Considering a truck camper - truck advice?
Hello. We are considering buying a truck camper and truck. I'm going to buy a used truck and was wondering if there was a solid favorite among you guys. I started looking at 1999 - 2002 diesel ...
Forum Discussion
The truck's payload capacity and the weight of the travellers, camper and gear must match.
The payload is found on the door sticker. Believe these numbers. There are ways to exceed these numbers, some are safe, many are not. Older trucks tend to have less payload than newer ones. Duallies have more payload as they have 2x the number of wheels in the rear to distribute weight. For SRW trucks, the rear axle load rating is usually limited by the load capacity of the tires.
The "dry" weight of the camper is stated by the manufacturer and it is usually very much understated and does not represent the actual weight when ready for travel. You usually need to add the weights of any non-standard equipment (such as A/C, camper jacks, etc.), battery, water, LPG, gear, ... Some mfgs are worse than others, but you need to be very careful when calculating the weights. You might take a look at the buyer's guide in truck camper magazine (truckcampermagazine.com) for more insights.
If you have neither truck nor camper, it is wise to find a camper you like first, and then look for a matching truck. And having extra payload capacity is never a bad thing.
The payload is found on the door sticker. Believe these numbers. There are ways to exceed these numbers, some are safe, many are not. Older trucks tend to have less payload than newer ones. Duallies have more payload as they have 2x the number of wheels in the rear to distribute weight. For SRW trucks, the rear axle load rating is usually limited by the load capacity of the tires.
The "dry" weight of the camper is stated by the manufacturer and it is usually very much understated and does not represent the actual weight when ready for travel. You usually need to add the weights of any non-standard equipment (such as A/C, camper jacks, etc.), battery, water, LPG, gear, ... Some mfgs are worse than others, but you need to be very careful when calculating the weights. You might take a look at the buyer's guide in truck camper magazine (truckcampermagazine.com) for more insights.
If you have neither truck nor camper, it is wise to find a camper you like first, and then look for a matching truck. And having extra payload capacity is never a bad thing.
