Looking for a new Truck Camper. Need advise please!

My wife,cat and I spent May driving cross country from central Massachusetta to the SW. We put about 9000 miles on our 2016 Ford F-250 Supercab short box carrying a Northstar Freedom . We have the camper,plow ,and towing packages,Timbrens and Torklift tie downs and fastguns. The 6.2 gasser wheezed a bit on grades above 8-9000 feet but I really have no complaints. We averaged about 14mpg on highways at 60-65mph and 10-12 on byways. Some days less,some days more. We probably boondocked about 20% of the time. We solved our storage problems by leaving a lot of "stuff" at home. There are stores all the way across the country and back. Since I can't fit in the shower (6'4,230 or so),one adapts to the situation - baby wipes,sponge baths,etc. A curtain on a shower rod across the width of the camper allows ample privacy ,though the cat did peek!

How did Daniel Boone ever manage without every modern convenience? It seems we have a need to drag everything with us (civilization) that we're trying to escape. Minimize and enjoy.

A camper dry weight of around 2000 lbs. will essentially amount to about 3000 lbs. by the time you add options, water, extra batteries, propane and stuff. Hard to find models that will be less with all the amenities. I would look closely at the short box campers from Lance, Northstar, Northern Lite, Wolf Creek, and Adventurer. There may be one that fits your requirements from those. Pop-ups would be a better fit for your truck weight wise but they can be heavy too.

Utilize the StableLoad from Tork-Lift to engage your springs earlier and perhaps new Rancho shocks, sway bar. My Ford slide in camper spec sheet said max was 2800 lbs and I run at 3300 with no issues. A heavier, larger truck will help but you can get by for a while with the F250.

We have a NL 10.2 on F350 dually and can park in regular spots. We usually back in as well. We store bathroom stuff in cabinets over dinette. We love ours but on our model, our bathroom is small.

I fully agree about choosing the 350/3500SRW over the 250/2500 when shopping for a new truck. Also, a supercab longbed is very close to the same length as a crewcab shortbed. The difference is usually within about 4 inches, depending on model and year of truck.

Most 8' campers have small baths. Most are wet bath, with very little, if any dry storage inside the bath. Adding some of those wire shower racks for keeping things you don't mind being wet works fine. With a longbed truck, you have greater options for longer campers with bigger baths.

Take a trip to Ohio Mike Jones has Northern lite Truck Campers.Good used ones are hard to find anywhere. Lance makes two models for short bed trucks the 825 and 865 both are good campers.

Well, Bob, since none of the replies thus far have anything to do with your question, I'll throw mine in there. Don't know about the N/L, but in our Eagle Cap, we have a large cupboard which we have outfitted with shelves, and we relegate two of them to cover bathroom supplies such as paper goods, toiletries, and linen.

Long bed all the way for towing and especially hauling a camper. A one ton is a good idea.

There is no such thing as an abundant TC in the east! In our travels we are lucky to see one TC.

The OP will have to travel to find TCs. Don't forget the you can get someone to do a professional remote inspection.

When shopping for the new truck I'd be looking for a 3500 instead of a 2500. I don't know how available they are with a short box however. If it were me, I'd be getting a long bed as well. If your talking about parking it with the camper on the overhand of an 8' camper negates the "shortness" of the shortbed. I've been driving a long bed dually for 11 years and always seem to get it parked. I even park in "regular" parking spaces with my 11' camper on. I typically back into a spot around the edge of the parking lot. This let's the camper's rear overhang and the truck bed rearward of the back wheels all hang past the pavement into the grass. This way the truck fits fine.
A long bed will make it much easier to find a used camper since they are much more abundant than campers for a short bed.
I don't know either where people put everything. My 11' camper is filled with things in every possible space. But, we are a family of 4 so that makes a difference.