How much weight is too much weight?
I am looking at campers and thinking of a 9.5 foot. They weigh about 2500 lbs and I have a 2500 dodge. I was looking on another site and there were people with 11 foot lance campers that weigh 3300 lb...
Forum Discussion
On current 3/4 ton trucks the axles and wheel bearings are rated at 8900 pounds or more depending upon the manufacturer. The limitation is with the rims and tires which usually have a load capacity of 6400 lb or less.
If your truck at the rear axle is 2800 lb with the bed empty you have a maximum load capacity with the camper of 6400-2800 or 2600 lb fully loaded. Take the real weight of the camper (go to a CAT scale) and you will know if the truck's rims and tires are adequate.
My Lance 845 has a sticker weight of 2700 lb but when I picked it up at a dealer and took it immediately to a CAT scale it was over 3100 lb and after adding a second battery, solar panels, etc. to the camper it now has a base dry weight of 3400 lbs.
With any SRW truck I figure the max load capacity, regardless of post purchase truck mods, is 4500 lbs total for the wet camper and tongue weight of any trailer that might be towed. That leaves 4000 lb for the wet camper and 3000 lb max for a dry camper. The lighter the camper the more you stuff you can carry. A 2500 lb dry camper provides an additional 500 lb margin for extra items (generator, outboard motor, bikes, etc.) that you may want to take along.
Most 10 and all 11 foot models are going to require DRW for the likely load the truck will be carrying. And that includes passengers and pets and fresh water.
Fuel is another consideration. With a full camper load my truck gets 11 MPG in many situations (windy, elevation gains) and with my current tank that is a little over 300 miles between fuel stops. I could have a larger tank installed but that would add another 150 lb of weight. With a full freshwater tank the load is increased by 240 lb so with both full water and fuel tanks the added load to the rear axle can easily be 500 lb. which is significant.
For many reasons I did not want a DRW truck and so I limited my search to campers with a dry weight of 2700 lb or less.
If your truck at the rear axle is 2800 lb with the bed empty you have a maximum load capacity with the camper of 6400-2800 or 2600 lb fully loaded. Take the real weight of the camper (go to a CAT scale) and you will know if the truck's rims and tires are adequate.
My Lance 845 has a sticker weight of 2700 lb but when I picked it up at a dealer and took it immediately to a CAT scale it was over 3100 lb and after adding a second battery, solar panels, etc. to the camper it now has a base dry weight of 3400 lbs.
With any SRW truck I figure the max load capacity, regardless of post purchase truck mods, is 4500 lbs total for the wet camper and tongue weight of any trailer that might be towed. That leaves 4000 lb for the wet camper and 3000 lb max for a dry camper. The lighter the camper the more you stuff you can carry. A 2500 lb dry camper provides an additional 500 lb margin for extra items (generator, outboard motor, bikes, etc.) that you may want to take along.
Most 10 and all 11 foot models are going to require DRW for the likely load the truck will be carrying. And that includes passengers and pets and fresh water.
Fuel is another consideration. With a full camper load my truck gets 11 MPG in many situations (windy, elevation gains) and with my current tank that is a little over 300 miles between fuel stops. I could have a larger tank installed but that would add another 150 lb of weight. With a full freshwater tank the load is increased by 240 lb so with both full water and fuel tanks the added load to the rear axle can easily be 500 lb. which is significant.
For many reasons I did not want a DRW truck and so I limited my search to campers with a dry weight of 2700 lb or less.
