Truck campers: Looking for lightweight options that won't break the bank

Another note on a van vs truck camper, if you are on an extended trip and have mechanical issues, you lose your home/accommodations while the van is in the shop. If you have a truck camper, you could swap it to a rental truck or drop it in a campground while the truck is worked on. And to add to that, you can swap campers after your truck gets long in the tooth or experiences non-repairable failures.
 
around.the.nw said:
Another note on a van vs truck camper, if you are on an extended trip and have mechanical issues, you lose your home/accommodations while the van is in the shop. If you have a truck camper, you could swap it to a rental truck or drop it in a campground while the truck is worked on. And to add to that, you can swap campers after your truck gets long in the tooth or experiences non-repairable failures.
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On our last trip to Baja we encountered a couple with a $200k+ Sprinter that had destroyed an axle or something in a pothole. They shared their experience that sounded like a nightmare given scarcity of parts and logistics that you describe. OTOH I’m pretty sure everyone down there can fix a 2002 GMC!
 
adamcu280 said:
On our last trip to Baja we encountered a couple with a $200k+ Sprinter that had destroyed an axle or something in a pothole. They shared their experience that sounded like a nightmare given scarcity of parts and logistics that you describe. OTOH I’m pretty sure everyone down there can fix a 2002 GMC!
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I have worked in the overland industry 25+ years, I have heard some bad stories of people traveling both domestically and internationally having to deal with mechanical issues and parts availability.
 
One of the nice things about buying a truck + slide in is that when I'm not using the slide in (most of the time) I have a perfectly functional truck to drive around. In Portland I lived near someone who clearly had bought a camper van but didn't have another truck. They not only spent probably $40k more than I did they then were also driving around a sprinter van to go to the grocery down the street.
 
offensivename said:
One of the nice things about buying a truck + slide in is that when I'm not using the slide in (most of the time) I have a perfectly functional truck to drive around. In Portland I lived near someone who clearly had bought a camper van but didn't have another truck. They not only spent probably $40k more than I did they then were also driving around a sprinter van to go to the grocery down the street.
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I also have that friend who bought a big sprinter and hated driving it around town. Luckily for him he’s in a financially secure spot where he just bought a new Ford Ranger for around town. They’re retired and use both rigs a lot.
 
adamcu280 said:
On our last trip to Baja we encountered a couple with a $200k+ Sprinter that had destroyed an axle or something in a pothole. They shared their experience that sounded like a nightmare given scarcity of parts and logistics that you describe. OTOH I’m pretty sure everyone down there can fix a 2002 GMC!
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sprinter guy here. not 200k though. broke both rear shock mount bolts..... ended up driving the 10 hrs up to yuma on the way home to get fixed. could have got it done down there, it would have just took longer. i added a new part for the fix, and that would have been more of a challenge to get into mexico, etc. my non-pro observation of baja mechanics, is that they generally know what they are doing. that said, dont know about how they deal with the newer electronics/gizmos on the newer truck and van models.
 
Paige said:
A friend at work did a motorcycle trip to Baja and back, he posted a pic of him standing in a 5' deep pot hole :eek:
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been down 3 times now. have not seen anything deeper than.... maybe a few inches. 6 at most. and u dont drive at night = free range steers are the problem, then potholes.
 
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