Double Slide Truck Camper?

When we "met" our first truck camper with a slide out--some years ago in Canada--we knew this was some kind of innovation. Whenever would American TC builders start building slide outs? It was a simple affair, just a dinette slideout, but after having bummed around in a tiny "import truck" camper, this was like waking up in a dream.

It didn't take long for American manufacturers to "get with the program." Slide out truck campers wound up on every TC builder's menu. Now the double slide mania has begun. Northwood has rolled out its Arctic Fox 1160. Says the promotional release, "When you set foot in the 1160 you will find it hard to believe that you are standing in a truck camper and not a travel trailer!" Well, we haven't personally "set foot" in one, but the photos are impressive. It's rather hard to fathom the seeming width of this big fellow.

One slide is your standard dinette slideout, but the opposite side rolls the entire wall side out in the galley, including an eight cubic foot refrigerator. Want to add some options? How about a gas fireplace? Two televisions? In ceiling a/c ducts? While the 1160 is obviously not your "hunter special" it may be just the ticket for the high-end crowd who craves to get really into the back country and yet take their civilization with them.

With a list price of $40,300 and a scale weight of 4,535 pounds, you'll have to crunch a lot of numbers to decide whether or not to "move up" to this big rig. Meantime, visit the Arctic Fox web site.

Newbies Corner: Tips for Safe Camper Loading

Our first experience loading a truck camper was a gut-wrenching experience: We had nobody to rely on to tell us how to do it, and the equipment we were using was almost as ancient as the truck camper itself. By the time we'd gotten the seemingly huge (in retrospect, fairly small) camper on the bed of the truck, well, "We'll never take it off of there now!"

Loading a truck camper isn't something to undertake with levity. If the thing "gets away" from you, serious damage, injury, and yes mortality can be the end result. Camper jack manufacturer, Happijac hears you. If you follow this link you'll find yourself on their "Golden Rules of Loading and Unloading Your Camper." Read it closely, print out a copy, and stick it in your truck glove box, you'll be happy to refer to it a few times until you get the process down cold.

Lance Lighter 825 Aims for Shortbed Crowd

Lance Camper rolls out a far more "light weight" truck camper, their model 825. With an 8 1/2' "box" length, it shoots for short bed, half-ton trucks, scaling in at 1,600 pounds. Wow! That's about half the weight of our current behemoth.

Said to be designed for "general use," (whatever that means), it features "European" style cabinetry. Fully self-contained, you have two options for dealing with black water: A built in 14-gallon holding tank served by a typical "marine" style toilet, or a 4 1/2 gallon "cassette" style toilet.

With a base price of $12,000 it may be an "entry level" truck camper for the Toyota crowd. Learn more about it on the Truck Camper Magazine web site.

Toy Hauler Truck Camper? It's an Alpenlite

You can hardly drive anywhere without spotting a "toy hauler" or "sport utility RV" in the form of a 5th wheel or travel trailer. But now America's love affair with taking the 4-wheelers, the motorcycles, the golf cart has arrived in the truck camper arena.

Western Recreational Vehicles out of Yakima, Washington, is the first one on the block with the new concept. A truck camper that "sleeps six," the Alpenlite sport utility truck camper has room for up to two ATVs inside, when "empty." You load at ground level, then when the toys are inside, load the camper onto your pickup truck with electric jacks. We can see some groaning on the part of those who have separation anxiety every time they have to mount their camper on the truck bed.

Just how this all works out as far as the interior layout is concerned isn't clear in our minds. We tried reaching WRV for more information, but they weren't answering their phones at press time. At this point, there's nothing on their web site about the new rig, recently shown at trade shows in Pomona, California and Louisville, Kentucky.