Are the older campers a whole lot lighter than newer ones?

[urbex]

Recently picked up a '75 Six Pak short bed camper with the intention of making the redneck toy hauler - TC on the front of a stupid long flatbed trailer giving me room to put my Jeep behind it.

I went to pick it up with my '05 Ram 1500 quad cab with Hemi and towing package, and based on what I read here, I expected a comical white knuckle nightmare trip home on the rear bump stops because I don't have air bags or the like back there.



To my amazement, while the camper noticeably sagged the suspension, it wasn't by a whole lot. It looked like the equivalent of a lowered leveling kit installed in the truck, and I barely even noticed the weight of the camper back there.

Now, this was a nearly empty camper - stove, sink, icebox and no water tanks at all so I know I'm going to add a few hundred pounds to it by switching to a refrigerator, adding a fresh and grey water tank, etc.

I haven't scaled it yet to know the exact weight, but it does have me wondering if these older, smaller, TCs are significantly lighter than modern campers? Based on suspension sag, I'm guessing it's currently under 1,000lbs.

[Tom_Anderson]

I got my first cabover truck camper over 30 years ago (it was well-used, even when I bought it) and hauled it on a '71 Chevy K10 longbed. I did put a pair off add-a-leafs in the rear, but I did no other truck modifications of any kind, and never had any issues with handling, power, or anything else.

I don't remember much about that camper, but it had to have been a bunch lighter than my current one.