enough for camping. Mine is a 78 or something, really old, but somewhere to cook and sleep.

A cold beer is a cold beer weather it came from a 500$ camper or 50,000$ camper.

 

I have an 8' slide in as I pull a 4 horse trailer and I have a 42' bus as I have 5 kids......if I had neither of those I would look into renting a small rv from a reputable dealer. You will have a great vacation and can eliminate it when your finished unless you plan to travel a lot.....just another opinion

 

Scariest drive of my life was when we got caught out in a terrible storm and had 40-50 mph cross winds... Truck was a new 1984 F250 supercab and the camper was an 11-1/2' Coachman tied down with HD Stake Pocket tie downs.. I finally found an overpass with room for us and we waited out the storm. Bent up the tie downs on the one side and had started to rip out the anchors in the camper.
I sold the camper a month later..
Trailers / motorhome from then on..

 

Agree 100%

 

That's an awesome setup Tim!!

We're looking more into the RV rental system, I like the idea of pay for the use, then return it and not have to worry about an investment sitting unused, depreciating, trying to sell it, storing it, etc.

Then there's the idea of taking the Fusion, staying in hotels... It doesn't have the comforts of the F350, but it is economical.

 

The Tag along travel trailers are very easy for a young family.

Talk about low stress.

You pack up several days before you leave, then pack the dairy stuff and down the road you go.

Setup is a breeze once you get the routine down. Takes maybe 20-30 min at most.

I do the outside and the better half does the inside.

when the boys were smaller and still going with us they helped my do the outside stuff.

It really is nothing to be afraid of. A learning curve sure but easy enough with a check list till you get it down.

 

You ought to try it. My motto is "any camper is better than no camper at all".
It might be a real kick for the family and something that you want to do more of.
When you do hotel / restaurants, the food bill for a family of four can get pretty tall.

 

I like knowing who used the bathroom last in my camper. Hotels are not always clean enough for me. For me and my family camping is just more fun than staying in a hotel. I think in the long run campers are probably cheaper than other alternatives.