I think I understand what you are saying but a picture is always nice if you get a chance. After I get the new rear ones I"ll try and poast a picture of mine. Thanks
I still haven't received my new rear tie downs. They say they were shipped last week. If anyone is thinking of getting Tork Lift's beware of problems. Be sure to measure your camper tie down points and be specific about your truck. A friend of mine got his yesterday for a 01 super duty 350 Ford and is also having problems. Seems that Ford has changed their trailer hitch and the Tork Lifts are a real pain to mount. The company says they are changing their design and should have the problem worked out and a new design out by October. What happened to the picture that was here??
I'll get to the picture, honest! It's a little hectic around the house. Stepdaughter is getting married Sunday. We have a new 17 yo live in guest - granddaughter had a falling out with her parents and came to live with us. And my wife's car quit in the middle of the road yesterday. Thank heaven I got the shower leak fixed over the weekend.
Oh yeah, we get a 'vacation' next week. The whole company is shutting down for the week. I get to use my FTO - Free Time Off. And 30 got laid off today!
Well, I've got plenty of time next week to work on the car that quit.
Don't get the wrong impression, I'm not complaining - life is a series of changes. Without change life could be boring.
I may have spoken too soon on the ants. They are still in the camper. I have put traps out but it hasn't gotten them all. They are under the floor. When I did work on the floor to fix some rot from a leak I saw signs that they had visited. It was the off season for them. Unfortunatly, I didn't spray when I had it open. I can't reach them under the floor, so I am spraying though the crevise near the door. I guess it hasn't been enough. I will continue the battle. The truck has been on my truck for the week so they are not coming up the legs. I did try putting traps outside as well. The wife and kids won't be happy this weekend if they start coming out to visit us. We may be "marching home again", NO harrah !!!
Mledtje, on June 12 you mentioned that you were putting HappiJac's on your truck, I would like to know what type of truck and camper unit you have. I took my HappiJac's off of a Dodge and hope to put the same on 01 GMC 3500. Any info would be greatly apperciated
I just traded a 00 1500 Ram for a 01 GMC 2500 HD and my Happy Jacks would not fit. The rear bolts would have but the front would not have. I talked with the Happy Jack people and they said the new ones would be built heavier than the old ones. The stiffening bar that goes across the bed might have had to been cut but it would probably worked also.
I've had the HappiJacs since the camper was new. They are on the 2nd truck however. I bought a new set of HappiJac brackets when I changed trucks for two reasons:
- First, I wanted to mount the brackets on the new truck so I could just swap the camper.
- Second, the brackets didn't fit the first truck correctly - they were for an earlier Chevy truck and were bent slightly to fit the 99 Silverado.
I'm currently running a 2000 Silverado 2500 4x4 with a Phoenix popup camper. We've been some pretty interesting places off road with the camper and the HappiJacs have held just fine. I bought the stiffener bar, but sent it back because it was just too wimpy to bother with it. I made my own from some 1"x2"x1/8"W stock that I had. Now that piece adds some strength!
I would suggest you get a new set of brackets for your new truck, they are bent specifically for each truck. And if you can, make your own stiffener. It is just a bar the ties the two front brackets together. A piece of channel or rectangular tubing will work. I put clearance holes through the outside of my bar and drilled holes for the bolts that mount the front HappiJacs. The bar is sandwiched between the mounting bolts and HappiJac mounting pads inside the bed.
I also have the Happijac stiffener bar, the purchased version. Because it is inside the bed you can't use it with a drop-in bed liner. There isn't room behind the liner for that big bar so they just say you can't do it. But I wanted both so I force fit it.
I drilled large holes through the liner and poked the bracket bolts through the liner, then bolted the stiffener bar on the inside of the bed. I had to put some metal spacers between the bar and the bed to fill a gap created by the bed liner shape. It was rather a pain to do this but it worked.
One problem I had with the bar was that the camper rubber bumpers would hit the bar. When I remembered, I would raise/lower a little, move forward/backward until clear, and then finish. I forgot enough times that the bumpers are not part of the camper anymore. I hang them below the bar. This problem is a little worse on my truck because of the weird bar mounting.
I'm glad you weren't one of the 30! I also have a forced vacation next week. I'll be living in the camper while visiting family up north. Bringing your own house is a great way to visit relatives. I wonder if they have a good fireworks show in Chico?
I got my new rear tie downs yesterday and put them on last night. They fit great this time. Maybe I will get the camper on this weekend and see how it does on the new truck.
Boy---it's been slow in here! Guess everyone is on vacation. We are going to leave either the 13th or 14th for a 3 week trip to Nova Scotia and coming back through Niagra Falls. About 4000 miles. A lot of driving in a short time. If it gets to be too much we will cut out the Niagra Falls part. This will be the first trip in the new truck and the longest we have stayed in the camper. We are using the Good Sam trip planner and it seems to do a good job (we will see when we actually use it.) Any one with any last minute ideas???
I'd love to see some pictures from Nova Scotia. It sounds exotic to me since it's so far from CA and I've never been there. Have you done your first oil change on the truck yet? If not you'll be due while traveling. Have a good trip, I'm sure you'll have a great time.
I'd love to spend 3 weeks on the road with the camper. I just spent a week living in mine visiting family in Northern CA. I have all my goodies in the camper so kept myself entertained when not visiting and even managed to get some work done on my computer. It was 100+ degrees in the Central Valley during my visit. I ran the new swamp cooler most of the time and it helped but certainly isn't AC. It kept the camper 10 deg cooler than outside with the camper in full sun. Maybe I could get 15 deg if it was in the shade and I turned it on early in the morning. The nice thing about swamps is at least you have a "cool" (relative) breeze and that helps. The first day I ran it maybe 8 hours on high and the batteries were still in good shape. After that I was able to plug in. The water consumption was noticeable but not bad considering how long I ran it. Mike, we need to go back to Death Valley so I can try it out in the dry heat! Some days it was pretty muggy last week.
Oltroll - take lots of pictures and post them for us. Nova Scotia is almost too far for us 'Left Coasters' to drive (once I made it out to PEI, but that was a 9000 mile trip out and back - 6 weeks). Anyway, we'd love to see your pictures and then your adventures can add some color to our dull lives.
I don't know if you travel with your jacks installed or not. I did for our first trip, then carried them inside the truck, and now not at all. It just seems too easy to catch one of them on a tree or rock and cause serious damage to the camper. Plus, they add over 100# to the truck. Well, I'll get off the soapbox now.
Vince - We need to go back to DV. Amen to that! I'm hoping we will have another forced vacation from Christmas through the first week in Jan. Otherwise, I suppose I could use some vacation to make it happen. I still need to buy that GPS (I've at least decided on a model) so we can tell when we are lost and when there is a gate that is not on the map!
3 weeks from today we start on vacation. Going back to the muggy midwest in August. Hopefully we will get some great sweetcorn! And we will go through Lander, Wyoming to get some more of the best cantelope I've ever had! With luck we can catch some of the qualifying races for the World Series of Sprint Cars in Knoxville, Aug 7-12.
Mentally I'm on vacation, I just have to make the next 3 weeks pass.
I also built my own connector bar for the Happijack setup on my old F350. I used a solid piece of SS to mount flush up against the truck bed under the backing plates.
Make sense?
If you look at the backing plates inside the bed (at least on my F350), the backing plates have a channel space under them, maybe 3/8" by 2 or 3". I tapped the SS bar for machine screws, used button head screws to secure the bar to the backing brackets, underneath and used silicone to stick the bar to the front of the bed.
Boy, sure wish I had a picture of the old setup...
Anyway, I could have put a bed liner on using my setup, as it was the same height as just the HappiJack backing brackets....
If I got that close to my dad's home and stopped I'd probably get shot. It's only another 30 miles down 30 to Elberon.
Marshalltown - where I was born! Home of Maid-Rites (or is that just an old legend?).
This trip there are 4 foods we will be sure and get in Iowa - Maid-Rites, Corn Nuggets, fresh sweetcorn, and some kind of a pork sandwich for my wife.
Mike L
And speaking of Dorothy, she's still trying to decide if I'm crazy, or if my memory has failed. All because of visiting Iowa in the August heat/humidity. Probably a little of both.
It's definitely the former. I was born up in the Twin Cities, and my family moved when I was only five years old, but I **still** have vivid memories of litterally peeling myself off the concrete floor in the basement (only cool place in the house).
Remember the old upper-midwest joke? "It's 98 outside." "Is that the temperature or the humidity?" "Both."
Just received my new pop-up. Thanks to Oltroll and Vic for giving me some good input prior to purchase. I'm generally very happy with the camper. My family, including me, wife, and two young kids enjoyed it greatly during our first trip last week. We spent three nights at three spots in southwestern Oregon. Everything worked fine.
My only complaints include a bunch of sloppy finish work on the camper. I spent a full day filing sharp aluminum edges, tightening jack mount lag bolts (one was already over tightened and snapped off), removing a piece of the vinyl window covering from the roof mechanism (they must of pressed it in about three inches at the factory), and patching small holes in the vinyl siding on the front corner. The aluminum trim that secures the vinyl is so sharp that it seems to always be at risk of punching holes in the vinyl.
That's my rant. I can overlook most of it because I really like the camper. In fact, after reading this board, I realized that you have to expect some pretty sloppy workmanship in the RV business. I did make it clear with the dealer and manufacturer that the vinyl had existing holes (very small). My guess is that they will cover the replacement if the holes expand.
I am hauling the camper with my 1996 Chevy 1/2 ton extended cab 4x4. I had the Sport-rite air bags installed before I picked up the camper. They work great. It's a bit of a dog going over the passes, but that's ok.
I went to Nova Scotia in 1997. Spend lots of time at the Cape Breton Highlands. Beautiful scenery animals, etc. Big warning though about Nova Scotia is watch out for the MOOSE. Gas stations are also very spread out.
Prince Edward Island is more hospitable (meaning land texture) on the left side of the island than the right side. I believe near everyone had some form of camper in PEI. If you take the ferry it cost 45 dollars (1997 price). If you take the bridge you only pay leaving PEI.
One last thing, most of the Nova Scotia police hang out at the New Brunswick border.
Hey Guys, A friend of mine needs mirror extensions for her new Tracker. The ones that hook on to the factory ones. Any ideas where to get them ? No large camping stores near us. Thanks Geo
Most Maidrite shops have ketchup. But, since the first ones didn't, the place in Marshalltown won't put ketchup on them! That is one place where the customer is not always right.
Wonder what he would do if you came in with a bottle of ketchup?
Tenderloins - my wife started drooling when I mentioned them. Not my favorite.
Darn. I used to listen to the older guys sit around and talk about what they ate and where. I always said "I hope I never get so old that all I talk about is food", and now I'm doing it!!!!
Boy, I didn't realize we had so many midwesterners here. You folks do love your ethnic food! I've never had a Maidrite in my life, I guess I'm deprived.
Now the round table.
markbuck, I have a hard time seeing how that thin-walled Happijac bar could help much but since they say it does, I put it in. One thing it does do well, it's a great place to anchor a rope or bungy cord.
stevebean, sorry to hear about the problems with the camper. It seems to be a common story with the popups. More so than with the hardsides I'd say from the stories here. My Lance was already 5 years old when I bought it so things may have been fixed, but I've never had any assembly problems at all. The seat cushions and some exterior molding are history but otherwise it's held up great. Glad to hear your family likes the camper experience.
I am buying a new 4 door diesel 4X4 long bed to pull my 26' toybox. I love my trailer but sure wouldnt mind not having to hook up, park and break up all the time. Especially for those weekend daytrips to the beach. What are the high and low end costs of campers. My father has one from 1968 but god its heavy. I see the new pop up trend but how are they for keepin in the warm and cold???
Used campers run from $500 up. New campers are $10K and up. Popups start around $5000 for a bare shell and realistically cost $10-12K when equipped for normal use.
My Phoenix was under $10k with the options I wanted. A 4Wheel camper similarly equipped was almost $12K by the time CA taxes were added. My Phoenix was made in Colorado and I paid no taxes since it was shipped out of state. At 8.5% CA tax rate, the taxes alone were almost $1000.
A good used camper (like Vince got) will run around $5K. Our local paper usually has 10-20 campers for sale.
I am ordering a 2002 2500hd 4x4 crew cab and want to purchase a slide in camper. My original plan was to give it at least a three inch suspension lift but now that I think about it , not sure if I would still be able to get one in the bed after the lift . Would lifting it cause the truck to be to top heavy with the camper on it and would a body lift be a good idea? Any help would be greatly aprreciated Thanks in advance, 2500HD
When you carry a heavy load a body lift is a bad idea. The attachment points will crack over time even if you gusset them. If you carry a camper often and still want a lift get a suspention type lift.
How heavy is your camper going to be? You may want to consider going with a 3500. I also agree with nixing the lift. Buy a truck that will meet your needs without any modifications. That's my 2¢ worth.
I'd say Mike gave an accurate run down of prices. My advice on any RV purchase is to buy used. The value drops by 50% in 5 years or so and most people don't use them very much so it's not hard to find them in good shape. You do need to be ready to move fast though because the popular models move fast (Lance, 4Wheel).
If your motivation is less hookup hassle as you mentioned, a camper may not be for you. Unless you store it on the truck, you have to load it every time you want to use it and that is more hassle than connecting a trailer. Electric jacks really help here. Once done, driving it is far easier of course but gas mileage may be worse due to the frontal area. You can back up any time and you don't need to think about being able to turn around before you pull in somewhere. If you want to leave your camp site you have to button down the hatches and bring your house with you. All in all I find this an advantage although some people (my parents for example) feel it's a burden. The advantages are that you have all your stuff, a place to rest or change clothes, food, short-term dog storage, etc. The disadvantages are obvious.
The popups do okay keeping warm from what people here say. I think it's obvious that a hard side is going to be better at that and more roomy too. It depends what you want out of your camper. A popup is better when you are in the truck (weight, gas mileage, size) and a hard side is better when you are in the camper.
A camper is already top heavy and tall so lifting the truck isn't going to help. If you really want the lift, a popup camper would be a good choice. I assume you saw the picture of a popup on a truck just like yours a few posts up. I don't think you would have any trouble with popup and 3" lift. In fact a hardside would work, but just be sure you never have to swerve to avoid anything as long as you own the truck.
Maid-Rites - Are a midwestern delight! I don't know where they have spread to, but they seem to have started in Iowa and there are 10-20(Loren - correct me if I'm way wrong) through the state.
They are a form of hamburger. The meat is steamed and is loose (crumbled) hamburger. Rosanne had a loose meat restaurant on her show, it was a take-off of a Maid-Rite.
I always thought a Maid-Rite store should do very well in California. The steamed meat should have less fat and this health concerned state should eat them up!
Corn Nuggets are more widespread. They are corn in some batter, rolled into 1 to 1-1/2" balls and deep fried. Quite tasty! They are the exact opposite of Maid-Rites. Start with something healthy (corn) and add oily grease. Next time you are in Dysart, IA, stop at the Dysart Drive-In and get some.
Mledtje - So that's what a Maid-Rite is! I got one of those one time at an A&W. I thought they had just screwed up a hamburger - I made them take it back and give me a real hamburger.
If you got one at an A&W then it was good to send it back!
They put so much meat on the real Maid-Rites that they give you a spoon to keep putting it back on the bun! You need to put some ketchup on it to hold it together. There must be some spices in the meat, cause the flavor is a little different, but good.
I think a hamburger makes more sense. No wonder Maid-Rites haven't spread throughout the country; who wants to keep picking up hamburger meat from their lap? They need to work on the bun thing.
Now maybe a Maid-Rite falafel: A Pocket-Rite. There you go.
Excellent information. Thanks. One more advantage of a camper is you can go faster leagally in CA anyway. 65-70mph vs 55 with a trailer. Also I can put my jet ski on its trailer inside my toy box trailer but not my boat. If I want to take my boat out of town I need a hotel room or a camper.
If you had tasted a Maid-Rite you wouldn't feel that way. I should bring one back for you to try. Don't worry, you can scrape the green off.
The menu is more like In-N-Out - very limited. Maid-Rite or Cheese-Rite (you'll never guess what that is) fries and drinks. Some of the stores are part of a full service restaurant and you can get anything, but normally a limited menu. Falafels and Pocket-Rites would move them into the realm of McDonald's - trying to cover up lousy food with variety and toys for the kids!
I'm going to spend some time traveling with my dad, and he travels 55mph. That will be a real test for me. But, on the bright side, maybe my mileage will go up to 15 or better at that speed.
I have a 1999 F-150 with a 4.6 v8 and a factory towing package. I just purchased a 26' trailer that weight about 3600 lbs. When not pulling the trailer I get range about 17 to 21 mpg. Pulling the trailer I get about 9.5 mpg. I don't use the overdrive so that little V8 is screaming at 65mph. I only plan on pulling this thing about 2k per year, so I'm not to concerned about the mileage, however I am concerned about the truck. Any idea if I'm killing my transmission? I put synthetic Mercon V in at about 38k. It now has 53K.
I am not sure which tanny you have but do this. Check the pan for a drain plug. (10 bonus points if you have one) If there is one I suggest draining your tranny every other oil change to keep it fresh and clean. Service the filter at the regular interval. This will cost between $10-$20 every other oil change but it is so cheap and easy to triple the life of your slushbox. Ususally the the larger ones have them and the little ones dont. Good Luck!
I wouldn't worry too much about the transmission. First the trailer is a lightweight trailer and it is well within your tow ratings, second you only tow a couple of thousand miles per year.
I'd be tempted to let the truck pull in high gear (if it will), at least on the flats. But, high revs are much easier on a warmed up engine than lugging is - so I wouldn't worry about the revs either.
I wouldn't worry about it because as Mike said, the trailer is well within the tow rating of the truck. They probably use the same tranny for the bigger V8 so your motor is actually not able to come near the maximum torque rating.
One thing you could do which is always a good idea is to add a transmission oil cooler in addition to the stock radiator tank cooler (if your truck doesn't already have one). You don't need to be as aggressive about fluid changes if it never gets overheated.
Comments
Thanks
I'll write myself a note so I remember.
Mike L
Well, I've got plenty of time next week to work on the car that quit.
Don't get the wrong impression, I'm not complaining - life is a series of changes. Without change life could be boring.
Later,
Mike L
I took my HappiJac's off of a Dodge and hope to put the same on 01 GMC 3500. Any info would be greatly apperciated
- First, I wanted to mount the brackets on the new truck so I could just swap the camper.
- Second, the brackets didn't fit the first truck correctly - they were for an earlier Chevy truck and were bent slightly to fit the 99 Silverado.
I'm currently running a 2000 Silverado 2500 4x4 with a Phoenix popup camper. We've been some pretty interesting places off road with the camper and the HappiJacs have held just fine. I bought the stiffener bar, but sent it back because it was just too wimpy to bother with it. I made my own from some 1"x2"x1/8"W stock that I had. Now that piece adds some strength!
I would suggest you get a new set of brackets for your new truck, they are bent specifically for each truck. And if you can, make your own stiffener. It is just a bar the ties the two front brackets together. A piece of channel or rectangular tubing will work. I put clearance holes through the outside of my bar and drilled holes for the bolts that mount the front HappiJacs. The bar is sandwiched between the mounting bolts and HappiJac mounting pads inside the bed.
Mike L
I drilled large holes through the liner and poked the bracket bolts through the liner, then bolted the stiffener bar on the inside of the bed. I had to put some metal spacers between the bar and the bed to fill a gap created by the bed liner shape. It was rather a pain to do this but it worked.
One problem I had with the bar was that the camper rubber bumpers would hit the bar. When I remembered, I would raise/lower a little, move forward/backward until clear, and then finish. I forgot enough times that the bumpers are not part of the camper anymore. I hang them below the bar. This problem is a little worse on my truck because of the weird bar mounting.
I've posted the pictures at:
00 Siverado 2500
http://community.webshots.com/album/1890783ldNpgTyiIr
Some other pictures of the truck are at:
Death Valley
http://community.webshots.com/album/8462467uzEJwXMptJ
Snow Camping
http://community.webshots.com/album/1745543FgfioFuOtD
Folding Rear Step
http://community.webshots.com/album/6924834fwHqaiSprI
Mike L
I'd love to spend 3 weeks on the road with the camper. I just spent a week living in mine visiting family in Northern CA. I have all my goodies in the camper so kept myself entertained when not visiting and even managed to get some work done on my computer. It was 100+ degrees in the Central Valley during my visit. I ran the new swamp cooler most of the time and it helped but certainly isn't AC. It kept the camper 10 deg cooler than outside with the camper in full sun. Maybe I could get 15 deg if it was in the shade and I turned it on early in the morning. The nice thing about swamps is at least you have a "cool" (relative) breeze and that helps. The first day I ran it maybe 8 hours on high and the batteries were still in good shape. After that I was able to plug in. The water consumption was noticeable but not bad considering how long I ran it. Mike, we need to go back to Death Valley so I can try it out in the dry heat! Some days it was pretty muggy last week.
I don't know if you travel with your jacks installed or not. I did for our first trip, then carried them inside the truck, and now not at all. It just seems too easy to catch one of them on a tree or rock and cause serious damage to the camper. Plus, they add over 100# to the truck. Well, I'll get off the soapbox now.
Vince - We need to go back to DV. Amen to that! I'm hoping we will have another forced vacation from Christmas through the first week in Jan. Otherwise, I suppose I could use some vacation to make it happen. I still need to buy that GPS (I've at least decided on a model) so we can tell when we are lost and when there is a gate that is not on the map!
3 weeks from today we start on vacation. Going back to the muggy midwest in August. Hopefully we will get some great sweetcorn! And we will go through Lander, Wyoming to get some more of the best cantelope I've ever had! With luck we can catch some of the qualifying races for the World Series of Sprint Cars in Knoxville, Aug 7-12.
Mentally I'm on vacation, I just have to make the next 3 weeks pass.
Mike L
Make sense?
If you look at the backing plates inside the bed (at least on my F350), the backing plates have a channel space under them, maybe 3/8" by 2 or 3". I tapped the SS bar for machine screws, used button head screws to secure the bar to the backing brackets, underneath and used silicone to stick the bar to the front of the bed.
Boy, sure wish I had a picture of the old setup...
Anyway, I could have put a bed liner on using my setup, as it was the same height as just the HappiJack backing brackets....
75v -- Loren B
Marshalltown - where I was born! Home of Maid-Rites (or is that just an old legend?).
This trip there are 4 foods we will be sure and get in Iowa - Maid-Rites, Corn Nuggets, fresh sweetcorn, and some kind of a pork sandwich for my wife.
Mike L
And speaking of Dorothy, she's still trying to decide if I'm crazy, or if my memory has failed. All because of visiting Iowa in the August heat/humidity. Probably a little of both.
Remember the old upper-midwest joke?
"It's 98 outside."
"Is that the temperature or the humidity?"
"Both."
My only complaints include a bunch of sloppy finish work on the camper. I spent a full day filing sharp aluminum edges, tightening jack mount lag bolts (one was already over tightened and snapped off), removing a piece of the vinyl window covering from the roof mechanism (they must of pressed it in about three inches at the factory), and patching small holes in the vinyl siding on the front corner. The aluminum trim that secures the vinyl is so sharp that it seems to always be at risk of punching holes in the vinyl.
That's my rant. I can overlook most of it because I really like the camper. In fact, after reading this board, I realized that you have to expect some pretty sloppy workmanship in the RV business. I did make it clear with the dealer and manufacturer that the vinyl had existing holes (very small). My guess is that they will cover the replacement if the holes expand.
I am hauling the camper with my 1996 Chevy 1/2 ton extended cab 4x4. I had the Sport-rite air bags installed before I picked up the camper. They work great. It's a bit of a dog going over the passes, but that's ok.
Steve
Prince Edward Island is more hospitable (meaning land texture) on the left side of the island than the right side. I believe near everyone had some form of camper in PEI. If you take the ferry it cost 45 dollars (1997 price). If you take the bridge you only pay leaving PEI.
One last thing, most of the Nova Scotia police hang out at the New Brunswick border.
Tenerloins - Hole in the wall called Stephans Phillips 66 gas station corner old hwy 30 & Center street south edge of town.
Ames -- Hickery Park (excellent for most) hwy 30 south on Duff couple blocks turn east your their.
(:-) 75v
A friend of mine needs mirror extensions for
her new Tracker. The ones that hook on to the
factory ones. Any ideas where to get them ?
No large camping stores near us. Thanks Geo
Wonder what he would do if you came in with a bottle of ketchup?
Tenderloins - my wife started drooling when I mentioned them. Not my favorite.
Darn. I used to listen to the older guys sit around and talk about what they ate and where. I always said "I hope I never get so old that all I talk about is food", and now I'm doing it!!!!
I think I'll go home and get drunk now.
Mike L
Now the round table.
markbuck, I have a hard time seeing how that thin-walled Happijac bar could help much but since they say it does, I put it in. One thing it does do well, it's a great place to anchor a rope or bungy cord.
stevebean, sorry to hear about the problems with the camper. It seems to be a common story with the popups. More so than with the hardsides I'd say from the stories here. My Lance was already 5 years old when I bought it so things may have been fixed, but I've never had any assembly problems at all. The seat cushions and some exterior molding are history but otherwise it's held up great. Glad to hear your family likes the camper experience.
sonjaab, for mirrors I'd try these places
http://www.rvpartsoutlet.com
http://www.campingworld.com
http://www.performanceproducts.com
I know they have them for the full size trucks but I don't know about the Tracker. Go to www.google.com and do a search for "tow mirrors."
My Phoenix was under $10k with the options I wanted. A 4Wheel camper similarly equipped was almost $12K by the time CA taxes were added. My Phoenix was made in Colorado and I paid no taxes since it was shipped out of state. At 8.5% CA tax rate, the taxes alone were almost $1000.
A good used camper (like Vince got) will run around $5K. Our local paper usually has 10-20 campers for sale.
Mike L
Thanks in advance,
2500HD
Erik
If your motivation is less hookup hassle as you mentioned, a camper may not be for you. Unless you store it on the truck, you have to load it every time you want to use it and that is more hassle than connecting a trailer. Electric jacks really help here. Once done, driving it is far easier of course but gas mileage may be worse due to the frontal area. You can back up any time and you don't need to think about being able to turn around before you pull in somewhere. If you want to leave your camp site you have to button down the hatches and bring your house with you. All in all I find this an advantage although some people (my parents for example) feel it's a burden. The advantages are that you have all your stuff, a place to rest or change clothes, food, short-term dog storage, etc. The disadvantages are obvious.
The popups do okay keeping warm from what people here say. I think it's obvious that a hard side is going to be better at that and more roomy too. It depends what you want out of your camper. A popup is better when you are in the truck (weight, gas mileage, size) and a hard side is better when you are in the camper.
They are a form of hamburger. The meat is steamed and is loose (crumbled) hamburger. Rosanne had a loose meat restaurant on her show, it was a take-off of a Maid-Rite.
I always thought a Maid-Rite store should do very well in California. The steamed meat should have less fat and this health concerned state should eat them up!
Corn Nuggets are more widespread. They are corn in some batter, rolled into 1 to 1-1/2" balls and deep fried. Quite tasty! They are the exact opposite of Maid-Rites. Start with something healthy (corn) and add oily grease. Next time you are in Dysart, IA, stop at the Dysart Drive-In and get some.
Mike L
Jim
They put so much meat on the real Maid-Rites that they give you a spoon to keep putting it back on the bun! You need to put some ketchup on it to hold it together. There must be some spices in the meat, cause the flavor is a little different, but good.
Mike L
15 days till vacation starts!!!!!
Now maybe a Maid-Rite falafel: A Pocket-Rite. There you go.
The menu is more like In-N-Out - very limited. Maid-Rite or Cheese-Rite (you'll never guess what that is) fries and drinks. Some of the stores are part of a full service restaurant and you can get anything, but normally a limited menu. Falafels and Pocket-Rites would move them into the realm of McDonald's - trying to cover up lousy food with variety and toys for the kids!
I'm going to spend some time traveling with my dad, and he travels 55mph. That will be a real test for me. But, on the bright side, maybe my mileage will go up to 15 or better at that speed.
Mike L
I only plan on pulling this thing about 2k per year, so I'm not to concerned about the mileage, however I am concerned about the truck. Any idea if I'm killing my transmission? I put synthetic Mercon V in at about 38k. It now has 53K.
How robust is that tranny?
I'd be tempted to let the truck pull in high gear (if it will), at least on the flats. But, high revs are much easier on a warmed up engine than lugging is - so I wouldn't worry about the revs either.
Mike L
One thing you could do which is always a good idea is to add a transmission oil cooler in addition to the stock radiator tank cooler (if your truck doesn't already have one). You don't need to be as aggressive about fluid changes if it never gets overheated.