I almost gave up.....

[potterjon]

I almost gave up trying to find a truck camper in my price range that would fit my truck and not exceed gwvr. I drive a 1998 Toyota Tacoma 4 cyl, 2.7 ltr, 4 wd truck with 165k miles with what I assume are stock springs and shocks. I was extremely exasperated trying to find something in the southeast for less than $2k. A few deals fell through due to distance and expectations. I was even looking at truck tents just to use this summer which is ridiculous because we have a nice marmot 3 season tent with an air mattress already for when we go canoe camping. I lived in my truck when I moved here several years ago with a camper shell and that really isn't an option I was willing to revisit at this point in my life. Well, the other day I put my tools down and drove 900 miles round trip to pick up a 1989 sunlight skyhawk in Ohio from Asheville, North Carolina for $1500. It has a stove, sink, 2 way fridge. It is designed for a long bed I assume because it hangs out the back of the truck but not beyond the tailgate which renders the side storage semi useless but I think I could have waited for years trying to find the exact fit for my truck and I am not sure a foot shorter camper would take off that much weight.
It supposedly weighs 1030 lbs when loaded with standard equipment (including 35 lbs for ice, but it has a 2 way fridge). My truck with me in it weighs 3600 lbs with me in it and a 1/4 tank of gas and has a payload of 5100 lbs. So I figured I had roughly 1500 lbs to spare before putting the camper on. I know a full fuel tank will increase this and I plan to weigh it today with the camper on the truck to see what it comes out to.
I will try and keep this post short if possible, but now I am riddled with questions. All I have done so far is plug it in to 110 power from my house and checked the interior lights. I don't know how anything on here works and I will spend today cleaning and messing with it. Some pics and questions follow.
First off, I have to thank this forum and its members. Specifically Subterran and Rangerdog. They were very helpful answering questions and even sending me links to camper they had found! I can't thank them enough.
Secondly, is the drive home. I had no idea what I was getting into and I didn't modify my truck in any way at all. Like most people, I didn't even know what exactly would be needed. I was surprised at how well the truck handled the camper. I stayed under 65 most of the time and I am ok with that. But the tractor trailers behind me didn't share my patience in any form. I was definitely getting the pogo action and some sway at higher speeds and had a couple white knuckle moments but all in all it was ok. I have hauled lots of heavy things in my truck for short distances but never a long haul and I have never owned a camper either. The more I drove, the more comfortable I got, but now I am revisiting all my options to upgrade the suspension. I will assume my leaf springs are shot just from the drive home but they were in pretty bad shape to begin with.
Thirdly, and this one is almost comical. The jack stands aren't short enough to put back on the camper. One of them seemed a little long when we put the camper on and the seller sort of rocked the camper on the stands to get it on my truck. I attributed that to us being on uneven ground in his yard. He then said the jack stands can be hooked up the these holding brackets on the side for traveling but I can't figure out what he was talking about as the feet on the jack stands are too wide too make that work and the jack stands don't swivel from what I can tell.
Some pics and questions to follow. I will do a few short posts here but want to upload these photos real quick as my laptop is struggling adding photos for some reason and I don't want to accidentally erase what I have so far.

 

[potterjon]

 

[Buddha.]

Looks like a perfect fit to me. Congrats

 

[libarata]

Great write up! Camper looks great, and I reckon you got a steal. I have not, to my knowledge, noticed any of these campers on smaller trucks keep the legs on during transit. A buddy on mine took them off, and shoved em inside until needed. Larger trucks I have seen do keep them on.

 

[potterjon]

I got 28 mpg on the way there empty and 22 on the way back with the camper on. Which really surprised me to be honest because the specs on this model truck are 18 and 22 mpg with an average of 20. This truck has a 15 gallon gas tank from what I can tell but maybe someone knows more about this than I do. I only measured the top half of the tank because I certainly wasn't going to run the tank empty to find out my mpg. So these numbers may be incorrect if I did it wrong and if my gas gauge is somehow off.
I purchased a rubber bed mat, some over leaf spring assists, and (4) 1000 lb ratchet straps before I left. I didn't use any of them for the trip home. The bed mat needs to be trimmed to fit the truck and I didn't have the time to do it. I chose the assist springs because they were cheap and accessible on the spot at the auto store and I could put them on myself if need boe. I didn't use my ratchet straps because the sellers put two ratchet straps in the front over the side of the bed down to my o rings that were already in the truck bed. One of them said that's all I would need because that's how they have always done it. I added some 500 lb ratchet straps of my own to the back when I got down the road. I didn't really want use the new ones if they weren't needed because I can return them but I am sure I will keep them anyway.
The camper did shift a little about 2. hrs into the trip on the left side. It moved about an inch and I felt it happen. I slept in a wal mart parking lot on the way home because I assumed it was too late to hit a campground and I wanted to put a dent in the next day's drive. I don't recommend sleeping in a wal mart parking lot but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. I didn't get a wink of sleep and should have just kept on driving, but I was tired when I left from the day before as I am building a small addition on our house for my wife's studio. I have been working solid for 6 weeks on it and I am ready to go to the beach and go fishing and relax a little. I am assuming I will have to jack the truck up to get the jack stands on and the seller suggested maybe cutting a few inches off of them and welding them back together. They used it in an f150 and had a box attached to the bottom to raise it above their bed rails. Not the end of the world I suppose, but meanwhile this thing is kind of stuck on my truck. I could feel the truck bottoming out over bumps in the last hour or so of my trip. That felt a little sketchy, and there was definitely some sway as mentioned before. I don't know if I was just driving faster as the trip progressed and I got more comfortable, or if I was really just wearing out my existing suspension as I got closer to home. Not sure exactly where to start with suspension upgrades. The truck needs a couple new tires also so I am looking at maybe doing that first. Can I put e or d rated tires only on the back or do I need all 4? I wouldn't really hesitate to drive to the lake or the beach this weekend and of course now my wife is ready to go tomorrow. But I would like to at least upgrade something on the suspension. Whether it is air bags, or shocks, or a leaf. I can't do all at once but I can start with one. I can return the spring assists and probably will do that today as I haven't really read anything good about them and I just bought them because I was in a pinch.
I have talked to a guy on another forum who had basically the same truck with the same camper and he said air bags seemed to solve the problem for him and drove all over Canada with that set up. He seemed to really like the ride rite brand over the firestone but I understand that's pretty much 6 or half dozen. I am thinking one full add a leaf. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated and I understand there are many answers to this question, but what do you guys recommend? The ride was pretty bouncy which makes me think new shocks are needed. Air bags seem like they would just make the truck more bouncy but that may just be me not understanding how they work. Adding leaf seems to make the most sense but maybe won't help at all if my existing ones are shot.
What do you guys recommend for cleaning it? I was going to run through a manual car wash but don't want to damage any of the decals to be honest because I think this thing is completely original and I saw several for sale that had been painted and that really turned me off from buying a few that I saw on craigslist. The curtains and fabric seem original to me, and of course my wife is already probably running through replacement fabric in her mind. Can I just use windex on the plastic windows? I don't want to cloud them up so I hesitated. Like I said, I have a lot of questions now that I got this thing home.
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[potterjon]

 

[potterjon]

Great write up! Camper looks great, and I reckon you got a steal. I have not, to my knowledge, noticed any of these campers on smaller trucks keep the legs on during transit. A buddy on mine took them off, and shoved em inside until needed. Larger trucks I have seen do keep them on.

Well, this makes sense because that is what the seller recommended but I would ideally like to take the camper off the truck at a campground and still be able to use my truck. Maybe I need shorter jack stands. lol. But then I have no idea how these holders work or what they are for. They look like fence post rings to me. You can see them just under the side of the camper in this photo.

 

[potterjon]

So the truck with me in it and 1/2 tank of gas and the camper with the jack stands inside weighs 4660 lbs. I just went and weighed it.

 

[potterjon]

So far the stove works too. I haven't figured out the furnace or fridge just yet though. The blower on the furnace seems a little finicky from what I can tell but I don't think I will need that for awhile since it is June.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I would upgrade truck in this order 1.) Firestone Air Bags 2.) replace shocks 3.) additional leaf spring 4.) upgrade tires (assuming you have good tires). I'm not a mechanic and I speak only from my experiences. I've done all of the above.

All Walmarts are not the same. I've spent the last 3 nights at various Walmarts with no problem whatsoever. Sometimes I have had the same experience as you and yea it sucks.

Welcome to the truck camper life. I've been into it for 10 years and absolutely love it. I guess I have nearly 150,000 miles of camper travel. Nice find.......enjoy.

 

[libarata]

I agree with jerry, but pick up whatever airbags you feel comfortable with. Also, why just one spring?

Some walmarts are really quite, some are really loud, you just have to get lucky! For cleaning it, Hose it down at home, grab a bucket, soap, and wax! Your MPGs, if I remember reading, you drove slower on the way back than how fast you drop up? Altitude, better gas, and all of that could play havoc on calculations. (If you can, purchase non-ethanol fuel, it helps)

For the stands, you could check out a local RV store, and they SHOULD have what you need, and it will help to drag it along with you.

 

[bill harr]

I would add a Hellwig sway bar or similar to the list of truck up grades.

 

[potterjon]

just one spring because of the budget. I realize all these things probably need to be done but right now I am limited on the financing over here. lol. We may be camping in the front yard this weekend, I dunno.

 

[potterjon]

Ok so the rv shop down the road says he will re- arch my leaf springs and add one to each side for $600. If the bolts aren't long enough, it will be $650 and he can replace the shocks for roughly $100-$150 for both sides bringing the total to somewhere between $700 and $800. These shocks would be monroe shocks. He didn't seem to think I needed billstein shocks or anything like that. He is not a fan of air bags. I think $650 is a little excessive for re- arching the springs and adding one. Am I incorrect in thinking that the metal has memory and will just fail again in the future? Besides that, a whole new pack doesn't seem that expensive.

 

[gsanders]

I would recommend a new spring pack with an additional leaf or two. Toyota springs are notorious for sagging over time (I owned a '94 4Runner with the infamous rear squat). Invest in a new spring pack, there are many companies out there that have them already set up for your vehicle (Hellwig, Alcan) and maybe there is a more local source for you? If you find someone local you can give them the weights of your truck loaded and unloaded and they can possibly design a spring pack with overload springs that will help your springs with the camper on and off. Also, a sway bar (or stronger sway bar) would be good, although that could come later. I would advise against air bags but many people will recommend them. Air bags can be punctured, develop leaks, and generally add another mechanical system which is prone to failure. If you need new shocks and springs anyway, I would start there and then decide on air bags later, if you feel like they are needed. They will help with the sway, so maybe decide later whether to improve the sway bar or add air bags.

The metal hooks on the side of the camper are, I believe, installed to hold the jacks. It looks like they would cradle the leg of the jack, but maybe I'm wrong? As for cleaning, clean it like a car. Also, after cleaning throw the roof up and clean the soft side with a damp cloth, let it air dry, and then spray it down liberally with a vinyl/leather protectorant. Many will recommend Aerospace 303 but any good protectorant will do. You might also want to hit all the sewn seams with a seam sealer before doing the protectorant to help with any leaks.

Good find on the camper and good luck!