What a pain in the *** a Big Truck & Camper is.
I still say a Truck camper is still the best RV choice for us. Slide outs are nice .. all is roomy and comfy inside once they're deployed. But at what expense. 1st, before you can get in, you need to let down the rear Jacks so the Camper is Stable. Next, 2 Slides have to go out before you can take your first step to get inside. That takes 8 minutes in a perfect world. It only took a couple of times in the Florida Summer's heat and humidity and once in the Rain that we get here every afternoon to call Bull_hit. The Camper is gone, and a new 17' F250 6.2 has replaced the 16' F350 Diesel Dually. I ordered the 17'. Its a 4x4 Super Cab, Longed, 4:30's W/Snow Plow & camper pkg. Now we're looking at the New Cirrus 920 and a Bigfoot 10.6 campers. No more Slides and no more Big *** dually truck. Sometimes, Simple is just Simple.

 

This is why we ordered a Northern Lite 9.6QSE to go on our 2015 F350 CCLB 4x4 SRW. Even though many said the 10.2 would be just fine on the truck we liked the 9.6 for out in the boondocks and towing our boat. One more week and we should have it!

 

Although we have both a DRW and a SRW, I agree with you comments regarding the dually. My wife and I both find it to be a PITA and use our SRW much more frequently. We have both a fifth wheel and our truck camper, as for us, one-type-fits-all just doesn't do it. But as you point out, convenience really has an effect on how pleasant and how often something gets used and our SRW 6.2 can handle both.

Of course, having a pop-up truck camper forces us to balance convenience against handling in the wind, off-road use, etc. It doesn't pop up or collapse down instantly, but it is plenty stable sitting in the truck bed so that is not an issue. And yes, these are factors we continue to discuss. Is there an RV number 18 in our sights? Too soon to tell!

Steve

 

I kind of get the no more slide out, but what is the problem with the DRW?
I just went from SRW to DRW for my Lance 1010. No slide outs.
the set up drives so nice and stable

 

I think the issue is which camper on which truck. Many slide-ins handle just fine on SRW models as I think owners here will attest. I am not arguing against your choice, but for my wife and I having a dually in heavy traffic means frustration finding a place to park and is not always the best in tight quarters. I remember two years ago in Naples, Florida during snow bird season parking even remotely close to what we wanted to see was a joke. All trucks can pose a challenge in that situation, but our SRW is less a challenge.

Just different strokes for different folks.

Steve

 

I have seen a few DRW try to go thru fast food drive thur's...
had to back out.. no room

 

At our Taco Bell here the only way you can get through the drive through with a dually is to drive over the drive through curb and up onto the grass.

Steve

 

that would be a little more then tight.

 

I wanted to use the Dually as a daily driver, that just didn't work out living here in Tampa.
My wife has her car, and we have a 04' Mustang GT Convertible we bought new. It's not like it's worth anything, but we've always kept it in the garage as a getaway car.
The whole large Dually Truck & Camper came at the wrong time in our lives.

 

Makes sense. And yes I get the inconveniences of getting a DRW into certain places. I only noticed a slight change from my LB SRW. Lucky for me it only proves a problem occasionally. I gave up on fast food a long time ago so no loss with a drive through. I do not think I would go back to a SRW. I do understand where your coming from

 

I have used a dually long box crewcab for a dailly driver for 30 years, yes there are a few drive ups that I can't use, I hate drive ups anyway, I just park and go inside, it's normally faster and I get fewer screwed up orders, the only other place I have a problem is there are damn few automatic car washes that it will fit in. I always back into a parking spot and seldom have to park farther away than if I had the wife's car and given the choice I'll take my truck every time. I also tow a 33 ft 16K fith wheel and I can have the 3 slides out and fully usable in less than 9 minutes, rear jacks don't have to come down first and you can access the bath room and refrig with it closed up.

 

why do you put the jacks down? I almost never do. Lance 1181 2011 f450

 

As for as I know, most RV manufactures suggest doing so before you extend the Slide. It's for Stability, doing so puts less stress on the Campers Frame, helping to eliminate the Slide from becoming Stuck.

 

I have a '97 F350 DRW 2WD and it's my daily driver. I park in a parking garage in downtown Louisville and I have no problems. Sometimes in parking lots I have to take 2 stabs at getting into a parking space between two cars but I usually try to park far away where there is more room. Mine is a Supercab with 155" WB so it turns rather sharply allowing me to make most turns. I can usually get through most drive-thrus, too. The problem with going to SRW is that most newer campers are 96" wide anyway so you still have the camper width to deal with. I used to have a '92 F250 HD SRW and the F350 handles the camper much better. My 1998 Lance 990 is only 93" wide so it is a bit narrower than newer campers. Personally, I would never own a camper with a slide-out. Too much trouble and too many failure points. For that reason, I love the Northern Lite campers and I hope to own one someday. For now, my Lance is in great shape and is perfect with it's dry bath, generator and nice sized tanks: F/G/B 40/22/26.

 

Ruh roh -
Got the 6.2 DRW on order and closing in on a single slide - guess I might want to look closer at the NL 10-2. It's on the short list too!