My F-350 with the one-ton axles could definately accommodate a full-size slide-in camper. Indeed, I looked at the listings for used slide-in campers, but not only are they expensive, they are lot more gear and frills that I don’t need the headaches of repairing. And I want to spend money on things I care about not excessive comfort or gear I don’t need.

When I camp, I do it to be outside. That means cooking and crapping outside, spending time in nature and not hidden in my truck camper. The hard-top camper shell provides protection for sleeping and my gear when traveling, but also isn’t so high or heavy that it will impact my fuel economy much or make the truck unnecessarily top heavy. Even with anti-sway bars and a one-ton axle and heavy frame, a large slide-in camper is going to be top heavy on the truck. A couple-hundred pound camper shell with a few solar panels and a kayak on the roof, not so much.

The thing is a bucket shitter is much simpler to manage then a black water tank. I poop in the bucket with a white garbage sack in it, bury the poop, burn the plastic sack like the rest of burnable garbage. The cooking is outdoors, so it won’t attract wildlife to my camping area. While a shower would be nice, I’m actually fine with hitting a swimming hole up or maybe a campground every few days – or just going a few days or even a week without showering. Or I could set up one of those bag showers, but usually in summer months there is plenty of creeks, ponds, and swimming holes to hit up and stay clean.

A simple bare fiberglass truck cap and truck bed with bed liner can be hosed and swept out easily. There aren’t the surfaces to get moldy or dirty, the stacks of sleeping pads and rubber mats likewise can be hosed down. The stacks of old sleeping bags I use for bedding and comfort can be washed in the ordinary laundry. I get to choose the wiring and lights as I want, I don’t have to deal with other people’s design choices. I am sticking with the lead-acid battery system and solar I had from the other truck, though I may eventually switch out to lithium ion for more capacity, or add additional solar and a MPPT controller. But I’ll do that at my own time. A diesel heater, mounted externally gives me a lot more dry heat, at a lower cost then a propane heater on a slide-in camper would give.