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A slide-in pickup-bed camper was good enough for John Steinbeck, but sometimes you need a little more room. That’s what happened with this custom installation mounted atop a 2001 Ford F-550 Super Duty. Its owner remodeled it and expanded it the way most people do with their stationary homes. And that made this mega camper Internet famous.
Looking like it’s slowly eating the pickup truck it’s attached to, the camper has been an elite parking-lot spot for years. But quick glimpses are all anyone has gotten until now. Andrew Steele finally tracked down the rig and its owner for an in-depth video on his eponymous YouTube channel. As he explains in the video, Steele first saw the RV in a Costco parking lot a few years ago. After posting a short video that got over seven million views, he knew he had to find out more.
In the video, the RV’s owner Tom explains that it started out as a 12-foot Lance camper mounted on the Super Duty, which he bought from a retired Northwest Airlines pilot in 2003. He kept everything stock, using the camper and pickup for vacations but gradually spending more time in the camper following the deaths of his partner and mother. At one point he decided to spend entire winters in Florida, but didn’t want to do that in the cramped space of a 12-foot camper.
RVing with Andrew Steele via YouTube
RVing with Andrew Steele via YouTube
RVing with Andrew Steele via YouTube
RVing with Andrew Steele via YouTube
Tom is also an engineer, and after driving the Super Duty for so many years, he knew the truck and its capabilities inside and out. So he started what would end up being a six-and-a-half-year project to turn the camper into a more permanent living space. First, he built a wooden frame that raised the roof and extended the front of the camper pretty much even with the leading edge of the truck’s hood. To help with aerodynamics, Tom gave the front a tapered shape similar to the Class C motorhomes his rig would soon rival in space.
A large rear overhang, also made from wood framing, includes storage areas and a porch. The walls are three inches thick and clad in diamond-plate steel, with foam insulation inside. Everything is held together with glue, screws, and neoprene washers. The original Lance interior was gutted and remodeled to match the newly added extensions, but Tom retained the electrical box, hatches, and kitchen vent fan, among other parts.
Inside there’s a full kitchen, a dining room/living room with a fold-down table, a bathroom with a flushing toilet, and a bedroom with two large closets and a king-size bed. Everything is wood-paneled and there are storage spaces located throughout. A 400-watt solar installation helps provide power.
FIRST TIME EVER Interior Tour of The Most Unique RV On The Road- Now it’s FOR SALE.
In the video, Tom says the camper weighs around 17,000 pounds, which likely includes the weight of the truck carrying it. The F-550 has the unkillable 7.3-liter Power Stroke V8, which was rated at 250 horsepower and 505 pound-feet of torque when new. The pickup now has about 265,000 miles, but in the video, Tom claims it’s rust-free, and that he averages 7.4 mpg.
Watch the full video for all the details, and if you like what you see, this camper could be yours. The asking price is $20,000, which doesn’t seem too bad given all the work that went into it. After all, in 2025 someone was asking $69,000 for an F-350 Super Duty RV with a 6.0-liter Power Stroke. Just be prepared to get lots of attention anywhere you take this one-of-a-kind camper.
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
