I need your expertise.

[brennanriddle1]

So i have been contemplating a new recreational vehicle. Motorhomes are cheap as ever but i figure if we are going to get something, we might as well be able to put it up to any sort of traveling we care to do in it.

There are some requirements however.

Looking for something that fits this criteria:

- Diesel (needs serious towing capacity to pull jeep/s around)
- 4x4 for moderate trail roaming and fire roading.
- big enough to sleep 4 people.
- relatively maintenance free, not looking for a project, definitely willing to maintain it.
- between the $40-60k range.


What do you all recommend i look at?

Have checked out tiger provans but are a little steep for my budget.
Unimog is not very streetable but can be found for a good deal occasionally.

Any other ideas?

[brianjwilson]

Used 4x4 Sportsmobile based on a Ford Econoline with diesel.

[brennanriddle1]

I'm afraid it would be a tight fit with 4 people.

Does anyone have experience sleeping more than 2 in there?

[deminimis]

We slept four in our Sporty. Kids were 9 and 6 at the time. It just got too crowded for two-week trips to Baja. So, sold it and went this route. A variation of this will fit all your listed requirements (perhaps a smaller unit and single rear wheel as opposed to dually).


Lots more room inside as compared to our former Sporty:




I went with a pickup/camper combo so I didn't end up with yet another single purpose vehicle. Other thing that's nice about a pickup/camper is the truck can have all the creature comforts you can think of (not as much fancy stuff available for full size vans). Downside is we can't get into some areas we could with our Sporty and the lack of open area between the driver's area to the rear (wife could hop up and microwave a hot pocket while going down the road in our Sporty).

[brennanriddle1]

We slept four in our Sporty. Kids were 9 and 6 at the time. It just got too crowded for two-week trips to Baja. So, sold it and went this route. A variation of this will fit all your listed requirements (perhaps a smaller unit and single rear wheel as opposed to dually).


Lots more room inside as compared to our former Sporty:

also similar to what i was thinking.

We have a truck already but it's not diesel and it's only 2wd. We wouldn't use our truck for the camper. If we were to go that direction we would probably need to sell the truck and pick up a diesel 4x4.

Unless we can find something that fit's all of our needs, that will be the last resort.

[deminimis]

You need to sell the 2wd gasser anyway, so....

If you go this route, you may wish to make sure you camper is built such that you can use it without the truck. You can't do that with many of them. Kinda nice to pull your truck out if needing to run to town for whatever, and not having to pull up camp. Lowered, these are very stable and you have your transport rig for running around (if you don't have your jeep in tow).


You mentioned towing. If you get a long camper and you need to tow your Jeep or whatever, then you'll need a Torklift Super Hitch and the approriate extension. Its only $, right?

Let us know what route you ultimately take.

[dzzz]

Truck camper is what I was thinking too. Extended cab for younger kids. Maybe full double cab for older kids.

Trying to put a truck camper that comfortably sleeps four on a 1/2 ton pickup is a common mistake that many people end up regretting. Ford makes a SRW F350 with an 11,500 GVWR.

[deminimis]

Yea, if you have kids or friends, I'd rec you go with a crew cab. Better to have more room in a truck than not enough unless you see a world of very tight turns before you. People need room when traveling down teh road otherwise they can get grumpy if cramped. Joking aside, length can become an issue. Our extended body Sportsmobile was approx 19' long. This crew cab long bed Chev is approx 2.5' longer than that. Add the longer camper to the equation and we're probably around 6' longer total as compared to our former Sportsmobile. We considered a short bed truck, but the campers were gonna be too small for us for extended stays. Its all about utils. I penciled out the pluses and minuses when trying to decide (extended vs crew vs srw vs dual vs long bed vs short vs cost).

[brennanriddle1]

Yep, domestic pick up with a full sized slide in is a tried and true solution. Even with a F350 srw diesel 4x4 though, it wouldn't be hard to reach gwvr hauling a big family camper and gear.

Will you flat tow the jeep? Would that give you less tongue weight?

well actually the plan is to be able to tow one (on a trailer) or two (on a longer trailer) at times... We're talking serious towing capacity.

[haven]

You don't have to use a pickup to carry a truck camper!

Kerry's Fuso with service body


Bajaroad's camper


jhrodd's Fuse FE with camper