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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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Apparently no one wants to see my pretty pictures because my web page was broken and no one told me! Anyway it's fixed now http://members.home.net/vofm/mono.htm Mike you got a great toy in that GPS. Someone had one on the boat when we went out on the Bay recently and it showed the land features we could see around us. Don't know if it was the same model. sdpierson, you should be able to find a short bed camper used if you are willing to wait and are willing to pay. Short bed ext cab trucks are so popular I suspect there is great demand for used campers. |
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When I was bumping over sharp rocks with the camper on (and off for that matter) I was thinking maybe I don't want to go with a range D tire. Do you think a D is just as tough? I don't know how the weight rating is related to other characteristics such as puncture resistance and so on. Why would two tires have the same weight rating and one be classified as D and one as E? I assume there are construction differences (# plys etc.) which may be important under extreme conditions. Do you know? |
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Just ordered a 4Wheel Camper. It’ll take about 3 weeks to get it built. I’ll be getting it just in time for my annual trek to Idaho. I travel to Idaho to go fishing , while the other guys I go with chase deer all over the mountains. The deer are generally pretty safe. The mighty hunters come back to camp at night with their tails dragging – funny, I don’t have that problem; the fishing is usually so good I don’t have to move around that much, and I don’t work up much of a sweat flailing away with a fly pole. We tent camp when we’re up there with the night temperatures that time of year getting down into the low teens and colder. When you wake up in the morning condensation is frozen on the inside of the tent, and everyone is waiting for someone else to get up to start a fire. It makes for some interesting conversations going on between the tents. But, no more; from now on it’s a mattress, and a heater, and ..... Uh oh, I just had a bad thought – those guys are going to be after me to be the one to start the fire. Either that, or they’ll all be trying to fit into the camper. Fitting into the camper wouldn’t be so bad the first couple of days, but these clowns are the type that thinks if you make any attempt at cleanliness during the week you’re committing a sin. That probably explains why the deer are so successful at eluding them – they can smell them even before they hear them. Those guys don’t really care if they shoot a deer or not (one of them hasn’t even fired his rifle at anything other than cans for the last three years). The hunting is just an excuse to get up into the mountains. This is a great message board. I’ve picked up some good pointers here and hope to contribute some of my own in the future. Happy Trails. |
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Load ranges used to be called 'Ply Ratings'. So they do refer to the strength of the carcass. Talked to a tech guy at Dunlop and he said LR 'C' has a max inflation pressure of 50psi, 'D' 65psi and 'E' 80psi. And, obviously, a larger tire can carry a larger load. So a larger LR 'D' tire can carry the same load as a smaller LR 'E' tire. And it can do it at a lower pressure (65 vs 80 psi). The lower pressure can reduce tire punctures also. So can the stronger tire carcass, so it is a trade-off. The larger rolling radius contributes to smoother ride and 1" more ground clearance and a 7% speedo error - 5 mph at 70. Back to the original question - What are the differences in load ranges? Since all tires of the same size and load range have the same load capacity and pressure recommendations, I would guess that a table of max load and max pressure was generated, and now everyone lives by that table. I hope the table was generated by the industry, not the government. Mike L |
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Congrats on your new 4Wheel camper. What model/options did you order? I assume you ordered the 'Artic Pak' for cold camping. You will enjoy the furnace. The only problem I had with the furnace in my Phoenix camper was the thermostat had a range of 50-85 degrees and was mounted in a bad location. I think the 4Wheel model has a good location for the 'stat, but still the same range. I went to McMaster-Carr and ordered a cheap thermostat and mounted it where I thought it would work better. BTW, the difference between a household thermostat and the RV thermostat is the 'OFF-ON' switch on the RV thermostat so you can shut the furnace off for storage. Anyway, I took the purchased thermostat apart and adjusted the bi-metallic spring for a range of 35-70 degrees. Set at the minimun, it will prevent freezing of the water system and little else. And we don't need or want to set the heat above 70. So, in the morning, roll over and flick the thermostat all the way up (70) and wait 5 minutes to get up. We used to tent camp with a motorcycle, and the small popup camper is luxurious by comparison. Tent camping in a truck or car gives you a lot of storage, but in the camper things will have permanant homes. That does mean you have to buy pots/pans/coffee maker etc. for the camper. But it is worth it - you never forget anything that way. We use paper plates, plastic tableware and glasses. It seems easier to throw stuff away than to wash it - after all we are on vacation when we use the camper. Good Luck, Mike L |
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| Being the somewhat lazy person I am; I have made my manual jacks easier to deal with. I took a 7/8 -3/8 drive socket and a piece of 3/8 key stock ground down on one end to fit my cordless drill chuck. Now I don't have to hand crank the jacks all the way up or down. I haven't tried to see if the drill has enough "umph" to actually lift the camper yet but it is sure a lot cheaper than electric jacks. | |
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You're going to love your camper. That extra level of shelter is very significant when it gets you off the ground. I think you're right about making the fire in the morning, you don't have an excuse now. And count on sharing the space when it rains. Why did you choose 4-wheel? Do you go very far off-road on your fishing trips? |
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| Good luck on your plan. I used to use my drill to raise my old jacks with no weight on them but that's all it could do. I even tried my plug-in 1/2" drill and it couldn't budge the camper. I think it would take an additional gearbox to generate enough torque to use a drill motor. | |
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Oltroll1 – The folks at 4Wheel Campers have a setup like that for their manual jacks. It can be used to lower the camper, but it can’t raise it. It does make it easier to raise and lower the jacks when they have no weight on them. Mledtje –One of the problems with 4Wheel Campers is the price of the optional equipment and everything is an option. I bought the Shell model and then added some basic options. I didn’t particularly care for the interior layout of the regular model (or the price), so I’m going to build the interior myself. The items I got on the interior were a furnace, the Arctic Pack, Power roof vent, and the extended bed. I also purchased a roof rack, manual jacks, and a couple of exterior lights. The Shell model comes with a front sliding window, interior lights and two small cabinets. The salesman at 4Wheel thought I should have added an awning, but I didn’t think I would use it. Does anyone else have an awning that they use with any frequency? Vince4 – The primary reasons I bought the 4Wheel were: low profile, low weight, and the reputation for quality. I looked at a number of popup campers: Hallmark, Phoenix, Palomino, Alaskan, Starcraft, Sun-Lite, and Northstar. The Alaskan was, by far, the best quality, heaviest and most expensive. The rest all seemed to be pretty good (they all had standard equipment that was optional on the 4Wheel), but were heavier than I wanted. I guess what it all comes down to is, as is said, ‘You pays your money and you takes your chances’. I do like to go off-road for fishing and camping. I used to drive an ‘85 Toyota 4x4; with that thing I could do some serious off-roading. My new truck is a 4x4 Silverado and since I haven’t yet acquired any scratches, I’m taking it pretty easy. I’ll never be able to go where I took the Toyota, but I plan to get as far off-road as I can and I’ll be a whole lot more comfortable doing it. Jim |
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Volkej, I know what you mean about the 4Wheel camper being expensive. The one I priced ran up to over 10K + tax. My Phoenix was built to the same dimensions, at slightly lower quality, for about $9K total. I have an awning over the big window on the side of my Phoenix camper. The awning is mounted to the fixed portion of the camper. If I were going to stay in the same place for more than one day I put the awning out. It keeps the sun out of the window on a bright day. That means you can camp where you want and in the direction you want with worrying about the sun cooking the camper. It is also a good place to get out of the sun, or out of the rain, but not going into the camper. Keep those muddy boots outside. It's a nice place to sit, and you can leave stuff out there overnight without the dew soaking everything. The awning was only about $150 option. But, when I picked up my Phoenix, they had a free awning with every camper, so I took them up on it. The 4Wheel camper has a couple of features I really liked: You sit lower inside because you sit on top of the wheel well, not on top of the bed; lower weight; easy up top. And it had a couple of features I didn't like: Every thing is an option, every option costs money, and it was expensive. The shell model is a good alternative. I would highly recommend you get the screen door. If you wind up in mosquito territory you will kill for the screen door. You have to have the door open when you raise and lower the top. The air has to move, and the vents aren't enough. We were at a couple of places in Canada and Alaska that you would get 50-100 mosquitos inside in the 1-2 minutes it takes to do the top. The screen door cuts that down to 3-4 little critters. Good luck on your Idaho hunting trip. You'll have sleeping bags all over the floor when they find out you have heat. Later, Mike L |
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