6 Interesting Ford Truck Based Campers
Ford trucks are made for the great outdoors, and some aftermarket companies have used them to build some pretty sweet little campers over the years. Here's a handful of the really interesting ones, including one from down under on the new Ranger chassis.
1. 1973-74 Ford American Road Camper
Few people remember that when first introduced the Winnebago motor home went viral and was a huge success, leading everyone to jump on the bandwagon. The Ford F-250 and F-350 were hugely popular with campers, and Ford created camper specials with options focused on the needs of campers, but in 1973 they actually made a matching camper to slide into one. The Ford American Road Camper was made for just 2 years, and just over 800 of them were sold. They stand out from the rest with their curved fiberglass construction and fake wood accent panel. You can read all about them here.
2. 1981 Ford F-250 Shasta
The granddad of that Ranger from down under is likely a full sized truck based camper like this 1981 F-250 mounted Shasta. This RV is typical of the type that was popular throughout the 1970s and 80s when the Baby Boomers were all out camping with their growing families. Eventually, the van-based motor homes pushed out the truck cabs because they offered more room in a smaller space, even if their driving position is less comfortable.
3. Old School Ford Ranger Campers
Mini-trucks were a big deal when they first hit the market, and many companies tried to make smaller versions of the big truck and van based RVs to take advantage of these smaller more fuel-efficient chassis. Unfortunately, they did not catch on, and now spotting any of these is rare. The top hinged door of the New World Vans conversion is pretty futuristic, but it has nothing on the spaceship shape of the Mirage fiberglass bubble camper.
4. 1990 Full Sized Bronco Lite-Craft Camper
It is a little hard to pin down the year on these, as they seem to have been made from the late 1980s till about 1995. It is a fairly simple conversion, just a little more involved than a slide-in truck bed camper, with a mini kitchen, a bench that converts to bed, and a loft over the cab for the kids. If you are looking for a small camper that can get you into the furthest backwoods jeep trails, a 4x4 Bronco based one is a great idea. Even rarer was a similar unit for the original Bronco.
5. 2015 Ford Ranger Sunliner
We may not have the Ranger in the United States yet, but in Australia, it is already a popular truck, and Sunliner has a small RV based on it perfect for the backwoods or the outback. Only about 19 feet long and 10 feet tall, this fully featured motor home is not much bigger than a full-size van. In Australia, you can choose from a 2.2-liter 4 cylinder or 3.2-liter 5 cylinder turbo diesel, and they start at about $75,000. We can only hope we get similar versions here, though at a lower cost.
6. 2016 Ford Transit Winnebago Fuse Camper
The introduction of the European style full sized Ford Transit meant it was a whole new ball game for the RV companies used to building Class C campers on the Econoline chassis. One of the nicest of the clean sheet new designs is the Winnebago Fuse. There are also quite a few other companies making these, in both class B and C, many with the turbodiesel 3.2-liter motor, so you can go camping getting more than 20 mpg.
If you have a Ford truck and need help with maintenance or repairs, check out the how to section of Ford-Trucks.com