The 21st century has witnessed a renaissance in truck camper design. From the 1960s to the late 1990s, everything had pretty much been designed before with hard-side and pop-up layouts and materials being pretty much the same. The first seismic change in truck camper design occurred in the early 2000s when slide-out campers were introduced which offered new and exciting layouts with more living space. Next came the flatbed camper in the 2010s which offered not only more layouts with an entry door on the side, but also more storage in the flatbed itself. Adventurer Manufacturing’s recent release of the ultra light Scout upped the game even more with a roof-top tent and portable appliances. Technology, of course, helped revolutionize truck camper design even more with lithium batteries, solar power, DC refrigerators, and DC-DC chargers to extend the time off-grid even more.
BundutecUSA CEO and Truck camper designer extraordinaire, Rory Willet, has witnessed all of these changes and more over the years. Rory cut his teeth in truck camper design as part owner of Northstar Campers for decades before he parted ways and started BundutecUSA in 2014. Since then, Willett has introduced a catalog of fresh and innovative designs that have pushed the boundaries of truck camper design even more. Up to this point, his best design has been the Wild, a half-ton capable pop-up camper with a full wet-bath, something that had been unheard of prior to its release. The brand-new Go-Away hard-side, however, might be Willett’s best design yet.
The Go-Away is named after Africa’s famed grey lourie or go-away bird. The crested turaco makes its presence known by its characteristic “kweh” or “go-away” calls. With Willett’s preference for bird names and grey exteriors for his campers, the Go-Away name seemed like the perfect fit for this compact, lightweight hard-side since getting away is what this truck camper is all about.
With a dry weight of 1,860 pounds and a floor length of 7 feet 4 inches, the Go-Away was designed with the 3/4-ton truck in mind though better rated half-tons can carry it. The camper is 7 feet wide, offers an interior height of 7.25 feet, and an overall length of 13.25 feet. The layout features a north-south cabover bed, a front dinette with bench seating, a kitchen on the driver side, and a refrigerator and a wardrobe with a cubby large enough to store a portable cassette toilet on the passenger side.
The Go-Away borrows heavily from the BundutecUSA Cape, a pop-up camper for half-ton trucks that debuted at the 2022 Overland Expo Mountain West. Standard features for the Go-Away include a DC compressor refrigerator, a north-south queen-size cabover bed, loads of storage, a 23 gallon fresh water holding tank, a Truma Combi Eco water heater-furnace, an insulated skylight, acrylic dual thermopane windows with built-in window screens, a 20-pound propane tanks, and a group-27 AGM battery. What makes the new Go-Away such a compelling design when it borrows so heavily from the Cape? The shockingly low $30,829 price for a fully-equipped hard-side is a great starting point. The high-tech infusion in the lightweight, compact compact is another. What are the other reasons? Rory Willett was kind enough to tell us in this interview.
With so many popular models already in your catalog, what made you decide to design the Go-Away? Did a customer ask for it?
Rory Willett: Not really a customer request. I really wanted to try to build a camper for myself, the way I camp. My girls have grown and my wife comes along with me on only 40 percent of the trips. So it is a one- to two-person rig with the front facing dinette seats and pull-out table. I really like the Cape pop-top floor plan and the low profile of it, so I built the Go-Away with that in mind. The name came from my wife and I while visiting South Africa. The Go-Away is a large grey crested bird that has a high pitch call that sounds like they are saying, “go away!” I like to keep the theme of animals for my model names and my wife and I would laugh every time we heard those birds take off screaming, “go away!”
What’s different about the Go-Away compared to your other hard-side models, the BunduVry and Roadrunner?
Rory Willett: It is smaller in overall size and I took the roof-line and built it with one long slope to the front. I also brought the front nose rake back 5 degrees. Those features and the fact the cabover bed is pulled back 22 inches, the front edge lines up almost perfectly with my 2500 Ram crew cab windshield. I am hoping I can get the same fuel economy as I did with the pop-top I camped in the last 9 years. The 6 feet 4 inches of headroom at the rear with a 68-inch entrance door gives it a lower overall height that will help with that. I cannot sit up in the front of the cabover bed, but I can in the end with 28 inches of space, I just fit. I access the hampers on the side for clothes on my knees and that is easy to do. The skylight adds a little headroom and openness to the cabover and the new LED lighting is very bright!
Anyone who orders a Go-Away can have the headroom and door height increased, no problem. I just built mine as low as I could to minimize wind drag. It has a roof vent framed that is wired for an air conditioner if so desired, but I elected to go with the remote controlled Maxxair fan.
How is the Bundutec Go-Away constructed?
Rory Willett: Wood framed as all the others. I filled the rear of the camper with 3/4-inch plywood to make it solid for rear attachments like ladders, and storage boxes. It adds a little weight but makes it a very solid build with no “guess work” on hanging things inside or out! It has 3/4-inch framed walls with 2-pound density bead board for insulation. The roof has 1-inch foil faced Dow foam along with a layer of 1/4-inch aluminum faced bubble insulation for ultimate heat and cold protection. The top of the roof has the one piece rubber membrane over half-inch marine grade plywood front to back. Other than the roof line and front nose slope, it is constructed the same.
Regarding the truck, what are the minimum requirements needed to safely haul the Go-Away?
Rory Willett: It came in at just under 1,800 pounds dry the way I built it. I know some people will say their heavy-duty Ford F-150 can carry it with the extra cargo capacity option and it will, but I always ask how they plan on using it. Most of my travels are on two-lane highways, but I do like to take a off-road trail or service road if I see one my way, so I recommend a 3/4-ton truck. With the water and LP I take plus all my gear—this Boy Scout is too prepared sometimes—the Go-Away will easily weigh over 2,200 pounds when I leave for a trip, which is why we recommend a 3/4-ton truck for hauling it.
Tell us about the layout and the general specifications of the Go-Away? What is the floor length?
Rory Willett: The Bundutec Go-Away is 2 inches longer than the Cape at 7 feet 4 inches. It has a shorter door 68-inches tall and lower head room 6 feet 4 inches than the BunduVry and Roadrunner This allowed me to bring the Queen bed back into the camper 22 inches and lessen the overhang up front over the truck cab. The Go-Away has the 4 cubic foot Nova Kool 12 volt compressor frig and large amounts of storage. Even though the cabover has low headroom, I fitted a shelf over the driver’s window, so I can carry my break down fishing poles and awning poles. I feel like I will miss the under-bed storage I had on the pop-tops, but there is always a trade-off. Under-bed storage would add 4 inches to my overall height. Plus I have larger overhead cabinets in the Go-Away compared to the Cape.
Go-Away with Ensuite shower enclosure.Is the camper large enough to accommodate more than one battery?
Rory Willett: Yes. Two batteries will fit in the camper, no problem. The batteries are located behind the front seat with outside access. I am trying the new Expion360 160 amp hour battery that has the same footprint as a group 27 battery but is 11 inches tall. I am going with the one 160 amp hour battery and 190 watt Zamp roof solar, Zamp 40 watt controller, Redarc 40 watt DC-DC charger and Renogy 1,000 watt inverter. The solar controller is in the bed end and the charger and inverter fit behind the seat, next to the battery. I ran the wiring direct from the truck battery to an Anderson connector at the front of the camper. I should be set, the way I camp. The only thing I am unsure about is the current from the solar or shore power, set to lithium. Will the DC-DC charger provide the protection my truck battery requires? Right now, I plan on unplugging the truck from the Anderson plug and plugging into my additional portable panel. There may be enough room to fit a third lithium battery next to the water tank if you plan on a very long trip off-grid.
BundutecUSA was the first company on this side of the Atlantic to use the Truma Combi. Now dozens of companies are now using it. Is the Go-Away large enough to accommodate the Truma Combi?
Rory Willett: Yes. The 22-inch front cabinet allows plenty of room to fit the Truma Combi even with dual batteries. The Combi is one of our most popular features, so putting it in the Go-Away was a must.
Is there anything unique about the Go-Away compared to BundutecUSA’s other truck camper models?
Rory Willett: I have installed the imported BunduHalf awning on the Go-Away’s passenger side. It is up high for the rear arm to swing over the entrance door so I wave mounted a telescoping ladder to my rear ladder. I know I am going to need it! I have been asked many times about fitting one to a hard-wall and I am going to try it. It will require three to four trips up and down the ladder to deploy and fold it up, but I will have first hand knowledge with my own experiences. That is how I do new features we offer. I like to try them out myself and give a thumbs up, down or “ehh” to the customers who ask.
That’s cool that you do that. What kind of toilet are you using in the Go-Away?
Rory Willett: Like my other campers, I go with Thetford’s portable curve toilet in my unit.
What is the lead time if somebody wanted to order a truck camper from BundutecUSA today?
Rory Willett: Our production has been behind in orders for so long, we got used to the mantra that a new order would take over a year. But, now 90 percent of my suppliers are supplying us quicker, and after hiring two great new hires, we are now three to four months out for any new builds. That is where I prefer to be, building campers to suit custom requests in a time that is more reasonable for our customers.
Interested in seeing the BundutecUSA Go-Away in person? You’re in luck. The camper will debut at the Teton Overland Show, Sept 13-14, in Idaho Falls, Idaho and will be shown at the Overland Expo East, Oct 4-6, in Arrington, Virginia.
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