I've been kicking around the idea for a bit of getting a camper insert to take camping with me when I'm towing my Jeep for weekend trips (mostly because GF won't go if there's no where for her to pee in relative privacy).

I have 0 information on camper inserts, how heavy are they generally?
My 16 5.0 SCrew has the tow package, would I be able to tow as is or am I looking at WD hitches, air bags etc. ?

Anyone have recommendations on inserts?

 

With mine.payload....1740lbs....so...your tongue and camper...you'll most likely be over loaded...

 

My 2013 ...1680lbs payload....now way to tow a trailer legally

 

Could you get away with a small shower/changing tent and a portable toilet if that's the only holdback? Much cheaper and lighter for other gear. Also could get a small heated camp shower, she wouldn't be able to say no to a private shower right?

 

Tough to even find one under 1500lbs, most are clocking in over 2000lbs


Id take a look at the pickup bed tents and the air mattresses they make for truck beds. Good place to sleep off the ground and not take away from your payload

 

There are some very new ones that are supposedly in the 1000 lb range. Assuming you have around 1700 lbs for payload, you've only got 700 lbs left after that. Two people are going to weight in the 300-400 lb range, so that only leaves you around 300-400 for tongue weigth. And thats if you dont take a damned thing with you (ie: food, clothes, beer, blankets, all that damned "chick stuff" they cant seem to live without, etc).

Theres no real way to "up" your vehicles cles ratings. At least not leaglly. The problem is you dont know if the limiting factor is tires, axles, springs, brakes etc. You can throw airbags on there and get it to sit level, but its still going to be overweight for its ratings and you never know if its going to handle funny or stop like it should.

There's really no way to do it without going over you ratings. You might have half a chance if you flat tow the jeep....i (personally) really dont like flat towing anything. Rather have it on a trailer.

Or get the pop up campershell that has a tent in it and chck in a portable compost pottie. But im willing to bet she wont like that either.

Better to find a place you can rent a cabin and wheel nearby. The remote trips just leave her behind. Sometimes theres just no making them happy.

Unless she wants to put up with peeing behind a bush....

 

my grand pa has this "hawk" model four wheel camper and pulled the bass boat ( hooked on my truck, all around oregon, but he packed for just him and his dog, had fire stone bags out back.

but with a jeep and bigger trailer i think ull be pushing the payload and rawr limits

 

I spent a considerable amount of time last year looking for slide in campers, and generally any of them that were large enough to have a bathroom also required an 8' bed and were over my payload.


That is not to say you cannot find one, but you would most likely be looking at a small popup style one with a portable toilet that you have to dump manually. Even then some of those came in at 1,200+ lbs and would likely exceed your limits with a trailer.


You may need to look at bringing a extra tent with the portable toilet and just setting it up where you camp. Or depending on your trailer layout for the Jeep, build a small traveling outhouse that would hold the portable toilet full time.

 

Maybe go to an "all trailer" solution.

Not a toy hauler, but more along these lines:







this guy built his own and did a decent job of it: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/tow-r...er-v3-0-a.html

You'd have a better chance building a trailer like one of the above examples and staying within your trucks limits. You can build it as spartan or as fancy as you like. You just need it to be big/long enough to fit your use.

The great thing about trailers is you can get pretty heavy with them and your truck only has to carry 10-15% of it as payload. Keeps you inside your ratings if you load/build it right.

 

this would be a super cool solution that should keep any missus happy on a 4x4 camping trip:



Kitchenette, built in water supply, stove, fridge, nice dinette to sit/eat at, nice full size sleeping areas. A small tent trailer wouldn't have a pottie, but a chem toilet would fix that easy enough. You could also sleep 6 or so if you wanted.

Now, that's a goose neck but you have to look at it as a concept: if you had a big enough flat pull trailer it could work with a small enough pop up trailer and a jeep on back. They go pretty cheap depending on how hard you shop and how old you are willing to go. It would also pack up nice and small for towing down the highway. Trailer part would make for a nice "patio" for lawn chairs and relaxing after a day of wheeling too...