Driving Line VOLUME V ISSUE 2 | SPRING 2019 | Page 49

About the same time people started sleeping in their camper shells, other available, reaching all corners of the truck market. While certainly more comfortable
companies saw the opportunity to manufacture a more recreational style of shell, than sleeping outside, on the ground or in a tent, these campers come at a cost. In
one with all the amenities of a traditional RV, placed in the bed of your pickup truck. addition to the hefty price tag for a new one, truck campers require extra equipment
Thus, the cabover or truck camper was born. These types of campers normally offer to be installed prior to mounting in your bed. These modifications themselves aren’t
full standing room, a queen-sized bed, stove top, fridge, sink and running water, cheap. And, more obviously, you lose the utility of your pickup bed, making it a bit
heater and sometimes even a built-in bathroom. The ability to carry all the creature more difficult to haul items such as firewood, tools, equipment, bikes and other
comforts of an RV in the bed of your pickup while maintaining the ability to tow a things you’d normally throw in the bed. Still, truck campers make camping much
boat, race car or off-road toys behind the truck appealed to many weekend warriors, more enjoyable for many, as their self-contained nature and versatility matches the
and still does to this day. In fact, truck-camper technology has gotten so advanced taste of many truck owners.
CABOVER/TRUCK CAMPER
that almost any size pickup can haul one around these days. Different variations
like pop-up campers, ones with slide-outs and off-road–oriented campers are now
OFF-ROAD TRAILER
Last but not least is the off-road trailer. Originally starting out as homebuilt setups, For those of us who enjoy the off-road lifestyle, there
often sourced from retired military M101 trailers, off-road enthusiasts began outfitting can be nothing more relaxing than a weekend away from
them with larger off-road tires, off-road suspension and utilizing their storage space the city life and taking in all that nature has to offer. The
for spare parts, tools, recovery gear and other items that would otherwise not fit in addition of kids or other family members—or even a change
the Jeep or truck. Later, these trailers evolved to hold overland gear, such as fridges, of location and climate—can prompt a reevaluation of the
freezers, stoves, propane tanks, bathrooms, sinks and other gear you’d need for a best way to camp outdoors. Whether you’ve never camped
longer excursion. The popularity of rooftop tents led to people installing them on top off the grid in anything other than a tent or you’re looking
of the trailer, making it a fully self-contained camping unit. The same methodologies to upgrade your outdoor living quarters, we hope this
applied to older teardrop trailers, outfitting them with suspension lifts and larger tires, comparison provides you with some insight to the different
and fortifying them with stronger materials that can handle the abuse of off-road ways spend an evening away from it all.
driving. The advantages of having this type of trailer behind you are quite obvious.
The extra space, easy access and convenience of bringing that gear anywhere you
want is a major selling point. Perhaps more obvious, the drawbacks of having to
lug around a trailer behind your rig and the cost associated with building or buying
a prebuilt one prohibit many off-roaders from taking this route. That said, there are
plenty of these trailers out there, and many people wouldn’t camp any other way.
TIPS FOR YOUR CAMPING TRIPS
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