Random Questions

The camper comes on and off same as if it were in a regular truck box. Actually easier because you don't have the wheel wells to deal with. All you need are the dually extensions for the front jacks.

I have an aluminum flatbed on my 2005 Chevy dually. It has tool boxes mounted above and below the bed. I use it as a work truck for my electrical contracting business. My 11' Fleetwood 11X TC would fit on the bed between the upper tool boxes. I had D rings installed in the floor of the bed that the Happi Jack turnbuckles were attached too. I could put the camper on in about 20 minutes or so. Taking it off took slightly longer because then I had to level it again.
With my family of 5 in the truck, all my tools, camper, and boat hitched to the back I was about 13,100 on the truck axles, about 8,800 on the rear axle. It rode and handled well. I took it from VA to CO, MI, and NY with no problems.
I think there's a picture of my rig on here somewhere. Maybe in my profile page or something.

I think the aesthetics is a consideration especially if the TC is off. If you need a plain work truck/flatbed for another reason that is a different story. DW and I prefer the looks of the pickup bed as well. I also use it with a tonneau cover on it during Winter.

There are some very good looking flatbeds though, so you should be able to improve the looks over a more spartan body if you want. Either by having a fiberglass one with some curves, or painting a flatbed to match the truck paint.

As far as 19.5s go, other than not being able to air down which can't be overcome, some 19.5 tires do ride a lot better than other 19.5s. Of course, there is the added benefit of tougher sidewalls, a stronger suspension, tighter turning, better brakes of my F450 when I was choosing between a F450 and F350. Also, Sulastic hangers can also make the rear softer on a Ford. I don't know if they make similar rubber mounted spring mounted perches to make the unloaded ride better even on the stronger truck. You can also go with an air suspension.

Wow, outstanding comments, thanks! We re in our 60's and retired. Have a Jeep Grand Cherokee for DD. We expect to be doing, say, a couple one month road trips from our home north of Seattle (Brier) and a single 5 month trip to Alaska or the East Coat (family and friends and service buddies from 45 years ago). The thought is to frequently drop the camper to play and explore locally for a few day then pick it up for a day or two then drop it again. Wife is concerned about aesthetics (smh) but I see some nice looking rigs in the signature files. And to be honest I am not concerned about looks but I am about safety having owned heavy dump trucks and trailers. Maxxing out the weight does not make for fun driviing. Considering 4500 or 5500 class trucks after reading these but DW is concerned about ride when the camper is off. I saw today on a Northern Lite that I could bolt a box to the patio on each side of the door. That might be enough. The idea of a Torklift hitch extension with a swing out hinge might work for the bikes. Rack would be easy to remove when dropping the camper. Please keep the comments coming. Thank you all!

Grit dog wrote:
I agree with everything you said. And to be fair, it's the best option for your use (and a very sweet setup!)
Also, I have not been in a newer 4th Gen or 4.5 Gen 4500/5500 although my guess that they ride as rough as any other med duty couldn't be too far off.
My point was, the OP provided no other info on how they intend to use the truck other than haul a camper and e bikes n stuff (Twice a year, full time, somewhere in between) and whether it will be a DD and how much of it will be spent DDing it around our chitty western WA highways and streets.
I could surmise they are older and retired by their signature. Or maybe they're 35 year old DINKS with 2 little dogs and 2 full time jobs and go camping 3x a year.
For me, we literally go camping 2-4x a year average. Couple weekend trips and usually one "vacation" over a week or 2. For me, 20 days a year spent with a camper (we had TC's up until a couple years ago) and 345 days a year parked in the shop or doing soccermobile duties would make a class 5 truck highly impractical and just a waste of expensive rough riding tires and springs, lol.

Just trying to provide a more complete perspective than the common "it's perfect, do this" or "it's horrible, never do that" responses that seem to fly off of so many folk's fingers on this forum, with little thought as to the actual question or the subjectivity of their "objective" reply.

I definitely see your point and it's not a one-size-fits-all situation. I just wanted to pitch in that a 5500 with some decent weight on it, will tame down to drive like a 3500 DRW.

One downside I failed to mention, is at least with the 84CA models, they don't fit in normal parking spaces, so you have to park farther out. We'll usually look for parking spots where the opposing space is also open, and take up a full space + approximately a fifth of that one, leaving space for a small/compact car to still park there. It's a long truck.

n0arp wrote:
My 5500 rides nice enough to DD, with 2500lbs of bed and tools on it. No camper needed. It rides rough with bare frame rails, and would ride rough with an aluminum bed, but the heavy steel bed, toolboxes, 150lbs of tire chains, and a few hundred pounds of tools in the boxes, tames it nicely. I used to DD/commute with a 1T DRW, and don't feel like this is any worse. It doubles as a fifth wheel hauler, and we use it as our daily driver when staying in the 5er. So in summary, yes it rides rough, but if you don't try to go really lightweight with your bed, boxes, and default contents (w/o camper) - you'll be fine and it'll act about the same as an empty 1T DRW.


It is on 22.5s, but I don't think they make much difference over 19.5s. Regarding the size of the truck, it turns in about the same space as a 1T DRW, due to the wider front axle/ better wheel cut.

I agree with everything you said. And to be fair, it's the best option for your use (and a very sweet setup!)
Also, I have not been in a newer 4th Gen or 4.5 Gen 4500/5500 although my guess that they ride as rough as any other med duty couldn't be too far off.
My point was, the OP provided no other info on how they intend to use the truck other than haul a camper and e bikes n stuff (Twice a year, full time, somewhere in between) and whether it will be a DD and how much of it will be spent DDing it around our chitty western WA highways and streets.
I could surmise they are older and retired by their signature. Or maybe they're 35 year old DINKS with 2 little dogs and 2 full time jobs and go camping 3x a year.
For me, we literally go camping 2-4x a year average. Couple weekend trips and usually one "vacation" over a week or 2. For me, 20 days a year spent with a camper (we had TC's up until a couple years ago) and 345 days a year parked in the shop or doing soccermobile duties would make a class 5 truck highly impractical and just a waste of expensive rough riding tires and springs, lol.

Just trying to provide a more complete perspective than the common "it's perfect, do this" or "it's horrible, never do that" responses that seem to fly off of so many folk's fingers on this forum, with little thought as to the actual question or the subjectivity of their "objective" reply.

mountainkowboy wrote:
There are companies that make service beds that will work with TC's

Some very fancy expensive ones to boot. Outfit in Denver will build you a custom camper flatbed that costs about as much as a new camper!
They sure look nice

There are companies that make service beds that will work with TC's

My 5500 rides nice enough to DD, with 2500lbs of bed and tools on it. No camper needed. It rides rough with bare frame rails, and would ride rough with an aluminum bed, but the heavy steel bed, toolboxes, 150lbs of tire chains, and a few hundred pounds of tools in the boxes, tames it nicely. I used to DD/commute with a 1T DRW, and don't feel like this is any worse. It doubles as a fifth wheel hauler, and we use it as our daily driver when staying in the 5er. So in summary, yes it rides rough, but if you don't try to go really lightweight with your bed, boxes, and default contents (w/o camper) - you'll be fine and it'll act about the same as an empty 1T DRW.



It is on 22.5s, but I don't think they make much difference over 19.5s. Regarding the size of the truck, it turns in about the same space as a 1T DRW, due to the wider front axle/ better wheel cut.

Ultimate camper hauler for me would be a 1 ton dually C&C for a longer wheelbase or pickup if longer bed/wheelbase wasn’t a want or need. With normal srw front wheels (remove the dually adapters) and matching (appearance) rear wheels.
Zero desire to get into 19.5s unless outfitting a srw truck for heavy hauling.