A little background on me and my current situation. I have a 2014 Tacoma double cab short (5 foot) bed and a 2006 Fleetwood pop-up camper. I love that little camper and use it year round. I thought it would be all I needed but I'm growing tired of some aspects of it. First the towing. I'm not really into Off-Roading per se. More so camping away from people (and free). But even on decent fire roads it's slow going while towing. Second, it's a waste. I camp with friends often but they have their own setups. So it's a pretty big unit to drag around and set up for just myself (and my pup). I camp year round and only spend time in my current rig to sleep or if it's raining. Otherwise I prefer to cook and hangout outdoors. The furnace is a must have for me now and what I enjoy most about my current set-up
Because of my current limitations I find myself camping in the same closer 2-4 hour spots over and over. It's still fun to get out but I want to be able to explore a bit more. I also have a schedule that gives me a ton of free time. While I won't just load the mutt up and go camp an hour away I could absolutely see myself taking long trips to other states and camping along the way. I can get 3 weeks off at a time pretty easily. Moving forward I need something easy enough to set up and breakdown that it's not a chore. For two years now I've weighed every option and keep coming back to a FWC.
Now I just have to figure out what model suits me best and it's just so much to take in. Options I'm pretty set on are furnace, sink, side dinette with swivel table, two roof vents for when I camp in warmer weather, silver spur exterior and an outdoor heated shower. So the sink and shower rule out the shell model, but are they really worth an extra $4k? That's the difference based on how I factored my options.
Can I get away with the Fleet camper on a 5' bed? I understand it's not just weight but where the weight sits. I currently have an OME lift with just an add-a-leaf in the rear. I purposely held off on buying a leaf pack until I knew how much weight was going to be back there. The swift looks a little more fitting since it's the proper size but if I'm not hardcore wheeling will the extra foot really hold me back?
And lastly this Dec 15th markup has me trying to decide sooner rather than later. If I do go the Fleet route it would cost me at least $850 more. I bought my truck new and haven't really been too pressed to pay it off because I'm comfortable with the payment and it's a good interest rate. But I'll have to finance the camper in almost it's entirety. So my thought was if I buy now I will put the deposit down, sell my current camper and pay off what's left on my truck ($5k) then finance whatever is left when it's time to buy. Possibly refinance the truck for the value? I've read you can get up to NADA value for a much better rate than a personal loan or other. I have also read that there may be some deals at the Overland Expo? Is it worth waiting and saving and hoping a special off sets some of the price increases?
Obviously wait and save is always the financially smart thing to do. However I'm young with a flexible schedule and you can't put a price on these experiences. Who knows what the future holds and I'd like to do some of these things while I still can. The resale value on these things will keep me from losing my ass on it if I decide I need to sell for an unforeseen reason. I'm sorry for being all over the map. It's just so much to consider and I can't talk to most people I know because they get sticker shock and ask whats wrong with a tent lol.
Because of my current limitations I find myself camping in the same closer 2-4 hour spots over and over. It's still fun to get out but I want to be able to explore a bit more. I also have a schedule that gives me a ton of free time. While I won't just load the mutt up and go camp an hour away I could absolutely see myself taking long trips to other states and camping along the way. I can get 3 weeks off at a time pretty easily. Moving forward I need something easy enough to set up and breakdown that it's not a chore. For two years now I've weighed every option and keep coming back to a FWC.
Now I just have to figure out what model suits me best and it's just so much to take in. Options I'm pretty set on are furnace, sink, side dinette with swivel table, two roof vents for when I camp in warmer weather, silver spur exterior and an outdoor heated shower. So the sink and shower rule out the shell model, but are they really worth an extra $4k? That's the difference based on how I factored my options.
Can I get away with the Fleet camper on a 5' bed? I understand it's not just weight but where the weight sits. I currently have an OME lift with just an add-a-leaf in the rear. I purposely held off on buying a leaf pack until I knew how much weight was going to be back there. The swift looks a little more fitting since it's the proper size but if I'm not hardcore wheeling will the extra foot really hold me back?
And lastly this Dec 15th markup has me trying to decide sooner rather than later. If I do go the Fleet route it would cost me at least $850 more. I bought my truck new and haven't really been too pressed to pay it off because I'm comfortable with the payment and it's a good interest rate. But I'll have to finance the camper in almost it's entirety. So my thought was if I buy now I will put the deposit down, sell my current camper and pay off what's left on my truck ($5k) then finance whatever is left when it's time to buy. Possibly refinance the truck for the value? I've read you can get up to NADA value for a much better rate than a personal loan or other. I have also read that there may be some deals at the Overland Expo? Is it worth waiting and saving and hoping a special off sets some of the price increases?
Obviously wait and save is always the financially smart thing to do. However I'm young with a flexible schedule and you can't put a price on these experiences. Who knows what the future holds and I'd like to do some of these things while I still can. The resale value on these things will keep me from losing my ass on it if I decide I need to sell for an unforeseen reason. I'm sorry for being all over the map. It's just so much to consider and I can't talk to most people I know because they get sticker shock and ask whats wrong with a tent lol.