What do I need to add to truck for truck camper

I didn't see dually jack extensions mentioned. Larger TC would probably have them but would make sure

Your estimated weight of 3000 to 4000 is about 1000 pounds optimistic.
Forget the manufacturers empty weight label, the truth is always a lot more.

You’ve certainly got a truck capable of hauling whatever camper you want.
If you get or make a long enough cord you can just plug into your 7-pin trailer plug.
Campers usually have their connector on the forward driver side corner, so an outlet in the bed up forward like 5th wheel haulers use is nice but not absolutely necessary.

You can always just drive it with whatever camper you buy and see what it needs.
Some trucks don’t need anything, my old ‘80s Chevy duallies never needed any help at all.
If it sags, airbags or overloads.... if it sways, sway bar. If it drives great, camp on!

What you need to do and what you end up wanting to do to drive comfortably aren't necessarily the same thing. To bring my camper home and use it the first couple of times, I bought torklift mounts and wired up an extension that plugged into my trailer wiring. It was a little white knuckley driving in winds, but it 'worked'.

As it happens, for unrelated reasons I made a list just last night of everything I had done to my truck to accommodate my camper. My list has prices attached (removed), and I was a little surprised to find out how much I've spend when I added it all up. Things were done mostly one at a time over a couple of years, as I adjusted to one change and found there was still behavior I want to tune out.

I have a 2003 F-250 4x4 with a Lance 915 and tow about 8000 pounds behind it.


Airlift 88215 (airbags)
Airlift 25856 (airbag compressor kit)
Stableload A7200 (overload extensions)
Hellwig 7677 (swaybar)
ZeeDee DZ86881 (bed matt)
AFE 46-70022 12-10.25 (diff cover, more cooling)
Torklift F2011 (camper frame mounts)
Torklift F3001 (camper frame mounts)
Torklift S9000 (2) (camper tie downs)
Additional Ford OEM overload leaf (from junkyard)
Vision 81B-9770M0 (4) (19.5 wheels)
Falken BI-877 (4) (245/70/19.5 tires)
Curt 31014 (front hitch for cargo rack)
Hitch Extension (homemade, superhitch knockoff)
Steadfast 10019 (shorter radio antenna)


The next thing I'll probably do is cabover struts. The camper has the mounts and came with the struts, I just have to buy and install the mounts for my truck.

This isn't counting any of the upgrades to the camper itself (solar, dsi water heater, batteries, more 12v/usb outlets, etc).

Good point on the tailgate.
Op has it covered here.
Mountiankowboy, that is a very nice looking setup!

Rubber bed mat, stable loads, and Bilsteins was all my 1990 needed for a 4200lb camper that put me over my GVWR by 800lb, but I was under my rear axle max weight rating. Truck rode great and handled it with no porposing.

Leave your tailgate at home.
Get a rubber bed mat. Get tie downs installed. Get a 7 pin connector installed for the camper lights and battery charge. Except, if you really plan on buying a Lance; Lance uses their own proprietary electrical connector.

At minimum you need a rubber bed mat, turnbuckles and truck tie down points. If you plan to tow behind the camper, you need a receiver strong enough for an extension, a proper length extension and trailer wiring extended to your ball. There are many ways to tie down the camper to the truck and how to tow, so I will let others argue which is better - My preference is Torklift products for both.

Whether you need suspension help will depend on the camper you choose. Additional OEM spring preload and heavier stabilizer bar is typical but not always needed.

The best tie downs connect to the frame.
You need a 12 volt receptacle in the truck bed.
You need to take a look at your suspension and possibly beef up the rear with an after market product like air bags.

I think you have got it covered. Do get the biggest sway bar available for your truck. You might doa little research on rubber mat options. Lots of options, including none at all. I have tried many different methods, and prefer the 1/2" or 3/4" horse stall rubber mats. I see several advantages to this type mat.

It is not critical, and not needed until you get your TC, but give thought to a rear camera on the TC. I prefer hard wired, the wireless did not work for me. They are especially fantastic when you in a shopping center parking lot.

Wayne

Everything you do to the suspension will help all the other suspension parts not have to do all the work.

My last truck got upgrades after I bought the camper and each improvement was done one at a time so I was able to take note of what each item did for the ride.

I.E shocks, added spring stacked on existing overload springs, rear sway bar, front sway bar. It turned out each item contributed to making a better behaving suspension overall.