The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Little Caboose Slide In Truck Camper

I ran accross a slide-in type camper today. It was called, Early 60's (probably 1963) Little Caboose Slide In Truck Camper. I found it on CL in upstate NY. Couldn't get it to copy or i would of just posted it. Anyhow, does anyone know what this thing might weigh? Couldn't find info online. And anyone got pics of slide-ins on a stovebolt? If so lets see em. Pic of ad attached.

First impression is the cab over part isn’t high enough to clear my ‘57 cab.

Thanks fot the help. You happen to know much about it? Price seems right.

You might like to ask this question on Expedition Portal , https://expeditionportal.com/forum/forums/hard-side-truck-campers.119/ , There is a wealth of knowledge there .

I have a home made camper for my '40 , built as light as possible (I thought) it weights 610 kgs. Apparently that is VERY light, expect the Little caboose to be much heavier , I see on google , they were last made in 1978 , so not an era of light weight composites .

I would guess that a 3/4 ton would be the lightest truck to carry the caboose . Then some additional work to over load springs , sway bar and D load range tyres . go for it !!

Oh, and if you google https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=vintage+truck+camper images .

Should weigh in around 1400ish lbs. some of the older ones were heavier for sure. My dads newer lance slide in camper fully loaded with AC is like 1500 I believe. But its much taller and looks to have a wider stance. He carrys it in his shortbed silverado 1500 no problem even with towing his enclosed motorcycle trailer at same time.

Glenn, you may have seen my '68 Avion when you were here. It's a 10' model. It weights about 1800#, but it's on the heavier side for a slide-in. Then you need to add your water, propane, contents.
Needs a minimum of 3/4 ton, 8' bed. That's why I'm building the '41 the way I am.

Thanks Dusty, tons of pics there, and quite a few Chevys to boot. Nice truck. I asked the Caboose owner for some additional info, but of course no phone #. And no response, yet. I also was hoping this would work in my 9ft stepside bed. I didnt evej think about the hieght over the cab. Ill have to measure. I know this is going to come up a foot short to the cab, but thought that would beca good spot to stash stuff. But that also pushes more weight to the rear of the truck. Yea Vic, i seen the Avion, sweet. Thats going to be awesome on the 41. Any more progress there on the bed? I didnt do the math on the contents either. Pic of my truck attached. 63 GMC 2500series, 66 c20 cab and clip, 55-59 GMC 9FT bed.

I'm currently shopping for a camper to go on wife's 2500 Ram crew cab truck. Newer cabover non-popup campers under 2000 lbs are very rare. A typical short bed unit is going to come in between 2000 and 2500 lbs, dry weight. And that's with newer generation composite light materials/building techniques. A nice Lance camper can easily top 3,000 lbs.

Added in edit: After a couple minutes pondering, my comments above are very likely Not applicable to vintage/classic campers. No microwave, queen size bed, bathroom/shower, water/gray/black tanks. So, if one just had the original camper and it remains true to the original design, I suspect it's going to come in quite a bit lighter than a basic hardside camper today.

RonR

I had one very similar to the Caboose on my ‘57 3100. Fit just fine over the cab but was way too heavy. I did have overloads on it but they were very little help. This would have been in 1970 when I was a carefree newlywed. One short overnight and I took it off.🛠

ive been considering a pull behind also. The on/off thing might be an issue also

Well i was to slow anyhow. Deleted by author. But pics are still welcomed if you have any.

Cool Dusty whats that rear bumper?

The rear bumper is our '38 - '39 truck . Shaped like that to keep the draw bar close to the attachment .

I've been toting a slide-in camper on my 51 1-ton for 20 years. Yes the height of the cab is a problem but easily solved with a couple of 4x4 stickers under the camper. I used the extra foot at the front for a 50 gal. fuel tank. The original 17 gal. won't cut it at 10-11 MPG. The camper in the Arctic Circle photo was a Canadian Vanguard 10.5' and was relatively light but had no head, furnace and water storage was 17 gal. Loaded the outfit weighed 8020 when we left Seattle but added 50 gal of gas later in the day. Tare was 5300, driver off.

The photo of the outift at the truck show is with an C11 Avion. It is quite a bit heavier. At the Cat scale near Red Bluff, CA loaded with half fuel, food, water, driver and passenger it weighed 9080. We had just come over Siskyou Summit headed for LA. Same cab height issue, same solution.

The last one is at Glacier National Park.

I love the 1 ton and the Avion too

Awesome pics. Lol. You owned that truck longer than ive been alive. Great to hear you still use it. And sounds like you had quite a few cool adventures.

Here is what we pull, 1951 Royal Spartanette. (35'). Pulled with my 58 Viking 60

Very nice

Cuda, are those exhaust stacks coming out of the fenders?

Not mine but inspiration

Brakes, brakes and more brakes.

Yea wow. All three of them looked very heavy to say da least?

69 Cuda

Belfair State Park I see. That looks like a long combination. I'll bet you didn't take the ferry.

yes. stacks out the top of the fenders, keeps the exhaust from catching the wheat fields on fire! They are not connected anymore but, I could if I wanted to. The exhaust manifolds have a dump out the top and one out the bottom.

I met a guy at the last swap meet, who had just purchased this camper for his C10 . He was very happy

@glennstowing , with that dually back end , it looks like your truck is purposed built for carrying a camper

I was thinking the same thing, but it wasnt my intention when putting it together. That just so happen to be the chassis i found locally and went with it. The pics you just posted, looked that camper would be a perfect fit for my 9 ft bed.

Cuda, that is just too cute for words. I love it. When things settle down from the pandemic, you all will have to come to Winthrop for the vintage trailer show. You would be a hit.

we have thought about it. A buddy of mine with the same trailer (new truck though) wants me to come over there. We have a trailer rally in Lynden though that we attend and help with that is normally on the same weekend.

Very cool 64-5-6 Fleetside Longbed. I am surprised a half-ton Truck would be a Custom Camper. But it’s in NZ. Love the (dare I say it?) Patina. Cool camper too!

Yea looks like that ½ ton suspension is getting a work out.

Anyone have a camper shell on their truck? I’d love to have one, but they are impossible to find. The angled bed sides on my ‘50 make it more difficult to find a decent match. I don’t camp much but a shell would at least give me some shelter.

Cool truck!

One of the coolest setups I have ever seen

Nice

I like it. Makes the rust on my '65 look like childs play

Mine is not nearly as cool as your guy's, but this my setup. We tent camp so this works for us. The shocks have been replaced....

I grew up in the era of slide-in campers, and they were very heavy. They also make a 1/2 ton truck top-heavy and hard to handle, especially in a crosswind. The ones with the bunk over the cab must have been designed for midgets- - - - -trying to sleep up there is as close as I ever want to come to being in a casket while I'm still breathing- - - -it's downright claustrophobic up there! If you have small kids they might like sleeping over the cab, at least until they need a potty break in the middle of the night! We've got an 85 Ford F-350 class C motorhome with an over-cab bunk. We only use it for storage, since the youngest "kid" is 48 years old now!
Jerry

There was a post on here about a fold up topper for the trucks from the 50;s they were made of canvas and had metal frame that attached to the truck ,would be cool to have one if it fit under seat for storage then if needed could put it on for shelter or cargo protection from the weather