Forget about Chevy 1500 & 2500 series for truck campers now

robertjp wrote:
Eric,

I do not know??? Id like to find out though. I am planning on buying a Ford not because of the sticker but because of the reputation and Payload limit and quality vs Chevy or Dodge.

What do I win?
Called it yesterday....

"I bought not enough truck" said many, many camper owners!

Now that's funny stuff right there...

Steve_in_29 wrote:
OP,

"I bought too much truck".....said no truck camper owner EVER.

Eric,

I do not know??? Id like to find out though. I am planning on buying a Ford not because of the sticker but because of the reputation and Payload limit and quality vs Chevy or Dodge.

robertjp wrote:
Just went to the Chevy dealer today and regardless what is advertised about payloads in the spec sheets, there now is a sticker in the glove compartment on all new Chevys showing the cargo limit for a "slide in truck camper". So after I was talked out of a 1500 series truck due to payload issues and rightly so, now the new sticker now says 962 lbs weight limit and the 2500 series says 2082 lbs. Unless Im missing something here, I doubt anyone will be able to use these any more unless they have the lightest campers made. Guess that only leaves Ford as an option since Toyota and Nissan are also very light payload capacities. Not sure about Dodge.

Did you also look at Ford & Dodge trucks to see what their weight stickers read?

The conclusion posted in the subject line is based on a presumption that the other two major truck manufacturers do not have any similar weight limits on their vehicles. I don't want the to be a flame, but.... For a new member to post this kind of a conclusion, and not support it with any compelling evidence, seems rather troll-ish.

-Eric

I sat down and did the math on that sticker in my last Chevy 1500.

Turns out if you add 150lbs for each of the 5 passenger seats in that truck (extended cab, not counting driver) to the recommended slide-in camper weight, it came out almost exactly to the GVWR-minus-curb weight payload capacity of the truck.

The long and short of it is you can use the truck's payload capacity for whatever the heck you darned well please. You can even ignore it if you want.

Whatever's written by the manufacturer is there to absolve them of liability if something bad were to happen. You put 2500lbs of camper in the back of your 1500lb rated payload truck, and something happened? GM can tell you to get bent if it comes to that. That's really all it is.

It's on you to decide what's important, what's safe, what's acceptable risk.

1971duster340 wrote:
...camper moved the center of gravity up higher, thus tire loading could be extreme if you swerve or are in a high cross wind (that's believable). Also, footprint with high COG is smaller and last, high frontal wind load on a large area (of the camper) makes small gusts amplify the load.

That makes perfect sense to me.

The GVW rating on my pu is 9500 lbs. It weighs just a few pounds over 6000 lbs.

The recommended camper weight is 2935 lbs. That's almost 600 lbs under the payload.

I fail to see the issue here. :)

KD4UPL wrote:
I agree with CSG, that sticker assumes a 150 pound person in every seat in the truck. It also assumes you won't exceed the GVWR of the truck.
My own '05 Chevy dually has a sticker saying a camper can only be 3,469 pounds. My camper weighs 4,000 wet. I also have a custom aluminum flatbed on the truck full of tools. Add in my family and the weight of a trailer and the truck is about 1,600 pounds over the GVWR. I've got thousands of trouble free miles with this set up over the last 6 years. I added air bags, aftermarket shocks, and wider tires.
Staying within a truck's GVWR with a mid size or larger truck camper is almost impossible without a dually. Everything people typically want on a truck takes away carrying capacity: 4wd, diesel, crew cab, heated, cooled, power, deluxe everything. It all adds up.

Yup. Tire ratings is what matters, and axle ratings.
Most states you can't even register your truck for what the GVWR is. They don't have the capacity to do that in the computer. You pick either 8k, 10k or 12k for personal vehicles. Commercial is more than that.

I agree with CSG, that sticker assumes a 150 pound person in every seat in the truck. It also assumes you won't exceed the GVWR of the truck.
My own '05 Chevy dually has a sticker saying a camper can only be 3,469 pounds. My camper weighs 4,000 wet. I also have a custom aluminum flatbed on the truck full of tools. Add in my family and the weight of a trailer and the truck is about 1,600 pounds over the GVWR. I've got thousands of trouble free miles with this set up over the last 6 years. I added air bags, aftermarket shocks, and wider tires.
Staying within a truck's GVWR with a mid size or larger truck camper is almost impossible without a dually. Everything people typically want on a truck takes away carrying capacity: 4wd, diesel, crew cab, heated, cooled, power, deluxe everything. It all adds up.

Robertjp go buy a ford!
(But thanks for your insightful post.....