I have put my foot down and finally got approval to buy a camper.  I am tired of packing for camping.  I am tired of loading random bins into the truck to go camping, but mostly I am sick of tents, I am sick of sticky small tents haha. 

 

I have been looking into used Truck bed campers of the Popup variety.   We do a lot of off the beaten road camping so a large camper isn't going to happen.  We also have goals of getting a horse trailer at some point and going places to ride for a weekend. 

 

So that leaves me with the popup slide in style.  Am I off base here?   We have ~$2000-$3000 budget for this.  I have been looking on Craigslist for a few weeks now and spotted a few that would work, anywhere from $700-$5000.   Most have good roofs and canvas, but beyond that I am not sure what I am looking for.  Anything I should be looking for?  Any brands that I should be avoiding?

Rubber mat might snag and ball up. JAG1 uses a slick plastic rail system to make the camper glide in.

I'm not sure about the ratchet strap idea seems kind of weak?

I see all sorts of #4000 straps. can't imagine them breaking.

 

I read all over that you want a rubber mat in the bed haha.  I wish people on the internet would just agree on something, that would make my life easier.

 

 

Jag,

 

any pictures?

If you can secure something to a trailer with ratchet straps I don't see any reason why you couldn't secure a camper. I guess they could eventually rot if left out in the elements to long? 

I've ordered a few things from here, nice stuff. 

https://www.ratchetstraps.com/home/

I figure that the straps have a #4k rating, if you were to put 4k on the i-hooks on the camper itself they would rip out.

 

https://www.ratchetstraps.com/2-ratchet-strap-wire-hooks-5000

Edited February 1, 20169 yr by Me78569

I have a rubber mat on the bottom.

To help guide the loading process I have plastic centering guides that can either rub against or help me see if I'm centered by staying within a quarter inch of the guides. The guides also help keep the camper centered and stop the movement on rough roads. I mean that dang thing can get awful crooked in the bed on some bad roads.

I think the straps would be okay but I think the wide 2'' straps are what you want because I don't think much of the skinny ones with the small ratcheting mechanism. The front ties should be angled forward and the rear ties should be angled toward the back.

14 hours ago, Me78569 said:

I need to figure out some sort of mounting points for the camper as my truck doesn't have any.

I've got bed mounts sitting at home. I removed them and welded up the holes, so they're just collecting dust.

let me know how much you want.

Front tie downs are made by HappiJack

How about tree fiddy! 

You can have them.  I have no use.

Edited February 1, 20169 yr by TFaoro

alright thanks buddy.

I'll try to remember the next time I head home. Are you in a rush for them?

No real rush.  I can use straps to the frame if need be.

Here is JAG1 setup...

 

Now we got to get Nick up for the summer event... Plenty of room in this park to gather.

 

:buttrock:

Topic has been split

 

 

 

Alright,

 

So Back to the camper.  I am happy to report and EGT's with the camper on were only ~50*f more than without at the same speed same stretch of road.  Can't complain about that.  

 

I need to do some work on it.  It has a 120v input and a 12v --> 120v inverter that I am going to upgrade.  I need to figure out a good way to mount a group 31 deep cycle battery.  I am assuming I can use the trailer wiring to charge the battery on the road then wire in a solar panel also?  

 

Convert the interior lights to LED's  The bulbs in the ceiling look like standard 12v 7506 bulbs.  Is that typical to have the interior lights be 12v?

You're making it really hard to derail a thread!

I believe my parent's pop-up camper is the same way. All interior lights are 12V.

 I do what I can.  I have to build a stable base for the camper today after work, once I get that done I am going to dive into figuring it out.  

 

Goal is to get everything as low power as possible so I can use a smaller solar panel with a large deep cycle and sustain base functions.  Jen and I like to rough it in terms of technology so we really only need basic power.

50 minutes ago, Me78569 said:

Goal is to get everything as low power as possible so I can use a smaller solar panel with a large deep cycle and sustain base functions.  Jen and I like to rough it in terms of technology so we really only need basic power.

That's the basis of my design. Cheap power and low power usage. Mostly have the solar for recharging the batteries for lights, pump, and furnace (forced air). I added the inverter because then if I want to charge a cell phone, tablet, etc I can. Again low power usage. I do have a portable TV and DVD play for the night is just too quiet I can watch a DVD movie if I want.

Still converting to LED lighting yet...

Edited February 3, 20169 yr by Mopar1973Man

I need to get a propane tank for it so I can test the heater. 

 

Really need to dig into it with a multimeter and see what is going on with it all.

 

 

20# bottles are fairly cheap. Depends on what size the cabinet holds. I'm going to assume 20# bottles.