Newbie looking for a little advice

[RONR]

Hi Folks: Well, I hate to start out on a negative note, but I'm sick of work, sick of sleeping in tents or motel six, and pretty much sick of paying $3.50/Gal. to drive my 1996 Ram 2500 around town. So my solution is to retire and get a camper and start doing a little more traveling and fishing. I really like the Four Wheel Campers and think that something of this nature will fit what I want to do. I'll probably be on my own most of the time with my wife joining me occationally (Well somebody has to work).

I really am new to this, never having a camper and coming only as close as sleeping in the bed of my pickup. Time for an upgrade. The question I'm hoping you can help me with is: Are smaller pickup trucks like a six cylinder Toyota Tacoma just too small to reasonably and comfortably have a camper on? My Dodge is in great shape, but really gets lousy gas mileage. I'm lucky to get 13 mpg on the hwy with an empty bed (10 around town). That's why I started to think about something smaller (besides I like the Tacoma). So any advice on whether I would be better off just biting the mileage and keeping the Dodge or getting something with a little better mileage would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ron

 

[OutbacKamper]

Ron;
I am no expert, but here is what I think:
I have seen the inside of a fwc on a Tacoma, it is VERY compact. This may be ok for you solo, but your wife may hate it. My wife finds our Hawk (full size/short box) too small. A v6 Tacoma with a camper will not get significantly better mileage (maybe 16?).
If you are on a tight budget, I would suggest keeping the Dodge. If you plan to do lots of long distance driving and can afford the upfront cost then I would suggest a diesel (I believe the older dodge diesels get about 23mpg). I would not buy a Tacoma to carry a camper, even a light one like a fwc.

Cheers
Mark

 

[simimike]

Welcome to the forum Ron,
Their is no question about it, Toyota makes great trucks. One of my co-workers just bought a Tacoma and he loves it. Only $28k out the door. $28k will buy a lot of gas even at todays prices.
If you check the FWC web site you will see that the Eagle has a pull out bed. This covers the stove when the bed is made up. So if you want to use the stove you have to break down the bed, a chore if the wife is in it,trust me! If you're going solo this would be a great set up. Beats tenting any day.
Like you I'm retiring soon and thought long and hard on my RV choice. The wife and I decided on the FWC with a Dodge CTD 4X4 for the the following reasons.The long bed with the Granby gives us more room to move around and with the extended bed option we don't have to break down the bed to use the camper. The diesel give us a 500 mile range at 16-17 MPG. I hate sending my dollars to the terrorist.
Toyota is coming out with a new model Tundra so the 06's are marked down to clear them out. One of the other forum members has one with the V6 and has no horse power problems. This would allow you to get a Hawk with the extended bed so the wife can sleep in. This could be a good option for you. Or you can wait for for the 07's, a diesel is rumored.

mike

 

[DirtyDog]

I agree that Toyota makes great trucks, but 28k for a compact truck is very expensive. I had 2 Rangers which were great and a loaded model was just 24k.

Back to the original question... I traded the Ranger in on the F150 for the sake of getting a camper. IMO compact trucks lack the size and power to carry a camper without significant compromises in both drivability and camping living space. That's just me though, I know a lot of people use compact campers to haul FWcampers and they are happy with the setup.

I am intrigued by some of the new diesel options Toyota will be coming out with. A diesel Tundra would be a sweet rig indeed.

 

[chnlisle]

Hi Ron,

We just returned from a 4 state 2800 mile trip to the 4 corners area. My '95 T 100 (which is basically a big body Tacoma) never got better than 15 MPG and sometimes much worse. I rarely could use the overdrive while carriyng all that weight. I had big truck envy the entire trip but I figured I could buy a lot of gas for 25 to 30K.

We have the FWC Ranger model. It has a queen iszed bed and we both think its quite comfortable and at 63 with lower back issues thats saying a lot. We find it a great camper for the rugged places we enjoy going.

I'm hopeful that there will be some new small deisels available now that the regs will be lossened up in '07 but who knows how much and how powerful they'll be. It's all a compromise. Good luck.
Jay

 

[camelracer]

I just ordered my Grandby a couple of weeks ago and look forward to being on the road soon. Mine will be going on a '02 Dodge Cummins diesel. I like the size of the Grandby and would probably feel cramped in something smaller.
As for the truck I love the diesel. The power is unbelievable and I get 18 to 21 mpg depending on speed. I would never go back to a gas rig. Toyota makes great vehicles but you can get a really nice used Cummins for less than $28k.

 

[RONR]

Thanks

Wow! Let me say THANKS to you all for your great input. You have given me a lot to think about. Clearly some thought has to go into trading my Ram for something else and only acheiving a few miles more per gallon. I'll be running a cost benefit analysis in my mind for a while on this one (but it's kind'a fun planning for these happy things). I'm in no hurry, so I can take my time and I think it is good advice to see what is going to happen with the '07 diesels. A significant increase in range and mileage is certainly something to consider, but as Jay says, "who knows" and "its all a compromise". So we'll wait and see.

I have another question on putting a Grandby on a 6 foot bed. I think it is best to start a new thread on that subject, so I'll do that.

Thanks again, and I'm glad that I found you guys!

Ron