RV retirement rig with the lot

Many grey nomads choose a motorhome, or a popular dual-cab ute or 4x4 in front of a big caravan, to help fulfil their retirement dreams. But Tasmanian local Stephen Larissey has joined a growing number of retirees opting for the greater carrying and pulling power of a commercial truck.

“I’ve worked a lot of jobs,” explained Larissey. “My parents owned the largest bus service in the state at the time, Tassie Redline, but after my father passed, I moved around.

“Towards the end of my career I was lucky enough to find myself working for a great boss but unfortunately, he died suddenly. That’s when I thought, well, I had better retire before it’s too late, so I packed it in at 61.

“I’ve had utes for years but I’m pretty tall and the cab of the ute just wasn’t comfortable anymore, so I upgraded to an Isuzu truck. I feel like in the truck I can drive 600 kilometres in a day and not feel tired or uncomfortable at all.”

His Isuzu NLR 45-150 truck now functions as a mobile hotel as well as a fishing rig, with an American built slide-on camper on the back, from Queensland-based Palomino RV Australia.

“We were never able to do the kind of travel we wanted to in the ute,” he said. “The truck has a 3.2-metre-long tray and a payload that can carry anything I could possibly need without having to worry about weight limits.”

Having the much bigger GVM and GCM of a truck also means he can tow his fishing boat, Just Chips.

“That’s what you say when you didn’t catch anything, you go home with just chips… and that’s the story most of the time you fish!”

Along with its tight turning circle and plenty of pulling power, he likes the fact the Isuzu truck can be driven on a car licence, so his co-driver can take over if he feels like a break.

The plan is to hit road with his partner, Vicki, and their dogs Belle and Bob, and travel from Tasmania to Perth across the Nullarbor Plain.

“The camper has a shower, toilet, washing facility, air-conditioning, camp stove inside and outside, 170 litres of water, and it’s even got a solar panel on the roof,” he said.

“We already do a lot of camping around Tassie, and we found all those little spots that we never went to before, the truck can just get us in anywhere we need it to,” he said.

Specialising in truck-based slide-on campers, Palamino Australia says the SS-1200 Backpack model that Larissey chose is suitable for a range of single-cab vehicles and is one of the roomiest campers in the Palomino fleet.

Australian pricing for the SS-1200 starts at $52,500 and the standard layout includes an over-cab queen-size east-west bed, internal kitchen with fridge, sink and cooktop, and a lounge/dinette that converts to another bed.

Both the support jacks and pop-top are power-operated, while the slide-on can be optioned up with off-grid features like a 350Ah lithium battery, 720W solar power, 2600W pure sine wave inverter, portable induction cooktop and battery and water monitor.

Other standard features include a 130L fridge-freezer, hot water unit, 270-degree awning, fan hatch, external shower and four-step fold-away entry steps.

The SS-1200 camper weighs 760kg from the factory, and also comes standard with 61L fresh-water capacity and internal and external storage options.

The imported Palomino slide-ons are also a popular choice with ute and truck owners who want the comforts of an RV while also being able to tow a horse float or other type of trailer.