Is a Gas 3/4 Truck and Pop-up Camper Safe in Colorado?

[illgild]

Hi all, this is my first post, so apologies if this is covering existing territory. I know the diesel vs gas question has been explored a lot here, but am curious if anyone has insight into the viability, and possibly specific model recommendations for a used gas 3/4 truck (roughly years 2013-2017 due to safety features) in Colorado hauling a pop-up camper like a Hallmark Cuchara or an equivalent Outfitter weighing in wet at about 2600lbs. From what I've seen, if I were on flat land, I'd go with a gas truck without question, but I have some concern, though no direct experience, about safety and handling in the mountains. Thanks so much for considering my question!

[ppine]

In Nevada diesel is cheaper.

[monkey44]

We drive a Gas 6.0L 2015 Chevy 4x4, with Lance at about 2900 lbs plus gear. We've driven all over the Rockies several times over the years -- never have a problem. Drops a little speed climbing hills, but not enough to care about.

Before that, a 6.0L Gas 2003 GMC 4x4, same camper, no issues with it over the years - and lots of trips in the Rockies. IF I ever buy another truck for camping, I'd still go with a gas engine again. Good shocks and HD tires make a difference, we run Bilstein's and BFG 285 'E' tires.

[bgum]

Gas is about 45 cents cheaper than diesel right now. On a 20 to 25 gallon tank that adds up. Gas trucks have a lot cheaper maintenance costs. Less quarts oil. No fuel filter. Much cheaper air filters. When something goes bad with a diesel it is very expensive to fix. Not to mention the difference in initial cost. If I planned to haul stuff across the country each day I was use a diesel. Normal everyday driving and weekend hauling get a gasser.

[Seminoe_Joe]

Short answer: yes.
Don’t overload it and you’ll be fine.

[ISBRAM]

Once you get it loaded with water and gear the Cuchara is on the heavy side for a popup camper. A diesel is most probably going to run up the hills at high altitude much faster than a gasoline powered truck, but I don’t consider that has anything to do with safety.
A diesel will also get better fuel economy but the trucks payload capacity may be reduced because of the added weight of the diesel engine. Still I prefer the diesel, I owned a F-350 V8 gas truck prior to my Ram it got about half of the fuel mileage and struggled on steep hills. I ended up adding oversized anti-sway bars front and rear to my Ram and 19.5 tires to combat leaning in turns at speed. It now corners unbelievably flat at speed in mountain turns, much safer driving in my opinion.
My advice would be make sure you buy enough truck to handle the weight you intend to carry and get one with camper and towing packages installed from the factory if they were available.

[joerg68]

In my personal experience, an 8ft popup camper on an SRW truck handles almost like a passenger car. A dually offers more reserves if you want to upgrade to a larger hardwall camper with a slideout at a later time. While it is true that you can't really have too much truck, there are a lot of applications where smaller will do just fine. This was our 2008 Chevy, Work Truck, stock suspension:

We upgraded to Bilstein shocks after 8 years or so and it made a difference, but it handled fine with the stock shocks.

[pnichols]

illgild wrote:
Hi all, this is my first post, so apologies if this is covering existing territory. I know the diesel vs gas question has been explored a lot here, but am curious if anyone has insight into the viability, and possibly specific model recommendations for a used gas 3/4 truck (roughly years 2013-2017 due to safety features) in Colorado hauling a pop-up camper like a Hallmark Cuchara or an equivalent Outfitter weighing in wet at about 2600lbs. From what I've seen, if I were on flat land, I'd go with a gas truck without question, but I have some concern, though no direct experience, about safety and handling in the mountains. Thanks so much for considering my question!

Probably a 3/4 ton truck (whether gas or diesel) would not be a dully?

A dually is the safest due to great side-to-side stability on curves and in high cross winds from it's wide rear tire track-width.

Also, dually rear tires are safer for another reason - if one of the rear tires should fail while traveling it has a "backup" tire right next to it so you can slow down or stop under good control - or even maybe travel several miles on the one tire left in the dually set where the failed tire is.

[jimh406]

The safety and handling will be the same as a diesel. But, gasoline trucks will probably go up the mountains slower. As you probably know, you lose HP with a nonturbo vehicle at altitude. Most passes have lower speed limits than the valleys. So as long as you don’t have an issue with having a lot less HP/acceleration, you should be fine with a gasoline engine.

Fast Lane Truck on youtube does tests of hauling in Colorado for a number of vehicles. Their low weight tow tests would show you the difference between gasoline and diesels.

[Lwiddis]

Drove all over Colorado in a gas 3/4 ton Chevy Cheyenne 4x4 truck and a Beaver camper including RMNP...12,000+ feet...without any issues.

[joerg68]

Hi and welcome! Old rig was a 2500 Silverado 6.0 gas with an Outfitter Apex 8. No issues at all - and why would it? The truck can pull a lot more weight than it can carry. It will rev higher than a diesel and use more fuel, but it will be a lot cheaper to buy and maintain. No worries.

[autorot8]

I live in the mountains on west coast with 2500 gas, carrying a Northstar 800. No issues with power, safety, etc.