Recently sold the F150 for an F250 Heavy Duty with 1 ton override springs all around. The reason is to find a decent pick-up camper for the bride and me that allows us to pull a driftboat too.

Searching Craiglist, I see the same brands over and over again, but the Alaskan brand seems to have a cult following.

Interesting design, and seems ideal for off-roading when a smaller profile would be desirable.

Any experience or suggestions to share?

KP

been in one years ago, I liked the idea, seemed to be built well enough.

I've been part of the cult going on 40 years. Is there anything in particular you'd like to know?

1) Is there a noticeable difference with the lower center of gravity/less wind resistance while driving?

2) Factory video says to replace the gasket (I understand there are two of them on each surface) every three or four years? Difficult? Expensive?

3) On that topic, do they leak air or feel breezy due to the way they're designed?

4) What, in your opinion, makes them superior to other slide-in pickup campers?

Those are some starting points--please feel free to elaborate.

KP

I have taken mine up,down and through in 4 wheel drive. I didn't want a camper that limited me.



Any rubber will work as a seal. Never have replaced mine. 1958 model



Replace gasket as needed



lower center of gravity, but they are heavy. At least mine is.

I'm a big fan of Lance Campers. I put air bags on my old 3/4 Dodge when I bought the camper back in '96'. Had it in heavy cross winds many times. Far easier to control than my grandfather's old slide in that we used back in the 60's with overload springs.
Very strongly built. I've never had anything comes loose. Have had it off road many times, including a mile or so up desert sand washes. Lots of storage space. Modern heating, AC, micro wave, etc. with the built in generator. I've lived in it with temperatures down to as low as -22 degrees, etc. I wouldn't have anything else. E

My answers are pretty much the same as watch4bear's.

1)The lower center of gravity equates to much less sway when driving on roads with dips and dives. The "sail" being less also means less wind resistance and leaning when driving in a cross wind.
2)I've never replaced the gaskets either. Mine's an early '70s model and they're all but gone. So it could definitely stand replacements, I've just never taken the time to do it. Bigbuck215 recently had them replaced on his so he may be able to help on cost. He sent me a PM a while back with the cost but I don't remember. The material is called Pirelli rubber webbing.
3)Mine does because of the lack of gaskets sealing the two halves. If I used mine at times of the year or in places that had a lot of bugs, I would probably be more inclined to replace the gaskets. Mine doesn't have a built-in heater so I sometimes use one of the heater/cooker propane heaters. I'm not as nervous using it indoors because of the gap that lets in fresh air. I've used it in a lot of windy sub-zero weather and never had a problem keeping the temperature comfortable.
4)Definitely the ability to lower the center of gravity, which also reduces the sail effect and you don't hit as many overhead branches.

Are you looking at new or used?

We have a lance also. While its ok, I was not aware of Alaskan and they will be what we buy next time for sure.

I went with the Outfitter brand.

Do the Alaskans have showers in them?

I liked the idea and the quality, just wasn't fond of the layouts. I guess if you plan on trucking into some tough spots the Alaskan will serve you well, but usually I have found anywhere I want to go has decent roads in. My plan is to tow in either a boat meaning roads to a ramp or tow the Rubicon to take me further in.

Recently switched out to 19.5 H rated tires, costly upgrade, however in only a short time I can tell the strain I was putting the E rated tires under, huge difference in stability.

Yep; just like a Harley

I go for a little more comfort, and the Alaskan was a lot heftier price tag. Aren't they upward close to 40K now?

Best camper ever made. You should see how they are built....they aren't stapled and screwed like most. They cut out all the walls out of a solid thick piece of plywood so there are no joints to loosen...
They bring pretty good money...

Kinda old-school, but I've had this 1970 vintage Alaskan pop-up for a long time. And, there is another in the family. Basic, not fancy at all, but heavy/sturdy/bulletproof.

Here are some pictures of mine. Just so happens that I decided to part with it and bought a "B" class motorhome. I was at the campfire gathering in Arizona and of course slept in it there along with Paladin. On my way back to Billings, I spent a few nights in rest areas and a couple of other convenient places. South of Santa Fe, the temp dropped down to 15 but Alaskan stayed between 45 and fifty so pretty good furnace.

I replaced all the seals on mine as the original ones were still on it. Since 1974! Not a bad job and no, you don't get any wind sound inside. No shower. Mine has a stall for a porta-potty just inside the door. Pretty handy. And as you probably can see, mine is a ten footer and the dinette makes a bed that is six feet long.

If you would like, give me a call anytime after about two PM Sunday or any other day and I will tell you all about it.I really enjoy it but in my advanced age, (80), something a little more convenient was needed. I PMd my number to you.

Not bothered much by the wind. Last summer I encountered some really stiff cross winds in Oklahoma. Sure was glad I was hauling the Alaskan instead of something that caught a lot of wind.

Call me.

Oh, mine has a furnace that works very well, four burner stove with oven, and I just replaced the refrigerator with a newer 3 way one. It looks and operates like new. Three propane tanks that fit between the inside of the pickup box and the outside of the camper wall.

No water heater but water heats up quickly on the stove.

My Lance has a three way fridge and what I have learned is that there is no need for a three way in MY truck camper, the truck charging system on my Dodge just cannot handle charging four batteries at once while running the fridge, as you drive. I found that being careful to switch over just before pulling out of the driveway made no difference by the time I got to my destination two hours later, the camper batteries were severely depleted.

Using a volt meter on my batteries, the batteries only pick up about one volt while traveling, simply not enough to keep up with what the fridge is sucking.

Have you tried running your fridge on truck battery power as you travel?
I just keep it on gas now until I have a 110 to plug into.

If you've not yet looked, there are a number of Alaskan camper videos on Youtube, might be of use info wise to you.

Barkoff, there is something not right with your setup. I ran my Lance for many years with my old Dodge w/ it's one battery.
Didn't bother to cool the fridge overnight once before we left. The charging system was running hard during the trip, but the fridge got and stayed cold and the battery stayed charged.
Off hand, I'd say your alternator might not be putting out enough juice, or, more likely, you have bad conections that aren't allowing the charge to get where it needs to go. E

Lance campers are made the same way. E

Barkoff, I haven't ran this one down the road on 12 volts but I did with a camper that I previously had. Pre-cool it with gas or 120 then switch to 12 and it stayed very cold with no strain on the charging system.

A friend had a problem about like you have and it turned out to be a bad ground. Cleaned all his battery connections and all is well.

Lance has pop up versions? I have not looked in some time.

I would like to have one dropped in the back country to hunt from.

Barkoff - I agree with whomever said that a good working 12v system with clean/tight connections to refrig should power that 3rd way just fine while driving. I like to get away from the propane as much as possible and rarely hook up to 120v AC. Installed an aux RV batt for that refrig 12v power (the whole camper actually) and my alt charges both batts just fine when I select that 2 batt charging option. It should work.

Thanks for the comments. With the truck running the camper batteries are reading 13.4 volts, would you expect anymore than that? I'm thinking if the truck is also charging the two bigger truck batteries, the camper batteries reading 13.4 would be expected. Were you thinking that a bad ground between the truck charging system and camper batteries, or between the camper batteries and fridge?

Could it be need to replace alternator with one that has really high output?

I know I did in the car I run for EMS/Fire pages, just to be a bit on the safe side keeping my battery charged, and I do have same on the trucks that have dual batteries.

Possible the batteries are getting bad too?

In my limited experience, almost any 12v auto/truck batt that runs at 13.4V and stays there with charging is doing fine. And, if your camper battery charging system is working correctly , the camper batt should be about that as well.

My only caveat is overall output rating of your alt/charging system. A straightforward test of that setup should tell you if you can get the 13.4 at all four batts while operating a normal road RPM.

Yes - a poor ground on camper batts could mess that up. If doubtful, just run a short aux ground to frame/rad shell for those. Now, if the fridge is not well grounded to the truck frame/ground, no amount of Vs in the camper batt will make it work right. My camper/mohome stuff is old/simple and the bugs were worked out long ago. In that guesswork scenario, I would run a known solid ground from the fridge to truck.

You'll get it. Best wishes.

Batteries are all Interstates less than three years old. Have never heard of replacing an alternator with a high output one, would that be detrimental to the life of the batteries?

No, the voltage regulator takes care of that.

In order to get your camper batteries charged up again do you have to use a battery charger or will they charge up from your truck if you leave the fridge off?

No, it wouldn't.

I'm guessing bad ground. I had the same problem in my trailer. Rat or squirrel chewed on one of my wires. Was getting just enough connection for it to work, not enough to charge