Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Tips for buying a truck camper?

Have had one in the family for as long as I can remember, some lessons learned over the years. New ones are usually silly expensive, most folks I have known over the years bought theirs used, us included.

Used: really need to go over the camper with a fine tooth comb, a microscope, and a critical eye. Ok, some over-statement, but the real issue is inheriting a headache/money pit from somebody else. To me, knowledge of the previous owner's travel style is critical. How did they travel, how much, how long did they own it?

Exterior: any break in the skin can leak and hide years of rot and wood damage. We have a recent model NorthWoods (SP?) Lite with a fiberglass skin. The rear panel needed replaced with a complete rear skin, about $800 to pick up at the factory. When the original was removed, we found multiple stringers and structeral wood supports that needed replaced, much more than expected. What should have been a simple replacement turned into a couple days of rebuild. The issue was the extent that the water damage had spread behind the panel, that could not be seen until removal. Any areas that have fresh chaulk are suspect, and any repairs in the skin bear a closer inspection.

Vents: look closely at the plex air vents on top, they are expensive to replace, and a very good point for leaks. If they show any of the crazing cracks, they will need replaced soon.

Sides: look for flexing in the corners or the sides of the camper. Most come with a set of corner jacks, or stands, and you'll see any movement when the camper is raised or lowered if there are hidden problems. Generally, shouldn't see any flex at the anchor points.

Bottom: often overlooked and a good indication of care and GASF in caring for the camper. Look for broken corners, torn seam covers, and for wear in the bottom consistant with the useage history. The bottom panels are generally plywood, and excessive wear is generally pretty easy to spot. The corners usually take a beating if the camper is removed regularly from the carrier.

Propane capacity: If you are running a gas cook stove, heater furnace (and a gas A/C unit on newer models), and a gas refrigerator, a dual tank system is recommeneded. One 5-gal tank will do it for a few days, but most of us want a back-up tank, and will carry a spare if the camper doesn't hold a second tank. Which means you have to figure out where carry the second tank...

Storage: my rule of thumb, YMMV, if it (fishing poles, extra coats, extra pots/pans, hunting gear) doesn't have a storage space in the camper, it will in the way anytime you want use the living space, and will become a constant PITA at some point. Look at your load plan, length of trips, weather, and how much storage you have vs how much you want to take. Some traveling experience will trim the load, but if you have to store items in the camper living area, and remove them to use it, you are going to end up wishing you had bought a bigger camper really quick.

Bathroom: How much use is it going to get? Black and Grey water tanks take up space from other needs, but very useful for mixed gender camping. Shower - useful, but required? We have one, it helps on longer trips. Having lived through a Port-o-Let phase, I prefer a bathroom in the camper, shower is optional. Keep in mind the size of the users, I'm 6'2", sitting down for buisiness is laughable at best. You are also becoming tied to the RV-style dumping of the tanks, and this does drive trip planning a bit. Typically hunting camp, we are coming out once week to dump the tank, sooner if camp cooking is sub-par...

Kitchen area: No real comments here, it either meets your cooking needs, or it doesn't. IME, the size of the oven is the biggest debate with the other half on what is "enough". The sink is small, the fixures are plastic, and you need to look for signs of water leakage underneath the counter and the sink area. Over time, our sink spout has developed a quirk of popping off under pressure at random times.

Power: how much needed, how many batteries on board, and how does the battery bank charge? Ours has two big RV/Marine batteries, they require a charge about once a day of 30 minutes of idle on the truck system, or a small generator to run everything at once. The build-in microwave will not work in ours on batteries, has to be on a generator to operate. When buying, how old are the batteries, how many Montana winters have they seen?

The model you are looking at is similiar to what my folks have, but theirs is extended by 2 more feet and the dining area "bumps" out. It has a two tank propane system. Running the furnance, refrig, stove - the tanks last about a week.