Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty
Excellent. How do you like it compared to a van so far?
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We've only spent one night sleeping in it on the return trip from Tulsa. Brought a 4" foam topper from our trailer with us so short of that, it was just a big expensive tent. No systems installed in it at that time. Mexico will be our first trip so I'm sure I'll have a lot of comments after that.
A few things I've immediately noticed:
- I really will like having a permanently set up queen bed that you can sit up in without hitting your head on the ceiling! It really seemed quite spacious in the over cab bed section.
- I will mis the double side doors of the van. Easy in & out and it does a better job of blurring the lines from inside to outside. My wife already refers to the door on the camper as the Hobbit Hole.
- Will be nice to have a dinette area inside for those fowl weather days.
- Overall center of gravity feels much higher than the van. I will have to tame my 4wheeling in this beast. Overall (height / width) is larger than the van. When we got home and I parked next the van it actually made the van look small. I didn't think that was possible.
- Driving the truck for long distances will be overall more comfortable than the van although I already mis the Sheel-Mann seats in the van!
- I like the versatility of having a flatbed. It took me a while to get used to it after selling my F150 with a tri-fold bed cover. The flatbed really allows the truck to have the versatility of a Swiss Army Knife. The one big exception is that I didn't realize it would be such a pain to get insured. ... and I will need to convince the Banjercito / Aduana that it is indeed a "RV" and not an overweight "commercial" vehicle as the title states. This is to obtain a TIP for mainland Mexico. I'm going to cross my fingers and hope I can convince them as I really don't want to re-title as a "truck camper" as, in California, the camper then technically needs to stay permanently on the truck.
- Although I have a lot of storage with this setup (in the camper, in the truck, in the flatbed), it is very different than the van. After 17 years in the van I could find anything with my eyes closed and a few tequila shots in me. It will take a while to get to that place with the truck but I'm sure we'll adapt!
It will be a list of +'s & -'s. I'm hoping that overall my wife likes it and will lead to more and longer trips together. I'm guessing that I'll still build a Camper 2.0 that will be minimal (lighter, smaller, less creature comforts) for when I go by myself or with the guys and want to do more 4wheeling similar to what I did in the van.
Stay tuned ....
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