Ski RV's, who's sleeping in parking lots?

[nobueno]

My MCP partner just bought a Silverado and needs a slide in for our winter adventures. My AWD camper van is about to regulated to 2nd most comfy setup.

Crew cab 1500, which i believe means 5'9" bed. If anyone is holding or finds something get in touch. Prefer cheap (<$2k), dirty, sleep 3-4 and has a working furnace/stove. Don't care for a toilet. Located in the Front Range, but can be convinced to travel 5-7hrs for the right rig.

Watch your payload carefully with a 1500. You'll probably need to get a pop-up. A good score would be an old northstar tc800 or similar with the Arctic package for the thicker softwall. Doubt you'll find anything under 2k that isn't rotted out. Here's one for $3500 and it looks like it's sitting in a Chevy crew cab. New carpet makes me wonder if there was water damage though.
http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/5790466905.html

Outfitters and hallmarks can be found around the front range and are good quality campers with a manufacturer close by for repairs. They might be a little out of his price range though.

[doebedoe]

Watch your payload carefully with a 1500. You'll probably need to get a pop-up. A good score would be an old northstar tc800 or similar with the Arctic package for the thicker softwall. Doubt you'll find anything under 2k that isn't rotted out. Here's one for $3500 and it looks like it's sitting in a Chevy crew cab. New carpet makes me wonder if there was water damage though.
http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/5790466905.html

Outfitters and hallmarks can be found around the front range and are good quality campers with a manufacturer close by for repairs. They might be a little out of his price range though.

Great beta. Thanks. All are new to this. His 1500 has the upgrade spring and shock package which means he'll still need to be lightweight but should ride okay. He's thinking softop, no toilet etc, minimal as possible while sleeping 3/4 and having a furnace.

Thoughts on this which caught his eye? http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/5788247740.html

[nobueno]

Great beta. Thanks. All are new to this. His 1500 has the upgrade spring and shock package which means he'll still need to be lightweight but should ride okay. He's thinking softop, no toilet etc, minimal as possible while sleeping 3/4 and having a furnace.

Thoughts on this which caught his eye? http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/5788247740.html

upgraded springs will help the ride but they won't do anything for the axle, drivetrain and tires if he tries to get a bigger hardside. that being said, it sounds like he's on the right path. it'll handle a small popup fine. my thoughts:

- that's an 8' camper and might not even work in a short bed. it'll hang more than 2' out of the back of the bed. this throws off the center of gravity and affects handling.
- if you want to use that thing for skiing and sleep 3-4 people it's going to be fucking TIGHT. that dinette looks narrow if you're thinking about sleep 2. find out how long it is. the bed is East-West so whoever is closest to front will have to crawl over the other person to piss or whatever.
- think about space to dry out boots, gloves, clothes etc.
- it says it has a full size bed in the cabover but i'd get dimensions.
- how warm do you plan on trying to keep it in there? cut some wool or fleece liners to line the soft top and some reflectix.
- with 4 people and wet/damp ski gear you going to have a shitload of condensation. make sure you have a vent popped to let that out.

[Dtimms]

I have a Chevy 1500 Z71. We have the 6.5' bed and a 6.5' Phoenix popup camper. We cut insulation for the canvas and it works pretty good. The furnace does run a lot and battery can be an issue if you are staying more than one night. It is cozy but not roomy for 2 people and a dog while winter camping. 3 adults will be tight and 4 will be pretty uncomfortable in a 8' popup truck camper. It isn't so much sleeping close, it is all the gear and drying things out. That is the tricky part of ski camping.

Double check your buddies crew cab bed length, I thought crew cabs only came with a 5.5' bed which would make a 8' camper fit an issue. I know he has larger springs but he might want to look at airbags or timbren bumpstops. I have the timbren and they made a huge difference in the way my truck handles the camper.

[doebedoe]

Great thoughts all -- appreciate it. Probably look for something a bit shorter than 8'. There will be 3 max sleeping during the winter -- not for extended periods either (2-3 day outtings at MCP resorts). Probably mix in a cheap hotel here and there when shit gets miserable.

[NoPostholio]

Double check your buddies crew cab bed length, I thought crew cabs only came with a 5.5' bed which would make a 8' camper fit an issue. I know he has larger springs but he might want to look at airbags or timbren bumpstops. I have the timbren and they made a huge difference in the way my truck handles the camper.

Full size f250 and gmc 2500 have 6.5' beds with crew cab.

I was kicking around the idea of air bags as the truck sat a little too low once camper was in. I think the previous owner really beat up the springs. In my research, I settled on air line air cells - which is really just a different kind of timbren. Put them in today and I got approx 2" lift but they are more tweaked than I thought they would be, and I was hoping for a little more lift. Haven't gotten it out on the road to test the ride yet. Got these as a cheap option (100$), so might still end up having to further beef things up.
Before

After

[nobueno]

Full size f250 and gmc 2500 have 6.5' beds with crew cab.

I was kicking around the idea of air bags as the truck sat a little too low once camper was in. I think the previous owner really beat up the springs. In my research, I settled on air line air cells - which is really just a different kind of timbren. Put them in today and I got approx 2" lift but they are more tweaked than I thought they would be, and I was hoping for a little more lift. Haven't gotten it out on the road to test the ride yet. Got these as a cheap option (100$), so might still end up having to further beef things up.
Before

After

Yeesh. Yea still riding nose high. I don't think I'd feel comfortable with those things. A roller on the highway can cause quite a bit of extra downward force. Have you looked into a new spring pack? Or even just adding a leaf?

[NoPostholio]

Think I might weld a plate for the air cell to land on.

[nobueno]

Think I might weld a plate for the air cell to land on.

Keep in mind though that'll transfer even more load off the springs and on those airbags, I'm not so sure they'll handle it. What weight are they rated for? I'd at least add a lower stable load or another leaf. Check out http://www.supersprings.com for a fairly easy add on leaf. Lower stable loads would work best if the springs are worn out.

[NoPostholio]

That is a great idea. So that when engaged will replicate a stronger spring set up? I had a duramax with same camper and the thing sat dead level on stock suspension. I would have thought that an f250 would ride similar stock. The duramax was pretty babied and mostly saw highway miles.

[nobueno]

Yea, what year is your 250? Some years the payload was below 3000lbs which I'm sure a fully loaded Bigfoot is well over.

[El Chupacabra]

Does that Ford have a leveling kit on it?

[sanjuanworm]

just add a few leaf springs...cheap and reliable fix to a common problem
add 1 in the front and 2 in the back or just do the back....i add 1 to the front of my fords for the snowplow.
when the new leaf springs are installed the old ones get bent back into their original form...so the back is really happy if the truck has ever hauled weight.
makes a world of difference in the ride and handling plus no sag in the back or nose lift ..

[NoPostholio]

Yea, what year is your 250? Some years the payload was below 3000lbs which I'm sure a fully loaded Bigfoot is well over.

2004 king ranch
The '95 Bigfoot weighs 1850 dry - no basement or a/c model.

The only leveling attempted was the air cells added today.

[sanjuanworm]

skip the air bags
find yourself a spring service guy...and those are rare but out there

[nobueno]

2004 king ranch
The '95 Bigfoot weighs 1850 dry - no basement or a/c model.

The only leveling attempted was the air cells added today.

I'll eat my boots if that thing actually comes out at 1850 dry. I haven't seen a TC manufacturer yet that doesn't fudge that number at least a little. Also, awnings, jacks, tie downs, that stuff adds up. Lets say they're close and it's 2k dry. You're supposed to add 1k to estimate wet weight (batteries, propane, water, food, gear, people). I stand by 3k number.

Find a cat scale somewhere weigh the truck empty, with dry camper then with the camper fully loaded to go one weekend. Only takes a few min and they're right on most highways. I've been shocked at the claimed weight vs actual weight of both TC's we've owned so far. If you're over your payload that's not too concerning (to me anyway) but check your tire's max load, I'm sure you're under your max axle rating which is the other big concern. A tire blow out in the mountains with huge load on the back is nothing to mess around with. I'd make sure you have E load tires on there. We have michelin ltx at/2's with a rating of 3750/tire. Cooper discoverer at/3's can have a max load of 4080.


Edit to add: After re-reading, I don't mean to sound like that camper won't work on that truck or anything. I do think you'll be happier and safer if you add a spring and make sure you have e range tires on there. The ride and handlign will be immensely better when you get yourself level.

[NoPostholio]

Exactly on both counts. Agreed on camper weight. I took the stove out to create some storage and lost some other weight in smaller ways. I would be surprised if it is under 2k w/o anything else added. That being said it is fairly nimble for two piece shell. At some point I will have to cull the gears and tools down to an acceptable minimum if I want to do a few months straight.
Going to clean up those hook bolts in prep to get a couple more leafs in.
Appreciate the feedback as dialing these rigs in is a little more involved than owning a rialta or such.

Adjusted air cells a little and it actually sits pretty well once tires up to proper psi - still going to add a spring though.

[sanjuanworm]

looks much better..

need a porch that folds up though ...super simple to build off of the trailer hitch...
then you can skip the scissor steps..
page 44 of this thread has pics of a hitch mount porch i used to have

and the riser that you built can be attached to the bottom of the camper ...but look into building a riser with a slide out rear drawer.
screwed to bottom of camper turns into slide out storage for skis under the camper

[NoPostholio]

Already in conceptual stage - just have to finish front bumper box - I am torn between mounting back porch to camper and building off hitch.

This bed is beat up so I hope to remount to a modified flatbed with a lot of boxes for storage and a pass through.

[philth]

Supersprings! SImple cheap and effective. I tossed rubber bumpers on that buffer any real bottom out hits.

[sanjuanworm]

Already in conceptual stage - just have to finish front bumper box - I am torn between mounting back porch to camper and building off hitch.

This bed is beat up so I hope to remount to a modified flatbed with a lot of boxes for storage and a pass through.

flatbed was one of the best choices i have made

[NoPostholio]

flatbed was one of the best choices i have made

Got any pics? I like how this one was done

[sanjuanworm]

[nobueno]

Got any pics? I like how this one was done

That'd be nice but you'll need a dually to pull off something like that I'd reckon. I looked in to doing that with ours but decided against it because of the amount of weight it would add (plus all the extra weight I would inevitably store in those boxes.)

[nobueno]

Sanjuanworms is pretty bitchin with the back deck and room for open storage without adding extra weight. That's the route I'd advise.