New to Truck campers

Thanks for all the replies!! The truck is a DRW. I'm used to keeping my weight under the axle ratings and mostly the GVWR that's why I moved up to a 1 ton Dully from a 3/4 ton single which did a fine job pulling our 5th wheel. Recently I've had to replace the brakes and chose to upgrade to HD/towing rotors and pads. The rear upgrade will be here in a couple of days. The Camper sticker seems to say that it adds the weight of the propane and 50 gal of water. I will look inside the glove box for more info on the weights. My other concern was keeping the truck level and stable I have been reading a couple post on different rear spring support addons, any suggestions? Thanks for the heads up on the Truck Camper Warehouse, maybe the wife and I will make a visit soon. thanks.

Is your truck a dually or SRW?

Hey Mark & Lucy

We are west of you in northern N.H.

When we travel, we use the rear seat area of our CC truck to store the Honda 2000 generator and other heavier, bulkier items. From a weight standpoint it is a better place since it puts some of that weight on the front end too.

As others pointed out you probably will be over on GVWR and close if not over on rear axle rating. But front and rear axle ratings are determined by tire weight capacity. On our 2500HD crew, we run Nitto Dura Grapplers that can carry 3970# each (up from the 3300# of the OEM tires).

Bill and Ryan at Truck Camper Warehouse are a good info source, also as was previously mentioned.

Best of luck and WELCOME!

John

The camper sticker does not take into account the weight of anything you put in the camper, like those chairs, the grill, food, water, clothing, beer, bedding, etc..

The door sticker includes PASSENGERS too.

If you're only 60-70lbs apart between the door sticker and the empty camper, you're really not too bad off with a 3500HD pickup. You'll probably only end up 750-1000lbs overweight, but still within the limits of your truck's axle ratings.

TECHNICALLY, you are supposed to keep your payload at or below the number on the door sticker, but there is no law against exceeding the factory ratings on a pickup truck in the United States that I'm aware of, or that anyone has been able to produce. The truck also has individual axle ratings, which when added together, exceed the GVWR (the number which the door sticker payload capacity is based off) by around 1500lbs on a 2500HD pickup, and as much as 3000lbs on a 3500HD dually. Most of that "extra" capacity is in the rear axle, where your camper will ride.

It is quite common for TC owners to ignore the GVWR and factory payload rating of their pickups and load it based on individual axle capacities. Some go so far as to upgrade tires and springs and load their trucks beyond even the factory axle ratings.

Please note that this is a PERSONAL choice, and you accept all liability and responsibility should there be a problem with it. As long as you drive carefully and keep your vehicle maintained properly, your risk of problems is very low.

Here is a link that will give you an idea what these things really way "wet" http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/truck-campers-buyers-guide/ I found this to be very close on my Arctic Fox 990

Look in the glove box for a weight sticker. This takes into consideration the options on your truck and is a better indication of it's load carrying abilities than the door post sticker which is very generic. One thing to consider though is the glove box sticker assumes a 150 lb person sitting in every seat. So if you have a crew cab and nobody rides in the back seat, add 450 lbs to that weight.

If you're within 60-70 lbs of the door pillar weight and the camper's sticker weight, you're in better shape than most here and I would think you're good to go.

You might want to run down the road to
WestChesterfield, NH.
Truck Camper Warehouse, they will have the answers
To any questions and all the gear to look at

Any kids or dogs coming along ? Both the camper and truck stickers should be taken with a grain of salt. A rough estimate is that your camper will weigh about 1000 lbs more than anticipated...when loaded up and with waste water still on board.

You need to do some serious searches on this and other forums...in addition to advice you will be getting from other posters.

We had an AFox 1150 on a '02 Chev 3500 DRW....D/A for 4 years and we were OK even tho 500# over weight.