Pick Up Camper Questions

[Dr. Bob]

I recently purchased an older 10 ft pickup camper for my F250 extended cab. I have never used one of these and have a couple of questions.

First off, have any of you guys used these things in cold weather - like 0 to 20 below? I am wondering how it would be for sleeping out on the lake in January.

Also - what do people do to pull a trailer? I have been looking for a 2 foot hitch extension for my trucks receiver hitch and have not been able to find anything that looks like it will work. Does anyone know where I can find one?

I do not want to extend my bumper if I don't have to.

Thanks

[SPIN DRY]

I have used mine till about 10 degrees it works great. Never tried it on the lake don't have a generator, I've thought about it though. I just put a piece of insulation in the roof vent. Check at any Rv store they should have those extentions you are looking for, or maybe Cabelas. Good luck.

[Dave]

There are extensions available. I don't know about two foot long though. We used my folks pickup camper during deer hunting and everything was fine. Don't try using any of the water though.

[Ole1855]

Dr. Bob,

My help may be out-of-date, I used to sell campers many moons ago, but here goes.

The camper is not built to use in those type of temperatures unless it's specifically designed and sold to do so, one of the problems you will encounter is condensation build up on the windows and roof vents. From the roof vents you will feel like you're in a rainforest, from the windows it will run down and stain your woodwork.

As for the hitch. Back when I sold camper's and the camper extended beyond the end of the box, which is everything longer than an 8', we sold them a kit that extended their bumper out behind the camper. This is the only way to have a hitch that I know of but like I said that was many moons ago, alot of things could have changed in that time.

Ole

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Olson Insurance Agency
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[Norsk Fisker]

Bob,

We had a 1978 vintage 10 1/2 footer on a couple different pickups. On my first one, I went to the local welding shop and told them I what I wanted to do. I ended up with a super heavy version of a receiver hitch with an extension pole. On my second truck, I again went to my local welding shop but ended up with a custom receiver hitch that would accept a standard 2 inch receiver. It had a long extension that fit into the receiver and had the ball on the end. It is basically a piece of 2 inch square tubing cut to the desired length with a piece of flat stock welded on for the ball. I don't know if it was perfectly legal, but I still have it and use it from time to time, even though I no longer have the camper. These set ups are not for heavy use, I only had a 16 foot aluminum boat. All the leverage of that much weight on the end of a pole puts a lot of stress on the hitch. Post your email and I'll send you a photo.

[Dr. Bob]

Thanks for the input guys!

My addy is ilikemyindy at yahoo dot com.

[Dave]

The receiver extensions I saw were solid steel for a 2" receiver, not tubing. Crystal Welding was the place I saw it at.

[Dr. Bob]

Cool - thanks again.

Dr. Bob

[IFallsRon]

Try a place that makes custom trailers.

I have bicycle carrier that slides into the receiver. It has about a two-foot extension so I can also hook up to the trailer.

There's some wiggle in the extension so it drops quite a bit from the receiver to the ball end. I had to put some big washers under the ball to raise it up to keep the trailer level. Also, you'll need to make an extension for your safety chains.

[birdswacker]

I bought the same thing last summer and found a good extension at cabelas.I think its 20" long solid steel and slides into the receiver. Dont forget to get extensions for trailer chains and light connections.

[Big Roy]

You might need to get a class 5 hitch, that is what I've been using on my last 3 trucks, I have a 11 ft P.U. camper. Go to the Lance camper web site and look under towing, you will see photos, they use these alot for horse trailers, also you can go to the Lance dealer on Hwy 10 and they will help you. If you have any more questions I can help, 20 years of pick up camping and boat towing.

[DP]

You can get 24" hitch extensions at Fleet Farm for about $50.

I use my pick-up camper quite often for ice fishing. Frost isn't a big issue unless you keep your furnace running on high all the time.