Brands That Can Be Used Off The Truck

[craigandsue]

Thinking of upgrading my truck camper. My present one cannot be used off the truck. Who all makes a truck camper that can be used off the truck?

[Coastalflyer]

I use my Palomino Maverick off the truck in the hangar but I support it with a dolly composed of 2x6's on casters. The dolly supports the metal frame around the perimeter of the camper but not the entire floor. Anyone think I should add another 2x6 to support the floor under the 30 gal FW tank?

[Zaphod2319]

DWeikert wrote:


Palomino is one of the brands that I recall was not recommended for use off the truck. Specifically, IIRC, do not fill the FW tank until the floor is supported by the bed of the truck. This was older Palominos and may have changed by now so if in doubt it's best to check with the manufacturer.

Northstar is one brand of camper that does say their campers can be used off the truck. Popup or hardside. I suspect that is the norm these days for most TC's but I will not claim it's universal. Especially if looking at an older/used camper.

That must be an older Palomino. I have a 8801 and in shopping for one I know all the current Palominos are for off truck camping.

Dave

[Zaphod2319]

DWeikert wrote:

jimh425 wrote:

narcodog wrote:
That's a curious statement that I never heard. Can you expound on it?

Which part? I’ll take a guess. Btw, if you keep up with the threads and remember the cases, it helps. But, you can also do a search along with “site:rv.net” which will find cases in the archives.

That’s why I said, don’t assume that the particular model will be fine.

....snip.....

Popups not recommended off truck.

[url]https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19120591/print/true.cfm

Palomino is one of the brands that I recall was not recommended for use off the truck. Specifically, IIRC, do not fill the FW tank until the floor is supported by the bed of the truck. This was older Palominos and may have changed by now so if in doubt it's best to check with the manufacturer.

Northstar is one brand of camper that does say their campers can be used off the truck. Popup or hardside. I suspect that is the norm these days for most TC's but I will not claim it's universal. Especially if looking at an older/used camper.

That must be an older Palomino. I have a 8801 and in shopping for one I know all the current Palominos are for off truck camping.

Dave

[Reality_Check]

We use ours constantly...off the truck. And because of that, and the rumor mill as it is, I called AF when we first got it to check. Ours is older, so good chance things have changed, but they advised me to support it. We do, and probably would anyway (whether required or not) as the additional support stabilizes the camper significantly. Takes us about 5-8 min's to unload, level and support. Sits on three 4x's.

[DWeikert]

Mote wrote:
The older camper that only had three jacks were probably not best to be used off the truck.
Most of the new one's can be. We just lower it down as far as possible and then sometimes add a couple small screw jacks to the front for extra stability.

As I recall the issue wasn't jack stability, though I would not want to use one supported on only the 3 jacks. The issue was manufacturers didn't build the campers with sufficient structural support in the floor to hold full water tanks unless the floor was also supported by the truck bed. This was a very small number of manufacturers and I have serious doubts any new campers have this restriction. But it never hurts to check with the manufacturer for verification.

[Mote]

The older camper that only had three jacks were probably not best to be used off the truck.
Most of the new one's can be. We just lower it down as far as possible and then sometimes add a couple small screw jacks to the front for extra stability.

[DWeikert]

jimh425 wrote:

narcodog wrote:
That's a curious statement that I never heard. Can you expound on it?

Which part? I’ll take a guess. Btw, if you keep up with the threads and remember the cases, it helps. But, you can also do a search along with “site:rv.net” which will find cases in the archives.

That’s why I said, don’t assume that the particular model will be fine.

....snip.....

Popups not recommended off truck.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19120591/print/true.cfm

Palomino is one of the brands that I recall was not recommended for use off the truck. Specifically, IIRC, do not fill the FW tank until the floor is supported by the bed of the truck. This was older Palominos and may have changed by now so if in doubt it's best to check with the manufacturer.

Northstar is one brand of camper that does say their campers can be used off the truck. Popup or hardside. I suspect that is the norm these days for most TC's but I will not claim it's universal. Especially if looking at an older/used camper.

[Geewizard]

jimh425 wrote:

narcodog wrote:
That's a curious statement that I never heard. Can you expound on it?

Which part? I’ll take a guess. Btw, if you keep up with the threads and remember the cases, it helps. But, you can also do a search along with “site:rv.net” which will find cases in the archives.

That’s why I said, don’t assume that the particular model will be fine.

....snip.....

Popups not recommended off truck.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19120591/print/true.cfm

That's an overly broad statement regarding Popups. I've used my Outfitter "popup" TC many many times off the truck. And I will continue to do so.

[billtex]

I think it’s pretty safe to say most TC’s can be used off the truck. The question may be which ones can be used with full tanks off the truck. A little research with the Mfr should get this information. Our Eagle Cap specifically says in the literature it can be used off the truck with full tanks and we have done so many times.
It is true there have been tanks that have sheared their holding straps. Like anything, once they get old-a little preventive inspection/maintenance is a good idea.

[jimh406]

narcodog wrote:
That's a curious statement that I never heard. Can you expound on it?

Which part? I’ll take a guess. Btw, if you keep up with the threads and remember the cases, it helps. But, you can also do a search along with “site:rv.net” which will find cases in the archives.

That’s why I said, don’t assume that the particular model will be fine.

Arctic Fox strap failure
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/21247815/print/true.cfm

Bigfoot failure

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/20086672/print/true.cfm

Popups not recommended off truck.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19120591/print/true.cfm

[KD4UPL]

Your saying your Alpenlite can't be used off the truck? I've never heard of such a thing. Is that on a warning label somewhere, in the manual?
I've done a lot of studying on TC over the years and I've owned 2 of them. I've never run across anything that said any of them couldn't be used off the truck.

[Geo_Boy]

Northstar TC’s can be used off the truck.

[Kayteg1]

I can't imagine what would prevent ANY TC from being used alone?
I am 1 of those who had issue with water tank weight separating floor from rest of the camper, but that was also due some water damages.
So it is always good idea to put some support at least on front, where water tank is.
My holding tanks hang on straps no matter if on truck or on jacks.

[narcodog]

jimh425 wrote:
It’s true that most newer campers can be used off truck, but there have been some holding tank straps that failed for many brands in the past.

I think it would be better to ask the manufacturer once you get close, or do a search once you get a used one/new one in mind to find out.

That's a curious statement that I never heard. Can you expound on it?