Host Cascade and suitable truck

[maxum1989]

I have another thread going talking about the door pillar sticker on a 2015 GMC 3500 hd dually I went and looked at. Door pillar sticker says cargo and passengers shouldn't go over 4887 pounds. I drove this truck today. Its an awesome truck.

I saw the new Cascade camper from Host at the recent Seattle Rv show and fell in love. I contacted Host about this new Cascade camper and optioned the way I would like, it comes in at about 3750 pounds. I actually didn't pick many extra options. This weight is without propane 100 lbs, batteries 120lbs or water 200ish (not full). So before I put any supplies or myself in the truck I'm down to just over 700 pounds. A truck camper this size with as much storage as it has tends to have a lot of things put into it so I'm thinking that 700 pounds isn't going to cut it.

So before a bunch of you say the truck will handle it no problem, I agree, I think it would. The problem is I'm from B.C. where they can and do at times take the truck weight rating seriously. To be fair, I have never seen any of these enforcement setups anywhere in my travels, but they still concern me a little. With this potential enforcement issue in my mind while I try and match a truck to this Cascade camper, I'm trying my best to stay within the trucks weight rating. I think I would own this setup for a very long time so I would like to get it right.

In the other thread, someone eluded to the fact that Ram and Ford have higher weight ratings on their 3500 dually trucks. Can someone with a truck from either of those manufacturers in the 2014 to current year confirm this? I'm hoping for a payload in the 5400 pound area or higher so I can load the camper any way I like for any given trip without concern.

[JIMNLIN]

Area13 wrote:
OP, sorry you have to worry about the Canadian weight police. I think the 2015 GMC 3500 hd dually you are looking at would be a great match for the Cascade.

This from a commercial haulers website concerning how their truck gvwr is determined. Found this on a haulers website thread which was poking fun at rv website myth about the truck makers gvwr determining how much load a truck can legally/safely carry. These guys and gals are scaled every day so they should know what BC says.

BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations

Weight scales: (1) thru (3) snipped for length

(4) The gross weight of any vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be the sum of the individual gross axle weights of all the axles of the vehicle or combination of vehicles.

Your 3500 DRW won't have any legal or safety issue carrying weight in the bed right up to its 9xxx lbs rawr in BC

[broark01]

2015 F350 DRW 4x4 Crew Cab has GVWR of 14000 lbs. On the scales, the Truck weighs right at 9500 lbs with me and full tanks of diesel. Max Payload with this = 4500 lbs (14000-9500). The only way to technically increase the truck's payload is to start pulling out the back seat, spare tire, doors, battery, etc. This steered me away from triple slide truck campers but looked at ALP 1200, Host Mammoth and Cascade. All very nice but heavy with high center of gravity.

[jimh406]

run100 wrote:
Problem is, the new, larger, basement model campers, with floors over the bed rails, are outpacing the carrying ability of the traditional dually's. I'm just waiting for the next slide to be going up instead of out.

If you compare the weight of 11 1/2 TCs from the early 2000s with some of the DRWs of the same era, they were just as out of wack with respect to capacity.

The newer DRWs are rated quite a lot higher, and at least Host has figured out how to build space without as much weight. Sure, they don't have as many wood cabinets, but they are lighter nevertheless compared to many brands from 10-15 years ago in the full length models.

Certainly DRWs of the day can easily carry a basement double slided model like mine.

[maxum1989]

Area13 wrote:
OP, sorry you have to worry about the Canadian weight police. I think the 2015 GMC 3500 hd dually you are looking at would be a great match for the Cascade.

I totally agree that the truck would be a good match for the Cascade.

I promised myself I would make sure to stay within the numbers the next time I upgraded so here we are. I don't think I would run into the weight police issues while on the road but I have this opportunity to get it right so I'm doing my best to do that. This way the concern is totally eliminated. If there was no other way around this I would just say the heck with it and go with the GMC 3500. There are other options so looking into those seems like the right thing to do.

I also don't want to be counting forks and knives as I load the camper either. I have been there before. Having to decide if I really need something as I was over on weights. Not a fun way to pack.

[Area13]

OP, sorry you have to worry about the Canadian weight police. I think the 2015 GMC 3500 hd dually you are looking at would be a great match for the Cascade.

[Area13]

Kayteg1 wrote:
How you go up, when you at 13-6 height already?

Who's 13'6".

Host's come in at 12'4" on a standard 36" bed height top of AC. Only 5" higher than a lot of TC's i've spec'd.

My old below the rail Adventurer 910db was 11'11'', same as Lance 855S.

I think the way Host build their rigs above the bed rail, yeah a bit higher, but the design is very stout, definitely not for everyone.

[wnjj]

Kayteg1 wrote:
How you go up, when you at 13-6 height already?

Don’t camp under a bridge?

[Kayteg1]

How you go up, when you at 13-6 height already?

[run100]

Two things I've learned over the years:
1. Consumers tend to only read the headlines, but not the details (myself included ... sometimes)
2. Literature published by many organizations can often be vague and confusing. Although it may not be intentional, it sure seems that way.

With that said, I have to disagree about weights published by camper manufacturers not being accurate - at least for Lance. It only makes sense to publish the base weight, without options added. Then, consumers can add the weight of whatever options they "need" and leave off what they don't. Lance even has a build feature on their website, that allows you to add the desired options and shows the final total estimated weight. I've found the weight to be pretty darn close.

Truck manufacturers tend to do the same. When we ordered our truck, as we went down the list of options (on the computer) with the fleet agent, we watched the specs of the truck change with each modification, until we arrived at the final build. So, we knew the specs of the truck before it was even built.

Problem is, the new, larger, basement model campers, with floors over the bed rails, are outpacing the carrying ability of the traditional dually's. I'm just waiting for the next slide to be going up instead of out.

[towpro]

Dodge posts the camper numbers at http://www.rambodybuilder.com/year.pdf


Here is the URL for the 18's https://www.mopar.com/moparsvc/tweddle/publications?id=9468

they have some formula that accounts for the the weight of passengers plus some (other) weight and deducts that from the max payload and come up with a "max recommended camper weight".

I am looking at ordering a 2018 Laramie 2wd dually diesel with Aisin.
Payload is 6030, GAWR is 5500 front, 9750 rear.
4WD will show 340 lbs less payload for same truck.


This same truck with 6030 payload has a max camper weight of 4792 lbs with bucket seats (5 passenger) and 4631 lbs with bench seats (6 passenger)

so it appears to me each passenger is worth 161 lbs? plus 433 lbs thrown in for the dog?

my personal truck (4x4 dually, 14K GVWR Cummins, Aisin, 4:10 rear) came with a piece of paper in the glove box that says "this truck is not recommended to carry a truck camper". No idea why, but some here suggest it is because the truck has a snow plow prep group (IE a skid plate)

[Grit_dog]

This thread proves that the numbers game really does reel in more customers than one would think.

[thedavidzoo]

Our 2014 Ram 3500 6.7L Cummins Diesel dually CC longbox Laramie 4x4 Aisin 4.10 Axle with
Cold Weather Group
Heavy Duty Snow Plow Prep Group
and 14000 GVWR has door jamb payload (passengers and cargo)sticker stating 5368 lbs.

[Raystar57]

Quote "And speaking of the act of towing, the 2020 Ram HD pickup features a stronger high-strength steel frame with wider front rails."

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/spyshots-2020-ram-hd-pickup-truck-says-cheese-to-the-camera-121709.html

Wondering what this will do to payload and GVWR.

I am not sure but doesn't the chassis cabs have a wider front rail now?

[TxGearhead]

billyray50 wrote:
My 2015 Ram Laramie longhorn 3500 DRW crew cab CTD 4x4 Long bed had 5655lbs. payload capacity with GVW 14,000. My 2017 Ram 3500 crew cab Laramie DRW CTD 4x4 long bed 5572 lbs. Payload capacity has 5572 lbs. payload capacity with GVW 14,000. Both trucks are the same with 32 gallon fuel and 5 gallon DEF. Not sure the why the difference with payload stickers. Trying to find and earlier link of an older post with my buddy's 2015 GMC 3500... 4x2!!... diesel long bed crew cab which I recall had a 300 lbs. less payload capacity on his 2015 model than my 2015 Ram.

Thanks for posting. My 2018 Ram should be here soon and I'm hoping for 5300#+ payload. Not that I need "quite" that much, but definitely need more than what I have now.
When I was shopping for 1 ton SRW I noticed that similarly equipped payloads for Ford was the lowest, then GM, then Ram the highest.

[Raystar57]

JimPH wrote:
My 2016 Dodge Ram 3500 DRW Long bed Diesel Laramie post sticker says passengers and cargo weight not to exceed 5679 lbs. It has a GVWR of 14000 lbs.

This is impressive payload by Dodge and that's with the Diesel.
I like GMC but have been swayed by the Dodge/Cummings setup.
Really don't want to go into chassis cab at this time.

I am hoping that with the 2020 redesign this payload will go up #400 but that may be pushing it.