How sturdy are All Terrain Campers?

[chopyourown]

I'm doing some planning for a new camper setup on my truck, and shopping pop-up truck camper options. The two options I'm leaning towards at the moment are an ATC Panther or an OVRLND pop-up topper. Obviously these are pretty different setups, and each has pros and cons. One area that is hard to get a read on is the sturdiness/durability of each option.

I've been in several Four Wheel Campers (never in an ATC). I've not had the chance to inspect the aluminum frame, but I've read in a couple of places, including this forum, that the aluminum framing is very small diameter. This has me a little concerned about the camper holding up to long-term, rough use offroad. I'm also not jazzed on how often I see damaged roofs from attempting to lift with a latch buckled, hailstorms, branches, etc. I won't be doing any crazy offroad routes, but will definitely spend a lot of time on dirt, including washboard, heavily potholed forest roads, and rutted doubletrack, plus general wear and tear from frequent use. I live in the PNW and sometimes pushing through encroaching slide alder is unavoidable, for example. The comparison is an OVRLND camper, which uses 1x2 aluminum 1/8" diameter tubing, and in general seems like much stouter construction.

Obviously there are quite a few ATC campers (and FWCs) out there that have endured thousands of miles offroad and are still holding up fine. It's quite possible I'm overthinking this. Still, I'd be interested to hear folks experience. Is it a case of "these campers are strong enough to hold up with a reasonable standard of care"? Do you have an ATC (or FWC) and have experienced damage, either through regular use or through "user error"? How much annual maintenance are you doing to keep things watertight?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I’ve owned a FWC Grandby, and two ATCs (a Bobcat that was great, but small for my needs, and currently a Cougar). My experience with the FWC was disappointing because of an oil canning roof. My experience with the two ATCs has been positive. In terms of frame strength, I suspect both are similar, although the old style roof on my ATC seems stronger (and it doesn’t have an oil canning problem). ATC’s motto is built to survive, and my friends the @ski3pins have proved that over many trails and many years. There have also been a number of FWC campers that have done the same.

Here’s a thread that discusses ATC and FWC campers.

For me, the ATC attention to customer service was an extra in addition to a great camper.

 

[Vic Harder]

more than tough enough would be my guess. Another distinguishing characteristic of these campers is that they are designed to flex. So some design/construction techniques might seem counter-intuitive, like only welding one or two sides of the tubing so it can flex/bend in the other direction.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I have had my Bobcat new since 2009.Although I don't do back country camping I have done a fair share of some rough roads. The Dempster to Tombstone Provincial park in the Yukon.
The old Denali Hwy 3 trips at 130 miles each.It is a well maintained road but does have a lot of rough surface.And lts of NF roads.
Never had any problems with the structure.Built to survive.Simple easy to use camper.
Frank

 

[CraggyMan]

9 years with a FWC Fleet. More miles than I can count on really bad desert roads at relatively slow speeds. Not one issue with our camper other than a user error on forgetting a roof latch but an easy fix.

 

[AWG_Pics]

It won't fail you. If it does break you will know it was your fault. We have been all over the southwest, often on very rough roads. No problem at all.

 

[pods8]

The older ones were built thinner and with less framing and yet there are still 40yr old campers in action (can't say that about many other camper types) so they tend to be "strong enough". That isn't to say some of those decades old campers don't require some rehab at times.

more than tough enough would be my guess. Another distinguishing characteristic of these campers is that they are designed to flex. So some design/construction techniques might seem counter-intuitive, like only welding one or two sides of the tubing so it can flex/bend in the other direction.

IMHO that line about welding one side was a more of a spin to have less production costs/time versus planned flexing. The reality I've noted in welding up my own camper is that it doesn't take much flexing on a one sided weld of the style used on these campers for the weld fail very quickly. That also is in alignment with my experiences using corner jacks on the 80s campers, the frame would flex/rack and then over time more and more welds would break (door frame for instance).

Constraining that weld with welds on both sides makes things notably more robust. Now the campers have more framing and also more welds on the opposite side.

 

[craig333]

Twenty years on mine. Had to reinforce the turnbuckle hold downs. That was an issue FWC addressed later. Most other issues were either avoidable with regular maintenance (reseal the roof, paint the underside) or just very minor items you can fix with a screwdriver. Considering how much time these campers spend off highway they hold up very well.

 

[pods8]

I think a major reason these last so long where other campers find their way to scrap yards is that there is nothing to rot in the roof structurally if/when there is a leak. That is the death blow to many a wood framed camper making it not worth the bother to rehab.

 

[rubberlegs]

The aluminum frame is less about strength than flexibility. Smaller tubing is more flexible but bends easier when the truck frame is twisted going over rough terrain.

We don't have an ATC, but our camper is similar. Some of the seals and caulking in the cabinetry have separated. It's a minor cosmetic issue. We've torqued the camper on some pretty rough terrain, driven through some scratchy brush and even dented the front when hitting a stronger cut branch. But all that damage has been cosmetic. The camper feels robust and even the scratching is pretty minimal.

Occasionally some of the exterior screws come loose.

We've had some wear on the plates where the turnbuckle hooks touch.

All in all, it's very robust.

 

[pods8]

The aluminum frame is less about strength than flexibility. Smaller tubing is more flexible but bends easier when the truck frame is twisted going over rough terrain.

As I noted above I think that's more a byproduct than planned imho after welding up my own frame. They're light enough, durable enough, don't rot and happen to flex some. Too much flexing and the welds crack. The tubing itself isn't really flexing much in such short spans imho, everything gets fairly rigid once welded up so its the welds that have to flex for anything to flex in the main body.