slide in camper

[Diesel_brad]

I am going to look at a slide in camper today. It will either go in my 86 sin sig or 96 in my sig. What should I. Look for. Problems, good things or whatever. I have never had a camper but I figured this would be a good entry level. How exactly do they hook to the truck and what do they weigh? Sorry for all the questions. And please move top the correct forum if nessary.

 

[77f250diesel]

Soft spots, especially in the wings (where the jacks mount) and the floor inside cabinets and cubby's.
Older campers are notorious for leaks which results in rot unless they where well maintained.
Check around windows and doors for caulking, if it's glopped on you'll know it was leaking there and you should check back inside for any damage to floor/walls in that area.
Check to make sure all appliances work, people lie so don't take their word for it.
Crawl up into the cabover and check under the mattress for water damage.
Take a good look at the outside for any sagging or bulges.
There is a variety of camper tie downs that you can make up yourself for alot less, just make sure it's tied to the frame not the bed sheet metal.

Check over here for more infor....http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/listings/forum/27.cfm

Good luck, there alot of fun.

Dennis

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Brad, how big is that camper you're looking at? They tend to get pretty heavy as they grow in length, it's my understanding that it's not uncommon for a ten-footer to go over 2k lbs.

Dennis gave you some good pointers tho - soft spots in the roof usually indicate a leak, however the real damage can usually only be accessed with the lauan ceiling pulled down. Same with sides and floor, the more solid feel the better - I had to rebuild the front left corner of my camper but cause of carpenter ants, and not water damage, I used 2x2 and 2x4 pieces for the framing with a 2x10 board underneath for the jack to bolt up to, actually I gave that treatment to all three jacking points and it's way stronger than factory. The tie-down points may also need reinforcing, actually I highly suggest you take a real close look a those as them four plates are the only thing that holds your camper to the truck. On the cabover bed, yes, it's a common rotting location it seems, mine was good but it was scary weakly built - I now have five 2x4s running across the entire width of the camper with 1/2" plywood on top of those and R13 insulation underneath (whereas before there was none). And since we're on the subject of insulation, if you're pulling the ceiling might as well upgrade the insulation there if you got the space for it...

As far as tie-down to the truck, read this thread in the Lounge, I was asking those same questions a few months ago:
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=39831

 

[Diesel_brad]

FOK well I looked at the camper today but I couldn't get inside or talk. To the owner. It is a 92 14' Viking. Out side looks OK and looking in from the windows is looks good. The rear floor under. The shower and storage closet is starting to rot. I guess a leak from shower? From what I cold see the roof looks good. Didn't see any excessive. Calk anywhere. The door for th propane tank is gone an they made oneout of 1/4" plywood and painted it white. Doesn't look too bad. O it is a pop up roof too. There is no price on it. Just a phone number. What do you think it s worth? And how hard would it be to replace t rear floor. I Don mind fixing small thing but I don't need another project.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Given the age and condition I wouldn't go more than 500 clams.
A 14' slide in is gonna be a heavy monster and I wouldn't dare go a traveling too far with it in the 250.

Dennis hit all the sneaky spots right on the head and after rebuilding 5 campers over the years, those spots make for real headaches but are repairable if ya have the time and will.
We normally pick em up for a couple hundred bucks, put a few hundred into repairing them and turn em around making some good coin after using them for a few seasons.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

They actually make 14ft-long slide-ins??? That thing will hang 6ft out the bed, talk about the front end getting all light and unstable! As for the roof, they can look very good on the outside and through the windows but still have leaks - make sure you touch the ceiling in several spots to see if it's soft. Repairing the floor, I dunno, I fought the ceiling and corners on mine but floors are good so I really have no idea how much of a pain it could be...

 

[nyteshades]

Well you already got some good pointers but here's a couple more. Check the appliances. Make sure the freezer door is in the fridge, that controls the cooling. Check all the hoses for dry rot.

As far as tie downs go, stay far away from the bed stakes. They'll eat your bed alive. The better tie down system is the bar that runs in front of the bed. Happijack I think that one is called. You're prolly gonna want to invest in some sort of mirror extensions, and the cheap reese extensions at wal-mart suck.

 

[Diesel_brad]

They actually make 14ft-long slide-ins??? That thing will hang 6ft out the bed, talk about the front end getting all light and unstable! As for the roof, they can look very good on the outside and through the windows but still have leaks - make sure you touch the ceiling in several spots to see if it's soft. Repairing the floor, I dunno, I fought the ceiling and corners on mine but floors are good so I really have no idea how much of a pain it could be...

Q14' overall. 8' in the bed. 2' over the tailgate and 3-4' over the cab. Thanks for the pointers guys. I also have my eye on one on eBay. It is a nicerer unit by the pics but it has a non pop up roof and is in TN. Right now at 1000 but 2 more days left an we all know what happens the last 15 minutes of the auction

 

[Full Monte]

I've never seen or heard of a 14 ft. camper. Mine is 11ft.6in.
and it's larger/heavier than I'd like to carry if I was to start over. Every camper will likely exceed the legal GVW of the truck when installed and carrying your gear. I didn't know that when I started out, and was surprised by it. Here is what I would look for on a used camper:
1. Roof leaks. Often seen as crinkled wood paneling on the interior ceiling or walls of the camper. This leads to dry rot... your worst enemy.
2. A working refrigerator. No camper is worth squat without one. A new one may not be installable because they are often larger than the back door allows.
3. Eye-bolt tie-downs are strong and not sagging.
4. Roof vents that have no cracks in the frames or holes in the vents.
5. Leaks and dry-rot around any front-facing windows.
6. Strong jacks and mounting points as indicated before.
7. Water, gray and blackwater tanks that are well-mounted and non-leaking.
8. Electric water pump working and shutoff works too.
9. Water heater works.
10. All electric lights work...running, clearance, brake lights.
11. Roof seal is fresh at the edges, around the perimeter and around the vents. NO silicone was used to seal the roof...it makes for a very leaky roof.
12. Propane tanks are of the new type. The older type are not legally fillable any more and are expensive.

Good Luck!

 

[Slade]

That would be a 10' camper. You don't count the cab over part.

 

[DragRag]

Ya, Don't count the cab over part, so it is either a 10 or 11 footer. I had a 1992 Caribou on my 92 F350 4x4 with single rears. Beware, if you don't have airbags it will sit on your overloads and rock like a ***** in heat. Pump those airbags up, and you will do fine. If you don't have airbags, or overloads your just screwed, don't even bother putting it on the back, it will pancake it. The camper weighs 3000 plus, mine did.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

One note on the lights - do take voltage readings at every one of them, you may be surprised at what you find. Case in point my sunline has the lights all daisy-chained, basically from the electrical panel in the front left corner the wires go back to the driver-side brake light, then over to the passenger side brake light, up to the top clearance lights on the rear wall, then all the way forward to the front right corner clearance light, and from there all the way over to the left clearance light - made for a huge voltage drop between the panel and the top left clearance light, had to run another set of power and ground wires from the panel up to that front clearance light so now current has to paths to follow around between the different lights, it worked great. I also installed a relay for all the running lights, and doubled-up the power supply to the camper with a 6-gauge cable coming directly from the driver-side truck batter and going straight into the camper's converter unit (as opposed to the factory setup using a long harness to hook up to the 7-way on the rear bumper). All in all she glows like a christmas tree now, nice and bright, and the water pump has more oomph to it too.

 

[gandalf]

All the above is true. Older campers are almost as bad as boats in the "money pit" area.

I've inspected Monte's camper (Full Monte). He's done a nice job on it, put in some good thought.

Take a look at the repair work I've done on mine.

Cabover Repair

I've had both front tie down eye bolts pull through the frame. Cabover frames are notorious for being weakly built. Repairs take time and effort.

I've had the same camper on two trucks, my '86 F-250 SRW, and my '92 F-350 DRW. The 250 has single rear wheels and constant duty overload springs. It was scarey the way the camper swayed. The 350 is a dually, has a sway bar, no extra suspension. It's unbelievable how much more steady it is.

Tie downs... Avoid the stake pocket tie downs at all costs. I had Happijacks on the '86, mounting the camper to the truck bed. The idea made me a bit nervous. I have TorqueLift tie downs on the '92, tieing the camper to the frame. It's a far superior system.

Good luck with your purchase. Keep us informed.

 

[Diesel_brad]

Again. Than again for all the info. I did a lil. Research last night. The camper weights 1600 empty

 

[Full Monte]

Again. Than again for all the info. I did a lil. Research last night. The camper weights 1600 empty

The rule of thumb is to add 50% of the camper weight to estimate the gear you will put inside. I don't believe a 10 to 11 foot camper weighs only 1600 lbs. More like 3000 to 3500. I've seen a lot of them and never saw one weigh only 1600.