GM pickup tailgate opening too narrow

So, what is the plan? Sell the camper and get a new one or dump the truck? Think I'd take a measuring tape along if I was truck shopping..... A tape is a lot cheaper than a new truck or TC......

Can't help with GM but if you want a measurement from a 2017 Ram let me know.

You could always ditch the stock P/U bed for a flatbed to make the camper work on the narrow truck.

FWIW I have a 2016 Ram and a 2009 Eagle Cap 995 with about 5/8” inch at gate opening to spare on each side of camper.

Are the sides of the tailgate too narrow or is it just the radiused lower corners? If it's the corners, use a riser to raise the bottom above the curve.

s1214 wrote:
Are the sides of the tailgate too narrow or is it just the radiused lower corners? If it's the corners, use a riser to raise the bottom above the curve.

No, it isn't just the radius on the lower corners. It is the distance between the vertical sides of the tailgate opening. My "step-up" on my Eagle Cap is exactly 60" wide but the tailgate opening on the 2017 Chev I looked at is 58-3/4". I do remember awhile back someone on this forum mentioning about this being a problem with their camper, as well. What I need to know is what years GM pickup boxes have this dimension and whether or not Ford and Ram suffer from this same issue. I know my 2004 Dodge clears the "step-up" by about 1/4" on each side. Very tight but doable.

A new GM and Bigfoot 10.4 has about 3/4" each side clearance:).

I think it started with 2008 model
I build a TC myself and had no choice as I wanted new truck back then,
so had to trim bit of plywood from the lower corners,no biggie,
I used 3/4 ply for the floor so no loss of strength.

It was in 2008 that the tailgates narrowed on GM trucks, I couldn't fit a Northern Lite that was on a 2001 Chev without raising it almost 4". No problem with a traditional camper shape or extra width above the wheel wells like an Arctic Fox.

Too narrow by 1 1/4 inches?....wow...is your camper older than 1988..that is the year GM screwed the camper manufacturers by narrowing the tailgate opening...I had to have storage compartments narrowed on a stick built camper at that time to fit my 88 GM....since then I have carried a 2002 Bigfoot 2500 series on a 2000 GM, a 2003 GM, a 2009 GM....now I am carrying a Bigfoot 10.4 on a 2016 GM...Bigfoot has not changed their camper box width in all those years since 88. I have the curved bottom of the tailgate opening problem since my 2009 GM and now the 2016, but I just put 1 1/4" plywood lift in the bed of my truck and all is good...

Note. I have edited my remarks. Old brain said 1977 when it should have been 1988.