Slide In Campers

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@naisp.net>]

Kathy Adams Kathy.Adams@na.biomerieux.com said:
>I am contemplating switching from a 3 horse gooseneck with a bed and
>propane heater (no extra amenities), to a 3 horse bumper pull with
>dressing room and getting a slide in camper for my truck. I have a 97
>standard bed Ford 250 2 wheel drive...

 

Jim Holland said:

>

>5.  I had to take the camper off every time I wanted to use the truck
>for hay, lumber, etc....then put it back on for the ride.....a pain and
>time consuming.

There is a kind of electric jack that retails for around $2000 that

makes getting the camper on and off much quicker and much

easier.  And it can be done by one person.  Instead of being a tripod,

it is like two rails/skis on either side of the camper.  It also acts as

its own camper tie-down.  I am told you do have to be careful because

some newer trucks are too wide to use with it, but it seems

to go a long way to answering this particular, critical shortcoming

of the slide-in camper configuration.  And all it costs is $2000 ;-)

 

You don't say whether your 250 is a heavy duty or not.  Older

slide-in campers can be quite heavy and the weight of the

camper plus the tongue weight of the 3 horse tag with dressing

room can exceed the truck's rear axle weight rating.  (Thing is,

many of the smaller, lighter 8 ft campers don't have any

bathroom/shower, which I consider to be the major difference

between roughing it and luxury, and the major point of

upgrading at all.)

I was told my '86 GMC 250 Heavy Duty could handle a 8 1/2 or

9ft camper plus 2-3 horse tag with dressing room, but just barely, and I'd

be well-advised to get a weight distributing hitch and air bags to make

the configuration stable and safe.

 

I'm weighing the same two options myself and have pretty much

decided that a small used LQ is going to be much preferable

to a used camper + tag, though probably around $6000 to $7000

more expensive.   But then, any size LQ pretty much requires

a heavy duty pick-up anyway. 

 

Slide-in truck campers are also getting a little hard to find in

this part of the country.  Most manufacturers don't make them

anymore and a Lance costs a *bundle*!

 

Some of the trailer finance companies are offering 0% interest

3 year loans on new LQ trailers to people with good credit.  With

a brand new Sundowner Trail Blazer II going for around $29,000,

if you can put 10k or so down, the monthly payments don't look

that outrageous, and the resale value of the trailer will always

exceed what you owe on it.

 

Linda B. Merims

lbm@naisp.net

Massachusetts, USA