Truck Camper Or Rv: What Is The Best Option For You?

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Truck Camper Or Rv?

What Is The Best Option For You? There are quite a number of varying campers and RVs to select from these days that it can be quite difficult for ardent RVers to find just what they are searching for. Two widespread options are the truck camper and RVs.

Every family and individual has their unique preferences and needs, so this article aims to provide the advantages and disadvantages of both so that you can select the very best option for you.

There are quite a number of advantages and disadvantages that truck campers and RVs have. For one, truck campers are on average cheaper than RVs. That being said, you get much more variety from RVs.

That being said, an advantage of truck campers is that they do not need another vehicle to move them around. They are also more mobile, ensuring that they can move into and out of areas seamlessly. When it comes to parking, truck campers get the nod as they do not require much room.

That being said, you might prefer the added space that an RV brings over the portability of a truck camper. It is easy to believe that you might prefer one vehicle over the other only to dive deeper into the similarities, differences, and intricacies of these options to see that you are much more likely to get the other option.

So, without further ado let us begin highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Truck Camper

What a truck camper is in essence, is a type of RV that has been designed to be portable and hauled around in your truck’s bed. It is perhaps the smallest type of RV available and in the majority of states in the country, it is not legally referred to as an RV. What it is is cargo. This just goes to show how convenient and small a truck camper is.

Here are the advantages associated with a truck camper

With a truck camper, you can simply camp just about anywhere you want. It even opens the possibility of boondocking if you so desire. Truck campers are better suited for a maximum group of 4 given the available space.
A great advantage that a truck camper has over an RV or a travel trailer is the fact that a truck camper can simply be parked int the driveway. You don’t have to find any extra parking space for it as you would an RV or travel trailer.
it is perhaps the most versatile form of recreational vehicle available for purchase. When you get a truck camper with slide-outs, you can increase the amount of living space you have and also reduce it to ensure that it remains convenient and small for travel. This is a feature that even the most high-tech RV cannot achieve, as retracted slides in an RV do not affect its size as much as they do for truck campers.
Truck campers can offer quite a number of benefits typically associated with RVs like massive dry baths, kitchenettes, queen beds and more. Just imagine, you get all of this at a fraction of the space.
A truck camper comes in quite cheaper than RVs not only in the purchase price but things such as maintenance and insurance. For one, only 8 states in the nation classify campers as RVs. This translates to low insurance rates and no requirement for registration fees.
Truck campers can be much less intimidating to operate compared to massive RVs, travel trailers or even fifth wheels. Driving a truck camper is basically like driving a truck with a huge payload. What this means is that those new to truck campers can have an easy learning curve. Plus, it helps keep a low profile as well.
As stated earlier, it is much cheaper to take care of compared to fifth wheels and RVs.
Truck campers offer great resale value. This means that when you want to sell your truck camper, you are bound to get a price that is closer to what you paid for it compared to an RV that might have a large price disparity.

Disadvantages associated with truck campers

When it comes to the price per square foot, you pay a lot more for a truck camper compared to a trailer.
A truck camper by design makes unhooking and hooking the camper difficult when you aim to go about your day. With travel trailers, you simply have to unhitch from the towing vehicle, and you are free to do whatever you want.
With a truck camper, you have to ensure all your belongings are tied down and put away while the truck is in transit.
When it comes to available cargo and storage space, the truck camper is very limited. If you use a trailer you get the whole truck bed to put whatever you want. An RV provides you with a ton of storage room to put whatever.
while it is easy to believe that a truck camper offers greater mobility, a fully loaded truck camper can become a cumbersome thing, particularly when you want to go off-road. It might seem like a great idea enabling you to go anywhere you want, however, the truck camper is just as limited as an RV or travel trailer in this regard. It was not created to become an off-roader.
Compared to an RV that has the cab and living space in the same vehicle, the truck camper has these compartments completely separate. What this means is that you are unable to stop the truck and then walk around to your kitchenette or lay down in bed without having to get out of the truck. This could pose a problem if you are boondocking and happen to stumble on a dangerous animal or situation. This might not be an issue when you are sleeping, but it can quickly become one when you are moving around.
Typically, truck campers can add additional height to a ruck making it quite difficult to find a decent parking spot. This additional height is what makes it difficult to park a truck with a camper on it in a standard garage. It simply would not fit in. To store your truck camper, you will have to dismount it and somehow find a way to store it in the garage. This does not sound so difficult until you remember that truck campers do not come with wheels that can enable them to be pushed.

RV

When an RV is mentioned to different people, you are bound to get different ideas and floor plans from each person. You could mention an RV to someone, and they think of a Class A motorhome, while another person would think of a travel trailer. It simply depends on the preference of that person.

The definition of an RV, which stands for a recreational vehicle is a trailer or motor vehicle which contains living quarters that have been designed to provide accommodation. RVs is the general name given to motorhomes, caravans, campervans, popup campers, fifth-wheel trailers, and of course truck campers.

Now, it might be confusing given that this article is comparing an RV to a type of RV, however, this misnomer is down to the fact that most people tend to call motorhomes RVs.

Here are the advantages associated with an RV

A caveat you should note is that this article’s definition of RVs will include not only motorhomes but travel trailers as well.

Generally, travel trailers come at a much cheaper cost and have an improved square foot price ratio versus truck campers. To this end, travel trailers are viewed as an RVer’s starter pack.
A motorhome is quite easy to handle, as it comes with an engine that enables it to act in a dual capacity as an accommodation and a vehicle. This ease of use is also true for a travel trailer as you simply need to just unhitch it and you are free to go about your day with your vehicle. This enables you to avoid the added stress of searching for a large enough parking space or having to maneuver in the middle of rush hour traffic.
A travel trailer tends to offer a much better mileage return on gas.
Having travel trailers means that there are no motorized parts (unless you have a travel trailer with slide-out compartments), so this means that you are bound to save money in the long run. You also have a better chance of finding a preowned travel trailer of high quality, compared to truck campers.
Seeing that a travel trailer has wheels on it enables you to simply do whatever you want to one part without it affecting the other. You can simply repair, upgrade or sell them separately.
When it comes to repairing, your maintenance times are bound to be more convenient as you can simply have the RV mechanic fix the trailer while you go on about your day in your towing vehicle.
With RVs, you get quite a lot of variety to select from. You have travel trailers, Class A to C motorhomes, fifth wheels, popup campers, campervans and caravans. This enables just about everyone to have a specific recreational vehicle that speaks to them, ensuring that their unique requirements and needs are met.

Here are the disadvantages associated with RVs

Unless you have an actual motorhome, it is illegal for anyone to be in a moving travel trailer.
It can be quite difficult to fit your travel trailer or any large RV for that matter into tight corners like the campground. On the other hand, truck campers can be seamlessly turned around, backed up, and situated. Given that an RV is quite cumbersome it makes it extremely difficult to move around.
With a travel trailer or an RV for that matter, setting up or packing up a camp can take quite a bit of time. For a travel trailer, you will have to hitch it to your vehicle ensuring all the chains are wires are connected in the right spots. This process would also have to be done when it is time to unhitch it. This process can take quite a bit of time.
Trying to maneuver such an unwieldy beast like a travel trailer or a class A Rv can be quite hard. This means that you have a reduced selection of places to set up camp. Truck campers, by their design, can go just about anywhere the truck can, without the driver having to worry about accidentally unhitching the trailer.
Storing a travel trailer or an RV can become a problem, particularly if you do not have sufficient storage space on your property. Since they aren’t in use all the time, you will have to store your RV either at an RV storage facility or on the street if you are legally able to do so.