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RE: Storage Boxes/Compartments????
I've been following your other thread on the reconstruction. When I read you needed more space, I thought of a thread I saw on here a month ago or so. How about something like this?
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22909093.cfm
From the reconstruction pics, it looks like your pretty handy and you already have a spacer between the bed of the truck and the camper to raise it above the bed rails. You could build some type of basement setup like in the above thread for extra storage.
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1320quick
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07/21/09 03:14pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Photo Thread - Post a Photo of Your Truck Camper Here
Thought I'd post a couple of pics of my setup. These pictures were taken last weekend at Lake Minatare State park just outside of Scottsbluff NE.
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/1320quick/DSCF0115.jpg width=640
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/1320quick/DSCF0118-1.jpg width=640
The camper is a 1990 Viking SP095 that I purchased new. Although it was a fairly inexpensive unit, it has served it's purpose well over the years. The truck is a 2002 GMC 2500HD 2WD with an 8.1 and Allison that I just purchased two months ago. It has a touch over 12k miles on it and it's a huge upgrade over the 92 F250 that it replaced. The boat is a Champion 190SX fish n ski.
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1320quick
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07/21/09 01:54pm |
Truck Campers
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Another battery question
I want to add a second battery to my camper setup. The current battery is 4+ years old but has been working great. I've been out as many as 4 days in a row and not had any issues with it. I'm just going to add another battery and wire them in parallel. My question is can I just go buy a new battery and wire it up to the existing battery or do I need to buy two new batteries at the same time? I was hoping to be able to buy one battery this month and then replace the old battery next month.
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1320quick
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07/16/09 11:52am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Need to replace my truck - inexpensively
That's a pretty tall order there. I was in a pretty similar situation to you a few months ago. I had a 1992 F250 that even thought it only had 140k miles on it, it had become too unreliable for us to go anywhere with it. I started looking for a cheap ( less than $5k) replacement as well. I just couldn't find anything in that price range that didn't have more miles and wear 'n tear than what I had. Most everything in that price range had lots of miles and as many problems as the truck I had. I ended up spending 13k and got a 2002 GMC 2500HD with a 8.1/allison and less than 12k miles. It was like a new truck and I'm super happy with it. If I had stayed with the original plan to buy a truck for less than 5k, I would have bought a 73-82 Chevy K20 long bed. They are pretty simple to work on, no computer and way less to go wrong than newer computer controlled trucks.
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1320quick
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07/14/09 04:05pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Some asked! What do you drive?
Since everyone is sharing, here are my weekend rides....
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/1320quick/Bandimere229.jpg
Street legal, stock suspended 1971 Nova, 550ci of nitrous injected Rat motor. Runs 8.70's at 160mph in the thin air for Colorado.
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/1320quick/DSCF0085-1.jpg
1998 Champion 190sx - 175hp Johnson - a fish catching machine!
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1320quick
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07/14/09 10:19am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Truck Needs Everything!?
A week ago I was in a similar situation to you. I purchased a new to me 2003 GMC 2500HD. I already owned a 9 1/2 ft truck camper. If you have some basic mechanical aptitude, you can do this yourself. I went with the Torklift front mounts and the Happijac rear button style mounts. I'm extremely happy with how they came out. It took about 2 hours to install the front and back mounts. The front Torklifts were totally bolt-on which I really like. The directions were decent but the pictures in the directions were poor quality at best. Had to drill one hole in each side of the bumper for the rear Happijac mounts but it was really easy. I can post up some pics if your interested.
As far as the wiring goes, my truck had a 5th wheel hitch in it before so it had a 7 pin rv plug in the bed already. I just bought a plug to go into that and wired that to the 6-pin plug that my camper uses. I also rewired the wires from the battery to that same 6-pin for the camper. I'm kind of a detail freak so I soldered and shrink wrapped all the connections. I would guess the wiring took another hour. You should be able to do the camper hold-downs and wiring in an afternoon.
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1320quick
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07/07/09 01:07pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Am I done before I even start?
Guys, thanks for all the input. I was able to get the old Viking loaded on the new truck last weekend. I removed the factory plastic bed liner and then built a wood platform to raise the camper level with the 5th wheel rails in the bed. Removing the plastic liner gave me a bit more wiggle room between the wheel wells. I cut the rubber mat from my old Ford to fit the bed of the GMC and placed it on top of the wood platform I built. I did all new wiring for camper from the battery and lights. It was a tight fit but with some patience, I was able to get the camper on the new GMC. I then installed a set of torklift front mounts and the happijac buttons in the bumper for the rear mounts. I also upgraded from the old school solid turnbuckles to a set of used Torklift spring-loaded turnbuckles I found. Took it for a test drive Sunday night and I was absolutely blown away at what a difference the new hold-down system made.
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1320quick
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07/07/09 11:45am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Cement blocks to set camper on?
I've been using concrete cinder blocks for 18 years to support my camper when it's off the truck. I use two full size block and a solid half block all stacked on their side to support each corner. I always put a small amount of tension on the jacks as well once I get it situated where I want it. It's up to you if you want to build a frame or not but just using the blocks alone has always worked well for me.
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1320quick
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07/03/09 09:24am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Am I done before I even start?
1320, what part of the bathroom is in the expanded area that is filling up the sides near the tailgate area? If its nothing crucial (Holding tanks), you could dismantle the sides and some of the frame and move them inwards a bit so that it fits with a couple inches to spare.
I had not considered that but I will take a peak tonight and see. I do have a chopsaw and welder. ;)
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1320quick
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07/02/09 04:51pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Am I done before I even start?
The value of the camper is significantly lower because it only will fit older trucks. It's probably worth a lot more to you that the street value, so I'd give it a try and see if you squeeze it in. Obviously only having an inch of wiggle room means lining it up perfect, but since you've owned it for 17 years, I'm guessing you are probably pretty good at it.
I guess you've probably measured the side rail and roof clearance heights and are ok in those departments?
I totally agree, the camper is not worth much at this point. It was the least expensive truck camper I could find in 1990 but it's been well taken care of and is very clean. I'll give it a shot and see what happens. As far as the side rail and roof goes, I'm not too concerned over that as I have to build up a support in the bed to clear the 5th wheel rails that were in the truck when I bought it.
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1320quick
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07/02/09 04:09pm |
Truck Campers
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Am I done before I even start?
Hi guys, looking for opinions here. I saw a thread here yesterday that asked if a certain older camper model would fit a newer Dodge (I think). That got me thinking about my current situation. I've got a 1990 Viking SP095 that I purchased brand new in 1991. Obviously being the original owner, knowing it's history and it being paid for, I'm quite fond of it. For the past 14 years, I've been hauling it on a 92 F-250. The poor Ford just became too unreliable for me and last month I purchased a 2003 GMC 2500HD with 11k miles to replace the ol Ford. purchased a long bed specifically to haul my truck camper. After seeing the thread here yesterday about will it fit, I measured everything last night. Here is what I came up with:
Truck between wheel wells = 49" ----> Old Ford is 52"
Truck tailgate opening = 60" ----> Old Ford is 65"
Front section of camper that goes between wheel wells = 48"
Rear section of camper that goes behind wheel wells in tailgate opening = 59"
Obviously the measurements of the camper are slightly smaller than the truck so physically it "should" fit.
-Is it even going to be possible to get the camper loaded on the truck with so little free space?
-With so little free space between camper and bed, could the bed be damaged if the camper "rocks" over a bump?
-If it were your camper and new truck, would you try it or cut your losses, sell the camper and buy a different one that fits better?
Thanks for any guidance you can provide!
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1320quick
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07/02/09 02:32pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Tongue Jack Alternative
How about something like this on my car trailer? Sorry, it's not a great picture of the trailer as the original picture was meant to be of the truck but you can see the front of the trailer sitting next to it and see how the jack mounts.
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc117/1320quick/DSCF0101.jpg
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1320quick
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06/30/09 03:13pm |
Truck Campers
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