Slide In Truck Campers – The Most Versatile Recreational Vechicle

As far as RV choices go, the greatest thing going for a slide in truck camper is its versatility. That is what I was I finally decided about the “Red Neck Fifth Wheel Trailer”. Red Neck Fifth Wheel is a lot nicer than the first name I came up with for it: The Bastard Rig.

One way to look at fifth wheel trailers is as a sort of combination of advantages and disadvantages of truck campers and travel trailers. A regular travel trailer has the advantage of roominess compared with a camper. However, it will require separate licensing and registration hassles, extra time in line at the DMV is something we all appreciate avoiding. Plus you need to store the thing when you are not using it, and it takes up a considerable amount of real estate. A camper that is not being used has a considerably smaller foot print, a pop-up camper will usually go under a garage door, and in many cases a camper can share a parking spot with the truck that usually carries it. Most states do not require a special license or fee for the camper, when it is in use it is considered cargo of the truck carrying it, not a separate vehicle.

The fifth wheel is a trailer, but rather than being attached to the towing vehicle by a hitch at the bumper, the attachment point is a “5th Wheel” mounted in the bed of the pick up. This means that the pick up has better control over the trailer. The fifth wheel hitch needs semi-permanent mounting points in the pick up bed, sort of like the tie-downs for a slide in truck camper. It has the same parking and licensing hassles as a regular trailer. The fifth wheel gains room in the same way as a camper, by putting a “bedroom” in the nose. On a slide in truck campers, the nose hangs over the cab of the pick up, in the fifth wheel the master bedroom is over the hitch, the part over the bed of the towing truck.

Where the most luxurious of campers can make for somewhat spartan and cramped RV conditions, a fifth wheel trailer is often spacious enough for comfortable full time living. It is technically possible to use the fifth wheel for boondocking, but the size of the thing will keep it out of most good boondock spots. 

The Red Neck Fifth Wheel is not a fifth wheel at all, it is a slide in truck camper placed on a home made utility trailer. Usually the trailer is made by welding a hitch coupling to a pick up bed that has been sawed off of a truck. The original axle and suspension from the truck are retained, but because it is now a utility trailer, it will not need licensing in many states. The biggest advantage of the Red Neck Fifth Wheel is that it can be towed with a van or SUV, allowing a greater passenger load. If needs be, the camper can be loaded on a pick up, and the utility trailer can be loaded with toys or equipment. The Red Neck name is meant to imply shoddy or “quick and dirty” improvisation, but it actually is another manifestation of the slide in truck camper's versatility. Visit Website to check all models of truck campers at Scatt Recreation.