Truck size for Palomino 1251 Bronco

I am new to all this, as well. But, I have studied up!

What is the payload of the truck? CWR is kind of cheesy, because it assumes 5-6 people in the cab of your truck, each weighing 150 lbs. Go fill your tank with gas at a truck stop that has a CAT scale. You can Google them easily close by your home. Put the front axle and the rear axle on separate sections of the scale (real easy, you will see). Get the true weight of your truck with gas and your body weight in it. You will also get the true weight of your present axle loads. Subtract the true weight from GVWR (7200 lbs), and that will give you a close approximation of what you can carry in the bed. Don't forget that you will add some considerable weight with gear, food, etc. Driving without any water (8.3 lbs/gallon) can help, too. Air bags and other suspension enhancements can help handling, tire wear, etc., but won't increase the load that you can carry. I'm sure that others who are more experienced than myself will chime in, too.

The really short answer is that if you are trying to put a TC on a 1500 truck then yes, you are likely going to be way over weight.
I assume this is a 1500 truck. Take it empty but full of fuel and minus the tailgate to a scale and weigh the rear axle. Subtract this weight from the 4,800 pounds your 2 rear tires can carry. This number will probably be about 2,400 pounds. This is the most you could possibly put on your rear axle. As you add passengers and gear this number will go down.
If your camper's dry weight is around 1,600 pounds it will likely be closer to 2,500 when loaded with water, propane, battery, gear, food, etc.
I'm pretty sure you will be over your tire rating. No, air bags won't help that.
You need a bigger truck. For any TC I would think a 3500 SRW is a good minimum. If you want a really big camper get a dually. If you want a big camper with multiple slides you will likely need a 4500 or 5500 series truck.

At a minimum you will need to upgrade to some load range E tires and some suspension help if you are going to use that truck.

Palamino calls this a 1/2 ton truck camper. I raised this question with the dealer I pruchased this camper from. They assured me it would be fine. I am really having second thoughts on this. I need to decide before Friday what I am going to do.

Ok I weighed the truck. Front axle 3500. Rear axle 2480 . Total 5980. The GAWR front and rear is 3950, leaving me with only 1470 on the rear axle. But the GVWR is 7200. Subtract the net weight of 5980, this only leaves 1220. I think I better walk away. I really put the cart before the horse on this one.

The dealer told you it was fine because they don't care if you're overloaded. It will fit on a 1/2 ton truck, and the wheels don't pop off when it is loaded, so it's a 1/2 ton truck camper...

By the time you loaded the camper with your supplies, and filled the water tank, it would weigh somewhere in the 2000-2200lb range, which is a good load for a 1500 series truck.

You could make it work with tire upgrades and airbags and/or helper springs, but you may not be happy with how it handles even after making the upgrades. Some people are perfectly fine with it. It depends on the person. The concern here is primarily financial. It would be a shame to spend all that money only to find out that you HATE how it drives, and will never use it! Your only way out would be to take a massive loss on the camper or truck.

Unfortunately there are few options out there that are truly within the payload ratings of a 1500 series truck, if any. By the time you load out to go camping, even the lightest one will be at or over your available payload.

Full disclosure here, I carry a Bronco 1500 on a Chevy 3500 Dually, NOT because I think it needs a dually, but because the truck was a smokin' deal and the camper was a smokin' deal, and I am not fussy. The truck does other work for me, and the camper is a place to crash when I'm out on the road. With this combination I can still tow 7 tons.

Mkirsh, I like that little Bronco camper. When I upgrade trucks, I will buy one. You are right. I could upgrade the tires and springs, but cannot upgrade the wheel bearings. Palomino needs to quit calling these things 1/2 ton truck campers

There are a lot of campers out there advertised as "1/2 ton" including campers that have dry weights pushing 2000lbs!

Yes, there are some "1/2 ton" trucks that have payloads that high, but they are far and few between. Mostly stripped down models. A more average capacity is in the 1250-1500lb range.

Four Wheel Campers make some pretty light weight models. They start at less than 1100 pounds.
Four Wheel Campers

Pickups can take overload for short drives and low speeds, not always is case with TC.
But beside mechanical failures, consider high COG and what will happen if your tire blows on road like this '


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