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boshog's avatar
boshog
Explorer
Jul 01, 2018

Truck camper and pulling a boat

Howdy folks,

I have a question that isn't easy to answer without going out looking. Unfortunately, casual research hasn't found any truck camper dealers (with inventory) anywhere close to me (metro Detroit).

Wife and I are looking for a truck camper to support our two and three-day fishing trips. I have a one-ton pickup (payload is 4,000 pounds) with a 6'7" bed. The truck camper overhang off the rear bumper needs to be short so it does not interfere with pulling our 18-foot boat.

Searching online I can find the overall length but not the length of the bed part of the camper (unless I'm just not understanding the specs). Looking for a little help on this and any recommendations to a truck camper that will allow me to tow the boat.
  • You have a short bed truck so just about any camper, even campers made for short bed trucks, will hang well past the end of the bed. Most short bed campers I've seen max out at about 8' 6" so about 2 feet beyond the bed. This length is usually well publicized and it normally sort of built into the model of the camper. A model starting with an 8 is usually 8' something long and a model starting with an 11 is usually 11' something long, etc.
    If your trying to find a camper that ends at your bumper your mostly out of luck. You might try a Capri cowboy camper but they probably won't have the amenities you want.
    You will need a hitch extension to pull the boat. Probably about 24" will do it with most short bed campers. You can buy extensions that fit in a regular hitch. They may or may not have the capacity for your boat. I don't know what it weighs or it's tongue weight.
    The best hitch for towing behind a camper like that is the Torklift Super Hitch and Super Truss. Yes, they are kind of expensive compared to other hitches but there is nothing better for the application.
    I towed a 4,500 pound boat behind my 11' camper using a 48" Torklift extension. I had absolutely no problems. That 48" extension was rated for 6,000 pounds without a WDH.
    You'll have to watch your weights carefully. A fully loaded hard side camper and the tongue weight of a boat will be pushing the limits of your SRW 1 ton.
    When I hauled my 4,000 pound 11' camper and pulled my 4,500 pound 20' boat with an '07 Chevy 3500 SRW I had about 11,140 pounds on the truck axles. It's GVWR was 9,900. I wasn't over axle or tire weights but the rear was very close. I upgraded to a dually. I was still overweight but had a much better margin on the rear axle and tires. If you are over a bit on tires and want to keep the truck you could upgrade to 19.5" wheels and tires.
  • Find a camper that ends at the end of your truck bed. The length should be the same as your bed.