Best truck camper brands

[Tom]

I must admit to being out of the loop on the current truck camper market. What are considered to be the high end brands?

FWIW I've wanted a truck camper for many years - so I could get to some of the otherwise inaccessible fishing holes. But my other half would never go for it.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I'm not much more up to date than you are, Tom. I know Lance is a strong contender and very popular. Other top brands are Bigfoot and  Arctic Fox.  Then there's Shadow Cruiser, Starcraft, Travel Lite, etc. etc.

There are many regional brands of slide-in truck campers and their owners speak highly of them as well. I've heard of S&S, Snow River,  Adventurer (Western canada RV).

Here's a list of slide-in manufacturers:  Truck slide-in camper manufacturers

 

[Tom]

Thanks Gary. Lance was high on my list when I looked around many moons ago. Sounds like they've stayed up there.

 

[PancakeBill]

I happen to think Lance has been overrated for awhile.  However, I also believe they are making changes in construction that will bring them back to the impression people have.  Their strongpoint was being better than the competition, but short on overall quality.  For instance, they are just going to an aluminum superstructure.  Their sales pitch was that wood is better.  Must be why good motorhomes use wood.  Wait, they don't!

Anyway, Arctic Fox has been using alum for awhile. 

Other good names have been mentioned. 

I think for fishing remote, if you have any forest to drive thru, consider one of the pop-up styles.  Lower clearance, less amenity and weight.

Mine is about 11' tall when loaded on my truck. 

 

[beddows]

In my opinion it is SnowRiver hands down. The after sales service from this company is legendary. The owner has been known to drive 1300 miles round trip in person to fix a problem for free on an out of warranty unit (I'm not kidding)

 

[PancakeBill]

Hey Beddows, you are on the RV.NET truck camper forum too, right? 

I have had truck campers for 10 years and had never heard of some of the brands represented on the other forum.  They don't have national exposure.  Okanagan looks real nice, but I have never seen one.

Snowy River, as you mentioned, I understand is very good, but again, one I have never seen. 

Seems to be the case in many TC brands, depends on where you live what you will see.

I now have an Alpenlite.  Back in RI had heard of them, but never saw one.  Closest dealer was in NY. 

 

[Cricketdaddy]

I've been packing and loving a Lance 900 since 1994. In fact, after recently buying a new Class A and planning to sell the truck and camper I have reconsidered and decided to keep my little man cave. It is absolutely perfect for those trips I like to take alone so I can give my wife and kids a break.  I really don't need a 32 footer just to go off and drown worms.

I'm sure there are plenty of well-made campers out there. I love my Lance but like everything else you have to do the homework and decide what you need. The only advice I can give is to decide what you want in a camper first, then decide how much truck you need to haul it efficiently. I started out with an F-250 but went to the larger F-350 for more guts and stability.

Dave

 

[threeful]

One can buy a nice travel trailer for the same money as a truck camper...man, they are expensive for what you get and have less room than a tt. mho

 

[beddows]

Yeah, but try & get a TT into some areas you can get a TC, especially here in the NW.