Is it even feasible to put a camper on a

[Mtnbiker1096]

I'd suggest a smaller pop up as well. Or maybe a teardrop, but you'll have more room in the popup.

[nwcountry]

Thank you much. I will look up pop-ups as I'm not sure how they work. If they are a big job I don't know if I could do it or not but I will definitely check them out denise

Originally Posted by Mtnbiker1096

I'd suggest a smaller pop up as well. Or maybe a teardrop, but you'll have more room in the popup.

[two2go]

I had a 1993 Ford Ranger V6, automatic, standard rear axle ratio (??). We first bought a mini cab-over camper, 900#. The truck handled it OK and it was laid out pretty well for the size. At 6'-2", I couldn't live with the less than 6' headroom. So we bought a small truck pop-up Jayco camper, 1000#. Truck handled it well also, and headroom was great, but had to duck to get through the low door. Nothing real bad about the pop-up except not a cool/cold weather rig, and noisy because of the canvas wall part. Then fell in love with a 15' travel trailer, so traded for it. The truck actually struggled to tow it in our high country (3100#), so bought a Durango to tow with. Then decided to get a 5th wheel, so traded Ranger for Ram Diesel, but that's another story.
If you do go with a camper, make sure you have the best and highest capacity tires you can get on the rear. I added overload springs to keep it more level and yes, I probably was at or over GVW with the pop-up loaded, but the lower profile pop-up camper handled fine and that amount of weight was no problem for the truck.

[elkhornsun]

A Six-Pac (six-pac.com) will be easily managed by your truck as will almost any of the popup campers. Six Pac is not currently producing campers but used ones are not terribly difficult to find. Also check out the popup and hardsided campers at Four Wheel Campers | Low Profile, Light Weight, Pop-up Truck Campers.

I used a Six Pac camper for years using a Toyota 4x4 with the 4-banger engine and had zero problems on or off the road.

[nwcountry]

Oh wow, you guys are really helpful! I will check out more popups when I have time today! I like the ones that have the hardsides and also, the ones that turn into little A frame types?? ttys, denise

[Scarab0088]

You can do it! All the rage for the Baja camping crowd!

EZ-Lite Popup Truck Campers
or
Northstar Campers :: - R.C. WILLETT CO., INC. - Pop-up Campers, Hardwall Campers
or
More... | Phoenix Pop Up - Custom Built Truck Campers - Powered by Clvr.Tv

And the list goes on...there are even fiberglass truck toppers that flip their lid - opening a tent that extends from the rear bumper all the way to the front of the flipped top.

[two2go]

If you are sold on a truck camper vs. a pull trailer, at least consider what we had when we went to a small trailer from a pop-up camper...
-range with oven instead of two burner range top
-real toilet with holding tank
-real bathroom with sink and shower and holding tank
-air conditioning
-bigger refrigerator
-more battery capacity
-more propane capacity
-more room and storage
Of course this all came with a price (weight). Like I said before, our Ranger had all it could handle with the trailer we had. But we were generally above 6000 ft altitude, which reduces engine power quite a bit. And there are lighter trailers available than what we had (GVW was about 3300#). Just more to chew on (and confuse???).

[nwcountry]

thanks so much and I will take this all into consideration. What I get will be what I can afford because I literally have a couple 1000 at best. But, I may have a job lined up for Summer already and if I do get it, I can spend a bit more on something, or, there may be housing for me on the resort, I don't know details yet If I have housing all Summer, then I can save more with that time, and get a way better rig before Winter. If the job turns year round, I may change my "travel" road-style life if the job is great! Time will tell but thank you so much, again denise

Originally Posted by two2go

If you are sold on a truck camper vs. a pull trailer, at least consider what we had when we went to a small trailer from a pop-up camper...

[tndhunter]

We have a big truck and had to put money into it for air bags, tie downs before we would put our slide in on.

It will stress out your truck

[SarahW]

Denise, you might find more info on this forum... Fiberglass RV

Good luck!

[elkhornsun]

Not to confuse matters but from time to time there are great deals on Craigslist for trucks with campers sold together at very good prices. With this type of buy you have a good idea that the two will work together and not be spending money on tie-downs, new shocks, sway bars, better tires, truck to camper wiring, and other items nor do you need to worry about too much of a load on your current truck. May be cheaper in the long run to sell your current truck and put the money into a ready to go rig.

[TXiceman]

A cap on the bed with a sleeping bag on the floor will work?

Ken

[tuffr2]

What part of the country will you spend most of your time? Will you be in cold northern weather? I am thinking that a tall cap on the truck will work best. Get an air mattress, sleeping bag and use the rest of the money to buy things that make it nice like shelves, a chair, lights, port-a-potty. Humm - heat and A/C, not sure how you can set that up...

Or sell the truck and buy a used panel van. That way you can have more living space, have heat and a/c, and can walk around in it.