Host mammoth on 3500 HD 07 Chevy dual rear wheel

[Devocamper]

We are looking to down size from a 35 foot fifth wheel and looked at the host mammoth yesterday day an we are thinking it could work for us but have many questions. I was thinking about this change about a year ago and asked some questions here back then and I thank all the TC people for your help then.
This time the questions are about Host Quility in the world of truck campers , the three we looked at seemed well made much better than the small motorhomes we had first thought about and had been looking at and the mammoth seems like a good floor plan to downsize into with its large tanks ( for longer stays in one place)and fair amount of room . Where does host fall in with the other manufactures in terms of quality?i Second question is can I even handle this slide in with my 07 Chevy 1 ton dual rear wheel Chevy diesel ? I have a rear axle rating of 8200 lbs and run around 3300 lbs with just the fifth wheel hitch and a bed storage box with a couple Honda 2000's and some other stuff and a full fuel tank so I would think I am about 3000,3100 lbs empty with fuel . The dealer we were at says no problem with upgraded shocks and air bags but I have heard that before when shopping for fifth wheels years ago ,sure you can tow that! the host website said the base unit weights 3360 with out options but they don't list the weight of the options in fact the website is not great and is confusing , lists the slide outs as options or extras ? We never travel with water in any of the tanks so I am not thinking that would be added weight .Anyway any help would be greatly appreciated we are retiring soon and want to do more traveling out west from here in the east and a 35 foot fifth wheel as nice as it is it a big load to tow around the country. Thanks in advance for any help
Mike

[Bedlam]

A regular parking spot in Newport, OR on the waterfront:



Another reason go with a truck camper. This is on a crew cab 60" CA chassis cab truck.

[Devocamper]

burningman wrote:
Remember that even though you consider yourself spoiled on really huge rigs and will only be happy in the very largest camper in existence, you might be unhappy trying to drive it!
I like the 11-footers myself and wouldn't want to go shorter but there is a point where it starts to suck to be THAT heavy.
You could also downsize to a small trailer and still have more room than a truck camper, with none of the weight issues. Heck you'd have more truck than you need, you'd be LIGHT!

Thanks for the help, After looking at truck campers I like the idea of no trailer tires or brakes to maintain and being able to get into smaller older campground's when we get to head out west as well as no property taxes or sales tax in my state on a truck camper where as I have a pretty big property tax bill on the fifth wheel as well as the registration , we are going to look at some lighter TC's but as I said before after the Host mammoth it will be hard to settle. Your point about driving with such a heavy load is becoming more of a focus for me , wish there was a way to test drive what my set up would be like but that would require adding the suspension upgrades and removing the fifth wheel hitch and tool box in the bed of my current truck , as far as a smaller trailer we have looked but the quality sucks and the prices are way to high for what you get. we are a ways out from this change anyway but I will keep my options open be still feel unsure as to weather it would be the right way to go with my current truck but sure think I would like the TC way of travel and camping.
Thanks
Mike

[burningman]

Remember that even though you consider yourself spoiled on really huge rigs and will only be happy in the very largest camper in existence, you might be unhappy trying to drive it!
I like the 11-footers myself and wouldn't want to go shorter but there is a point where it starts to suck to be THAT heavy.
You could also downsize to a small trailer and still have more room than a truck camper, with none of the weight issues. Heck you'd have more truck than you need, you'd be LIGHT!

[skyhammer]

I have a Host Everest and weigh the camper nearly every trip on the scales near Grants Pass, Oregon.
Depending upon what I take with me, my weight can vary by more than 1000lbs.
The lightest weight taken was 4300 front axle, 9000 rear axle= 13300lbs, right at GVWR. This includes additional weight of front hitch, air bags with tank, stable loads and full 70 gallons of water.
The heaviest I have weighed is the trip I just got back from, Front axle=4750, rear axle 9750=14,500. This weight included the front hitch with cargo carrier,Honda 2000 Generator, 6 gallons of water and 6 gallons of gas,42" extension hitch, 4250lb boat and trailer, 35 gallons of water and the camper was stuffed with everything I find room for, plus myself and my dog and the cab was stuffed to the max. Probably will never travel this heavy again. I also had new tires that weighed 9lbs more per tire.
My Dana 80 is rated for 11,000lbs, so well under their.
Bottom line, without the boat and front hitch, I am at GVWR, I could shave more weight easily.
If I had a new Ford, I would be well under GVWR without the boat and only a little over with the boat and front hitch carrier loaded.
Even with my truck, if I didn't pack 500lbs of unnecessary stuff, I would only be a little over GVWR with the boat and full front hitch carrier.I just came back from a 3 week fishing trip and had enough food and clean clothes for another 3 weeks.
I notice no difference in how the truck handles regardless of the weight, although adding more than 25' in length with the boat makes driving a little more tense sometimes.

[Devocamper]

tmartin000 wrote:

Devocamper wrote:
We are looking to down size from a 35 foot fifth wheel and looked at the host mammoth yesterday day an we are thinking it could work for us but have many questions. I was thinking about this change about a year ago and asked some questions here back then and I thank all the TC people for your help then.
This time the questions are about Host Quility in the world of truck campers , the three we looked at seemed well made much better than the small motorhomes we had first thought about and had been looking at and the mammoth seems like a good floor plan to downsize into with its large tanks ( for longer stays in one place)and fair amount of room . Where does host fall in with the other manufactures in terms of quality?i Second question is can I even handle this slide in with my 07 Chevy 1 ton dual rear wheel Chevy diesel ? I have a rear axle rating of 8200 lbs and run around 3300 lbs with just the fifth wheel hitch and a bed storage box with a couple Honda 2000's and some other stuff and a full fuel tank so I would think I am about 3000,3100 lbs empty with fuel . The dealer we were at says no problem with upgraded shocks and air bags but I have heard that before when shopping for fifth wheels years ago ,sure you can tow that! the host website said the base unit weights 3360 with out options but they don't list the weight of the options in fact the website is not great and is confusing , lists the slide outs as options or extras ? We never travel with water in any of the tanks so I am not thinking that would be added weight .Anyway any help would be greatly appreciated we are retiring soon and want to do more traveling out west from here in the east and a 35 foot fifth wheel as nice as it is it a big load to tow around the country. Thanks in advance for any help
Mike

I'm curious, is there a reason why the Lance units, like the 1172, didn't make your short list?

It is on the list and we are going to see one in a few weeks if the dealer still has it as well as the EC 1165 but that's a heavy one as well . There are no dealers in our state so it is a day's trip to see any of these units and calling ahead to see what's in stock at each of the closest dealers. The 1172 is probably better suited for my truck than the mammoth and EC 1200 and seems like it could work I just had not seen that floor plan when I started asking questions here. Where does Lance's Quality fall with the others ? The first mistake we have already made was going to see the mammoth first we should have looked the lighter TC's first .

[Bedlam]

I spoke with another dealer that feels EC is too inflexible with options or customizations on their premier models. I know Host and AF are willing to work with a customer if they want something different on any of their models which EC and Adventurer will not do. I spoke with the factory EC rep and walked away feeling like I was attempting to buy an Apple product (only their way at a high price).

[GeoBoy]

Devocamper wrote:

GeoBoy wrote:
Ask Bill at Truck Camper Warehouse he sold both EC and Host.

I was there looking at the Host and he felt that EC has slipped in quality and host was a better quality TC but of course he doesn't sell the EC line any longer so that's why I asked here .
Thanks

We looked at the EC's at Bill's and I really liked their cabinetry but Bill told me too many QC and warranty problems and no factory support. We really like our AF.

[tmartin000]

Devocamper wrote:
We are looking to down size from a 35 foot fifth wheel and looked at the host mammoth yesterday day an we are thinking it could work for us but have many questions. I was thinking about this change about a year ago and asked some questions here back then and I thank all the TC people for your help then.
This time the questions are about Host Quility in the world of truck campers , the three we looked at seemed well made much better than the small motorhomes we had first thought about and had been looking at and the mammoth seems like a good floor plan to downsize into with its large tanks ( for longer stays in one place)and fair amount of room . Where does host fall in with the other manufactures in terms of quality?i Second question is can I even handle this slide in with my 07 Chevy 1 ton dual rear wheel Chevy diesel ? I have a rear axle rating of 8200 lbs and run around 3300 lbs with just the fifth wheel hitch and a bed storage box with a couple Honda 2000's and some other stuff and a full fuel tank so I would think I am about 3000,3100 lbs empty with fuel . The dealer we were at says no problem with upgraded shocks and air bags but I have heard that before when shopping for fifth wheels years ago ,sure you can tow that! the host website said the base unit weights 3360 with out options but they don't list the weight of the options in fact the website is not great and is confusing , lists the slide outs as options or extras ? We never travel with water in any of the tanks so I am not thinking that would be added weight .Anyway any help would be greatly appreciated we are retiring soon and want to do more traveling out west from here in the east and a 35 foot fifth wheel as nice as it is it a big load to tow around the country. Thanks in advance for any help
Mike

I'm curious, is there a reason why the Lance units, like the 1172, didn't make your short list?

[deltabravo]

That's a lot of truck camper for your year of GM truck.

I'm over the GVWR on my 2009 even with just my AF811

[Devocamper]

GeoBoy wrote:
Ask Bill at Truck Camper Warehouse he sold both EC and Host.

I was there looking at the Host and he felt that EC has slipped in quality and host was a better quality TC but of course he doesn't sell the EC line any longer so that's why I asked here .
Thanks

[GeoBoy]

Ask Bill at Truck Camper Warehouse he sold both EC and Host.

[Bedlam]

If you're looking at big units, the Host, Chalet and Eagle Cap will be your focus. Chalet does a limited run each year that is not advertised if those units appeal to you. My observation is that Host has the best build quality of the three and Eagle Cap has slipped to third.

I suggest replacing the rear leaf pack with a heavier one from SDTruckSprings.com - If you need additional spring support later, it will be easy to add to StableLoads, air bags or Timbrens for final tuning. If your truck does not have a rear stabilizer bar, look at installing the heaviest ones offered by BigWig or Roadmaster.

[Devocamper]

Thank you all for the replies and help . Just want to make sure that the transition to a TC doesn't become a white knuckle experience because of the capacity of our current truck . We still have to sell the fifth wheel and plan this out . I think we would like to be in a TC with the Triple slides like the mammoth or the eagle cap 1200 both very heavy but to enjoy this coming from so much storage and room in the fifth wheel it's going to be a larger TC since the smaller units don't seem like they would be comfortable for us. It seems the consensus is that the triple slide units would work but right at the max my truck handle , right now a new truck and a new TC at the same time is not a possibility. How is the quality or reputation of eagle cap compared to host? What suspension upgrades give you the max capacity ( I know the limit is the axle rating and tires) How costly are the quality suspension upgrades , I was thinking I could start with those while still towing the fifth wheel for a while. Thanks again for the help
Mike

[tmartin000]

Just a point of reference, my Lance is around 4800 lbs and here are my numbers:

camper and truck
front 4300
rear 8700
total 13000

Adding more to the rear axle and a tad more to the front axle (because Host does a MUCH better job equalizing weight) in front of the rear axle, would be fine with me.



If I went for a Host Mamoth, I would do it on a standard 3500. But that's just me.