You might find this site very interesting. Now, he did his foamie, pop-up truck camper using carbon-fiber coating. That really isn't necessary, as PMF (poor mans fiberglass) will accomplish much the same at a dramatically lower cost. The thing you need to watch is the cantilever of the cabover bed. I used to have a Sunlite pop-up truck camper and while it was pretty darn neat, as someone in their 60s with more back/joint pains than I want to admit, I found it just plain painful. If I were in my 20-50 age, then it would have been fine. It knocked about 2 mpg from my F150.
Pluses to truck camper - all in one package. Allows you to go a lot of places a trailer may not allow you to go. No extra costs if you get on a toll road. I had mine raised in 2 major wind storms out west and had no problems, but you'll read about people that say it shouldn't be raised in winds over 60mph. I know for a fact that one storm the winds were constant 50-60 with gusts to 90. The other winds were pretty consistent 70, plus ice and snow. Truck was shaking like crazy. It can be removed fairly easily. Realistic setup time, if left on truck - maybe 5 minutes. If removing from truck - maybe 30-45 minutes.
Negatives to truck camper - weight, make sure your truck can handle it. A foamie probably isn't a concern, but even my Sunlight, had a dry weight of 930lbs and loaded I was probably around 1500#. Assuming you have legs permanently mounted, you have a much wider vehicle and you really need to be careful during the load/unload process. Having to climb up into bed. Like I said, if I were younger not a big deal, but it was just painful getting up into bed. Dog takes up the entire floor space. I have a full sized, very old beagle, and while not huge, he could figure out how to lay in the floor to make it almost impossible to walk. A roof mount AC will freeze you out and is noisy as all get out, because you are sleeping right in front of the thing.
http://www.hookedupfilms.com/category/h ... le/page/2/The lifting system is pretty simple. The FWCs use a simple hinged plywood on each end, you raise one end at a time, then lock into place. My Sunlight used a geared x-bracket rack that you cranked up and down, so it actually raised from the sides but the rack running across the width at the bed level. You are only raising the normal pop-up like 14-18", not like a trailer where it can be 4-5 feet.
dave