Anyone gone from a Truck Camper to a Super C?

When going from a toy hauler, I originally looked at a bigger toy hauler and the smaller Class C and Super C as an alternative. I tow 6000-8000 lbs which was near the limit of the E450 chassis and did not want be that close to maximum ratings just starting out without knowing future needs. The Super C and diesel pusher Class A had the towing capacity, but all of them were over 30' long with low ground clearance which does not work well in tight public campgrounds or boon docking. I did find a few built on Ford's chassis cab trucks (Host even used to sell one), but most of the capable motor home options approached $200K and were compromising where we could travel.

We ended up choosing a truck camper so our accessibility to camp spots was not hindered and we had sufficient tow capacity for our toys. This was big swing in available room and on board supplies from our toy hauler, but we found the truck camper did what we wanted although our first 9' model with single slide was a bit confining. We started looking at the larger Chalet, Eagle Cap, Host and Lance campers and knew we would need more than my F250, so staying with a truck camper meant upgrading both tuck and camper or looking at the alternatives again. This time around there were more choices in heavy towing motor homes, but none that would work for our requirements. We ended up upgrading the truck first to chassis cab and two years later upgrading to one of the triple slide campers.

If you are willing to flat tow, use a dolly or carry your vehicle on an open trailer, there many more motor homes to choose from by saving the weight of an enclosed trailer (about 3k lbs). However you will still find that 4wd and under body clearance is lacking in most of them. They do have more exterior storage and easier access to the interior via lower steps or the cab, so you need to try a few different models and configurations to see what will continue to work for you.

BTW: We ruled out going to 38' or longer toy hauler for the same reason we ruled out the 30' motor homes - It would have prevented us from visiting places we like to go.

My setup with a crew cab 60" CA truck and 11.5' triple slide camper is under 26'. Adding a 20' enclosed trailer behind me keeps my overall length under 50'. This may sound like a monster to pull around compared to some configurations on this forum, but start adding up length with other options and you will be hard pressed to get that much living and garage space out of anything shorter or stouter.

I haven't moved from TC yet. I'll be interested to see the info that pops out of this thread.

Some of the giant TCs like Mammoths with truck bodies sound interesting as an alternative.

Brad, I remember following your posts back in the early 2000's. Our Nexus Ghost will be ready for pickup in a couple of weeks. We had a truck camper back in the early 2000's but haven't had it for 10 years. We are now ready to try some longer travel. Wanted something bigger but made the decision for a Super C mostly due to towing capacity. The Ghost, while under 26,000# GVW can tow up to 20,000# (I had ours built with only a 10,000# hitch). We will be able to legally and easily tow out 7,500# Expedition or our 10,000# boat and trailer (probably won't do this much, if at all).
I have a Class A drivers license but my wife, under my strict supervision and training will be able to spell me on proper roads.

Theres no disrespect intended here. My first thought with his original question was something like a BT cruiser, again something not so much a massive increase in size. But the website doesnt readily show tow capacity, I know its at least 5000lbs but beyond that, not sure. Jayco mid sized C's are 7500 lb tow cap, but tongue weight is only 750 so was being cautious.

He's asking about Super C and they have bigger trucks with larger towing capacity. This Jayco has a 10,000 pound towing capacity and there are probably others larger than this:

Jayco Seneca

Brad,
I don't think the newer people on here know who you are. I've seen several of our getting older (pedo viejo) TC veterans on here go to a class C when the time was right and they no longer need 4WD or the ability to remove the TC. The biggest thing for us oldies with creaky bods is to have an easy ingress and egress. To that goal, the http://www.lazydaze.com/
class C stands out for those that need those age friendly features.
Their website gives no towing parameters that I could find. Those that I've known with a LazyDaze are very happy with them. This is not an endorsement, only an observation. There are a few used ones for sale, but by and large the LazyDaze' are like Subarus: you just pass them down to someone else in the family. There are no dealers for this product. Every item is factory direct. The one I liked was the king/or two twin bed/center bath, 27 foot model.
your long time fan, jefe

BradW wrote:

wanderingaimlessly wrote:
There are a world of options out there in the middle that most likely are going to include whats right for you.

I don't want a class A and I need to be able to tow at least a 7,000 lb trailer.

BradW

Adding the 7000 lb trailer you make it tough. Even with the TC side 7000 lb trailer adds 700-1000 lbs to your trucks payload, so that has to be calculated in, for the "C" most seem to be geared to 5000 lb tow capacities. Jayco I knows has a 7000+ cap on mid sized Class C units if thats any help.