Truck campers are the ultimate Go Anywhere, Camp Anywhere, Tow Anything RV. Forget motorhomes and trailers. If you want fun, freedom, and adventure, you want a truck camper.
A truck camper is a demountable recreational vehicle (RV) that is loaded and unloaded from the bed of a full-size or mid-size pickup truck. The common feature is the ability to demount the camper from the truck. As we like to say at TCM, “If it doesn’t demount, it doesn’t count”.
In the United States and Canada, truck campers are also known as truck bed campers, slide-in campers, pickup campers, and cabover campers. Europeans call them demountable campers. In Australia, they are commonly known as tray campers.
Whatever you call them, it’s important to know which camper is best for you, how to properly match a truck and camper, and which companies are selling them today. Let’s dig in.
Pop-Up Or Hard Side Truck Camper?
There are two types of truck campers; hard sides and pop-ups. Hard sides have hard walls similar to a motorhome or towable RV. Pop-ups have soft walls that pop-up for camping, and pop-down for travel.
Hard side and pop-up truck campers can contain all of the full-size amenities found on motorhomes and fifth wheels including bathrooms with showers and toilets, kitchens with sinks, microwaves, refrigerators, cooktops, and ovens, dinettes with full-booth seating for four adults, and cabover bedrooms with queen-size beds and plentiful storage.
Hard sides with one, two, and even three slide-outs open up truck campers to full-size sofas, huge dry baths, and even kitchen islands. You can quickly sort and find truck campers by type and features using the Truck Camper Buyers Guide.
For a comprehensive overview of the available types and how to select the right one for you, please read, “Picking The Perfect Truck Camper” and, “The Best Camper”.
Why Buy A Truck Camper?
There are three reasons why truck campers are the most versatile RV on the planet: the ability to go anywhere a pickup truck can go, the ability to dry camp (boondock) off-road and/or off-grid for extended periods of time, and the ability to tow a wide range of toys, vehicles, and trailers.
From sandy beaches to unpaved logging roads, to standard parking spaces, to the driveways of family and friends, we can go anywhere a pickup truck can go. This remarkable capability dramatically opens up the possibilities of where you can drive, camp, and explore. You will love the go-anywhere freedom.
With four-wheel drive trucks and large holding tanks, battery banks, solar panel systems, and generators, truck campers are designed to travel where motorhomes and trailers wouldn’t dare and camp without hookups for a week or more. If you want to avoid crowded and expensive campgrounds, you have come to the right place. With a slide-in camper, you can camp almost anywhere.
Combined with a pickup truck, you have the ability to tow boats, utility trailers, ATVs, Jeeps, motorcycles, snowmobiles, jet skis, horse trailers, and more. Over 70-percent of TCM’s readership tows something. The ability to tow anything means owners have even more fun.
There’s a good reason why Truck Camper Magazine’s motto is, “Go Anywhere. Camp Anywhere. Tow Anything.” Those are the three main reasons why people buy them. You can’t find this incredible versatility in any other RV type.
How Do You Match A Truck and Camper?
For proper safety and handling performance, a truck and camper combination must be fit compatible and payload compatible. To meet these two requirements, there are truck campers manufactured to work with almost every truck size and payload capacity.
Truck campers can be fit compatible with full-size and mid-size long bed, short bed, ultra short bed, and flatbed trucks. They can also be payload compatible with half-ton, three-quarter ton, and one-ton trucks.
For a complete step-by-step guide to matching a truck and camper, please read, “How To Match A Truck and Camper”. We also recommend, “The Ultimate Payload Match Challenge”.
Hard Side Truck Campers
The following companies manufacture hard side campers.
Adventurer Campers
Adventurers are manufactured by Adventurer Manufacturing LP in Yakima, Washington. They produce four models of Adventurer hard sides from the 80RB non-slide to the 910DB slide-out camper.
Depending on the model, Adventurer campers are aluminum and/or wood-framed, and laminated with a reactive hot melt roll coater and pinch roll system. Adventurer Manufacturing has a transferable 1-year bumper-to-bumper warranty and a 3-year limited structural warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Adventurer Manufacturing and their campers, check out the Adventurer Camper Buyers Guide and visit their website at adventurercampers.com. Click here for a free Adventurer brochure.
Arctic Fox Campers
Arctic Foxes are manufactured by Northwood Manufacturing in LaGrande, Oregon. Northwood Manufacturing produces eight models of hard side Arctic Fox campers from the 865 non-slide to the 1150 single-slide.
Arctic Foxes are aluminum framed and laminated with a reactive hot melt roll coater and pinch roll system. Northwood Manufacturing has a one-year limited warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Northwood Manufacturing and Arctic Fox campers, check out the Arctic Fox Camper Buyers Guide and visit their website at northwoodmfg.com. Click here for a free Arctic Fox brochure.
Bigfoot Campers
Bigfoots are manufactured by Bigfoot Industries (2010) Inc. in Armstrong, British Columbia. They produce nine models of hard sides from the 15C8.2FR non-slide to the 25C10.6E non-slide.
Bigfoots are constructed with two-piece molded fiberglass. They have a three-year structural warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Bigfoot Industries (2010) Inc. and their campers, check out the Bigfoot Camper Buyers Guide and visit their website at bigfootrv.com. Click here for a free Bigfoot brochure.
Capri Campers
Capri campers are manufactured by Capri Camper in Bluff Dale, Texas. They produce six models of custom cabover and cabover-less hard sides from the Capri Cowboy Mini-Truck to the Capri Retreat Long Bed. They also produce the new Capri Lonestar.
Capris are wood-framed using hung wall construction and aluminum siding. They have a one-year workmanship warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Capri Camper and their truck campers, check out the Capri Camper Buyers Guide and visit their website at capricamper.com. Click here for a free Capri brochure.
Cirrus Campers
Cirrus campers are manufactured by nuCamp RV in Sugarcreek, Ohio. NuCamp produces two models of Cirrus hard sides; the 620 and 820 short bed non-slides.
Cirrus campers are aluminum framed and laminated. NuCamp has a one-year warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about nuCamp RV and Cirrus campers, check out the Cirrus Camper Buyers Guide and visit their website at nucamprv.com. Click here for a free Cirrus Camper brochure.
Lance Camper
Lance campers are manufactured by Lance Camper Manufacturing Corporation in Lancaster, California. They produce nine models of hard sides from the 650 non-slide to the 1172 double-slide.
Lances are aluminum framed and laminated with a reactive hot melt roll coater and pinch roll system. They have a one-year limited warranty and a two-year structural warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Lance Camper Manufacturing Corporation and Lance campers, check out the Lance Camper Buyers Guide and visit their website at lancecamper.com. Click here for a free Lance brochure.
Northern Lite Campers
Northern Lites are manufactured by Northern Lite Manufacturing, Ltd. in Kelowna, British Columbia. They produce five models of hard sides from the 8-11Q Classic Sportsman non-slide to the 10-2 EX CDSE Special Edition non-slide. They also have the anniversary Limited Edition series.
Northern Lites are constructed with two-piece molded fiberglass. They have a six-year structural warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Northern Lite Manufacturing, Ltd., check out the Northern Lite Camper Buyers Guide and visit their website at northern-lite.com. Click here for a free Northern Lite brochure.
Northstar Campers
Northstars are manufactured by R.C. Willett Co., Inc. in Cedar Falls, Iowa. R.C. Willett Co., Inc. produces seven models of hard sides from the Liberty non-slide to the 12STC side-door non-slide.
Northstars are wood-framed using hung wall construction and filon fiberglass siding. R.C. Willett Co., Inc. has a two-year structural warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about R.C. Willett Co., Inc. and Northstar campers, check out the Northstar Hard Side Buyers Guide and visit their website at northstarcampers.com. Click here for a free Northstar brochure.
Palomino Campers
Palominos are manufactured by Palomino RV (a division of Forest River, Inc.) in Colon, Michigan. They produce seven models of hard sides from the HS-650 non-slide to the HS-2910 Max single-slide.
Palominos are aluminum framed using a reactive hot melt roll coater and pinch roll system. They have a one-year bumper-to-bumper warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Palomino RV, check out the Palomino Hard Side Buyers Guide and visit their website at palominorv.com. Click here for a free Palomino brochure.
Scout Campers
Scout Campers are manufactured by Adventurer Manufacturing LP in Yakima, Washington. They produce three models of Scout hard sides; the Kenai, Olympic, and Yoho.
Scout Campers are made with wood-free composite structural panels in a frameless exoskeleton. Scout is all about removable components that can be used indoors or outdoors like compressor refrigerators and Goal Zero battery systems.
Adventurer Manufacturing has a transferable one-year bumper-to-bumper warranty and a three-year limited structural warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Scout, check out the Scout Buyers Guide and visit their website at scoutcampers.com. Click here for a free Scout brochure.
Wolf Creek Campers
Wolf Creeks are manufactured by Northwood Manufacturing in La Grande, Oregon. Northwood Manufacturing produces two models of Wolf Creek hard sides; the 840 non-slide and the 850 non-slide.
Wolf Creeks are aluminum framed and laminated with a reactive hot melt roll coater and pinch roll system. Northwood Manufacturing has a one-year limited warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Northwood Manufacturing and Wolf Creeks, check out the Wolf Creek Buyers Guide and visit their website at northwoodmfg.com. Click here for a free Wolf Creek brochure.
Pop-Up Campers
The following companies manufacture pop-up truck campers.
Alaskan Campers
Alaskans are manufactured by Alaskan Camper, LLC in Winlock, Washington. They produce nine hard side pop-up truck campers from the 6.5 short bed to the 10FD Flat Bed Side Door long bed.
Alaskan pop-ups are wood-framed using hung wall construction and aluminum siding. They have a one-year warranty and a lifetime warranty on the hydraulic pump motor.
For more information about Alaskan Camper, LLC and their hard side pop-ups, check out the Alaskan Buyers Guide and visit their website at alaskancampers.com. Click here for a free Alaskan Camper brochure.
Four Wheel Campers
Four Wheel Campers (FWC) are manufactured by Four Wheel Campers in Woodland, California. They produce nine pop-up camper models from the Swift short bed to the Grandby long bed.
Four Wheel pop-ups are aluminum framed using hung wall construction and aluminum siding. They have a five-year warranty on the frame, pop-up soft wall, and roof. The interior has a one-year warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Four Wheel Campers, check out the Four Wheel Campers Buyers Guide and visit their website at fourwheelcampers.com. Click here for a free FWC brochure.
Hallmark Campers
Hallmarks are manufactured by Hallmark Manufacturing, Inc. in Fort Lupton, Colorado. They produce seven pop-up models from the LaVeta short bed to the Guanella long bed.
Hallmark pop-ups are wood framed with molded fiberglass body panels and one-piece molded fiberglass roof construction. They have a five-year structural warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Hallmark Manufacturing, Inc. and their pop-up campers, check out the Hallmark Camper Buyers Guide and visit their website at hallmarkrv.com. Click here for a free Hallmark brochure.
Northstar Campers
Northstars are manufactured by R.C. Willett Co., Inc. in Cedar Falls, Iowa. R.C. Willett Co., Inc. produces seven models of pop-up camper models from the 600SS to the 950SC.
Northstar pop-ups are wood-framed using hung wall construction and filon fiberglass siding. R.C. Willett Co., Inc. has They have a two-year structural warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about R.C. Willett Co., Inc. and Northstar pop-ups, check out the Northstar Pop-Up Camper Buyers Guide and visit their website at northstarcampers.com. Click here for a free Northstar brochure.
Overland Explorer Vehicles
Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) campers are manufactured by Lite Industries in Red Deer, Alberta. They produce flatbed and slide-in pop-up campers from the Camp-X to the Camp-HBE. OEV also fabricates the Aluma Tray HD, a flatbed tray.
Overland Explorer Vehicles pop-ups are built with composite materials and aluminum extrusions that are proprietary and designed by OEV. They have a five year warranty on the camper structure and a three-year warranty on the soft wall. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Overland Explorer Vehicles campers and flatbed trays, check out the OEV Buyers Guide and visit their website at overlandex.com. Click here to get a free OEV brochure.
Palomino Campers
Palominos are manufactured by Palomino RV (a division of Forest River, Inc.) in Colon, Michigan. They produce six models of pop-up camper models from the SS-500 to the SS-1500.
Palomino pop-ups are aluminum framed and laminated using a reactive hot melt roll coater and pinch roll system. They have a one-year bumper-to-bumper warranty. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Palomino RV and their pop-ups, check out the Palomino Pop-Up Camper Buyers Guide and visit their website at palominorv.com. Click here for a free Palomino brochure.
Phoenix Campers
Phoenix Campers are custom-built by Phoenix Pop-Up Campers in Commerce City, Colorado. They are a custom truck camper company.
Phoenix pop-ups are aluminum framed using laminated construction and fiberglass siding. They have a one-year bumper-to-bumper warranty with a two-year warranty of the lift mechanism, liner, and frame. Individual appliances have their own warranties.
For more information about Phoenix Pop-Up Campers and their custom pop-ups, check out the Phoenix Pop-Up Buyers Guide and visit their website at phoenixpopup.com. Click here for a free Phoenix brochure.
