Help needed: deciding between 2 Travel Lite Campers

[ajablaja]

Good afternoon! I am new to this community, and my husband and I are deciding between two types of truck campers, but we are torn due to payload capacity on our truck. Please give me some feedback if you could. I might be a bit paranoid about going over payload capacity. Thanks for reading!

Truck: Chevy Silverado 2010 1500 (truck dealer calculated payload to be about 1654 lbs).

Truck campers we are looking at:
- Travel Lite Air (weighs around 1100 lbs) Really cool camper, but has much very little to no storage, and no shower area for storage or portapotty).

- Travel Lite 770R Super Lite (weighs around 1300 lbs). Has a small shower for storage and porta potty and more storage for us. This is the one I really like.

Both campers are nice and suitable for us, but the 770R is a bit more lux since we'd have more space for storage and a porta potty.

The 770R + human weight + gear would probably equal around 1800 lbs, and the Air would probably be 1600 (just about payload capacity). Is going 150 lbs over payload capacity going to be a huge deal? We are planning on getting air bags either way of course. Any recommendations and advice would be greatly appreciated, as we want our truck to be in good shape after a ton of road trips. Thanks!

[ajablaja]

whizbang wrote:
The lighter camper is the better choice.

As shellbackcva59 points out, the camper will weigh a few hundred pounds more than stated in the factory brochure.

Ranger Tim's advice to weigh your truck is right on. You should do this ASAP.

Quite frankly, I have had bad experiences being over loaded.

Even with the lighter camper, YOU WILL BE OVER LOADED.

The camper weighs more than the factory says it will. Add water, propane, food, clothes, gear, and passengers and you will be 500 to 600 pounds over your trucks GVWR.

IF you have suspension mods, shocks, timbrens or air bags or springs, get proper tie downs, a rubber bed mat, and leave the tail gate at home, you will probably be okay.

I am carrying a 1090 pound pop-up on a F150. My actual camper weight is 1300 or 1400 pounds (I don't remember). The point is, my camper is heavier than the sticker on the back of it. They are all heavier.

Get the lighter camper. Weight you truck (and your truck/camper). And do some suspension mods.

Good Luck.

This is solid advice, I really appreciate it. We ended up going with the lighter camper.

[mkirsch]

There are three unavoidable truths in life, death, taxes, and it weighs more than you think it does.

Your truck weighs more than you think it does so it has less payload capacity than you think it does.
The camper weighs more than you think it does, so you will be closer to the payload capacity than you think you will be with the empty camper.
Your stuff weighs more than you think it does, so you will be farther over the payload capacity than you think you will be loaded and ready to camp.

That said, lots of people have plopped 2000-2500lbs in the back of a 1500-class pickup truck and blissfully travel from point A to point B without a care in the world. There is no law saying you can't.

The "safety card" is way overplayed in these situations. You will feel unsafe and uncomfortable with the truck/camper combination *LONG* before you are actually a hazard on the road, if you are an average, reasonable human being.

There are people that can drive a vehicle with two severely soft tires, muffler dragging, shaking violently, mushy brake pedal, half a turn of slop in the steering wheel, and not notice a problem, but most people would quickly realize that the vehicle was unsafe to drive. As long as you're not someone like that you will be fine.

[whizbang]

The lighter camper is the better choice.

As shellbackcva59 points out, the camper will weigh a few hundred pounds more than stated in the factory brochure.

Ranger Tim's advice to weigh your truck is right on. You should do this ASAP.

Quite frankly, I have had bad experiences being over loaded.

Even with the lighter camper, YOU WILL BE OVER LOADED.

The camper weighs more than the factory says it will. Add water, propane, food, clothes, gear, and passengers and you will be 500 to 600 pounds over your trucks GVWR.

IF you have suspension mods, shocks, timbrens or air bags or springs, get proper tie downs, a rubber bed mat, and leave the tail gate at home, you will probably be okay.

I am carrying a 1090 pound pop-up on a F150. My actual camper weight is 1300 or 1400 pounds (I don't remember). The point is, my camper is heavier than the sticker on the back of it. They are all heavier.

Get the lighter camper. Weight you truck (and your truck/camper). And do some suspension mods.

Good Luck.

[Grit_dog]

ajablaja wrote:
I think I'm going to go with the Air so I don't have to worry so much about the payload. I'll just pack lighter. Im sure I'll be happier in the long run. Thanks folks!

Different opinion and not advocating you to do this, but from someone who's been using and abusing most every flavor of pickup truck for the better part of 30 years now, I wouldn't have any issue putting 2000-2500 lbs on the back of a newer half ton with at least the 6.5' bed, as long as your C of G of the load( camper) wasn't grossly behind the center of rear axle.

Empty rear axle weight will be around 2500lbs on your truck. Adding another 2500lbs is right there with most rawr for 1/2 tons. The rest of the truck will have Zero issues with hauling a ton or so in the bed.

Yes you'll want good D or E load tires. Something in the 3000lb capacity range. And suspension enhancements. Personally I'd opt for timbrens or add a leafs over airbags for 2 reasons.
1. Both are cheaper to purchase than bags.
2. Both will help with reducing body roll with the camper on, whereas air bags contribute to more body roll, imo and then need a sway bar to counter act that.

I'll qualify this with, yes a 3/4 ton would be better and it's also about duty cycle. If you're going to run the camper on the truck 24/7 for the next say 50,000-100,000 miles then it's likely to put a lot more wear n tear on the rear axle than if it's a few trips a year.

[ajablaja]

shellbackcva59 wrote:
I have a 2013 Travel Lite 770SL and a 2016 Silverado 1500. Me and the truck empty, 5680 pounds. With the camper on but not loaded for a trip, 7380 pounds. That puts the 770SL at 1700 pounds.

Is that 1700 lbs fully loaded with you and all your gear?

How does it drive for you with that camper on the back? Any pros or cons I should know about or is it a pretty good set up? Do you have air bags and stabilizers? Thanks!

[shellbackcva59]

I have a 2013 Travel Lite 770SL and a 2016 Silverado 1500. Me and the truck empty, 5680 pounds. With the camper on but not loaded for a trip, 7380 pounds. That puts the 770SL at 1700 pounds.

[WNYBob]

I believe my 800 weighed 1320 lbs.

TT = Travel Trailer
DW = Dear Wife

[ajablaja]

I think I'm going to go with the Air so I don't have to worry so much about the payload. I'll just pack lighter. Im sure I'll be happier in the long run. Thanks folks!

[GeoBoy]

Also look at a Northstar Vista truck camper, made for 1500 series trucks. Also consider Timbrens instead of air bags. Don't forget to look at upgrading your tires. It appears that your max payload is 1500 pounds.

[Lwiddis]

"Is going 150 lbs over payload capacity going to be a huge deal?"

No huge deal? The manufacturer said this was your truck's limit. Living over the edge isn't safe. Want to bet you dont wind up 300, 400 or more over?

[Ranger_Tim]

Don't trust what anyone says. Take the truck to a truck stop and weigh it without the tailgate and a full tank of fuel. You will then have numbers to use for calculating your payload. Figure out the wet weight of the camper using Travel-lite's dry weight plus the water, propane, batteries and gear that you will include. Figure on a weight of gear in the truck too. Then compare with the actual truck payload, wheel and axle ratings for your model/year.

You will then have data upon which to base your decision. Guessing is a gamble that may result in happiness or heartache. Be armed with facts and you will probably be happy! Surprises are not welcome when it comes to spending thousands.

[work2much]

You should be fine. Pack only what you need. The smaller camper you are looking at has a small fresh water tank and no holding tanks so weight shouldn't fluctuate much. Have fun!

[ajablaja]

kerrlakeroo wrote:
This is a no-brainer.
go with the one YOU like, and then tell Hubby a year later he needs a bigger truck , (to make him happy)
And in both cases , this year and next,,,,, your a hero.......

I just bought us the truck so that won't be an option unfortunately - we couldn't afford a heavier duty truck at this time. Maybe in 5 years we can do a full upgrade if things are going well for us.

But I like being a hero so that's always good! I'm a hero for getting us a truck - my husband needs to buy me a pony now. haha jk : )

[ajablaja]

WNYBob wrote:
As my profile states, I had a Travel-lite TC on my 2011 Silverado 1500 LS.
I looked up the RPOs or as built codes of my truck. And found it was a "work truck" with increased strength frame, 3.73 rear end 5.3 gaser. I added AirLift air bags, E rated tires and Bilstiens shocks. All which were NEEDED. I also added an air dam between the cab and cab over to reduce buffering.

So check your truck! Others will say it will be ok, but you are stressing it to the max, and may be unhappy down the road.

We moved to a TT because of the DW. Wife is now happy now, life is good.

Hi WNYBob, How much did a Travel-lite TC weigh? Sounds like I might be maxing my truck out if I get the 770, and may be happier with the Air model. Also, what is a TT and DW? Sorry - I'm a newbie to this camping lingo. : )

[WNYBob]

As my profile states, I had a Travel-lite TC on my 2011 Silverado 1500 LS.
I looked up the RPOs or as built codes of my truck. And found it was a "work truck" with increased strength frame, 3.73 rear end 5.3 gaser. I added AirLift air bags, E rated tires and Bilstiens shocks. All which were NEEDED. I also added an air dam between the cab and cab over to reduce buffering.

So check your truck! Others will say it will be ok, but you are stressing it to the max, and may be unhappy down the road.

We moved to a TT because of the DW. Wife is now happy now, life is good.