Long bed TC on short bed truck

[HioSSilver]

Has anyone did this? Any issues or any thing to watch out for?

[HioSSilver]

I guess i was a bit vague. But i wasn't thinking about putting a 10 or 11ft tc in a short bed truck either. Just trying to help my b-n-law find a camper. He likes my 845 but i kinda think a similar camper w/o the rear bumper would be better overall and easier to find.

[whizbang]

Details, details: Truck____________? Camper____________?

[burningman]

ppine wrote:
I would not do it. The geometry of your truck will never be right.

But wait a minute, there are 8-foot pop-ups that you could carry just fine with a shortbed half ton.
Until we have more info we can’t really say whether it’s good or bad.

[ppine]

I would not do it. The geometry of your truck will never be right.

[burningman]

A “long bed TC” is way too vague a term for a direct yes or no, there are way too many sizes and types of “long bed TCs”.
Generally speaking an 8-foot truck camper should be fine.
Somewhere in the 9-footer area it would get real iffy and beyond that is a bad idea because it’s too much behind the rear axle.

Tanks hanging below the rear overhang likely would not be an issue if you had your tailgate down, the total length of a shortbed with the gate down is similar to the floor of a longbed.

[DutchmenSport]

I never thought about this applying to a truck camper scenario, but yes it does. .... here goes .... food for thought:

“You really need to think in terms of what is the ultimate extreme usage you'll be experiencing with your truck, not what is the lightest usage and hope it's OK when the extreme happens."

[Reddog1]

Personally, I would not risk damaging a $1500 tailgate, or pulling the support cables out of the bed of the truck by hauling the TC with the Tailgate down. Going over one speed bump too fast could get expensive.

Does the OP's truck have a diesel, or is it a gasser? This can effect the weight distribution.

Wayne

[SidecarFlip]

If you want ideas on if it can be done and what it looks like...visit this thread on this forum....

TC Fails Pic Dump

[SidecarFlip]

Don't forget guys (and gals) that if the unit has a rear bumper and rear tanks (like say a Lance), using the tailgate for added support is out. The only way that works (tailgate down) is with a flat bottom unit.

...and, considering how flimsy tailgates are on new trucks, I don't consider them all that trustworthy.

Anything can be done but done safely is another subject.

I can put 50 pounds of potatoes in a lunch bag too, but that don't mean the bag won'r rip.

[Ski_Pro_3]

Scale your rig and see what the front axle is after. You could unload with that much weight hanging off the back.

[jimh406]

How long are you talking? If it is an 8 ft, it would obviously be better than a 11 1/2.

[Kayteg1]

I did it with 12' camper, but the shortbed was a flatbed who was actually 7' long.
With strong tailgate and camper no longer than 10' I would not see structural issues.
COG might be another story and after driving on scales with the combo, I start shopping for dually next week.

[bedrocker]

used one with the tail gate down for years no ill effects

[SidecarFlip]

Couple very important things.

One the tie down points (where the TC anchors are in relationship to the truck mount points will be askew and you won't be able to secure the camper properly..

Two, your horizontal center of gravity will be too far rearward, putting an excessive amount of load on the rear axle and most likely causing very adverse handling

Three, the camper itself might not be structurally rigid enough to take the strain of half of it hanging out the back, unsupported.

I'd advise against even considering it. It's not safe to do. Why campers are built for specific bed lengths in the first place.

It is possible to put a short bed TC in a long bed truck (Northstar offers their pop up line as such), but not the other way around.