Question for Dodge Ram 2500 owners

Thanks for all the input. I do have the camper package and my truck has a automatic trans also have 4:10 gears in the rear and disk brakes front and rear. I have hauled heavy weight many times from machinery to full loads of dirt. I weighed the truck full of dirt one time and it was over 3400lbs of dirt it handled fine but that is a very low center of gravity compared to a camper. I don't want a real tall camper but I do want a hard side and a full bath. I have been looking at Lance 835 and some Sunlite 8 and 9ft campers. I have looked at Lance 815's but they are a little to narrow for me let's just say I'm a little on the wide side!

How about a Northstar TC?

Mine is a 1999 with the camper and towing packages so it had the factory overload rear springs and rear sway bar. But my truck also had every other option so it’s curb weight was as heavy as they come. I still ended up upgrading the sway bars and adding stable loads, the air bags are just for side to side leveling.
I would recommend staying under 2000 lbs. empty on the camper as the weight adds up fast.

You don't mention what type of trans you have. And I'm not sure what trans is even in a gasser. But if you have an auto, and if you do decide to go with a camper, as in hauling heavy loads, be sure to check your owners manual. In my owners manual 2001 (Diesel with auto trans) in chapter of "starting and operating" it says to change trans fluid every 12,000 miles if "towing a trailer" as in heavy load. But in the back of manual where maintenance schedule is actually located the changing trans fluid is still listed at 30,000 miles. That is 1 of 3 errors I have in my manual. And also check out the difference of "Schedule A" and "schedule B".

I also torque transmission bands being I'm right there when changing the fluid.

Just a heads up. We don't have the strongest transmissions IMO and want to keep them in good shape as long as possible. Mine has never seen north of 210 degrees.

If you decide to go with air bags they are a lot harder to put on than the newer type frames. That is if you want to final result to have air bags that sit at 90 degrees when aired up.

And don't know what type of rear end you have but mine are pretty useless, I'm in process of looking into some type of lockers right now. Not that I'll do any "off roading" but several times have got stuck in nothing more than a little mud puddle.

I have a '98 2500 4x4 & carry a Lance 825 about 2000# dry & 2500 wet. My truck does have the camper package & I have E rated tires, I've done nothing else to it & it handles the camper well....rides level, rocks a little side to side when I go over some uneven bumps (think curbs). I'm getting 12 mpg. I can't address the rear diff. size etc. because I'm clueless about that.

I know someone that carried an 8.5' Lance (no slide) on that truck for years. When fully loaded, he said he was right at the max rating for the truck. He had also done some mild suspension upgrades.

I have a 2001 Dodge 2500 CDT with stock suspension and "camper package" that jefe4x4 speaks of. My dry camper weight is 1850lbs. I haul 28 gallons fresh water in it, plus 12 more gallons in the back seat, family of three.

I have the 3.55 gears in the diff, 47RE auto tranny with updated torque converter/shift kit. No problems with anything at all........I even towed an 10,500lb fifth wheel literally all over the country for two years for my work, no problems with anything. I also run a mild tuner (PowerPuck). I get 15-16.5 mpg on highway going 60-65mph.

Agreed with jefe4x4, don't buy a huge camper..........

In my experience 2nd Gen HD Dodges have more rear suspension than the same model 3rd Gens.
If you're looking for a ballpark on the weight the truck will handle, maybe find a place that can put some quick weight in the truck, pallet of landscape blocks or cement something with a known weight around the weight of camper you're considering.
That'll give u an idea what you'd need to do suspension wise realizing the camper is more top heavy but same static load.

cookie,
Does your '01 have the camper package? This includes a rear anti sway bar and one or two upper secondaries (over loads) above the rr spring pack. I can only recommend the smallest hard side camper for your rig without a lot of fiddling with the rear suspension to take the load. I have a friend who did what you are contemplating and he was always complaining about the poor mileage (6-9) with the camper on pulling a small trailer.
The biggest woe with your truck will be the transmission. This era Mopar trans does not have a good track record. What's the end point? 60K miles if driven without a load. The other thing is the rear end is marginal at best ( too high a gear ratio and small parts) with a lot of weight in the bed. It can be done. If you live on the flat and are not in a hurry, your truck with some fixes (E rated tires; susp. help, extra cooling for the trans) and a small, lightweight camper should be fine. Which? I like the Lance 815 and 825 as they are light and narrow and have a small footprint. Oh, and forget about a basement type camper as that adds a lot of height, width and weight; more than the ability of your 2 series Dodge can handle.
Basically, I'm recommending what we did lo those 14 years ago with a used, small Lance only on a much more robust 2001 Dodge truck. So far so good.

Expand your search out at least 1K miles and be prepared to drive a ways to inspect prospectives especially if buying used. God luck in your quest.
jefe

I had a similar truck, and ran a truck camper. Mine was a 2003 Hemi 2wd short-bed 2500. I found that I had around 3000 lbs of payload from dead empty, my camper was about 1800 lbs wet, I ran with around 800 lbs of tongue weight from a trailer and the rest was us, luggage, gas, etc. The truck was fairly happy at that weight, but got bad fuel mileage - as low as 7.5 mpg. I did nothing to modify my truck, being of the mind to stay within - barely within, but within - it's GVWR. I was around 2,000 lbs over on the combined weight including the trailer, but within the recommended combined weight for the 4.1 diff option (I had the 3.7 diff).

My recommendation is look smaller rather than larger, and try to stay within the truck's GVWR. My camper was 8 foot on a 6.5 foot bed, I would look for an 8 foot to 10 foot max camper in the 2400 lbs wet range. Means leaving out some luxuries - my camper did not have any kind of a bathroom.

Brian