So, after some of my recent excursions, I’ve been thinking about getting a truck camper to use for future camping trips. It seems like the ideal blend of functionality for me. It’s more than large enough for one person, lets me stay in tent sites at the rv parks, and has a stove, sink, etc for actual living.

Anyway, I’ve been watching the truck camper scene on ebay, and have bid on one that showed up a few months ago. It was a 1997 (or 1998) popup, which means that it has a section at the top that extends upwards when you actually camp. Driving down the road it only extends about a foot over the top of the truck, which would help a lot with wind resistance. I had set my max bid at $1,700, and it ended up going for $3,030.

Another one that I had thought about bidding on ended up going for $2,500.


The current one that I’m thinking about is an older model, without all of the amenities, with a starting price of $1,000 and a buy-it-now of $2,500 (ya, right). The
listing on ebay gives the details, which I’ll repeat here since the listing URL won’t last very long..

PERRIS VALLEY SMALL LIGHTWEIGHT TRUCK CAMPER RV
This Is a lightweight camper. This is the only mini camper I have seen where the bed pulls out over the dinette into a huge master bed, and the dinette makes into a double bed. The camper is in great conditon and has brand knew curtains and a front slider for access to the cab.It has 110 and 12v lighting. The outside is nice with no scapes or dents. The color is white with red and silver stripes. All the windows came tinted and do not leak. The roof is in a great shape and does not leak. It has one three gallon propane bottle that feeds a two burner stove top and will last for a long time. Yes this camper is Very efficient and cost little to maintain. The camper has 4 hydrolock jacks that work great. It has a ice box That kept all of my food cold for three days without replacing ice. I bought it from the original owner, he kept it covered and so did I. we are Having a baby and it must sell. email me for more picts. THE BOTTOM FOOTPRINT IS 6′10” LONG X 3′1” WIDE. thank you and good luck.

I emailed for more questions. Below are the questions, along with the guy’s response, and my thoughts on it….

  1. What’s the dry weight of the camper? “700 dry”. Wow.. 700 pounds? That’s insanely light. The other campers, which have been newer, and probably made with lighter material, have been up around and over 1,000 pounds. This is suspicious to me.
  2. What’s the height, both overall and the height to the cabover section. How far forward does the cabover extend? “6′2″, 3′3″, 3′9″ ” So, I’d probably have to duck slightly when in it. No biggy. But, this does mean that I’ve got something 6 feet high sitting in the back of my truck. That’s quite a ways up there. 3.75″ forward of the bed is going to put the front of it over the front window, but I don’t think that would be much of an issue.
  3. No furnace, air condition, swamp cooler, hot water heater, or refrigerator? “no-heat no air no swamp no hot water” No surprise here, but too bad.
  4. Is the ice box basically a built in ice chest? “the ice box looks like a fridge but takes ice” Bummer. A fridge would be nice. Wonder how it handles the ice melting. I guess if it is just a ice chest you’d be ok… but it looks like the door opens on the front like a regular fridge.
  5. Any 110 outlets inside? “110 light and plug,12 volt lights”
  6. Size of water tank for sink? Grey water tank size? “6 gal fresh no gray or black” Wonder where water goes when you drain it down the sink.
  7. You explicitly mention the windows and roof as not leaking? Does this mean that the whole thing doesn’t leak? “No leaks”
  8. Any instruction manuals with it? “no manuals”
  9. What vehicle did you/previous owner have it on? “dodge dacoda”
  10. What’s the Center of Gravity for the camper? “gravity???”
  11. Does it come with mounting equipment? “yes 4 twist locks no bed hooks” I don’t know what this means. I’ll have to do some research.
  12. What sorts of weather (summer/winter/etc?) have you used it in? Any experiences to share? “used in summer and in cold weater we boiled water in the morning for heat and it roasted us in less than 3 min”
  13. Do the windows open? Screens? Roof vents? “all windows open and have screens,one roof vent and one vent\esc hatch over bed”
  14. Width of camper/how long is the double bed. How long is the master bed when extended? “master bed 6′wide x 7′ long, double is 3′6”x6′”
  15. How much storage space is there? “3 cabinetss 3drawers and a jacket closet”
  16. Place for a portapotty? “cubby for portapot under jacket closet by rear door”

Other comments: “camper is all stock and on a 1-10 scale its a 9.9 very clean and no tears or holes one latch is broken on the a drawer.”

Subsequent emailing…

“this is my sons camper so im not totally familiar with all that’s included but I did just remember that he has 4 bed mounts that install on the truck bed and are removable when not in use I am sorry I forgot that so you wont need bed hooks we have them.”

“Hi the camper has eye hooks and we have the common threaded twist type anchors with hooks on each end and you will need hooks on your bed or the ones that mount under the truck.”

My random thoughts.. The camper is a few miles from the border of Yosemite in California. While that’s a pretty area, it’s a long way from here. About 2,100 miles, as best I can tell. That means 6 days of driving to get there and back. That’s 3 days out, 3 days back. Figure $500 in gas, and a couple hundred more in hotels.. That’s sizeable. And, I need hooks to attach the camper to, it would appear.