As a child I used to dream of being in an RV travelling across the country. After 60 years and three children. That dream has finally come true. The search for a truck and camper has begun. Join me as I give a new life to an old truck camper.
In my 60th year I begin to get the itch to travel the country. I am not sure if it was from watching videos of others doing it or from a dream I have held on to for many years but life got in the way and I was never able to fulfill it.
After much thought it was now or never. I chose now. And so the search for a camper began. I gave this much thought, did I want a travel trailer, perhaps a van would suit my needs. Maybe a bus! That is the newest crave these days. Being it would most likely just be me and my dog I decided on a truck camper. But wait I don’t own a truck that would carry a truck camper and so the quest began as I searched for a decent truck.
Finding The Truck
I figured I needed at least a 3/4 ton and so day after day I search Craig’s List and Face Book for my truck. I finally came across a 98 GMC Sierra 2500 in fairly decent shape. The body was in great shape for a truck of that age and the guy told me it just a while back had a new motor install and now only had 80,000 miles. He then showed me the paperwork. I also learned that he was in concrete work and had beefed up the rear because he hauled cinder blocks. I was thinking I was two for two and purchased the truck for $2,000.
I slowly started going through the truck and fixed or replaced many things. But overall it was a pretty decent truck for the money. I have since done a small amount of body work on body at the bottom and spayed it with bed liner to protect it. The truck came with a plow package and was wired with two batteries which was another plus as you can never have too much power. I decided to install an isolator to protect the starter battery and added a beefier alternator to handle all the batteries I planned to install in the camper. I hoped to have solar down the road.
I continued to go through the truck and fixed or replaced anything I came across needing repair. I now have a 22 year old truck that runs like a dream.
Finding The Camper
I knew this part of the search was going to be a little bit more difficult as I had a tight budget and I had already spent a bunch of money on the truck.
After what seemed to be forever I finally ran across a truck camper that was within my budget and was in fairly decent shape. Like my truck it was an oldie but goodie. I found a 1994 Challenger for $1500. If I had it to do over again I most likely wouldn’t have bought it because after getting it home and going through it there were several things he was dishonest about. However it is what it is and it was mine now. I may have jumped the gun a bit due to looking for almost a year and being ready to get started.
I began going through the camper trying to figure out what worked and what didn’t and began making a list of what additions I wanted to add. If nothing else I was hoping for enough money to be left over for a solar system.
The first thing I did was go through all the appliances to see what would have to be fixed or replaced and to my surprise every single thing worked. There was a bit of clean up that had to be done but I was ok with that.
Since my time of purchase I have completely remodeled the inside and brought it up to date with a few modern conveniences. One being 200 watts of solar. I also replace the toilet with a cassette toilet because the black tank was too small and I found myself looking for a dump very quickly. Now I can just pop off the tank and dump it in any public toilet. Below are a few before and after pictures. I think it turned out rather nice and I am very happy with the results. In total I have about $5,000 in the complete set up which I find very satisfying.
I hope to begin on the outside this summer and then maybe take a nice long trip to enjoy my work. Check back later as this adventure has just begun!
Update: I have since added all led lights to the truck and camper, A front hitch to carry my generator on. And some normal maintenance on both. I also recently added some fog and backup lights and a back porch.
