pick-up camper

I am looking to get a pick-up camper this spring. I really don’t know anything about them. What are some of the pros and cons about them? How hard are they to take on and off? Thanks

I had a pop up slide in. Pro you could pull a trailer behind your truck, they don’t take up much room to store.
Cons for me, too small inside, pain in the **tt to load and unload(I had manual crank system), truck was top heavy, no awning on mine.
They have a nice nitch, but for me I prefer the 31′ Airstream pull behind. just more room to sprawl out. IMO

There are a couple of question you need to answer
How many will be camping?
Will you be pulling a boat or ATV trailer?
I had a Jayco 8ft pop-up and used it for fishing bass tournaments pulling a boat for 8 yrs. It was great for 2 guys but when my wife and I went camping she thought it was tight. I am retired and have a 5th wheel pulling a boat behing the camper and my wife is happy. No tournaments just
fishing for fun.

I am hoping to be in retired mode soon. I’ve always wondered about size limitations on the double tow setups. What size 5th wheels and boats are you limited to? I have a 36 ft toy hauler and a 17 1/2′ Lund. I have been thinking about downsizing the toy hauler. Would I have to downsize the boat also?

Get one with electric jacks or that is at least wired for them. You can install your own to the existing jacks from Rico Titan. You can then set it off to ground level and have a very handy unit.

If you have the money get one with the slide out it really opens up the camper. After my previous truck camper I will only get one with the queen bed that is where you lay length wise not cross wise. Air conditioning is a must with vented heating system on a thermostat. Me personally I don`t like the crank up campers. Especially if it is used in the cooler months, storms and you loose a lot of storage. The entry door on some are so low it is a hazard to get in and out.

If your planning on using it in the winter then you want a heated basement so the water pipes don`t freeze. I would want a 12 volt converter minimum and a generator would be awesome if camping in wilderness camp sites. Bathroom with holding tanks and hot water for showers and washing up.

Quote:

---

I am hoping to be in retired mode soon. I’ve always wondered about size limitations on the double tow setups.

---

I Think the total legth truck+trailer+trailer is 60 feet, but i have seen setups longer then that, but i don’t know how they measure it? i had a pick up camper loved it and hated it, biggest one was once you get setup camping you cant run to town in the truck

Each state seem to be different I think Mn is Wis is 65 and
Ia is 70 feet that is from the front bumper on the truck to
the end of the boat. Don’t for get that the 5th wheel will
hook up in the middle of the truck bed so you can pick up some length on the camper. I have a f250 ext cab 26 1/2ft camper,175 Alumcraft boat and the total length is 65.6 ft. People that do this all the time tell me you will not have problems with law unless you are driving crazy.

I’ve had a simple pop-up PU camper, it served me well for several years of fishing and hunting trips.

Now I have a full size PU camper on my 3/4 ton truck. Space is limited in all PU campers without fold out sides, but it serves all my needs very well. I wish I had electric jacks (have hydraulic) to make the job quicker and easier when alone. I added suspension overloads to the truck to make it more stable on the road. Overall, I could hook this up to the truck and go within 15 minutes. It’s easy when you have all the proper quick attach mounts set-up on the truck, chain up and go.

It’s important to have a truck (and tires) that are worthy of handling a heavy camper in the bed. You will likely need some kind of added suspension system and mounts for the camper to the truck. It’s best to be safe on the road.

I have a 2008 9’9″ Arctic Fox, 4 season slide in. Absolutely love it… it has a bump out for the dinette area and a full queen size bed over the cab. We had a 26′ fifth wheel and looked at doing a double tow setup but with a quad cab truck and a 17′ boat I would’ve been over 70′ long . The sealing fate was the time my FW tried to hookup the 5th wheel and didn’t get it latched… and tried to drive away… So after we got the box fixed we made the switch to the slide in and couldn’t be happier. The FW and her girlfriend(s) can even load and unload it by themselves.

Now the drawbacks…. HEAVY, very heavy, fully loaded it’s just over 4000lbs. Have to have airbags or some kind of leveling asistance. Electric jacks at all 4 corners are a must also, mine has a wireless remote so you can adjust it from in the truck when hooking it up. A/C is also a must in my opinion, I had a popup truck camper years ago w/o A/C and I said NEVER again… Mine also has a built in 3kW LP powered genset built in.
Really like the fact that I can pull up with a trailer in tow (either my boat or a 16′ enclosed trailer with 2-4 garden tractor pullers in it-5000lbs) drop trailer, set camper where you want it, and you’re ready to camp. I can also use mine w/o it being in the truck which is nice because you can lower it down low so it’s easy to get in, not quite so easy getting in when on the truck.

Quote:

---

I have a 2008 9’9″ Arctic Fox, 4 season slide in. Absolutely love it… it has a bump out for the dinette area and a full queen size bed over the cab.

Electric jacks at all 4 corners are a must also, mine has a wireless remote so you can adjust it from in the truck when hooking it up. Mine also has a built in 3kW LP powered genset built in.

---

DROOOOoooool