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I was considering purchasing a truck bed camper. I have a daughter and my wife. And we're considering having 2 more rug rats. Can anyone compare and contrast having a truck bed camper vs. a travel trailer with the size of my family now and later? We also have a 12 ft. Jon Boat and usually take it when we go camping, and we go to various fairs and auctions and haul our cattle/trailer. *I have a long bed ext. cab chevy. Thank you.
Last edited by mossberg14; 04-10-2011 at 12:01 PM..
I know it sounds like a no brainer but my wife insist we get a travel trailer, because of room space. I told her I'd be happy sleeping in a tent. And she would like to have a shower access. Is there much of a price difference in insurance? And are they easy to install and remove?
I'd go with the truck camper for now, when more kids come along you can upgrade to the towed trailer,but you may have to leave the boat behind as most states dont allow towing trailer and boat trailer.
There are advantages and disadvantages to each. You'll have to decide which one wins based on your needs.
The primary advantage to a truck camper is that you can still tow a trailer behind your truck and have the camper, too. For a family of five, though, it will be extremely crowded, though it can be made to work. As for taking the boat, you could take it on a trailer, or if you get a pop-up type camper, you could carry it on top. The biggest disadvantage to a truck camper (besides being crowded) is that it's attached to the truck, so if you are camping and want to head to town for supplies, you pretty much have to drive the rig as it is, or go through the process of removing the camper. When I had a truck camper, I towed my Suzuki Samurai behind so I'd have something to drive once I arrived in camp. You could pull a towed vehicle with the jon boat on top of it behind the truck camper if you chose to.
An obvious advantage to a travel trailer is that you can get more space, depending on the unit you choose. The other advantage to a travel trailer is that you can leave it in camp while you drive your truck to town. The biggest disadvantage I can see is that you wouldn't be able to pull your other trailer(s) at the same time, so you wouldn't be able to haul your cattle to the fair and take your travel trailer (at least not at the same time). You could take the jon boat, though, if you had your truck set up to carry it on top.
One possible option that you may not have considered would be a stock trailer that has living quarters in it. I've seen them for horses, but imagine they could also be used for cattle. You could then haul your cattle and living quarters at the same time. All the ones I've seen, though, are fifth wheel type trailers, and I don't know if that's something you would consider. You could also rig your truck to carry the jon boat when you tow the trailer, but it would have to be set up so the boat would go over the front half of the truck. What I don't know about this arrangement is how much living space the trailer would provide, and if it would be enough for a growing family such as yours.
As for insurance, I would check with your insurance carrier for pricing. I'm pretty sure both the trailer and truck camper would be covered on your vehicle policy as far as liability is concerned, but for comprehensive and collision coverage, they wouldn't be covered.
When your kids are a bit older, they may want to sleep in a tent. This could provide you with some extra room inside whatever type of rig you end up with.
Right idea StealthRabbit however the bus conversions may be a bit over the top financially, a used class A rv might do the trick , something like this as an example..
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