Sunday, January 4, 2009

Old Truck Camper



Last week, I was given an old slide-in pickup truck camper. It has a small amount of wood rot, but is basically sound, as evidenced by the fact that it is still in one piece after being brought off a mountain over a rough, rocky, steep jeep trail. As you can see, it has a bad case of the uglies, but a little sweat equity should improve that. It will never be a show queen, but that is fine for the places I camp; and maybe its looks will cause the criminal element to leave me alone on the assumption that anyone camping in something that ugly can't have anything worth stealing. It's hard to beat the purchase price, too: free.

I wish I owned the truck we used to bring it off the mountain. A late-1980s military surplus Chevy crew-cab 4x4 with the following specs: 6.2l (379 cubic inch) diesel V8, Turbohydro 400 (heavy duty 3-speed) automatic tranny, all-gear NP205 transfer case, Dana 60/limited slip front axle, 14 bolt/Detroit Locker rear axle, 4.56 gears. It had zero problems toting that camper over extremely rough terrain. And even with low gears and no overdrive, it still gets 15 mpg. That's pretty good for a one-ton truck, especially a 4x4. If one were going to use it for extensive highway use, swapping to a set of 3.54s would almost certainly put it over 20 mpg, while still not severely impacting offroad ability.

11 comments:

Bullseye said...

Tracy, that is too cool, and free?? Man you can't beat that. Nice cozy place to bug out if ya ask me. Let us see more pics when you get it fixed the way you want.

Bullseye

Tracy said...

Will do. I plan to clean it up, camp in it nearby a few times, and then take it along on my next trip to the desert.

Kulkuri said...

Looks like it is still solid as it is still straight. With a little work and cleaning on the inside and it should be good to go.

The word is "dealtru". or maybe a true deal.

Tracy said...

There is a spot under one of the jacks that is soft, but I think I can replace the wood there and it will be good to go again. I didn't see any water inside during the rain, but it wouldn't hurt to recoat the roof whilst I am at it.

Kulkuri said...

Is this what you meant when you put in your header "with a slant toward tossing it all and living in a cheap pickup camper"?? You can't get any cheaper than free, unless they give you money to haul it away.

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Sweet!

And FREE?!? heck no, can't beat that with my grandaddy's razor strap!
Hopped over from bullseye's; been here before, but too many frothy adult beverages later i couldn't find me way back... glad i have now...

Cygnus

Tracy said...

Hi Cygnus, I'm glad you found the site. I've just looked at your blog and decided to add it, as well as Bullseye's, to my links list.

Al said...

Nice camper dude. I'm doing the old camper thing also. There are so many free and cheap campers out there in good condition.

Mayberry said...

Guess I'm a bit late to the party, but better late than never, eh? Great stuff you got here, and congratulations on figuring out that feeding the Beast equals slavery...

Anonymous said...

I would like to see your camper I am sure that you have it finished by now we just bought one an old 72 please send it to mikeandrobinm@hotmail.com We would like to see it

Tracy said...

I wish I could tell you that I had finished the camper, and regale you with tales of its many and varied travels. Alas, that is not the case: see this post for an update:
http://www.possumliving.com/2011/03/i-crashed-my-camper.html