# Truck Camper



## NorthernRedneck

Anyone here have any experience with them?  I had one breifly back around 2005 before upgrading to a smaller camper then to the one we have now.  Been looking around for a cheap one to stick on our site.

Our seasonal site is fairly large with room enough for a couple campers if we wanted.  The older boys are now ten and eleven.  Our camper only has two bunks in the rear which the younger kids use.  I thought about putting a truck camper on the site off to the side for the older boys to use.  We could also load it up and use it for the weekend when we manage to be kidless and want to sneak away just the missus and I.  

I've looked at a couple this week.  I'm thinking a full size ten footer will be too much camper for the f150 to handle.  Also looked at an 8 ft full top but it was rough for the price they wanted.  I stumbled across another one today which has a pop up top much like a tent trailer.  I kinda like that idea since it's less weight to haul.  Thoughts?


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## NorthernRedneck

This is similar to what I'm looking at.


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## wakeupcall

Northernredneck, Years ago we had a Northstar 8 foot pop up camper. It was a very nice camper for the mountains nice low profile . Would have another popup in a heart beat . But since we bought a cabin we have no need for camper.


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## Doc

We had one in the 90's.  It sat on our river lot along with other campers and a mobile home.   We did not have a truck, so we paid to have it hauled to the river lot.   It was a 10 or 12 ft but it worked out great for the two of us.   It seemed to have more storage space than one would have guessed.   I sold it when we bought a mobile home to put on the lot.   I never hauled it so I can't speak to the size for your F150.


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## NorthernRedneck

That's one thing I liked about the one I saw today.  It has a nice low profile when the top is down and should be better on the highway.  Here's a picture of the other one I'm seriously considering.  It's a 10 ft though and I think it would be more suited to a 3/4 ton truck.  May be too much camper for the f150.  The thing I like about the truck camper is that I can still hook up the boat behind and head back to my hometown for the weekend or head up to visit my bro and do some fishing up his way.  Once I'm in better shape health wise I plan on also using it for moose hunting in the fall.


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## NorthernRedneck

I went out this morning and picked up this truck camper for cheap. Everything works on it. Its an early nineties pop up. Can't complain. Price was right.


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## Snowtrac Nome

I worked on jayco trailers built during that time they were top notch units for the price. not air stream quality but not an airstream price tag . jayco units were on par with anything built by Winnebago industry's for a whole lot less money


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## NorthernRedneck

I like jayco.  Our 31ft camper is a jayco as well.  Friends of ours have the jayflight camper comparable to ours.  Looking at theirs both inside and out you can tell why there is the lower jayflight brand then the jayco eagle line.  The eagle has a much better fit and finish overall.  

I unloaded the camper in the driveway this afternoon.  Tomorrow's task is to head to homedepot and pick up some lumber to built saw horses to go underneath to stabilize it.  I also need some for a couple other projects at camp.  (build a ridgepole setup to put a large tarp over the boat for the winter and build a small wood shed out of pallets)


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## wakeupcall

Nice looking camper glad you found a good one . We also had a jayco fifth wheel was a nice trailer but sold it due to non use . Good luck with your new purchase!!


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## mtntopper

We had a Jayco popup pickup camper just like it a mid 90's model. Nice camper made very well except for the 3 jack design. It never felt stable loading and unloading it with only 3 jacks.  I never had a problem but it worried me when using only 3 jacks if the wind was blowing as it felt very unstable and moved around a lot.  We decided if we ever do another one it will have 4 jacks with one at each corner and not the single one on one side. We had ours for about 5 years and sold it for more than we paid for it so they do hold their value well.


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## NorthernRedneck

I know what you mean about the three jack design. It's a little unstable loading and unloading. The guy i bought it from also fabbed up some 6" brackets to go between the jacks and the camper so they allow for more clearance when backing under it to load it.


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## mbsieg

Nice camper had one just like it!


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## NorthernRedneck

Today's project was to hobble my crippled ass down to home depot to pick up lumber to build saw horses for the camper. Two hours after getting home it was resting comfortably on its new supports and I was resting comfortably on my chair waiting for my back to tense up. 

Tomorrow's project is going to be building a set of steps for it to bring to camp since it will be spending most of it's life out there.


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## MrLiberty

How about some shots of the interior?


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## MrLiberty

I know you never can please some people......

It is a nice looking camper by the way.


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## mtntopper

Do both sides have the extensions on the jacks to extend them out from the camper? I can see an added on extension on the single jack side. My Jayco was a bit narrow when backing a Ford Super Duty under to load. The jack bases when spread out were too narrow to fit the wheel width. I can see where the extensions make it easier to fit the wider boxes of the newer trucks under the camper to load and unload it.


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## NorthernRedneck

Thanks.  Yes.  Both sides have the extensions for the jacks.  Gives a little wiggle room when backing under it.  Nice addition giving an extra 6" on each side.  I'm having a problem with the left rear bar binding up when the roof is raised though.  I sprayed some lube in there to free it up.  Right now the left rear sits about 4" lower than the other three corners.  

Yours looks almost the same as mine.  Just a different year.  Same model though.  I can barely feel it in the back on my truck.


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## NorthernRedneck

MrLiberty said:


> How about some shots of the interior?


Here you go. Interior is in good shape for it's age. There's a couple issues to fix but nothing too drastic. All the interior systems work. I'm having fun problem with the left rear roof arm. I've found the problem. Just have to fix it. Im not in a rush.


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## Doc

Looks good Brian.   And those are some heavy duty horses.  
I'd never heard of those campers coming in pop up style.  How do they pop up?  Electric or crank or what?  Pretty easy to pop the top?


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## NorthernRedneck

Thanks Doc.  I wanted the horses to be strong enough for regular use since for the mostpart it will be sitting at camp being used by the kids every weekend.  

I guess they started making them in pop up around the late 80's.  It's got a hand crank that only takes about 10-15 rotations to raise the roof.  I'm 6'2" and have no problem standing up straight in it without my head touching the roof.  

Speaking of roofs, the roof had a bit of a leak near the front since it joins together in two halves.  I picked up a can of roofing spray that sprays a rubberized coating over the seams.  So far it seems to be a decent product that coats well.  I figure for $10 it's worth a shot.


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## NorthernRedneck

Got the truck camper parked into it's semi permanent living area at camp.  Just for piece of mind I covered it with a tarp for the winter since I don't know what shape the roof is in due to the leaking I found.  I sealed the leaks on the outside but next spring the task will be to remove the interior roof panels over the top bunk and see what kind of damage there is and hopefully repair it and reinforce the roof then install new panelling to cover it up.  My back wasn't in any shape this fall to tackle that job.  

I was having a hard time with the left rear post for the roof.  It appeared to be binding and wouldn't go all the way up or down.  It's a square tube that slide in and out of a track built into the wall.  The back one was showing signs of corrosion.  Eventually, I discovered that water had leaked down into the tube and over the winter froze expanding the metal.  I tried for 3 hours to straighten it so it would slide back into the channel.  Evenutally I decided to cut it off with a saw.  The back of the roof now only has one post to raise and lower it but the winch system now works fine.  Once the roof is raised to the correct height I just prop a piece of wood there to hold the one corner up.  The rest of the camper is in good shape including the canvas.  So for $500, not a bad little camper for the kids to sleep in at camp and allow us to use for occasional weekend trips to the states, to see relatives, hunting in the fall etc.  Now the bigger camper can just stay put in the seasonal site unless we're going somewhere with all the kids.


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## NorthernRedneck

I loaded up the truck camper and brought it onto town this past weekend. We're taking a trip back home for the long weekend to go fishing. Instead of using the big camper and needing two vehicles to get there we decided to use the truck camper. 

So I had sprayed some roof sealant along the top seam in the fall. Things were apparently still wet in there. I began removing the old roof panel today to repair it. My plan is to install a new piece of paneling with some 1x3 boards going width wise to reinforce it. 

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## NorthernRedneck

I put a micro furnace in there overnight to dry it out. This morning I headed off to home Depot  to get a few 1x3 boards and 2 4x4 pieces of paneling to repair it. It's not perfect but it'll do. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




We discovered black mould covering the foam on the mattresses when we removed them and unzipped the covers. The covers went into the wash with some bleach to kill anything but the foams unfortunately didn't fare so well. We're having new ones cut this afternoon. I just couldn't convince she who must be obeyed to sleep on foam covered in black mould[emoji12] 

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## EastTexFrank

Mould in the RV absolutely terrifies me.  Actually, mould anywhere terrifies me.  It makes me really sick.  I mean really, really sick. 

All winter I keep a heater running in the RV.  In the house I have personal heaters, cans of desiccant and those Damp Rid bags hung all over the place.  I don't know if it helps but it makes me feel better knowing they are there.


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## NorthernRedneck

I hear you. I wasn't crazy about finding it. Oh well. If a man built it a man can fix it. Not the end of the world. There won't be any mould when  I'm done. 

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## NorthernRedneck

I went to a fabric store yesterday looking for replacement foam for the cushions. When I got there I found exactly what I was looking for and even better, it was on sale 40% off. Which is always a good thing. We had called around to a few places that sell the stuff. The all wanted close to $300 for the foam. I got it for $190 including my contribution to the government 

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## NorthernRedneck

Fast forward a few years. The truck camper has been good and served it's purpose well. I listed it for sale this morning and sold it for nearly twice what I originally paid for it. The roof was getting to the point where it either needed to be repaired or replaced completely and I didn't want to get into that job.


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## Jim_S RIP

> listed it for sale this morning and sold it for nearly twice what I originally paid for it



Nest time I have something to sell I’m sending it to you! :th_lmao:


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## NorthernRedneck

I've already found a replacement. A bit newer and in much better shape but basically the same thing. The interior has been replaced and the roof is solid.


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## NorthernRedneck

Jim_S said:


> Nest time I have something to sell I’m sending it to you! :th_lmao:


Lmao. No problem. Actually I don't know what the feeding frenzy is over truck campers up here but as soon as anything comes up for sale, it's gone right away. I know the smaller pop up ones like mine are desirable as they weigh less and most half ton trucks can handle them. I've already missed out on a couple this week that sold before I could get there.


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## NorthernRedneck

So I looked at the one pictured above and passed on it as there's not much for storage inside even for dishes and such.  The roof interior was redone but appeared to sag in the middle like my old one which indicated water damage at some point. 

I also went to see another one a couple days ago a bit newer and much better shape. I ended up getting it and picked it up last night.


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## NorthernRedneck

Here's a few better pictures after I cleaned it up this morning.


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## NorthernRedneck

More interior with the roof lifted.


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## Doc

We had one off the truck parked on our river lot for a few years.  I was amazed at the room inside.   It worked for us and was better than a tent.


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## NorthernRedneck

Exactly. You can fit quite a bit in there for storage. And they're actually quite cozy and better than a tent. It's got a fridge stove furnace sink table and 2 beds. What more do I need to go spend a weekend in the woods?  

I plan on using it for weekend fishing trips out in the bush away from everyone, overnight trips to go watch dirt track racing etc. I paid a little more than I would have liked for this one  but seems the pop up soft top kind like this are harder to find in good shape and when one comes available, there's a feeding frenzy because the soft top ones are lighter and can be loaded on a regular half ton truck. I had a full hard top one back 15+ years ago for a short time. Tried it on my chevy truck. The thing was nearly bottomed out on the back. I only used it once to go 10 miles and sold it.


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