Truck campers, families, camping at the races

October has great article that touches on including the family at the races.(grm I'd love to see more of that type of stuff by the way). In that vane, I'm expecting my first child late this January. Its an exciting and scary project all at the same time. I can't help but think how it might effect my driving hobby. I don't want to give it up, but I know there will need to be some compromises made. I'm sure I won't be able to do half of the events I use to, do to time and financial constraints. I'm not exactly a high dollar operation to start with. My wal-mart bought 2 person tent has served me well. I'm currently toying with the idea of buying a slide in truck camper. Of course the first thing I realize is that my 95 dodge ram might not be up to snuff. Not because it can't carry the camper, or trailer. Its a single cab. That means it would be an awfully tight fit for myself, the wife and the soon to be child racing prodigy. An extra cab seem like it would make a lot of sense. Aside from that hiccup, for those of you have been there with a family at the track, is a truck camper practical? I know a tent just won't work. Financially, a RV seems to be out of the question.

We aren't really the camping type, so it isn't likely that it would be used for "family camping" if racing was not involved. Happy to hear any other advice relative to combining family with the hobby.

Also GRM staff....I think a really cool article idea would be to cover grassroots hauling/camping solutions. What exactly most folks bring to make their weekend more comfortable. Perhaps other folks solutions to the camper/hauler like retired ambulances and buses etc. We'd all love one of those toterhomes, but unless I win the lottery tonight, I don't think I see one in my future.

Check for a school bus auction or check this site out http://www.skoolie.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=18 you can run it on biofuel also if its a diesel . Super uber cool and lotsa space and usually they where well maintained by the school bus garage . VW bus is allways an option

pop up camper? or one of those teardrop trailers? (it could be fun to DIY a teardrop!)

Are you thinking of a vehicle that can also serve to tow a trailer? That would preempt things like VW Buses and camper trailers.

Karl La Follette wrote: check this site out http://www.skoolie.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=18

Excellent. I always tell my wife we should buy and old school bus ($1500) and cross the country camping.

Even better than that Power Wheels Forum.

Look at a Work and Play unit from Forest River. We like the 28BR as it has a wall between the garage and the bedroom is at the other end. Man I want it bad.
I to would need a better truck...........

44

Back when I was crewing in IMSA, I helped a guy at the Sebring 12 hour that towed his car trailer from Colorado with a 1 ton Chevvy dually with a big slide in camper on it. His whole crew slept in it, room for great parties, and "facilities" for the ladies. Yeah, it was a big one, but the idea shrinks just fine.

I have thought of buying a decent slide in camper off of Craigslist and then buying a cheapie trailer and mounting the slide-in camper to the trailer.

Example:

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rvs/805383993.html

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rvs/805187678.html

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rvs/792642100.html

This is what I was thinking. ] I already have a truck and a camper. I really don't need another vehicle, as the wife would kill me. As far as articles go, I do want to see the other beasts people have created to tow and camp(I just don't want one).

I was going to suggest getting a cheapish camper for towing and camping once onsite. Those campers are going cheap now. This may or may not be an option but once you factor in gas and all it's really cheaper to just get a room at the track. The price of gas has really eaten into the mobile home hobby.

I don't think she'll go for a cheap RV. Slide in truck camper maybe. The one in the above picture is available on my local craigslist for 1000 bucks. Seems like a bargain.

Reason I think camper over hotel is the track itself. Gives the wife and kid a place to get out of the sun etc. Its not always easy or close to go back to the hotel.

A friend of mine took his cousin and me to the FramNational drag races for 3 years in a row using one of those slide on campers, and it was great! It seems like the perfect miniature solution for a couple with a newborn; kinda like "playing house".. it's intimate, comfortable, and a little bit child's play like. Remember playing in the refrigerator box and making believe it was a mansion? Same concept, but with plumbing, stove and fridge.

That slide in pop up you are showing a steal at $1000. You can't touch a tow behind camper in good condition for anywhere near that. Be careful that the canvas is OK and it doesn't have a leak. I don't see too many slide in anymore and the one I do seem to overwhelm the truck they are on.

We've had pop ups (Coleman and Coachman) for years now. They are pretty comfortable and not too inconveniet to put up. That said, I would love to find a small fifth wheel camper, but would have to buy a bigger truck.

BTW, there is nothing more grassroots than camping. You can go from a blanket on the ground under the stars, to a tarp, a tent, a camper, and to a motorhome. You picks your poison and pays da man. My wife and i started in a plastic wally world type tent that was miserable. It sweated so mcuh on the indoade you would think it was raing. We went to a canvas tent that leaked like a sieve. Quickly moved to our first pop up. We are now on our third.

We use an OLD slide in camper, in a '96 F350 supercab Dually Powerstroke diesel. It tows a race car on my flatbed car trailer without any trouble. The camper is seriously like a 1973 model, but it suits our needs just fine. Like you said, it gives the wife + Jr a place to hang out- out of the weather. We usually camp at the track and almost always have some sort of basic electric hookup for lights, fans, even TV.

We camped at the NASA races at VIR in FEB last year and it was really cold- like low 20's at night and it snowed during the races one day. We brought our German Shepherd and the water in his dish froze solid overnight inside the camper!! The helpful hint I can give you for this type of camping in cold weather is- bring a couple of electric blankets!!! You don't have to worry about burning anything down like you do with propane heaters, and they keep you nice and toasty at night. The dog helped keep us warm too!!

I love camping at the track, and my wife and son love it too- my son is now almost 6 and we've taken him track camping at least 6-8 times since he was born.

The slide-in camper works great, and allows me to haul the car with me, which would not otherwise be possible unless I bought a large RV- which is not gonna happen.

BTW- GRM has done a series of articles on campers and camping at the track. IIRC, they started out with an old Dodge motorhome (Tim's Dad's old camper, or one like his dad used to have??)- they spent alot of time, $$$ and effort fixing it up, and then just decided that it was too much trouble- so they ended up with a newer Ford E350 based motorhome, which was 1000000x better and nicer than the old dodge ever could have been.

I've also been looking at a slide-in for my Dodge CTD. If you already have a pick-up, then it seems like a decent compromise until I have money/space for a 5th wheel toy-hauler.

If I didn't have a pick-up (that I'm sort of stuck with), then I would probably go back to a van or some type. I used to have a raised roof conversion van that I somewhat gutted for hauling my mtn bikes and camping at races. If I were to do that again, a aised roof is mandatory and I would also search out an extended-ass version. The extra length would have been nice.

What a perfect post. My son's kart track is about to close and I'm looking to buy a truck to start hauling his karts to races myself. I had thought about vans and suv's and trucks. Decided a truck would be perfect because I can use it to put a kart in the back and go practice for a day or load it up with a slide in camper and a kart trailer out back.

Glad to know that there are fellow GRM's that have had success doing that.

Now, to find a truck....

-Rob

I've always wanted to do a skoolie like this, but leave more of the cabin for sleeping. I figure from the rear wheels back would be enough to haul a small car. this one would probably hold 2 civics/crxs.

We (my two sons and I) camp at the track almost all the time - started in tents and the back of the Suburban and now we sleep, mostly, in the enclosed car trailer when the car is taken out. With lights, fans and an electric heater we have done it year round.

I like it for the people who camp at paddocks, the low cost of staying at the track (except for the events charging ridiculous fees to camp!), and the convenience of making the meetings/prepping the car.

I need the back of my truck for tires and other stuff since my trailer only has a limited payload after the car is loaded.

that skoolie is awesome.

Anybody know what kind of gas mileage old school buses get?

Of course I know it will depend on the motor, state of tune etc. Just a general figure.

If going with an enclosed car trailer I would probly try to install ring bolts in the ceiling to hang a hammock (or 2) from.

hillclimber by the name of Morg had a nifty little enclosed trailer for his openwheeler. full carpeting inside with a bunch of nice pictures on the walls and stuff and an old army cot.

Feedyurhed wrote: Anybody know what kind of gas mileage old school buses get? Of course I know it will depend on the motor, state of tune etc. Just a general figure.

My brother had one for a while (24 passenger or so originally - small size one) - it was 7-8 MPG. It was cheaper to buy then rent a UHaul for his move from FL to VA.

What got him to scrap it was the bearings and brake parts were incredibily expensive and specific to school buses - at least that was the story he told us....

Brakes for busses = Cubic $$ It true i spent many $$ on my 1st bus to haul my drag car around. I left it whole enclosed just sawzalled the back off welded in a frame added a hinge on the side and bolted the back big door on, you could still use the small door too. ramps inside and hooks for hammocks kept the state happy it was an RV. Older busses like my 74 had a 345 int gas motor with a 2brl carb was around 9MPG They have redundant brakes I replaced shoes at $350 per wheel ones only to find the remote master cyl under the drivers seat was the real fault it would not release all the way some times and hold a few psi thus smoke the shoes. I parked it after i figured it out as I could not afford to fix it. Traded it for a junk RV that i striped. My second bus a 79 with a 392 int got 11mpg with a MSD ign 8.5mpg with stock points. Got rid of it cause i was down to a one car team so no use for it...... Now i've got trailers...trailers trailers