Overwhelmed with camper choices; insight appreciated

I am hoping those of you with more experience can help us make up our mind on a new truck camper.
We have a 3500 Ram SRW diesel truck and would like to sometimes tow a trailer with the camper. This will be used for long weekends or other week long trips, not a full time rig. We will rarely be at a serviced campground and often will be driving it off pavement. We plan to use it a lot in the winter, (real winter in Canada so -20 type temperatures).
We currently have a 1978 8' camper that works great, but is a pain to load due to the manual jacks. We do not have a generator and are not sure we want to get one. Our current gravity furnace will heat with no power and we like that, but the camper is too cold to use below -10 or so and we worry about the integrity of our super old furnace. We do not have any power in our current camper, no AC, run fridge of propane and all solar lights. It does get wicked hot in there, so a fan would be nice.

We want to upgrade to something more comfortable. Our needs are power jacks and good windows and furnace for winter. We would like a bathroom this time, but are fine with a cassette toilet, a shower and water heater would be nice for summer, but we are fine not using water in winter. We do not need a microwave or TV or AC. We do not want a slide due to maintenance and weight.

We initially had a very small budget but now it seems to grow constantly.... We've looked at new Adventurer and Northern Lites as well as 2007 Lance 845 and 2005 Adventurer 810WS. The Lance was interesting as it had the built in generator and power jacks. It was very well used though. It was cheaper than the used adventurers. The new northern lites or bigfoots are too expensive for us, even if we expand our budget. I have found a few 2014-2016 northern lites used from the RV rental place... we could afford it but worry about the wear and tear.

I am also very interested in a new Cirrus 720 or 820 primarily because of the Alde heating system. The problem we are seeing with all of the other campers is the intense propane and battery usage a forced air furnace will take. We know we can change to a diesel or catalytic heater, but that does not seem as good as the alde heat in the cirrus. Also, it's been hard to find models with double pane windows which we think is probably necessary. I would have to buy the Cirrus from a dealer far away though and would not be able to see it in person, this is daunting.

We are extremely busy so do not have a lot of time to modify or tinker with the new camper, so minimal mods would be prefered.
I just want to get camping but the more I look the further away I am from choosing...
I appreciate any insight, I know this is a broad question but hope to gain a bit of clarity from other users.

Truck Campers

28 Replies

Grit_dog
Navigator II
Jun 02, 2019
If you want to go by actual numbers, your truck empty, rear axle is 3000-3500lbs.
Your back tires are good for somewhere between 7200 and 8000lbs depending on the tire on OE type rims. OE Rims are generally not published but are rated for 3500-3600lbs each. Axle is rated for 10,000lbs.
Axle is definitely overbuilt for whatever you load up, so is the frame and spring mounts.
My belief is rims have a significant factor of safety as well.
With the proper add ons I would be comfortable with 4000-4500lbs total load on the rear axle, all day long. What the legality of that is in your province or your comfort level is, I cannot say.
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Jun 02, 2019
Thank you! This helps a lot. My truck is a short box. The payload is confusing. The manual says 5000 lbs. The internet says only 2700! At 2700 even the lightest campers would be a push on their own at wet weight. That seems crazy that the campers are so heavy or that the payload is that light. Our current camper is 800lbs. We weighed it on a scale

You have the truck so drop by a set of scales and get your trucks separate front and rear axle weights. This will eliminate all the guessing.
As others say that the camper and trailers hitch weight will all go on the trucks 7000 rawr so pay attention to those numbers. The 7000 rawr is the lessor of wheels/tires/rear suspension/brakes/vehicle mfg axle ratings.
Your truck has a AAM 11.5" rear axle that is used for the 2500/3500 srw and DRW trucks. AAM rates it at around 10700 lbs so its not being stressed.
Many one ton srw truck owners go with 19.5" tires and wheels along with rear suspension upgrades such as air bags/other aftermarket products.

The payload sticker number your looking at (on the truck drivers side door post) is a gvwr based payload and isn't indicative of any truck real world legal/safe payload.

Get 'er weighed so you will know what actual numbers your working with.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Jun 01, 2019
all of them.
The only semi-true number is axle rating.
Semi- becouse often heavy axle design for dually is de-rated when used in SRW truck.
d3500ram
Explorer III
Jun 01, 2019
Kayteg1 wrote:
The papers will say taxable payload, ....

When you refer to THE PAPERS what exactly do you mean? The truck data, a state's registration, NYT?

Not flaming, just curious. I had my rig and TC (when I had it) figured out pretty good but never consulted any "papers" of sorts that referenced taxable payload. I am curious and want to go look at the papers.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Jun 01, 2019
The papers will say taxable payload, not truck capacity.
We keep talking about the legal issue here a lot, but it is easy to get confused.
Since almost all camper weight goes on rear axle, you just need to read and scale rear axle.
Forget about front.
larkyblast
Explorer
May 31, 2019
Kayteg1 wrote:
This is hard for some people to calculate, even that is primary school physics.
But simplifying - let's say your truck has 10' wheelbase and original hitch is 4' behind rear axle.
1000 lb tongue weight will put 1000 x 14/10=1400 lb on rear axle.
with 4' stinger it is 1000 x 18/10= 1800 lb on rear axle.
Now deduct that and empty weight from your axle rating and you have what you camper can add to the axle load.

Thank you! This helps a lot. My truck is a short box. The payload is confusing. The manual says 5000 lbs. The internet says only 2700! At 2700 even the lightest campers would be a push on their own at wet weight. That seems crazy that the campers are so heavy or that the payload is that light. Our current camper is 800lbs. We weighed it on a scale.

I feel like I am nowhere closer to making a decision, and go back and forth between minding the weights for the trailer and just giving up on the big trailer and camper combo all together so I have more options on the camper, especially after seeing these weights. It's frustrating that there are so few models near me to look at. It's either palomino, northern lite or adventurer. Have not seen a lance, northstar, cirrus or any other brands. I would maybe be interested in the travel lites but the only dealer is a 4 hour drive.

I am really hung up on the Cirrus because of the Alde heat system, and to be honest, the look. The inside and outside of all other campers are just so depressing and ugly. I don't know why they are all white outside and beige inside with that weird patterned wallpaper stuff on the walls. The northstar seems good in build quality but can't find their smaller unit near us so would have to go with the Laredo and it's still boring and still heavy-ish, so if I get that why not the cirrus? I think about buying another slightly better vintage camper since I like the interiors so much more, and adding electric jacks and Alde heat aftermarket. Seems like too much time and money to invest into an old junker camper through. Plus the potential for more leaks and problems down the road that we're already going through with ours.

The closest 720 to us I would have to ship from the US or across the entire country. That does leave an 820 within reasonable shipping or driving distance but then I am back to a heavier camper. I also was told that the 720 is not the same build quality as the 820 which is nerve wracking buying sight unseen.

This forum has been super helpful and I have been reading threads like crazy trying to learn as much as possible.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
May 31, 2019
This is hard for some people to calculate, even that is primary school physics.
But simplifying - let's say your truck has 10' wheelbase and original hitch is 4' behind rear axle.
1000 lb tongue weight will put 1000 x 14/10=1400 lb on rear axle.
with 4' stinger it is 1000 x 18/10= 1800 lb on rear axle.
Now deduct that and empty weight from your axle rating and you have what you camper can add to the axle load.
BradW
Explorer II
May 30, 2019
larkyblast wrote:
The tongue weight on my biggest trailer as we load it would be 800-1000lbs. Loaded it will be 4000- 6000lbs depending on trip(3000 empty). That would be rarely used with the camper but would like to keep that option open.

I would be looking for a very small/lite camper with that kind of weight/tongue weight. Best option would be an 8' camper that doesn't extend past the rear of your bed. That way you can use a wd hitch in your factory receiver and not have that kind of weight on an extended hitch behind an srw truck.

good luck,
bradw
Kayteg1
Explorer II
May 30, 2019
Grit dog wrote:
...
Lol, that was exactly my point. How could you say limited to a 2000lb camper without ANY numbers to go by.
Comprehension of the info that's been given and not making up numbers is what I was talking about......

Yeah. Comprehension is the key here.
Some can't figure out difference between "2000 lb range" and "limited to 2000".
More trolling and still no numbers.
Grit_dog
Navigator II
May 30, 2019
Kayteg1 wrote:
Grit dog wrote:
Kayteg1 wrote:
Having SRW and need for towing automatically narrows your search to campers in 2000 lb range.

C'mon dude. Even you don't believe what you just typed.

Your love for trolling is famous, but how about trying to come with the numbers?
You should know rear axle rating of SRW, so calculate for us how much camper you can load having 8000 lb trailer on 3' stinger?
Give us at least couple options?

Nope, no trollin here. Just the facts!
Lol, that was exactly my point. How could you say limited to a 2000lb camper without ANY numbers to go by.
Comprehension of the info that's been given and not making up numbers is what I was talking about.
OP never said short bed, long bed, how heavy of trailer. (before you posted anyway)
So how you come up with 8klb trailer and 3' hitch extension is something only you can explain.

Only trying to keep folks who are asking legitimate questions from being bombarded with the usual rvnet onslaught of "absolutes" and outright false information.