Midsize slide-in in my fullsize truck...

[reklund5]

I've come across a smokin deal on a slide-in for my 1992 F-250. A friend sold his T-100, and didn't get rid of the camper he had for it. The camper is nice Jayco pop-up unit, and he's kept it in great shape.

Is there anything I should be concerned about with putting a midsized camper in my fullsize truck? The camper is a 7' slide in, and my bed is 8'. Also, the camper is a little short to go over the bedsides and cab, but I think I can put a pallet or the like in the bed before I put the camper in to make up the distance. Overall width is 81", and my truck bed is 75".

Am I a dumbass for even considering this, or is it worth pursuing? I think it'll work out decently, but I don't want to look like an inbred retard with the wrong sized camper on my junk...

Flame suit on-
Ryan

[Po' riggity]

You don't want to look like an inbred retard, then don't use the wrong size camper. You could probably make it work, but it'll be sketchy at best, and good luck getting it centered in the bed each and every time.
Scott

[reklund5]

Thats what I was afraid of...

Think it'll have any decent trade-in value? It's a 1996 model camper...

[Po' riggity]

I say it depends on what you could get it for... If you get it cheap enough, its worth it to take it, just to use it for trade in on a bigger camper.
Scott

[thump93yj]

I personally support inbred retards. Go for it.:smokin:

[randii]

If it is THAT good of a deal, box in the space between the bedsides and the camper to use as storage. Yes, it will look hillbilly, but if the price is right, I'd run a Tough-Shed on the back of my Dodge. :rasta:

Randii

[am4x4]

I use a 7.5ft lance that was designed for a toyota in my 8" GMC. I thought it would look goofy but it is fine. I did have to build a 5" pallet and I made it 4' wide as the camper was only three feet. I also built my own mounting system inside the bed because I didn't like the "ears" between the bed and cab and the camper was to narrow to use normal tie downs. I say go for it, the little campers are nice and light.

[reklund5]

AM4x4-

thats more along the lines of what I was after. I'm going to go ahead and give it a try, and we'll see what I end up with. Right now my biggest headache is how to get it home to work on it, since the guy has sold his T100. I may end up borrowing a Tundra from work just to get it home, and go from there...

The tie dows pose a problem, but nothing I can't handle. What's the consensus on tie dows for this sort of thing? I was thinking some nice ratchet straps inside the bed of the truck might not be too bad...

Ryan

[PhantomEB]

Been a thought in my head for a while to use a camper built for a import in the back of a F250 down the road. Only to keep the truck nice and light when towing the EB at speed limits, not 10-20 under!

[pcorssmit]

One thing to watch out for is overall width, if the camper is real narrow and your tires stick out much, it can be a PITA to lift it on/off the truck with the camper jacks. One camper I had I used the stock tie-down loops in the floor in the front of the bed in my Dodge with some J-hooks, and the stock rear tie downs on the corners in the bed with turn buckles. It worked well, I kept the front tight and the rear just slightly loose to allow for bed flex.

Pete

[am4x4]

AM4x4-

thats more along the lines of what I was after. I'm going to go ahead and give it a try, and we'll see what I end up with. Right now my biggest headache is how to get it home to work on it, since the guy has sold his T100. I may end up borrowing a Tundra from work just to get it home, and go from there...

The tie dows pose a problem, but nothing I can't handle. What's the consensus on tie dows for this sort of thing? I was thinking some nice ratchet straps inside the bed of the truck might not be too bad...

Ryan

I got lucky and the guy I bought mine from delivered it. My tiedown system is kind of hard to explain but I could try to get some pics. I added a 1.5" crossbar at the front bottom of the bed with 1" sandwitching the bed from the bottom, the crossbar has tie downs at each end (didn't trust the stock bed tie downs). On the camper I built a structure that alows me to use two ratchet straps that are accesed from inside to hold down the front and I use turnbuckles to the factory tiedown points in the back (looked strong enough)

[reklund5]

PICS PLEASE!!! I'm supposed to pick this thing up Sunday...

Ryan

[am4x4]

PICS PLEASE!!! I'm supposed to pick this thing up Sunday...

Ryan

might be too late, but post or PM your e-mail to me and I will get you some pics. my computer at work wants to open pics as internet files and I am too retarted to figure out why

[reklund5]

Update-

I got the camper home and have spent the last few weeks tinkering. It looks like it'll work out well. I'll post up pics when I get it back on the truck this weekend.

I drove around with it installed last weekend, and can hardly tell it's on the truck. I did end up having to offset it to the right about 2" to get the tiedows to work correctly, but nothing rubs on the paint if I load it carefully. The camper is light enough that I can muscle it around in the bed of the truck to get it positioned exactly, so all I have to do is back under it and then position it by hand.

I did find out that it's a 1990 model, not a 1996 as I previously stated. I had to re-wire the electrical converter assy, replace a few exterior clearance lights, replace a water supply line, and adjust the lift cables, but it was all small stuff.

Ryan

[reklund5]

So here's a picture of my whole mess.

The truck (1992 F-250 with 7.3 IDI diesel & ATS turbo) pulled the load from Albuquerque to Ridgway Colorado without issue. A little slow on the big hills, but I got there and back just the same.

The camper seems to have an issue with rain and keeping it out. Looks like I'll have to do some roofing work. Any ideas? The roof is pretty sagged, and holds water like a big bowl.

Ryan