need help with truck ratings

The limitation on your truck to 500 lbs. is ludicrous even for that old a truck. I have had no problems carrying a 800 lb. camper on a Toyota mini truck all over California.

The weakest points on the truck will be the axle and the tires. Weigh the truck at a CAT scale for $10 and then you will know exactly what the weight is at the drive wheels. If it is 2,000 lbs. and you want to carry a 1500 lb. load (camper and gear) then your truck's tires need to support 1750 lbs. at the rated PSI. If they do not then new tires are in order.

If with the camper in the bed there is visible sagging at the rear then go to a spring shop and have them add a leaf to the leaf pack or get helper springs like the ones from SuperSprings. Research your truck and if axles were a problem you can add a truss.

Your truck at GAWR RR of 3750 lbs. less the weight of the truck at the rear wheels with the bed empty is your legal maximum load. So you need to go to a public scale and get it weighed. The sticker in the glove box is irrelevant for your purposes as it is based on the weakest link as the truck left the factory.

Leave room in your budget for new shocks to help with the fully laden camper.

Or you could follow the herd and get a 1-ton DRW truck and a giant camper assuming as the posters do that you have unlimited funds to toss at the project.

I have a friend that is a traffic officer in British Columbia and they will pretty much stop any truck camper set up that is a 1500,F150 for weight checks.The incident of accidents for truck over loading is very high and they are very serious about it.You will not drive away only with a ticket but pay to have it hauled.So don't go out that way unless you are within your trucks stickers.

Staying within the GVWR limits is a common issue for truck camper owners, especially when it comes to 1/2 ton trucks. On 1/2 tons it's impossible to put a camper on the truck without exceeding the GVWR for all intents and purposes.

If you are bound and determined to put a camper on the truck, you have to resign yourself to the fact that you will be over GVWR.

When you weigh the truck, also get individual axle weights. If you are at a feed mill or dump or gravel pit, simply park the truck with one axle on the scales, get a reading, then move it so the other axle is on the scales and get another reading.

Your combined axle ratings are 7630lbs, which is 1500lbs higher than your GVWR. It is a common practice among TCers to load to the axle ratings, rather than the GVWR.

Depending on your REAL weights, you may have over 2000lbs of payload capacity on that truck, going by axle ratings.

That said, you need to check the weight ratings on your tires, and ensure that they add up to AT LEAST the axle ratings of the truck. LT load range C tires should easily provide 3880lbs of capacity per pair.

Sadly, 1/2-ton pickups are a very poor choice for hauling a truck camper.
The 1/2-ton is fairly capable at towing a small trailer though.
So, happily, you can go RV camping with all the amenities that you see in truck campers, albeit in a travel trailer.

GVWR 6100/2767 - Your truck should never weigh more than 6100 pounds.
Take the truck down the scales (public dumps usually have them and ask to weigh the truck) and see what the truck weighs with you, your significant other and pets in it.
Write down that weight number.

Example: the trucks weighs in at 5000 pounds.
Subtract 5000 from 6100 and you will have a surplus carry capacity of 1100 pounds.

Do that first and you will have real world information.
Its simplified, yes.
But you will have hard numbers to work with.

And remember, you have to be able to stop that heavy truck with standard brakes.
Bigger springs don't help.

One thing to remember, the sticker in the glove box assumes a 150 lb person sitting in every seat. You can add 150 lbs to that rating for each vacant seat in the truck (then subtract whatever each occupant weighs above 150 lbs :)).

You're still going to be limited to an extremely light camper.

You can't change it's rating. You can change it's capability. Since most campers come in around 2000 or higher, the number of modifications required would be significant. The first most obvious change would be tires of E rating and higher load. You'd probably better off looking for a different vehicle.

1/2 ton trucks are good at pulling trailers but not very good at all for truck campers. IMO, if you are intent on getting a truck camper, go straight to the 1 ton.

Having been in a similar position a year ago (new to TCing & trying to find a camper to fit my 1/2 ton Chevy), your best option is to go buy a 1-ton ...

My hope was to have a truck camper ...

Is your intent to haul a truck camper,or pull something?