Old Campers & Newer Trucks

burningman wrote:
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Sometimes you can just slice it there and narrow it a coupe inches and make it fit.
In my case the fiberglass shower enclosure was right up against that area and I had to section it and re-fiberglass it to make it fit.

Anything fits anything if you want it to.

I think it would be easier to cut the truck than to try to rebuild the side of the camper.

In any case I have a 2010 Dodge Ram 2500 and a 2005 Northstar Iglo. If the camper is centered on the truck bed, I have a bit less than 1/4" clearance. That makes loading a nightmare.

Generally, 1988 is the year the campers started being made to fit the narrower tailgates.
1988 (not 2007) is the year Chevy went to the narrower tailgate and stopped making the old “square body”, although the crew cab and Suburban kept the square body through ‘91.
Dodge kept their square body until ‘94.
Ford kept the square body until ‘98.
Before that all full size American tailgates were 65 inches wide.
They’re now down to about 60.

Space between the wheelwwls isn’t the issue, that’s still four feet.
Many campers have a little “kick out” that uses the space inside the truck box behind the wheel well.
That’s where the interference is.

Sometimes you can just slice it there and narrow it a coupe inches and make it fit.
In my case the fiberglass shower enclosure was right up against that area and I had to section it and re-fiberglass it to make it fit.

Anything fits anything if you want it to.

My truck is a SRW and the width at the tailgate is right at 60". I believe the older trucks had a width of 65". I'm trying to figure out when the RV manufacturers changed their units to match that smaller width. Thanks

Dave

Chevy narrowed their tailgate in 2007. My 2003 Fleetwood camper had a protrusion on the driver side at the back that was hard to deal with on the newer truck. I had to load the camper offset hard to the passenger wheel well to get the protrusion to clear the tailgate opening.

Strangely my 2018 Ram DRW bed tailgate opening is narrower than the 2016 Ram SRW I had. I had plywood cut to fit in the bed including behind the fender wells to support the Bigfoot wings. I had to cut an inch off the width to get the plywood in the bed opening. My rubber bed mat has the same issue. I might have just over an inch clearance in the tailgate opening with the camper in.
Also, I had to put a couple sheets of about 12" x 48" x 1/2" plywood against the front of the truck bed to move the camper back so I can open the rear doors without hitting the Fastgun tiedowns. I'm thinking I have a little over 49" between the wheelwells. I'm not really sure what you mean by tapered though.
My bigger issue is my tiedowns on the Bigfoot are too far inboard. My Fastguns will rub against my fenders. I just posted a thread about that. Even with an eyebolt in the Torklift tiedown extensions, I'm against the fenders. I talked to Torklift about longer extensions and they have no solution. I have a call in to Bigfoot about re-locating the tiedowns. I may have to put eyebolts on the Bigfoot tiedowns and the Torklift extensions. I know I shouldn't pull sideways on the camper tiedowns, but I might anyway. Another solution is to have a weld/fab shop make copies of the Torklift extensions, just a few inches longer.
Bottom line...I have just enough clearance in the tailgate opening and enough between the wheel wells. No issue with the overhang hitting the tail lights. No issue with the cabover to truck clearance, but I have plywood and a rubber mat. My only issue is the tiedowns.
Are you a dually or SRW?

Interesting, I went the other way, old truck, new camper. I think it's more the cab over height than the camper width. Pretty much standard between the wheel wells on any pickup will be 4 feet and change (so a sheet of plywood will lay flat). Might hang on the back on a short bed however.

A camper with no overhang in the back will be less than 4 feet wide. It's the overhang that hangs up newer truck beds (I believe). Could be mistaken on that.