Slide-in truck campers for mid-size pickup vans are good for the off-grid overlanding and distant tenting way of life that has blossomed over the past couple of a long time. There’s nothing improper with a soft mattress, a heater, and scorching meals once you’re in the midst of nowhere.
With slide-in truck campers weighing as a lot or greater than 3,500 kilos, nevertheless, it may generally really feel just like the mid-size pickup truck proprietor has been disregarded within the chilly. The fact is that some producers supply well-built and generously outfitted slide-in truck campers for the mid-size pickup truck market.
Small truck-camper-focused builders in addition to main RV companies with a number of RV varieties and types have stepped up and met the rising demand for smaller and lighter slide-in truck campers. Now let’s go searching for a slide-in truck camper for that truck of yours, whether or not or not it’s a Toyota Tacoma, Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Ford Ranger, Jeep Gladiator, Nissan Frontier, and even the Honda Ridgeline.
The Best Truck Campers for Mid-Size Pickups
BunduTec USA affords truck campers, automobile rooftop tents, and awnings to assist the out of doors way of life and the will to achieve out-of-the-way locations.
While the rooftop tents and awnings are imported, all BunduTec USA truck campers are made within the USA.
The firm builds hard-walled and pop-top truck campers in a wide range of floorplans. All its pop-top roofs may be raised with the push of a button with the camper’s normal electrical carry system, making them handy and fast to arrange for tenting.
Of most curiosity on this case is the BunduTec USA Topi. The Topi pop-up slide-in truck camper has a base dry weight of 1,330 kilos and is designed to suit most mid-size pickups with 5-foot or 6-foot mattress lengths with the tailgate eliminated.
Standard gear aboard the BunduTec USA Topi begins with a 1.9 cubic-foot 12-volt fridge, a single stainless-steel sink, a pull-out kitchen faucet, a pressurized water system, and a two-burner drop-in range within the galley space. Comfort and comfort requirements embrace an electrical roof vent, a 12,000 BTU furnace heater, privateness window shades, a tinted entrance door with a display, a lot of inside storage compartments, and locking exterior compartments.
The Topi’s electrical system incorporates a 30-amp shore-power twine with adapter, 25-amp converter, 12-volt outlet, twin USB shops, GFCI outlet, LED lighting, and a G27 AGM battery. A transportable photo voltaic port helps maintain the system charged when off-grid.
Build choices are quite a few and BunduTec campers may be personalized to suit your type of outside journey. Some of those choices are a mixture furnace/water heater, insulated home windows, lithium charging converter, unbiased 3,000-watt inverter, rear wall air conditioner, 170-watt or 340-watt photo voltaic packages, twin G27 AGM batteries, porta potty, roof racks, entry steps, rear wall ladders, awnings, and an exterior storage field.
Four Wheel Campers produces customized truck campers primarily based on a number of platforms. Choices vary from the corporate’s super-lightweight Project M Topper camper shell to its massive flatbed truck campers. In between these bookends are a group of slide-in pop-top campers for pickups from mid-size to 1-ton capability.
Four Wheel Campers affords two slide-in pop-up truck camper fashions — the Swift (5-foot mattress) and the Fleet (6-foot mattress) — which might be applicable for the mid-size pickup class we’re centered on right here. The Swift has a base mannequin dry weight of 935 kilos and was designed to suit mid-size pickups with 5.5-foot beds. The Fleet is barely bigger than the Swift, designed for 6-foot beds, and listed with a 1,045-pound base mannequin dry weight.
The Swift slide-in truck camper from Four Wheel Campers comes as a rollover sofa platform in its normal kind. The rollover sofa begins as a 62 x 33-inch sofa with storage beneath and may roll out right into a significantly wider flat sleeping platform. Its cabover mattress is a slide-out of 76 inches lengthy by 72 inches extensive.
Standard options for the Swift embrace a kitchen space with Formica counter tops, stainless-steel sink with an electrical water pump, a two-burner propane range, and a 65-liter-capacity two-way fridge/freezer.
Electrics within the Four Wheel Campers Swift mannequin features a shore-power 110-volt system, Camper Battery System (battery, wiring, and battery isolator), 30-amp energy converter with an IQ4 Smart Charger, a number of 12-volt shops, and LED inside and out of doors porch lights. An LP/CO detector, smoke detector, and fireplace extinguisher are normal security gear provided. The roof can also be prewired for photo voltaic panels.
Nice touches equivalent to a completed wooden inside, a three-piece transportable eating desk, a powered roof fan, privateness curtains, and a display door are all a part of the Swift’s normal function package deal. The Swift pop-up camper’s exterior is an all-aluminum development, with a one-piece roof, insulation within the facet partitions and roof, and waterproof marine-grade fabric pop-up sides.
Its pop-top is operated by hand however simply opened and shut by one particular person as a result of its fuel strut roof carry assists. Folding carry panels on each ends lock the roof within the up place.
There are quite a few choices within the Swift mannequin slide-in truck camper that may assist ship a camper package deal splendid to your wants. Build your personal with creature comforts like a compelled air furnace with a thermostat, a water heater with an outdoor bathe, a roof-mounted 160-watt photo voltaic panel with a charger controller, a twin 12-volt battery package deal, or a porta-potty.
Other good extras to select from are a 270-degree awning, roof racks, a rear wall ladder, and camper jacks.
Aside from being a bit bigger and heavier than the Swift, the Four Wheel Campers Fleet mannequin bears an virtually equivalent resemblance to its little brother. The Fleet’s development, normal options, and obtainable choices are almost the identical. The Fleet does, nevertheless, supply some upgraded choices and a wider collection of floorplans than the Swift.
The Fleet may be in-built the identical rollover sofa configuration because the Swift, however further floorplans embrace a facet dinette format and a entrance dinette design that may accommodate an optionally available inside bathe and a cassette bathroom.
Northstar Campers is solely centered on truck campers. It’s what they do, and it’s been that approach for the reason that firm was began in 1955. All Northstar Campers, whether or not it’s a pop-up or a hard-wall camper, are hand-built.
Each begins with a 5/8-inch insulated underlayment ground to cowl the complete size and width of the camper. Body development incorporates a bolstered body and galvanized metal corners for energy. All joints are glued after which secured with hardened metal screws. The partitions and the roof function hand-fitted foam block insulation, and a fiberglass exterior.
Every hard-wall camper will get insulated home windows as normal, and the signature Northstar Camper “Sub Zero” package deal is a well-liked addition to any of its pop-up campers for added safety in opposition to winter climate.
With a base dry weight of 1,250 kilos, the Northstar Campers 600SS pop-up camper is designed to suit Tacoma, Canyon, Colorado, Ranger, and Frontier.
The pop-up soft-sided Northstar 600SS is loaded with normal options that include the bottom mannequin. Some of the standouts on the lengthy checklist embrace a 3.7 cubic-foot three-way (LPG, 110-volt, 12-volt) fridge with a detachable freezer, glass-top two-burner range, furnace heater with thermostat, and an electrical roof-lift system.
A swing-away desk system, a 6-inch gel high-density reminiscence foam mattress, a 30-amp adapter with a 15-amp lighted energy twine, and a screened entry door with a deadbolt and fuel strut are additionally normal gear.
Highlights of the choices obtainable for the Northstar Campers 600SS embrace niceties equivalent to an autoignition water heater with an exterior bathe and a bypass and single-lever faucet with a pull-out sprayer.
Other possibility decisions are an upgraded fridge, rear window air conditioner, roof air conditioner, audio methods, TV antenna, and electrical nook jacks. Awnings, steps, roof racks, a 1,000-watt converter, and a 170-watt photo voltaic panel with a 30-amp controller are additionally obtainable choices for the Northstar Campers 600SS mannequin.
Outfitter Manufacturing Campers combines a convention of high quality with fashionable applied sciences and supplies within the design and development of all its truck campers. The firm affords slide-in truck campers to suit each dimension of pickup truck in the marketplace, together with a light-weight unit particularly designed for the mid-size pickup truck class.
Outfitter Manufacturing’s Caribou Lite 6.5 slide-in truck camper is the corporate’s lightest weight (base dry weight of 950 kilos), lowest profile, and most economical possibility for the mid-size truck proprietor in search of a full-featured slide-in truck camper. It incorporates a totally welded aluminum roof and body with vacuum-bonded composite laborious partitions, block foam insulation, and a UV-protected white fiberglass exterior.
A torsion-assist roof carry system and insulated Weblon soft-side partitions make the Caribou Lite 6.5 fast and straightforward to arrange. A sliding cab-through window can also be normal gear.
Standard inside function highlights embrace a full-size cabover mattress that pulls out to make a queen mattress, birch doorways and cupboards, a 16,000 BTU furnace, a powered roof vent, stress freshwater fill, an electrical water pump, and LP and carbon monoxide detectors.
A 1.9 cubic-foot three-way (AC/DC/LPG) fridge and three-burner cooktop make up the galley. The normal Caribou Lite 6.5 electrical system features a 45-amp converter with a three-stage charger, and 110-volt and 12-volt shops.
The checklist of choices for the Caribou Lite 6.5 pop-up slide-in truck camper runs the gamut from an electrical carry system for the roof to further 110-volt and 12-volt shops. Major upgrades in that wide selection of extras embrace a cassette bathroom, a north-south (aligned with the size of the camper relatively than the width) cabover mattress configuration, an outdoor bathe with water heater, and awnings.
Larger capability (3.0 and three.8 cubic ft) fridges, photo voltaic panel methods, twin battery methods, air conditioner methods, audio methods, and a TV antenna will also be added to your Caribou Lite 6.5 camper construct.
Palomino RV harbors a number of manufacturers underneath its company wings that embrace the Backpack, Real Lite, and Rogue strains of truck campers. the Backpack and Real Lite manufacturers, there are hard-wall and soft-side campers for pickup vans starting from mid-size to one-ton capability dual-rear-wheel fashions. The Rogue lineup options tilt-top campers in sizes that trip simply on the sting between compact and half-ton and are most likely higher left to the bigger of these two pickup truck classes.
We’ll deal with the Palomino RV Backpack SS-500 soft-side pop-up truck camper for this dialogue. It’s nearly equivalent to the Real Lite SS-1600. Coming in at a base dry weight of 1,197 kilos, the SS-500 is an effective alternative for house owners of most mid-size pickup vans just like the Jeep Gladiator, Ford Ranger, and others.
Loaded with normal options, the Backpack SS-500 slide-in truck camper affords high-density block foam insulation within the partitions and roof, aluminum framing, plywood substrate, high-gloss exterior fiberglass, and Alpha Superflex TPO membrane on the roof for the last word in leak-proof protection and UV safety.
Standard options for the Backpack SS-500 pop-up camper embrace good touches equivalent to hardwood cupboards, pocket screw lumber core cupboard stiles, ball-bearing drawer glides, and Congoleum model flooring.
A single battery inside a vented field, battery fast disconnect, exterior battery charging station, and LED inside lighting spherical out {the electrical} system.
One of the nicest requirements on the Backpack SS-500 is a 55-inch one-piece door for simple entry and egress. A 20,000 BTU heater furnace and a three-way (110-volt, 12-volt, LPG) fridge include the bottom camper, as does an electrical roof carry system with distant management, pre-wiring for electrical camper jacks, photo voltaic system prep, and an influence fan roof vent.
Among the choices generally ordered for the Palomino RV Backpack SS-500 are equipment equivalent to an air conditioner, an entry step, and a 100-watt photo voltaic panel. An optionally available audio system, a 5-foot field awning, and a water heater/outdoors bathe make life rather a lot nicer when tenting.
You may also get Mesa Maple cupboards (lighter wooden) or Greystone Maple cupboards (for a darker look). The premium optionally available Badlands Package additionally will get you a roof rack, a 100-watt photo voltaic panel with a cost controller, and a second battery tray for the Backpack SS-500 slide-in truck camper.
Phoenix Pop Up Campers takes a totally totally different strategy to truck campers. Among its merchandise for pickups and flatbed vans, Phoenix Pop Up Campers supply 4 totally different fundamental fashions for mid-size vans. From there on, it’s all a customized creation.
With a customized construct menu on its web site, Phoenix lets you choose and select from among the many dozens of galley appointments, home equipment, electronics, creature comforts, and cupboard preparations in all kinds of finishes to create your customized pop-up truck camper.
Two of the preferred Phoenix Pop Up Campers fashions are the Level 1 and Stealthy-Mini. Both may be sized for mid-size vans with 5.5-foot or 6-foot beds. All slide-in Phoenix Pop Up Campers start with a double-welded aluminum cage body, fiberglass siding, and a molded aerodynamic cabover nostril. Extruded polystyrene insulation fills the wall and ceiling.
A Level 1 construct will get an electrical roof carry system, a 20-pound vented LPG tank system, a 20-gallon recent water tank, and a 175-watt photo voltaic battery charging system. The Level 1 package deal additionally incorporates a 30-amp converter and 110-volt shore energy system, auxiliary deep cycle Group 24 battery, 100-amp lithium battery system, LED roof lights, and a three-speed reversible electrical fan roof vent are additionally included.
The Level 1 affords a cabover queen-size mattress with a 5-inch-thick mixture foam/reminiscence gel mattress and a dinette and desk setup that may convert to a second mattress. A big facet window, entrance opening window, and louvered facet window include privateness curtains of your alternative.
The Base Birch clear-stain wooden cabinetry and strong floor counters home a sink and two-burner range combo, a 2.3 cubic-foot two-way fridge/freezer, and a ten,000 BTU furnace heater.
The Stealthy Mini package deal swaps the convertible dinette for a sofa that folds down right into a second mattress and replaces the Level 1 storage cupboard with a cooler/transportable fridge space. From there on, you may go wild with additional customization.
Almost the whole lot you may think about having in your truck camper may be delivered. A alternative of greater than a dozen cabinetry wooden finishes, in addition to a number of picks of counter tops will also be ordered to your Phoenix Pop Up Camper.
Scout Campers produces three slide-in truck campers — the Yoho, Olympic, and the Kenai. All three campers share a design ethic of light-weight and modular development that’s constructed to final. The Olympic and Kenai are an excellent match for half-ton capability and better pickups, whereas the Yolo is aimed squarely on the mid-size pickup truck market.
The Yoho has a base dry weight of simply 934 kilos and affords normal gear that will be choices for different truck campers of the identical class. Its all-aluminum framing and gel coat fiberglass exterior and roof (with a composite substrate) present a sturdy and well-insulated shell that’s designed for four-season tenting.
A brief checklist of normal options for the Yoho contains thermal pane home windows and a moon roof with screens and photo voltaic reflective shades, a convertible dinette lounge/second mattress, stainless-steel sink with direct exterior drain, a 10-pound LPG tank in a vented compartment with a quick-disconnect for an adjunct hookup, 175-watt photo voltaic panel, transportable 1,500-watt lithium energy station, LED lights, and transportable water storage with filtration.
The normal gear roster for the Scout Campers Yoho continues with objects equivalent to a 4-cubic-foot gear locker, transportable 4.9-gallon gas can, 21-inch entry door with clear glass window and snap-on cowl, and detachable flooring. Security and security requirements embrace a photo voltaic porch gentle with a movement sensor, a hearth extinguisher, and smoke, fuel, and carbon monoxide detectors.
The decisions of optionally available gear and facilities are quite a few. Popular add-ons to reinforce your off-grid expertise are a 45L transportable fridge/freezer, dual-zone cooktop designed particularly for Scout, 270-degree awning, rear-mounted diesel heater, and roof racks.
The Yoho campers’ minimalist design is evidenced by the shortage of a shore energy connection and the deal with independence by its use of solar energy methods, and its modular transportable facilities just like the fridge/freezer and indoor/out of doors fuel cooktop supply a better diploma of versatility throughout out of doors adventures.
Travel Lite RV affords journey trailers and truck campers. Its 4 slide-in truck camper choices are the Up Country 750, Up Country 650, Atom, and the Cent. All 4 members of Travel Lite RV’s line of slide-in truck campers function aluminum and laminated (no wooden) development.
While the Up Country 750, Up Country 650, and Atom are greatest fitted to full-size pickup vans, the Cent slide-in truck camper has a base dry weight of simply 940 kilos and was designed particularly for mid-size vans.
Admittedly, the Travel Lite Cent is a considerably atypical design for a truck camper, missing the protruding cabover part that will usually accommodate the first sleeping quarters of most truck campers. The configuration of the Cent slide-in truck camper permits it to be gentle and sufficiently small to suit nearly any mid-size pickup with a brief mattress. The distinctive camper design can also be nice for individuals who need to put a roof rack on the cab of the truck to hold cumbersome gear like bikes and whitewater kayaks.
Highlights of the Cent truck camper inventory gear checklist embrace facilities equivalent to a stainless-steel sink, a high-rise kitchen faucet, an electrical water pump, a high-efficiency vent fan, a compact transportable two-burner range, a 20,000-BTU furnace heater, a 20-pound LPG tank, and a 12-volt fridge.
Electrics just like the removable 30-map shore energy twine, a 40-amp converter, and a system monitor panel make energy administration easy. The solely possibility obtainable on the time of this report for the Cent was a side-mount air conditioner.
The fundamental floorplan of the Travel Lite Cent slide-in truck camper delivers a facet dinette that converts right into a pull-out mattress. That being its solely sleeping lodging makes the Cent too small for greater than two folks except some sleep on the ground. Nonetheless, the Travel Lite Cent is obtainable with a number of obtainable normal gear and comes prepared for off-grid adventures.
Truck Camper Buying Tips
Slide-In Truck Camper Weight Ratings
First and foremost is the connection between truck camper weights and the payload capability of the mid-size pickup truck you personal or are planning to personal. Truck campers are listed with a “base dry weight.” That quantity is the load of the camper in its most simple configuration. Normally that quantity is with none optionally available gear and with none fluids (water).
Why is that vital? When you start searching for a slide-in truck camper, both constructing it customized or shopping for off a vendor lot, it’ll very possible be outfitted with quite a few equipment and choices that weren’t accounted for in that marketed base dry weight. Those choices can add a whole lot of kilos of further weight, pushing the camper over or dangerously near your supposed automobile’s payload capability. That could cause irregular and unsafe dealing with conduct or severe injury to your pickup truck.
Luckily, some producers supply weight calculators on their web sites that may whole up all of the choices you order and provide you with a remaining total weight of the completed construct. Sometimes, these total construct weights might be obtainable from the RV dealership. If all else fails, you might have to discover a solution to weigh the camper. Be certain you realize these actual weights before you purchase a truck camper to your mid-size pickup.
Not All Pickups Are the Same
Payload rankings for pickup vans are totally different for every physique configuration and drivetrain sort for each model of pickup truck. For instance, the payload ranking for the 2023 Ford Ranger TremendousCab 4×2 with a 6-foot mattress is 1,905 kilos.
The payload ranking for the 2023 Ford Ranger Tremor 4×4 with a 5-foot mattress is 1,478 kilos. The 2023 Toyota Tacoma EntryCab SR5 V-6 4×2 with a 6-foot mattress has a payload ranking of 1,525 kilos, whereas the 2023 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab SR5 4×4 is rated at 1,105 kilos.
Not certain concerning the payload capability of your truck? It might be on the sticker often posted within the driver’s doorjamb or another simply accessed location of the truck. If worse involves worst, discover the gross automobile weight ranking (GVWR) of your truck. Weigh your truck at a public scale, then subtract its weight from the truck’s GVWR. The distinction will provide you with a payload ranking you may work with.
Sleeping Space
Most truck campers designed for mid-size vans include a cabover mattress that’s known as a queen dimension. Be certain to get measurements of that mattress. They may be smaller than a typical house queen mattress. Some producers will supply a bigger cabover mattress and a mattress that’s greater than a foam pad. A number of supply gel/reminiscence foam mattresses.
Almost all truck campers will supply a dinette/seating space that converts to a mattress. These are hardly ever massive sufficient to sleep an grownup. More typically than not, the mattress constructed from a convertible sofa or dinette might be greatest fitted to kids or teenagers. The producer might promote the camper as sleeping 4, however that doesn’t imply 4 adults.
Kitchen Appliances
Truck campers meant for mid-size pickups often present fundamental stoves and small sinks within the galley space. Two-burner stoves with piezo-electric ignition and bigger sinks are virtually at all times an possibility. Most come normal with a small fridge, however bigger optionally available fridge/freezers are generally provided as choices.
If your type of tenting contains frequent out of doors eating or cooking on a transportable grill or campfire, a fundamental kitchen with a small fridge augmented by an ice chest could also be simply the factor for you. It will maintain your prices and the load of your camper down.
Bathrooms
It’s uncommon to discover a truck camper for a mid-size truck with rather more than a porta-potty or space for storing for a porta-potty. A number of corporations supply optionally available built-in bathroom and even bathe services, however once more that may add value and weight, and take up house that may have been higher used for space for storing. Outside showers with water heaters are additionally provided as choices for some truck campers designed for mid-size vans as properly.
Storage Space
Interior space for storing is commonly discovered underneath or alongside the perimeters of the cabover mattress and underneath dinette seating or fold-down couches in smaller truck campers. Some supply devoted shelved space for storing, and most supply storage within the kitchen cupboards beneath the range and sink.
Large exterior storage areas are usually not generally present in smaller truck campers, however some producers do supply locking exterior storage. Roof racks are a typical possibility on truck campers for mid-size pickups, and these do turn out to be useful for bigger objects equivalent to canoes and bicycles.
Electrics, Gas, and Water
Every camper comes with some kind of energy supply equivalent to a battery to run the inner electrical gear just like the lighting, fridge, water pump, roof vent followers, and any optionally available gear equivalent to audio methods.
The camper batteries are in lots of circumstances able to being charged by connection to the truck’s charging system whilst you’re driving. Most all truck campers are additionally geared up with what’s referred to as shore energy or camp energy connections that hyperlink the camper into electrical shops typically present in improved campgrounds and RV parks. The camper batteries will also be saved charged once you’re boondocking by photo voltaic charging methods or high-capacity transportable battery methods which might be often choices.
Gas (LPG) tanks are normal gear on virtually all truck campers, and most maintain 20 kilos of propane to run cooking stoves, furnace/heaters, or three-way fridges. Water tanks are virtually universally obtainable in truck campers meant for mid-size pickups, sometimes with 20-gallon or fewer capacities.
FAQ
Numerous aftermarket merchandise can be found that may assist your pickup truck higher deal with the load of the camper. High-quality alternative shock absorbers will present higher suspension damping and total stability whereas driving.
Some vans will sag a bit within the rear finish with a camper loaded up. Helper spring kits for the rear finish can elevate the trip peak. Air-bag methods for the rear suspension are additionally a good selection for managing the camper’s impact in your truck.
Yes, it may be financed by your financial institution or credit score union. RV sellers and producers typically have financing choices they’ll supply as properly. Unfortunately, the slide-in truck camper can’t be financed as a part of the truck buy as a result of the camper shouldn’t be a everlasting construction of the truck. Truck camper mortgage phrases are generally 10 to twenty years.
Slide-in truck campers use particular brackets that mount to the truck (the higher methods use frame-mounted brackets) and to the camper physique. These truck and camper mounts (often 4, two on both sides) are related by turnbuckles that may be adjusted to securely be a part of the camper to the truck. Attaching the camper to the truck body affords better stability for the camper than attaching it to the physique of the truck.
A sheet of 1-inch plywood with a 3/8-inch mushy rubber mat on high is really useful by the producers we contacted. It creates a sturdy assist platform between the truck mattress and the underside of the camper, and the plywood/rubber combo resists camper sliding and makes the truck mattress and camper connection extra steady.
The 2023 Toyota Tacoma has a payload capability of 1,050 to 1,685 kilos, with the upper finish of that spectrum on the bottom SR and SR5 mannequin vans. The increased optioned and higher off-road 2023 Tacoma TRD Pro solely has 1,050 to 1,135 kilos of payload capability.
Remember payload contains gas, folks, and kit, on high of the camper weight. People, gear, and the modification you’re more likely to do add as much as quite a bit, leaving little or no load capability left in a Tacoma. An amazing place to start out your searching for a Toyota Tacoma truck camper is the Four Wheel Campers Swift.
The 2023 Honda Ridgeline has a payload capability of 1,509 to 1,583 kilos, which is kind of spectacular for a midsize U.S. pickup. Any of the campers on our checklist are appropriate when it comes to payload, however the lighter and extra streamlined the camper the higher for a unibody truck just like the Ridgeline. An amazing place to start out your searching for a Honda Ridgeline truck camper is the Phoenix Pop Up Campers Stealthy-Mini.