Great Truck Campers

[Fish]

Have some questions for the truck camper owners out there:

What do you like about the Bronco or Maverick?

What things would be awesome to have on the truck camper?

Design ideas, what would you do?

In a perfect world, what would a awesome truck camper (to you) be like?

[TURBS]

Welcome to the forum!


Unfortunately there's only a few members that I've seen with truck campers on this forum and hopefully they can help you but replies may be thin .

Feel free to hang out here either way!

Turbs

[maverick013]

I have just purchased a 2013 palomino maverick model 2902s which is for the short or long bed. It has the desirable features which are needed and a lower price than other makes or models of truck campers. Time will tell if the quality will remain up to par. I would like to know if others out there have this or a similar model and their experience. Any information I can offer let me know if I can help and please do the same.
My truck is a 05 silverado 2500HD, duramax 6.6 diesel and 5 speed tranny.
Have done some modifications to it engine and suspension.

[TURBS]

Welcome to the forum!
Congrats on the maverick!

Post up some pics when u can !


Turbs

[handbuilder]

We have a truck camper but its an orphan now. Its Pop up Shadow Cruiser. We love it! Its actually DH getaway rig and the A-frame is mine. haha! He wouldnt trade his TC for anything. It actually has more storage than my A Frame! We have choices for camping - all depending what sort of activity we are going to do.

[Fish]

Sounds like a great rig Mav! You have any pics of it on the truck? What do you like about the floorplan?

[Coast Ranger]

I've been a civil war reenactor for many years, so when we say tent camping, we're talking luxury digs. As I get older I'm becoming more interested in regular camping. I've determined that a truck camper would be ideal. It would let me have a few amenities and still let me tow a boat for fishing.

As I see it, the couple biggest advantages are:

1) Heating and cooling. I can stay warm when it's cold. That just requires another log on the fire. When it's really hot, you can only get so naked. Then you're hot, sweaty, AND naked. Nobody wants to see that around camp. A heater for the winter and an AC for the summer would be great.

2) Bugs. I don't mind critters. Furry, flying, crawling, or slithering - generally if you leave them alone they'll leave you alone. It's the biting ones that I can't handle. Most everyone has mosquitoes. They're bad enough. Some of y'all have horse, black, or deer flies. Think mosquitoes with a bigger bite. We've got those and something worse - "noseeums". This little agent of Hades is almost invisible (hence the name). If viewed under a magnifying glass I'm sure you would see little bitty shark teeth attached directly to wings. There's never just one. These guys attack in swarms. I have avoided camping opportunities because the time of year and proximity to the coast was home ground for noseeums. A camper with window screens would allow me to laugh at them from the inside.

I got to thinking about what I really needed in a camper. Boy, all the cool stuff looks great. But do you really need all that? My camper would essentially be a place to sleep. Everything else would be done outside. A "gutted" camper would probably serve best. Two people could sleep above the cab and two people could sleep below. Stow the lower beds and a couple of people could hunker down during a storm. There would be plenty of room to eat, play cards, tie flies, etc...

Four Wheel Campers has a pop-up truck camper that caught my eye. I like the idea of dropping the top down to reduce drag on the truck. Light weight and aerodynamic would improve gas mileage. The compact design would also let me store the camper in the garage. They have a "shell" model that has nothing inside. I saw a manufacturer that had a camper where the rear folded down into a ramp. Then you could drive an ATV up into your "mobile garage". They were in Australia, so I think shipping would be a bit stiff.

The more I think about this, the more I like the idea. I'd be interested in y'all's opinions. Maybe you'll point out something I'm not considering. Maybe you know another manufacturer I could take a look at.

CR

[gonecheenin]

We just bought a Palomino Real-Lite 1806 TC (Maverick 8801 twin) last October & we're pretty happy with it overall.


Likes:

-Lots of creature comforts for the money

-Lots of room & storage considering the size

-Comfortable bed

-Ergonimically laid out well

-Attractive coloring and designs

-Very good propane capacity

-Stable on jacks

-New style 3 stage battery charger/converter works very well as long as it's not left plugged in permanently

-No heavier on the truck than it needs to be


-Just about everything you need & nothing you don't



Dislikes:

-Table single pole mount difficult to move around with two people, needs dual mounts to allow for normal central pole mount to utilize dinette as normal, Or pole & curb side seat back dual mounting against curb side window for additonal interior room (Mod I'll be making soon)

-Drains & hoses were not tightend the whole way & many leaked (I addressed this)

-No coat or towel hooks (I'll be addressing this soon)

-Only one 12V power port (I'll be addressing this soon)

-Battery level indicator very basic (Will be adding digital volt meter soon)

-Grey water tank is too small & could have been made much bigger had the usable space been better utilized (Mod I would like to make someday)

-Grey water level sensors work poorly or not correctly (I will be addressing this as soon as I figure out how to remove the tank or find the sensors)

-Fresh water tank though decently sized could have been set up for a optional larger tank & the battery moved out into the passenger front wheel well (Where I put both of mine on quick disconnects and am installing a additonal 5-6 gal tank beside original fresh tank)

-Mechanical furnace thermostat works poorly, inexpensive programmable digital thermostat would work much better (Mod I made)

-Furnace heat not ducted which left cab over bunk cold, could use 12v fan mounted to dinette cabinets to redirected heat when furnace is on (Mod I made)

-Toilet is not supported well for a 250lb guy (gonna attempt to add more support under tank, or address support when increasing size of grey water tank)

-Rear ladder is not supported well even for a 150lb woman let alone a 250lb guy (Planning to add additional support legs)

-Rear awning is pretty small, would be nice to have a large awning option there similar to the curb side setup

-External doors don't all have hold open catchs

-Pass through window does not open

-No external lighting on Drivers side

-Stove vent fan cover must be opened from outside

-Shoulda got the Thermo-pane windows, benefits were not well explained by salesman!

[wagonrd]

I have the Palomino 1608 pop up slide in camper on my 8 ft bed Ford diesel. I use the 18 in gap between the truck cab and the lower front of the camper for storage and a plywoid mounted generator. The same problems you describe also exist in the 1608, but we sure love that toilet even though it takes up 1/4 th the living space

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Forest River Forums mobile app

[markb45n]

Originally Posted by Fish

Have some questions for the truck camper owners out there:

What do you like about the Bronco or Maverick?

What things would be awesome to have on the truck camper?

Design ideas, what would you do?

In a perfect world, what would a awesome truck camper (to you) be like?

We recently bought a 2015 HS-2902. There are good and bad points but over all we love the camper.

First, the reason we went with a truck camper over a TT or 5er is that we offroad. My wife and I ride ATVs and my son has a dirt bike. All of which fit on my snowmobile trailer. We looked at 'toy haulers' but found that by the time that we got one big enough to carry all the ATVs/dirt bikes, we had a honker unit that was way more expensive than the TC. We had also talked with toy hauler owners and even been in some of the year and two old ones, and they tend to start smelling like your toys after a while. The 2902 also has heaters on the tanks so if my son and I want to go camping while we snowmobile we can. Not sure that I want to but it is an option. Living in northern Michigan (Lower Penisula) there are tons of trails both here and in the U.P.

Second is that I like the idea of having the camper as part of my truck. The insurance is less for the camper because part of the coverage is taken care of my truck insurance.

As for the things that I dont like. The secondary bed (folded down dining area) is a bit small for my son. He is 6'1" and has to sleep in a ball. He does normally so this is not too much of a problem. The second is that knee room in the dining area is a bit snug but we work around it. I love the new TorqueLift bumper that they have added to the build. The extra storage for stuff is really welcome. It also gives me a place to strap my portable grill and generator to when I take them with us. I wish that the floor plan was a left-to-right mirror. Most TTs and 5ers have the doors and awnings on the passenger side of the trailer. This has them on the side where most campsites have their picnic tables and fire rings. Not usually a big deal but we not only have an awning on the back but one on the driverside (opposite the slide) and on the opposite side from the main portion of most campsites. Not sure why this is.

None of these are show stoppers. I love the 2902. So far we have not found anything that would cause us to question the quality of the build but then again we have not had it that long.

There are a ton of primitive camp grounds here in MI. This is the perfect unit no matter where we go. Small spots, big spots, No Problem....

MB -
2004 Ford F350 Super Duty 6.0L Diesel Crew Cab SRW SB
2015 Palomino Backpack Edition HS-2902