Truck camper weight

jmtandem wrote:

And I can buy it lock stock and barrel for under $5000. I just cant shake the Idea.

Compared to the price of a new 4x4 crewcab diesel pickup dually, $5000 for a Freightliner is barely the downpayment.

I understand your point, I have my choice out of 9 trucks, Ive been studying them for 3 hours. I have the Appraisal report here in front of me. And they are willing to sale me the truck for under 5 thousand

And I can buy it lock stock and barrel for under $5000. I just cant shake the Idea.

Compared to the price of a new 4x4 crewcab diesel pickup dually, $5000 for a Freightliner is barely the downpayment.

jmtandem wrote:

And last but not least something that You can put a million miles on and be still going strong.

At 2000 miles a week an HDT over the road might last a million miles. At 15,000 miles a year it will not. At 15,000 miles a year the truck would take 66 years to amass one million miles. There are a growing number of Cummins/Rams that have passed the 500,000 mile mark and a few with over one million miles on them. But, those are rare and are on the road much of the time. So if you found a HDT with 500,000 miles on it you still would need 33 years to get to the second 500,000 miles and the engine probably would not make it being driven less frequently as most RV's are.

My point exactly, It would out last me! And I own one of those awesome dodges your talking about, Legendary 12 valve CTD. I agree Ill never put a million on it, But what I was saying is Its built to last. I wouldn't have to worry as much about wind, or getting ran off the road. And I wouldnt be driving around with a small truck and huge camper. And I could have a sleeper right behind me for the wife while we are traveling. Anyway its just a thought, And sounds like fun. Im going to check out the escapees website and thanks again. The main reason Im kind of stuck on this freight-liner Idea is because I know where I can get a very good one for cheap. And I live in farm country and could haul hay, cows, and farm equipment also. I can make a decent living right around home with it also, and use it camping. And then I also just think it would be fun to drive around in it BOB Tail. They get better mileage than most people think, And I can buy it lock stock and barrel for under $5000. I just cant shake the Idea.

Thanks for info JMtandem

Reddog1 wrote:
I should add, my truck has the extended cab.

Wayne

Mines extended cab also, they are great trucks Reddog,

And last but not least something that You can put a million miles on and be still going strong.

At 2000 miles a week an HDT over the road might last a million miles. At 15,000 miles a year it will not. At 15,000 miles a year the truck would take 66 years to amass one million miles. There are a growing number of Cummins/Rams that have passed the 500,000 mile mark and a few with over one million miles on them. But, those are rare and are on the road much of the time. So if you found a HDT with 500,000 miles on it you still would need 33 years to get to the second 500,000 miles and the engine probably would not make it being driven less frequently as most RV's are.

I should add, my truck has the extended cab.

Wayne

Reddog1 wrote:

willardskillard wrote:
... But a wind storm in the Mountain passes this side of Bakersfield Humbled me some and made me swear to buy a Bigger truck. I Bought a 1995 12 valve extended Cab Dodge That's in very good condition. Do you guys think I should have to enhance the suspension any as light as my camper is? ...

A windstorm in any truck/TC can humble anyone. You can make mods to most rigs to make the windstorms less humbling.

It would only be guessing to say you should or should not enhance the suspension of your truck. The same truck can come from the factory with different suspension packages. Your truck may or may have existing overload springs, or anti-sway bar for example. Is your truck a dually or SRW? The tires can make a real difference in sway. To install airbags or not is an ongoing argument on the forum. When you load your TC, the back typically squats from 2 to 4 inches. If you consider nothing else, if your headlights were adjusted correctly before you loaded the TC, they will be pointing in the trees after loading the TC. The airbags allow you to raise the back up to be as level as it was without the TC.

I have a 1996 Dodge 2500, 12-valve, 2WD, SRW. I bought it at 75,000 miles and it now has about 250,000 miles. Most of the 175,000 miles I put on it are with my 11.5 foot Bigfoot TC. My truck weight is 6200, TC is 4200, for a total of 10400 pounds. I have added Airbags, anti-sway bar, adjustable shocks, Timbrins (front axle), and most importantly 19.5 tires and wheels. I added this stuff over time.

My suggestion is to load the TC. Decide what you would like to improve, do a little research and make the improvement. The tires would be the first thing I would look at, not just the load capacity, but the softness of the sidewall also. The anti-sway bar would be a big help in windstorms. Add overloads fine, add leafs to your springs, and you will have a much rougher ride without the TC.

Wayne

Me and you have almost the same truck, So far I have just added some good E rated tires. But my camper weighs less than half what yours does, Thanks man, This is a tremendous help, I probably am fine like I am. Maybe some air bags would be cool, I learned to appreciate them in driving school. 12 valves ROCK!

A cab-over non-sleeper single-drive-axle truck could be as little as 12,000 lbs. A conventional with a large sleeper and two drive axles could be as much as 22,000 lbs/ One the Instructors at my school told me that if its under a certain weight You dont need log books, I know I was getting a lot of conflicting info at school. They had me driving a different truck seemed like everyday, and a different everyday. He may have been trying to discourage me from going out and getting a truck on my own lol, He said depending on weight you may have to keep logs no matter what your using it for. Thank you for the heads up on the Escapes page. Hey Im a rookie truck driver/ Rookie TC owner lol, And Im open minded and ready to learn folks. I like talking to people who have been there and done that. Im here to learn, and all help and comments are very much appreciated.

I suspect the school is interested in getting students to the CDL license and not really interested in recreational only RV's. I know that there are motorhomes that weigh 40,000 pounds and if used totally for recreation the logbook is not an issue. They might, depending on the state they live in, need a supplemental drivers license and air brake endorsements but not logbooks.

Most one ton duallys today are over 12,000 pounds gross, some as high as 14,000 and if used only for non-commercial I have never heard anybody needing a log book. Many that haul the heavier campers use duallys.

I think the Escapees pages are about as infomative as you will find for how some use MDT and HDT trucks to accomplish the RV as a lifestyle goal.

My suggestion would be to start with a nice one ton dually and see how that works for your camper. Then if you want to graduate to a sleeper on the HDT or MDT you will know a lot more about RV and truck camper issues. The first RV is never the one you really end up with as it is more like a 'trainer' RV, and probably the same thing about diving into an HDT or MDT truck. Most duallys will handle the larger campes just fine and that might help you decide if you want to get into a bigger truck. I almost never think you can have too much truck but an HDT for a 2000 pound camper is truly a lot of truck for the load. Instead of yellow straps get Torklift tiedowns. They mount under the bed of the truck into the frame and are essentially hidden from view not in use. Your 2000 pound camper would be easily carried by virtually any single rear wheel one ton as well but the dually is more stable in the wind, curves, etc.

My last truck camper was 4000 pounds and on my dually I needed air bags and energy suspension overload bumpers to get it to handle 'just right'. At one time I looked into a Kodiak 4500 flat bed and think the flat bed is the way to go but found insurance to be an issue as well as in some states like California the need to go through weigh stations when the camper is not on the truck. I still would like to do something like that but the 3500 dually handled the camper with absolutely no issues. I would like to get another camper and might revisit the flat bed issue/MDT again at that time.

A cab-over non-sleeper single-drive-axle truck could be as little as 12,000 lbs. A conventional with a large sleeper and two drive axles could be as much as 22,000 lbs/ One the Instructors at my school told me that if its under a certain weight You dont need log books, I know I was getting a lot of conflicting info at school. They had me driving a different truck seemed like everyday, and a different instructor everyday. He may have been trying to discourage me from going out and getting a truck on my own lol, He said depending on weight you may have to keep logs no matter what your using it for. Thank you for the heads up on the Escapes page. Hey Im a rookie truck driver/ Rookie TC owner lol, And Im open minded and ready to learn folks. I like talking to people who have been there and done that. Im here to learn, and all help and comments are very much appreciated.