Truck bed camper thoughts.

[Danielle]

If you're near Easton, PA I'm right over the border in Jersey. If you need a spot to install brackets or something let me know and you can come by. I have air tools and a harbor freight little welder.

I also have an old old truck camper I used brackets that bolt to the frame but come up between the cab and bed halfway that I really like.

I use the spring style turnbuckles for the front and regular turnbuckles for rear.

I have the airlift bags and they made a huge difference. I do not have a turbo and meander up hills at 35 (I am very feather light on my accelerator haha) so I keep a CB on to warn drivers that I am in their way.

 

[Danielle]

I will agree strongly with Russ about the older Lance tie-down points. To put it very plainly, they suck the big one. Lance, in it's greater wisdom, used 1x3 for that bottom rail, the one they attached the tie-down eyebolt to. The 1x3 turned out true measurement 3/4 x 2 1/2. Then they drilled a 3/8th inch hole, 2 1/2 inches long, up through the 3/4 inch face. In doing that they took away exactly half the wood, at the weakest point in the rail. I had tie-downs fail on both sides of my '77 Lance model 500. When I saw what they'd done I said something that really wasn't very complimentary. I'll include two pictures, before and after repair. I made liberal use of Simpson Strong Ties. The pictures are both of the front tie-down, driver's side, under the water heater. I added a fishplate after the picture was taken, under the lock washer, to help distribute the load of the eyebolt.

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BTW, I sold the camper a week ago. It was time. It's found a new home, and another life, an hours or so south of here.

I need to do this!

 

[notenuftime]

If you're near Easton, PA I'm right over the border in Jersey. If you need a spot to install brackets or something let me know and you can come by. I have air tools and a harbor freight little welder.

I also have an old old truck camper I used brackets that bolt to the frame but come up between the cab and bed halfway that I really like.

I use the spring style turnbuckles for the front and regular turnbuckles for rear.

I have the airlift bags and they made a huge difference. I do not have a turbo and meander up hills at 35 (I am very feather light on my accelerator haha) so I keep a CB on to warn drivers that I am in their way.

I'm over in the Allegheny national forest other side of the state but thanks a lot for the offer.

 

[gandalf]

As Danielle said, going uphill could be challenging, and required some patience at times. It was never a question of "Will we get there to the top" but more "When will we get there to the top." My old camper was heavy, and, when I sold it recently, in need of some repair. Over the years I rebuilt the wooden frame on both sides, from the waistline down. I have pictures if anyone is really interested. I'll toss in a picture of the camper on the truck to give you some idea of size. Notice that I had to add extensions to the mirrors so I could see a bit of what was behind me.

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[IDIBRONCO]

Gandalf, I can see that it was heavy, but that was a NICE looking rig!

 

[notenuftime]

Kinda wish I had a dually lol, I'll get by tho.

 

[nj_m715]

I had an older popup slide in a few yrs ago. weight was fine on my f250. the guy I bought it from had it on a late 80's f150

it drove so much better than a normal slide in, less wind drag, didn't feel top heavy etc

it was like this one, maybe a few years older, cant remember
https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/1996-Sun-Lite-EAGLE-WTSB-POP-TOP-5006382146


never had a knock on the door while stealth camping by leaving the top down, still plenty of room inside.

check out bob wells on YT for tons of truck camping tips

 

[Naz4x4]

nj_m715, That's pretty much the same design as my Skamper. The limited factory docs and PO claim 1300lb dry but the scale says it's 1800 wet and ready to go camping. It's about the perfedt weight for my 84 f-250. It softens up the ride just the right amount and sits perfectly flat. The PO had bought it for his Taco but it was way too heavy for that. I like that it's still pretty usable with the top down.