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Pickups Pickups - Archived Discussions Cabover Campers & Camper Trailers (pickups) 
1377 messages, Last post on Nov 20, 2003 at 1:43 PM
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I got caught in the same traffic Mike did trying to get out of the valley last Friday evening. But it was worth it to get an early jump on the long weekend. I took the camper up to the mountains above Yosemite Park. The highest pass we went over was 9600 feet. The truck did great although this was the first time it really had to work to keep up. I ended up on highway 108 and found some great places for another trip. It turns out the area up there has miles of state sanctioned off-road vehicle trails. Also you can camp anywhere in the wilderness if you get a campfire permit first (free). I drove a few miles down a good dirt road and found a nice "campground" where the only development was fire rings of river rock. I dropped the camper and spent an afternoon 4-wheeling on the OHV trails. What fun, I'm going back as soon as I can. Anyone interested? From there we went on to Mono Lake just outside of Lee Vining. I bought gas in town at the cheaper of the two stations: $2.35/gallon. Ouch. Then I came back on 120 through Yosemite and had the pleasure of paying $20 just to use the road! I think they jacked up the price to penalize you for bringing a car into the park. It was a very pretty drive though. I posted some pictures on my web page if you are interested. http://members.home.net/vofm/mono.htm |
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Ah, the infamous $20 fee to enter Yosemite Nat'l Park. I refuse to pay that fee. So I just give them $50 and get an annual pass good for all National Parks. Sounds like you found a really nice place to get away. I'm game! Just not this weekend. The tent is supposed to come off the house today, and the gas will go back on tomorrow. So I get to shower at work again tomorrow morning. The guy who is buying the El Camino is getting anxious, so I will work on it this weekend. Hopefully finish it except for the driveshaft. Then I can measure it for the d'shaft and find one for it. You don't normally carry your jacks do you? Did you bring them along just for this trip? I will either bring my jacks, or get the HappiJac tie downs. sdpierson, You will like your new GMC. Mine is a Std Cab longbed 4x4 6.0L 5spd 3.73 and Vince's is similar except he has an automatic and 4.10 gears. We are both happy with our trucks. With my popup camper I have averaged 14.0mpg for over 9000 miles. Your truck is a 2001 with aluminum heads, and may get better mileage than mine. If you get a hardsided camper, that will cut into you mileage for sure. When you get your truck, if you decide to get a rear anti-sway bar, I have a Hellwig bar I took off my other Silverado and you can have it for 1/2 price. Then you can get together with Vince and Terri, Mike and Dorothy and go 4x4 camping. Later, Mike L |
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Do you have a picture of that 8.5' camper on a 6.5' bed? I'm curious how it looks and I bet sdpierson is too. If you have an electronic copy but no way to post it e-mail it to me and I'll post it. |
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sdpierson, I strongly recommend a rear sway bar if you will be carrying a camper. The top-heavy nature of campers leads to a lot of lean and rocking which the bar will reduce. I would say it is the first modification to make, followed by shocks and air bags. The "normal ride" GM shocks are rather overwhelmed by the camper load. They are okay if you don't mind some floaty/bouncy behavior but if you want a more crisp ride then Bilstiens or Ranchos would be in order. If you get to doing the bar let us know and we can give you some tips. |
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The jacks are attached to the camper. They always come along. Every time I pumped the lever I thought "electric jacks, electric jacks..." The biggest problem was the soft ground. I rounded up four flat rocks to use under the jacks but it wasn't ideal. I'm going to cut some thick plywood squares to use in the future. |
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| If you go to Lance's website they have a picture of a 2000 F-350 SD shortbed with a model 820 mounted on it. This model gives you an overhang of about two feet, which is used to house the black and grey tanks on one side, and the generator compartment on the other. It is specifically built for shortbeds and has the center of gravity balanced for them. | |
| Actually, the picture of the 820 is in Lance's 2000 brochure, but the picture at www.lancecampers.com is similar, and you can look at the floorplan and see the specs for that model at the website. | |
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Hey Vince, I bought a GPS so we can explore little trails without worring about getting lost. Garmin GPS III+. You can check the manual at the Garmin website. It is quite big (4M ?) and over 100 pages. Looks like it has some nice features and I got a Topo CD and a US Streets and Recreation CD. Hopefully, I can figure out all the features. Mike L |
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Vince4.........I think that Nike site is by the Sheriff's office. The open space by my house is one of the reasons I bought here. I ride a mountain bike, able to access the trails 2 blocks away. Many miles out there to explore. I don't know what I'm going to buy yet. Just researching the options. Mledtje.....That's pretty good gas mileage your getting. Hope to get that good also. I know about the aluminum heads, that's why I waited. I ordered one as soon as the 4th door came out, that was in the end of February. Then a week later I found out the aluminum head 6.0l were coming out for '01. So I thought 4 extra months wasn't too long to wait since I've already waited 3-4 years!! I may be interested in the sway bar. Why did you take it off? I also need to look at a pop-up again. Just don't know if it has enough room for us. Pistolero......I didn't even know they made an 8 1/2' camper designed to fit a 6 1/2' bed. I looked at the brochure and it looks like it would be perfect. Only problem is I was going to look for a used camper. Thanks all!! |
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| It's not uncommon for a hard side truck camper to stick 2-3 feet out of the back of the bed. The standard full size hard side truck campers are 9.5-11.5 feet, which puts you a couple feet out of the full size 8' bed. | |
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