Lightweight slide ins 5 foot bed

I have a 5 foot bed Off road because manual. Currently doing the whole bedrack RTT thing and the wife has had enough. Looking at lightweight slide ins that fit 5 foot beds with or by removing the tailgate. So far I have:"

Must have close to queen size bed and room for a kid on lower settee. Some type of heater, stove, sink, fridge, solar and batteries.

Big plus is hot water and some type of indoor or external shower.

Budget 20 to 30K.

So far I have Kimbo, Scout Yoho and four wheel camper Swift.

Swift seems to be the cheapest followed by Scout, then Kimbo. I like the low profile of the 4WC but it has a cheap look to it. Scout and Kimbo seem to be competing concepts. I like the ingenuity of the Kimbo but it looks like the Scout might be roomier. Am I missing other options?

 

My wife and I sold our AT Habitat and are planning to pickup a Scout Yoho.

My first question to you is how tall you are. I'm 5'6", and if I was much taller I would NOT want the Yoho. The bed is 72 inches long. My wife and I did physically get in and lay in the bed. I rolled up a jacket and used as a pillow and when rolling over and such my tows hit the opposite wall.

With the table down, I'm sure one kid would be comfortable. The other option of laying across parallel to the bed using the fridge space with a cushion is only 18 inches wide, vs the 24 laying across the table. I can't see that being very usable for a bed for a second child. HOWEVER, I just heard from Ryan at Scout that the Yoho will have the option of a RTT in the near future. I do not want one, but I was getting some additional information about the overall height. Mainly me complaining that their height on the specs was wrong. It didn't take into consideration the height of the skylight. it is 83 inches tall overall, NOT 78 like it says on the spec page. I was hoping I could roll it in the garage on a dolly. With 6 inches to spare I could do it, not with 1 inch... O well, I'll figure something out for storage before we pick one up.

 

I am 5' 10" and I have no urge to put on roof top tent on top. Unless they mean the top pops a little higher. Why did you choose the Yoho?

 

The RTT would probably be same as on the Olympic. They mount a wedge style RTT up top that you access via the skylight opening. I wouldn't want it up there either. It's heavy enough already for a Tacoma, I'm sure.

The reason we moved away from the AT Habitat was for better foul weather camping. Wind was loud/scary with the canvas material. Rain meant we had to leave the camper open somewhere when we got home to dry. And zero insulation. We also wanted ability to stealth camp on road trips which you can't do with a 15 foot long tent, ten feet in the air.

So hard sides was what we wanted. When the Yoho came out we figured that's what might work. We worked with Apache in Everett to see one in person. Spent a lot of time measuring and stuff. Storage was much better than we expected. The fireplace is awesome. So hard sides and heat were our main wants/needs.

I wanted to stay away from the FWC because it was a popup. I just don't want to deal with canvas/soft sides again. Obviously I'm giving up the additional clearance and possibly lower center of gravity.

To be clear, we have not yet purchased one. We sold the Habitat and half the money is going to re-gear the truck before getting the new camper, and the other half my wife wants a nice walk in shower at home. We figure we'll order later this year and hope to have by spring of 2022. Waiting is the financially responsible thing to do for us right now. No matter how much I want to put the deposit down this very second, having our car paid off first makes sense.


I'm also going to add I HATE the look of the Kimbo. I've seen one in person, too. That did not help, lol. It might even be uglier in person! Your opinion may differ, but that's mine!

 

O yeah... and forgot to touch on your height. With your wife sharing the bed, I just can't see any possible way you'd be comfortable.

 

Yeah the Kimbo does look weird. Did the one you looked at have a bigger bed? I also live in the PNW and have the same issue with RTT and rain. One day at the beach and I have to dry it out in my garage two days. I feel like Kimbo doesn't have the same hot water and integration as the Four Wheel Camper.

 

I didn't get inside the Kimbo. Just checked it out loaded on a truck at the NWOL rally a couple years ago. Per its specs, it has a 3 inch longer bed.

I've been thinking of how to setup a hot water system in a Yoho. On the Habitat I put together a big hard case that mounted to my swingout that had a 12v water pump and an Eccotemp L5 mounted next to propane and 10 gallons of Jerry cans. It was great, but I'm losing my Swingout and Tailgate with the Yoho. I've got the 5 foot bed. I've thought about mounting the Eccotemp on the wall inside the Yoho, but depends on if we decide we really NEED it.

We only showered with it once. maybe washed hair another once or twice. Our main use was washing dishes, and it was worth it. On demand hot water for rinsing was amazing. A lot of the time just running water was good enough. As long as it wasn't COLD out, the water temp was good enough for washing hands and dishes. This is why I think just the Lifewater can inside the camper might be warm enough with the room temperature for rinsing dishes and such. Not showering though. Unless you don't mind it a little chilly.