The best camper ?

[Gonzo 1066]

I am on my 2nd Alpenlite and am very pleased with them. The 1st one had over 200,00 miles on it and well over 1000 nights. We had no structural problems with it. And very few internal difficultys. Sure they cost a bit more but I would consider them first.

 

[LPChristensen]

WatsonJ, if you buy a quality slid in camper, one that has a decent amount of insulation, you will not need a 13,000 or 13,500 BTU A/C, a unit putting out 11,000 BTU's or less, will be plenty. With the smaller unit, a Honda 2000 watt generator will work just fine. A 13,500 unit is the same size that they put in small travel trailers and fifth wheel rigs that have much more volume to cool. I have traveled in a camper that had am 11,000 BTU A/C and a portable generator, it was a Yamaha 2000 watt unit, not a Honda ,and the generator worked well and handled the A/C without a problem and believe me, we were in South Texas and New Mexico in the summer, plenty hot and humid, and after about 30 or 40 minutes, we turned the A/C down to mid range, as it was getting a little uncomfortable in the camper, it was in the mid 90's outside and the mid 70's in the camper.

 

[Bill Stockard]

Originally posted by klenger

Onan sells a 2800 watt gas (2500 watt LP) generator specifically made to fit into small spots like a slide-in camper would have for a generator.



http://www.onan.com/onan/rvgenerato...isplay.jsp;jsessionid=MCQI42BG4XX5WCTFJMXSDSQ

Yes, I had an Onan 2. 5K LPG Microlite built-in generator and an 11,000 BTU Dometic Penguin A/C unit on a previously owned Lance 990(11'3") camper. They worked great together in the hot weather. I had to switch off the compressor, but let the fan continue to run to run the microwave, however... a minor inconvenience. I had one minor problem with the Onan, but Cummins Southern Plains fixed it at no charge.



Bill

 

[Mike Ellis]

Boomer,



I haven't been back up there since they moved, hopefully the new dealership will be a bit easier to get to. Have you seen it yet?



The streets around the old location could get pretty busy. I bet it was exciting for some of the first-time camper buyers to head out of the old location in heavy traffic I look forward to seeing their new setup this summer when we head back to Colorado, they sure are a great bunch of people to deal with.

 

[Boomer II]

We haven't been back up there either. I believe it's on the interstate though. The old place was a bit hard to find and cramped, I'd like to see the new place but don't have any plans to do so yet.

 

[WatsonJ]

2000 watt gensets & A/c units

I would lke to hear from more people about the use of 2000

watt gensets & A/C units. I was told by more than one camper

dealer that 2000 watts was not enough for a 13,500 btu a/c

unit. Dropping down to 11,000 btu's does not sound like

that would make enough difference. It sure would help solve

the problem though, so I'm listening.



Who makes the 11,000 btu units??? Up to now I've not been aware of them.

I'm am aware that there are some 7,500 btu units out there.



Would this be enough?. Keep in mind that I'm in Arizona.



Any 7,500 users out there???

 

[DaleStevenson]

Speaking of buying a camper, does anybody know of a website to find out actual dealer cost? Thanks



Dale

 

[rolltideram]

Has anyone had experience with a "NorthStar" truck camper? Nobody in Alabama seems to carry truck campers. I found a Northstar dealer in Nashville. I'm trying to decide between a popup and hardside. Not looking for the "best or biggest" , just ready to move up from a tent. JC

 

[Baja road Runner]

Have a 10. 8 Artic Fox on my 01. 5 3500 air bags would not hold the load, added more springs that will do the job. The fox leaks, rear bumber is rusting away, no way to check water in house batts without much work and had the front right jack extend at 70MPH on I-5 . Not very GOOD IMHO

 

[VicR]

Originally posted by rolltideram

Has anyone had experience with a "NorthStar" truck camper? Nobody in Alabama seems to carry truck campers. I found a Northstar dealer in Nashville. I'm trying to decide between a popup and hardside. Not looking for the "best or biggest" , just ready to move up from a tent. JC

JC - we have a pop-up (Sunlite) and we love it. Had it for a little over 3 years now. Its a great concept that works well for us. Due to work schedules, we find ourselves taking lots of short trips and extra long weekends rather then long trips. This type of camper is great for this because its light and small and no hassle for these types of trips. It only weights about 1000lbs dry, so I just leave it on the truck all summer long and the truck is plenty usable driving around town. I hardly know its on the back except the ride smooths out nicely. That is a big benefit because my wife is not intimidated at all driving it, and you can take it places that you might not be able to go with a hardside (for instance I have parked it in parking garages) I don't think I would recommend it if you were going to camp at one destination for long times, but if you do short trips or move around alot I recommend looking at them. Sunlite, Palimino, Starcraft, and 4wheel camper and several others make pop-ups. It also fits in our garage which is great because we can't store RVs outside and I don't want to pay to store something in a mini-store.



-Vic

 

[Mike Ellis]

rolltideram,



I looked at the Northstars here in Texas, they are not bad looking campers. The lightweight pop-up style are fairly spartan inside, but they seemed to be pretty well built. I looked at a couple once at a dealership that also carried Alpenlites, the Northstars were not as plush and gadget filled but were noticeably better built than the Alpenlites. At the time I had narrowed my choice down to Bigfoot and Alpenlite, was really disappointed in the poor fit and finish on the Alpenlites I looked at.



If you like the light-weight style campers, there is a mfg south of Ft. Worth that makes Capri campers. They are popular with the rodeo crowd because they are lightweight and don't interfere with a bumper-pull horse trailer. I have seen one with a wood paneled interior, it was surprisingly nice for such a small unit. I think they show these on their website.



Here in Texas we have relatively few truck camper dealers. There is a large Lance dealer in Ft. Worth (Happy Camper), an Alpenlite / Northstar dealer on north side of Austin (Princess Craft), and an Arctic Fox dealer out west of Houston near Katy (Holiday World). I think there are some other Lance dealerships and a few smaller camper mfgs scattered around the state. Lance dominates the market here pretty thoroughly.

 

[Bill Stockard]

Re: 2000 watt gensets & A/c units

Originally posted by WatsonJ

I would lke to hear from more people about the use of 2000

watt gensets & A/C units. I was told by more than one camper

dealer that 2000 watts was not enough for a 13,500 btu a/c

unit. Dropping down to 11,000 btu's does not sound like

that would make enough difference. It sure would help solve

the problem though, so I'm listening.



Who makes the 11,000 btu units??? Up to now I've not been aware of them.

I'm am aware that there are some 7,500 btu units out there.



Would this be enough?. Keep in mind that I'm in Arizona.



Any 7,500 users out there???

We had a '94 Lance 990 (11'3") with an Onan 2500 watt LP generator and a 11,000 BTU Dometic Penguin air conditioner. The 11,000 BTU A/C did fine in the Texas heat. The 11,000 BTU Dometic is the largest A/C unit will install with the Onan 2500 watt generator. The generator handled the A/C OK, but that was the only thing it would handle at once. To operate the microwave, I had to turn off the compressor and let the fan continue to run... only a minor inconvenience. The only difference that I could tell between the 11,000 BTU A/C and the 13,500 Dometic Penguin(with a 3400 watt LP generator) that I have now is that the 13,500 BTU cools down the camper a little quicker. I have no experience with a smaller BTU A/C.

Bill

 

[ddesau]

camper choice

well finally found a good camper - Eagle Cap - ordered the 800 - quality throughout- price was right- and we got the features we wanted without the weight problem. Now have tork-lift tie downs installed and going to get ride-right air bags. .



If you are looking for a quality camper - you should check out Eagle Cap . . Oo.

















If my American Flag offends you -



call 1-800-LEAVE THE USA !

 

[DPelletier]

Congrats,

Now you just need to get camping!



Dave

 

[SBall]

A word of warning regarding weight. We HAD a nice 92 2500 4x4 diesel club cab with a GVW rating of 8500 lbs. , and when shopping for a camper our Lance dealer tried to sell us a camper that was far too heavy for our truck. We finally settled on the lighter Squire 4000 9 1/2' unit, and although it appeared to ride level, was still too heavy for our truck! Driving the 92 with this camper on it in a cross-wind was downright scary, despite the addition of air bags, etc. We ended up trading in our 2500 for a Rwd 3500 and the difference is like night and day. My advice would be to drive your truck on the scales and see how much load capacity you really have, (GVW-scale weight) and you might be surprised. I agree that something like the Alaskan in the 1500lb-1800lb weight range would be a perfect match for your truck, and watch out for what those camper sales people will try to sell you. We've learned our lesson the hard way and those truck GVW ratings are there for a reason. And you wouldn't want to get caught by the authorities with an "overload".

Steve.

 

[Mike Ellis]

I posted earlier about the Capri campers, which are made here in the Ft. Worth TX area. You normally don't see a lot of truck campers around here, even though we have a big Lance dealership right down the road. However, we recently had our annual Ft. Worth Fat Stock Show up at Will Rogers, and I was surprised at the number of truck campers I saw. Apparently the rodeo cowboys and other competitors love being able to pull a horse trailer and have their camper too.



I saw about 20 Capri campers, a couple of Northstar type popups, and a couple of smaller Lances. I looked the Capris over fairly close from the outside, and they are not a bad looking little camper at all. They are fairly spartan inside, but give the cowboy a good place to sleep apparently with the assumption that there will be restrooms and showers at the rodeo grounds / campgrounds. They had some interesting color schemes that matched the truck, with some aluminum or stainless steel sheet in places - finished sort of like the high-end horse trailers used to be. They are pretty light, and might be an interesting compromise versus a popup.