Truck Campers vs Trailers what impacts range more?

[Tysonbison]

Hi everyone love the forum found it very useful helpful me make up my mind on my 2022 lighting. I found a lot of good info about trailers and campers on here as well.

I'm pretty much set on a pop up camper (topo Rincon or raven) or some sort of teardrop (Hiker, little buggy idk) .

My Question - I'm wondering what impacts the range more. The added Pop up on the truck or towing a small teardrop? I'm sure there are a lot of factors but I want to say the pop up camper has the less impact on the truck. Less weight but the drag could be more I'm not sure.

If anyone had any thoughts / insights on this I'd love to hear.

Sponsored

 

[Andrewbens]

The truck seems to care more about drag than weight from my experience.

 

[GoHawks]

I have both. With the teardrop, I average 1.2 mi/kw. The popup camper has been on since June and I have averaged 1.8 mi/kw. In winter the range is a bit less for obvious reasons. Search the forum for pictures of each on my profile. Topper is the Oru Design Bruin. Teardrop is the TAB 400. I have done limited towing of the TAB with the topper on, but averaged 1.4 mi/kw. I would like to do more extensive testing before committing to improved trailer towing range with the topper before making any kind of a statement, but I was surprised by the initial results. Better aerodynamics??

 

[ctuan13]

Don't have a truck camper, but I have a NuCamp Tab 320S. NuCamp's classic teardrop. Smaller than the 400, but bigger than the Tag. I averaged 1.4 mi/kWHr, but could get higher or lower depending on weather and elevation change.

Also important to note, I have extensive Towing experience after a four month cross-country trip last summer. Also, while towing I almost always kept my speed between 55 and 60 mph. Speed is not your friend, but especially not while towing!

 

[Tysonbison]

Speed isn't my friend lol I think there is a sub forum just about that statement.. but yes I understand the forum has been very clear speed is the Russians in this case.

 

[K6CCC]

This goes WAY back. My parents had ski boats since before I was born, and bought their first RV trailer when I was less than 10. I towed both MANY times after I got my license. The boat and trailer weighed more than the RV trailer. Driving on the freeway, you hardly noticed the boat back there, but the RV dropped the gas mileage almost in half. The big difference? The boat is fairly aerodynamic, and the RV was essentially towing a billboard into the wind - it was about as aerodynamic as a brick.

So to answer your question, whichever has better aerodynamics is going to affect range the least.

 

[21st Century Truck]

Hi everyone love the forum found it very useful helpful me make up my mind on my 2022 lighting. I found a lot of good info about trailers and campers on here as well.

I'm pretty much set on a pop up camper (topo Rincon or raven) or some sort of teardrop (Hiker, little buggy idk) .

My Question - I'm wondering what impacts the range more. The added Pop up on the truck or towing a small teardrop? I'm sure there are a lot of factors but I want to say the pop up camper has the less impact on the truck. Less weight but the drag could be more I'm not sure.

If anyone had any thoughts / insights on this I'd love to hear.

So I've traveled with my Timberleaf teardrop, and at one point I also had a RoofNest hardcase platform tent on the teardrop for additional preteen fellow camping adventurers.

I'd like to add another consideration for Your decisions: our trucks are already TALL. Most places it doesn't make a difference but on selected occasions, usually unexpected, it makes all the difference.

For example, I found that, just with my truck naked, I just could not drive it into the entrance of the multi-level parking lot at the Marine Corps Base Exchange at Henderson Hall / Fort Myer Joint Base. With that parking structure's down-sloping driveway and a 90-degree turn into the only entrance, the truck cabin roof was about to hit the structure before I stopped... and I tried three times. There are two other places that I found in our area that also prevented my parking entry.

This height issue BTW is a good reason to keep the truck's OEM FM whip antenna... as a final warning device, since it is just a tad taller than the cab's roofline.

Looking at Your pop-up camper choices, I figured their slight increase in overall truck height might someday put You into a height jam or unexpectedly limit Your entrance / parking choices, especially when in a strange place. Just an FYI...

 

[K6CCC]

I'd like to add another consideration for Your decisions: our trucks are already TALL. Most places it doesn't make a difference but on selected occasions, usually unexpected, it makes all the difference.

Good point. I've been driving tall vehicles (with 2-way radio antennas on top to boot) for decades so I am very used to it. I have a P-Touch label on the dash with the vertical clearance requirement. And I add another six inches or so for antennas. They will still drag, but not gonna break.
Lots of parking structures are a no-no for me.

 

[Smokey]

Wind is the difference. Suppose the weight of the truck camper and tow camper are equal. The truck camper is exposed to direct wind and the tow camper is getting a draft from the pickup. Much like a goose flying behind the goose in front, not riding on 'top' of the front goose !

 

[broncoaz]

There is a sheet of paper in my glove box saying that this vehicle is not designed to carry a bed mounted camper. I don’t know why the Lightning would be different than a standard F-150, unless there is something with the independent rear suspension that makes it unsuitable.

 

[21st Century Truck]

There is a sheet of paper in my glove box saying that this vehicle is not designed to carry a bed mounted camper. I don’t know why the Lightning would be different than a standard F-150, unless there is something with the independent rear suspension that makes it unsuitable.

I remember that paper. However, I took it to mean a "Camper shell".

The OP's camper equipment of interest looks much more like the hard case platform tents I used.

 

[broncoaz]

Sponsored