1150 vs. 990

I too had to make that decision when buying mine 5 years ago. Since I haul a boat on 95% of my trips I liked the 990 better since it allowed a shorter hitch extension. Plus, when on the inside it felt to me that the added length didn't make the camper feel much bigger. What do you gain, a coat closet or something like that (remember I am comparing 2007 models). That minimal closet/cabinet space was not enough to override my engineering mind looking at the shorter hitch extension.

4000lbs in the bed? I have yet to weigh mine but don't most of the posts on here say they are closer to 5k when loaded up and ready to dry camp with water and everything?

What year 3500 you looking at? If you are worried about following the payload rating exactly and never going over it the Chevy had the lowest GVWR for the 2000 era trucks I was looking at. Newer trucks have increased. Heck, my 01 dually F350 GVWR is 11,000 while my father in laws 2011 SRW F350 is 11,000ish lbs.

Good luck with whatever you buy. John

jwolff wrote:
Heck, my 01 dually F350 GVWR is 11,000 while my father in laws 2011 SRW F350 is 11,000ish lbs.

That's because the 2011 SRW model's base weight is about the same as your 2001's base weight.

My 2002 Chevy DRW is only 6300lbs even with the big block and the allison... A 2012 in the same configuration with a Duramax is pushing 8000lbs.

From someone who spends an inordinate amount of time in a TC and doesn't tow, I'd choose a dry bath and the extra 1 1/2' of floorspace... provided you have a capable truck. Truck campers are small enough as it is.

My 09 Chevy dually handles my 1140 very well. I did a few mods to my suspension but the truck is rock solid. I do use a 42" hitch extension when towing my trailer. The difference in weight between the 990 and 1150 is about 300 lbs. Both of them will be in the 5000 lb range loaded and wet. Definitely the 1150 will offer you more room and probably a dry bath if you prefer that over a 990 wet bath. Both are great TCs and the 990 is still Northwoods most popular model. My guess is that the difference in total length of either hitch extension will be about 12-15", depending which TC you go with. As far as length of overhang, you should not know any difference once you get used to either.

I have never driven 1. a truck with a camper 2. a duely diesel truck and 3. a truck with 4000 lbs in the back end so I have zero frame of reference to make an intellegent decision. Because there are two separate components, you can't go to the Artic Fox dealer and take a camper for a test drive............. :^(

I suspect you will be at or more than 5000 pounds camper loaded and with water. You will likely need some suspension mods to the truck to handle that much weight even with the one ton dually. The real difference between the 1150 and the 990 besides price is the length, the weight is only about 200 or so pounds. If you plan to tow a trailer the 990 would probably work better with a shorter stinger; if you do not plan to tow the inside area of the 1150 provides more living space. Truck campers are small inside when it is raining, windy, cold, buggy, etc. Size really matters.

I got a 990 on a 2012 GMC 3500 hd with sumo springs as my only mod. I would do the 1150 for sure on a dual wheel whatever brand you like of truck. I tow a trailer with my rig and have a bunch of miles on it and would not change a thing on my setup. But if I did it all again the 1150 with the dry bath would be my preferred unit and a dual wheel 550 for trailer more than 10,000 pound capacity.

I'd like to get a smaller camper but my wife says bigger is better, so we keep the Lance 1030.

See our sig for details of our set up. We're very pleased with the performance so far and that has been ~18,000 miles in and out of Alaska. Lots of mountains and rough roads. 5,000 miles have been with the boat. And we're starting an 12,000 mile trip in early June.

You didn't state whether the truck will be gas or diesel powered - an important detail!
That makes a difference when it comes to truck's actual payload.
If the truck has the heavier diesel engine, you will find that the truck with camper will exceed it's rated GVWR capacity.

Either way, the truck will "handle fine" if you add adjustable shocks such as Rancho 9000's. You might want air bags as well to help level it out.

If you have the diesel engine and the AF 1150 - it will be overloaded by a lot!
If you are not comfortable with that, then the 990 would be a more prudent purchase.

Call the AF factory and see what they recommend. I did so and they told me (at the time) that the 990 was the largest unit they recommended for my crew cab long bed diesel dually.