Moving from #Vanlife to a Camper

[JMyerz]

Thanks everyone for all the great info.

Moving from a van thats already feeling small, all of your advice is heard loud and clear. We are headed over to MULE new showroom here in Portland to see what we think of all the different FWC setups. I’ll let you know what we decide

J

 

[Durango1]

Just a suggestion. Make sure the camper is raised before making a decision. I'm always amazed how big inside our FWC is when I raise it. And definitely go at least 3/4 ton. I painfully went the upgrade route and am now in a 3500 Ram chassis cab with a 4,000# plus payload and still flirt with the GVWR!

 

[moveinon]

I have a Tacoma with a Fleet. I also came to a truck camper from a van, in my case a VW Syncro. We often take (20 or 30 trips now) one of our granddaughters camping with us and it has always worked fine space wise. But the reason it has worked is because we all spend almost all of our time outside the camper except when sleeping. We only cook in the camper when we have to and even with rain we spend a lot of the time under the awning. If we were hanging inside the camper all of the time it might get too cramped. There were times when my children were teens that even a 40 foot motorhome would not have been big enough. I have a neighbor who has one of those 40 foot motorhomes and can not understand how we could possibly camp in something as small as our camper. And met a guy this last summer who had spent the year traveling, off roading, and living in his jeep. There is a family of five that travelled for months in their Hawk. Some people fit their truck to the camper they want. Even with all of the days we camp each year I put in more time using the truck for transportation than as a camper so got the truck that I wanted (had a pretty long list for why the Tacoma) and then found the camper that worked for us. Going out to Mule should give you a great feel for the real difference between sizes.

 

[BBZ]

I have a Tacoma with a Fleet. I also came to a truck camper from a van, in my case a VW Syncro. We often take (20 or 30 trips now) one of our granddaughters camping with us and it has always worked fine space wise. But the reason it has worked is because we all spend almost all of our time outside the camper except when sleeping. We only cook in the camper when we have to and even with rain we spend a lot of the time under the awning. If we were hanging inside the camper all of the time it might get too cramped. There were times when my children were teens that even a 40 foot motorhome would not have been big enough. I have a neighbor who has one of those 40 foot motorhomes and can not understand how we could possibly camp in something as small as our camper. And met a guy this last summer who had spent the year traveling, off roading, and living in his jeep. There is a family of five that travelled for months in their Hawk. Some people fit their truck to the camper they want. Even with all of the days we camp each year I put in more time using the truck for transportation than as a camper so got the truck that I wanted (had a pretty long list for why the Tacoma) and then found the camper that worked for us. Going out to Mule should give you a great feel for the real difference between sizes.

You nailed it..

I use our camper to camp, but really its just a sleeping place and a place to escape the weather if needed. I wouldn't even have gotten one but my wife wouldn't camp in a tent anymore.. haha

Same with the truck.. Sure, If I had the camper on full time and didn't need the truck for work, I might have a different vehicle.. but that is not the case. Also why I didn't want a van because I actually need a truck for work and didn't want to insure an extra vehicle.

I recently bought a 10 year old Prius for days I don't need the truck.. I am hoping this enables me to leave the camper on the truck for longer periods of time and be able to take off at a moments notice.