1/2 ton truck camper

[surveyor_roadie]

Anyone have a truck camper on a 1/2 ton truck?.Our Nissan pro 4x has a payload of 1843. The camper weighs 1850.Planning on putting airbags on it.

[Hemi_Joel]

mkirsch wrote:

Geewizard wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
One person's "felt fine" is another person's "white knuckle experience."

When you ask us, we don't know where you fall in that spectrum, or why you are there. There are people who will put 3000lbs in a 1/2 ton truck and drive the thing down the road with the frame on the axle, tires squashed halfway to the rims, squirming all over the road, and think nothing of it. Then there are people who will have a death grip on the steering wheel driving an empty truck down a straight empty road on a sunny calm day... and everyone in between.

I'm one of those people in the last category....I also close my eyes! :E

I've ridden with some people... Never more than ONCE. One particular person was so nervous about driving that he'd get on the expressway and drive 45 in the far LEFT lane because he "couldn't handle merging traffic" and "higher speeds scared him." Let me out, I'll find my own way home.

My sister in law is so nervous and over cautious behind the wheel, she has run out of gas waiting to make a left turn! 😉

[rider997]

twodownzero wrote:
The lightest Lance hardside camper overloads my 1 ton SRW.

Maybe, just maybe, truck campers aren't for you.

What 1 ton SRW might you have (something from the 70s)? The lightest Lance hardside is under 2,000 lbs wet.

The GVWR on any modern SRW 1 ton will easily (easily) manage the smaller Lance hard sides.

[mkirsch]

Geewizard wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
One person's "felt fine" is another person's "white knuckle experience."

When you ask us, we don't know where you fall in that spectrum, or why you are there. There are people who will put 3000lbs in a 1/2 ton truck and drive the thing down the road with the frame on the axle, tires squashed halfway to the rims, squirming all over the road, and think nothing of it. Then there are people who will have a death grip on the steering wheel driving an empty truck down a straight empty road on a sunny calm day... and everyone in between.

I'm one of those people in the last category....I also close my eyes! :E

I've ridden with some people... Never more than ONCE. One particular person was so nervous about driving that he'd get on the expressway and drive 45 in the far LEFT lane because he "couldn't handle merging traffic" and "higher speeds scared him." Let me out, I'll find my own way home.

[twodownzero]

The lightest Lance hardside camper overloads my 1 ton SRW.

Maybe, just maybe, truck campers aren't for you.

[Geewizard]

mkirsch wrote:
One person's "felt fine" is another person's "white knuckle experience."

When you ask us, we don't know where you fall in that spectrum, or why you are there. There are people who will put 3000lbs in a 1/2 ton truck and drive the thing down the road with the frame on the axle, tires squashed halfway to the rims, squirming all over the road, and think nothing of it. Then there are people who will have a death grip on the steering wheel driving an empty truck down a straight empty road on a sunny calm day... and everyone in between.

I'm one of those people in the last category....I also close my eyes! :E

[mkirsch]

One person's "felt fine" is another person's "white knuckle experience."

When you ask us, we don't know where you fall in that spectrum, or why you are there. There are people who will put 3000lbs in a 1/2 ton truck and drive the thing down the road with the frame on the axle, tires squashed halfway to the rims, squirming all over the road, and think nothing of it. Then there are people who will have a death grip on the steering wheel driving an empty truck down a straight empty road on a sunny calm day... and everyone in between.

[cpres]

wvabeer wrote:
All I can say is I probably am the biggest offender of being over weight 1200 lbs on a 1/2 ton. I would have never done this but needing a 1/2 ton for commuting persuaded me to get a truck camper for what I have. I looked at a few then since the one I wanted SAID 1770 lb I thought ok I can do that. I drove 600 miles to buy it, loaded it and brought it home, it felt fine going down the road. Then I weighed it, 2270lbs. It has worked for me, I don't know about a Nissan. All I can say is try it you may like it but beware of weight tags, they can lie.

I ran a Silverado 1500 for awhile, I thought it worked ok after lots of upgrades due to running well over 1000lbs past the GVWR on that truck. I now have a 1 ton dually that is 11 years older, so much nicer. You need a stout truck to carry a camper and it will be hard to setup a 1500 series truck and you won't have many camper choices.

Good luck, I have traveled the use the truck I own route.

[wvabeer]

All I can say is I probably am the biggest offender of being over weight 1200 lbs on a 1/2 ton. I would have never done this but needing a 1/2 ton for commuting persuaded me to get a truck camper for what I have. I looked at a few then since the one I wanted SAID 1770 lb I thought ok I can do that. I drove 600 miles to buy it, loaded it and brought it home, it felt fine going down the road. Then I weighed it, 2270lbs. It has worked for me, I don't know about a Nissan. All I can say is try it you may like it but beware of weight tags, they can lie.

[youngm357]

I've been hauling a 1500# fleet wood angler on my 2006 F150 for years. I put on airbags and it has done great. It has 150k miles and running strong. Yes I would prefer a bigger diesel truck but I can't afford one so this works for me. I usually have it on driving in the mountains and on gravel roads. I do have 10 ply tires.

[campingken]

We have a friend who has a Northstar TC 650 on a Toyota Tundra. He added air bags and has driven and camped in the rig for the past 2 years without problems. There are plenty of dual wheel 1 ton trucks that have campers that exceed their GVW.

[Geewizard]

Can't be done! (that's sarcasm, see my profile)

PM me if you want my take on it.

[DWeikert]

surveyor roadie wrote:
Anyone have a truck camper on a 1/2 ton truck?.Our Nissan pro 4x has a payload of 1843. The camper weighs 1850.Planning on putting airbags on it.

Depends if you're looking for a fully self contained camper, or just a bed, storage and maybe a place to cook. Forget the former but take a look at something like Four Wheel Campers for some fairly light models designed for small trucks.

A dry weight of 1850 is not a good idea...

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I put my stripped-down Bronco pop-up camper (about #1000) on my 2014 Ram 1500 4x4. With the addition of coil spring air bags, it handled quite nicely; but I'm sure not recommending it for a hardside (taller) or heavier camper.

[d3500ram]

If a TT is an option over a TC in your realm of RV possibilities then in my opinion that will be your better option for several reasons:

• -no monkeying around to upgrade suspension with perhaps less than satisfactory results.
• -equal or even more space.
• -perhaps less expensive.