Truck camper + pickup truck purchase

[dan_chi]

Hey all,
This might sound stupid but I really don't have much time to do lots of research into all that stuff... I want to spend about $30k on a used pick up truck and ~$6k on a used truck camper. Can you guy give me any advice what YOU would buy at this budget. I bet you guys have experience in this, I know completely nothing. It's for me and my girlfriend. I don't know where to start... whether I should buy a 1/2 ton truck or a 3/4 ton.... Please help

[laj]

wow, lots of variables. for camper: slide, none slide, popup, all season, summer only. need to figure out camper, then pickup to haul it on.
pickup; 4wheel or 2, cab. configuration wanted, diesel or gas. If not popup camper i would go 3/4 long bed . 30k for a p/u lots of choices, 6k for a camper not so much. jmo’s

[Bedlam]

Minimum, I would look for is a long bed one ton SRW truck. Depending on your camping style, you may need 4wd or just want it when the the camper is not on the truck. You do not need a diesel engine to carry a truck camper - If you plan to tow more than 5000 lbs behind the truck camper, you will be happier driving a diesel.


I think your budget for a camper is too low unless you plan to put a lot of work into rehab of an older unit. I would be looking at campers over $10k if I would rather camp than repair.

[fabricater]

I am new to truck campers. This is based on what I have learned so far. With your budget, I recommend you spend a little less on a truck and more on camper. Also when buying a truck,gets truck that has leaf springs on the rear of the truck. The leaf springs are placed closer to the wheels and carry the load wider,also ,more after market options if you need to add more weight support. 3/4 or 1 ton depending on weight of camper. My 3/4 ton has coil springs and have proved to be a problem with the truck camper. I am working on a cure for these issues for my truck. Also if you are going to be off road much,you may like a pop up truck camper over a hard side.

[dan_chi]

Thank you everybody for your replies.

So what I know for now is:
- I do construction so I will need the truck anyway, 1/2 ton would be enough for my work though
- I want a hard side camper, I just learnt that pop-ups are colder and don't block noise too well. Does it mean I need to go with a 3/4 ton truck minimum?
- I want a gas, 4x4, crew cab truck (need it for work), so I am worried that a long bed (8') truck will be super long. I live in Chicago and I want to park the truck on the street, so it might be a problem
- I can spend $10k on the camper
- I am not sure about slide-out or non-slide out. I don't need much room. I know that non-slides are lighter and cheaper so maybe that would be enough for me
- I want to go to southern states for winter so I will probably need something with heating since the temps are in the 50s-70s. I need A/C as well for summer.

[laj]

for non-slide, that price range 3/4 will be just fine. the later/newer campers weigh a lot more.

[dan_chi]

Originally Posted by laj

for non-slide, that price range 3/4 will be just fine. the later/newer campers weigh a lot more.

Thanks. Forgot to mention I need a bathroom in the camper. Can you recommend some campers for 6.5' bed?

[laj]

lance has some, i believe elk horn, and caribou has some as well. not a fan of short bed campers. its hard enough to get much weight on the frt. axle. sorry.

[egwilly]

Look for a used Artic Fox 9 ft camper(Northwood). They make good stuff, as well as Lance.

[dan_chi]

Thank you. So now I know what pick up truck I should be looking for and I will start here. It will be a 3/4 ton, gas, crew cab, 4x4, 6.5' or 8' bed truck. Any advices what I should look for? Like some special configuration or brand of the truck? Once I buy it I will use your tips to find a camper.

[fabricater]

Originally Posted by dan_chi

Thank you. So now I know what pick up truck I should be looking for and I will start here. It will be a 3/4 ton, gas, crew cab, 4x4, 6.5' or 8' bed truck. Any advices what I should look for? Like some special configuration or brand of the truck? Once I buy it I will use your tips to find a camper.

I don’t want to start a brand war. Here is my thoughts which are my opinion. I was a GM fan my whole life until i had my last GM product. It had many issues so I began to look elsewhere. I have. Ram 2500 I like it a lot. The problem is it has coil springs and the bed is 6’4” long. These 2 things are not good for truck campers. So with a Ram I recommend a 3500.( 1 ton) to get leaf springs. Ford short bed length is longer and some years depending on the cab have a 7’ bed and they use leaf springs on the rear axel. GMC and chevy also use leaf spring on 3/4 ton trucks and I believe bed length is 6’6” for the short bed. My take is Ford ,chevy or GMC in 3/4 ton is suited better ,for truck camper use.

[dan_chi]

Thanks. Ford is very popular now, most of my friends have it. I think all Ford pickups have leaf spring. So I will probably go with Ford F250. I am just not sure about long bed...it's for sure a big plus to have an extra room for a bigger truck camper but driving that long vehicle in Chicago (I need a crew cab) will definetely suck....

[Bedlam]

If you can get away with an extended cab, the long bed version is about as long as a short bed crew.

[fabricater]

Originally Posted by Bedlam

If you can get away with an extended cab, the long bed version is about as long as a short bed crew.

To add to this, I had a 2000 f350 long bed extended cab for 16 years and as you say they over all length is about the same as my short bed crew cab,but the newer trucks have a much tighter turning radius. This really helps in tight spots. My old f350 took a football field to get it parked. My sons 2008 extended cab ford long bed is much easier to park