New Camper - Getting truck ready

[Truk_1110]

Hey everyone - I'm completely new to truck camping and appreciate all of the information on this forum. It's helped me figure out what kind of equipment I'm going to need.

I'm a new owner of a 2014 Dodge Ram 2500 and pretty excited to have the extra cab space. I've had this truck only a few weeks now and my aunt and uncle were generous enough to give me their old truck camper. I'm really looking forward to going on a lot more fishing and camping trips with my 4 year old son.

Here's my the new to me truck I just got:



The old camper I got for "free.99" 🙂



Just ordered a bed mat and looking into tie downs and some turnbuckles. Lots of good info on this forum so hopefully once I order the rest of the equipment I need I'll have the rig all set for some trips this summer here in the pacific northwest.

Any other advice for me would be great. thanks in advance

[BadgerMcAdams]

Vertical height (and Bed Dimensions) is big...I have a 65 Chevy C-10 shortbed and a 1991 Six-Pac model 78S camper. When I bought the camper and went to pick it up, upon loading, I had BARELY 3/8" clearance between the bottom of the sleeper and the top of the cab. I had to build a booster seat from 2x3's and a sheet of 1/2" ply to boost it up enough to prevent possible rub or hits from rough roads. Great clearance now...but that first ride home was worrisome.

[Travels_with_Yo]

Everything said here is simply dependent on how much the camper weighs.

My 2016 Ram 2500HD 2WD has a payload capacity of 3,600 lbs. The only mods I made were replacing the stock headlights and adding nerf-bars (sidesteps) and a rear Hellwig sway bar. No air bags or Timbrens and less than an inch of squat. No handling issues what so ever.

We just got back from an 8,500 mile trip from Georgia to British Columbia and back and both truck and camper performed flawlessly.

Since my photos didn't load like they used to, I'll just mention the camper is a 2016 Adventurer 80RB and weighs 2,280 fully loaded.

[NGaMountains]

FWIW, I just installed tie downs on my Ford this past weekend. I did not use the Talons but the standard steel tie downs. While they are "bolt on", this meant in my case, not sure in yours, that you have to fish bolts and associated washers inside the frame rails and get them to protrude through holes in order to put the tie down over those bolts and attach a nut from the outside. This is not easy, especially when the bolt fishers they gave me were almost shot after finishing the first side, and they were supposed to be used again on the other side. On my truck/tie downs, there were two of the four attachment locations where Torklift's tie down did not match the profile of the frame rail, so you had to put a 2" x 2" spacer washer between the frame rail and the tie down. These spacers should be tack welded onto the main tie down bracket by Torklift, which would make it much easier to install. If yours ends up having this situation as mine did, super glue the washers/spacers onto the tie down before you start the placement and attachment process. It makes a very tedious job significantly less tedious. If you are fortunate enough to be doing this in a shop with the truck on a hoist and working at eye level that will help a lot. Lying on the ground looking up as I was it's no picnic.

Good luck with your install and have fun with your camper!

[Truk_1110]

Thanks everyone for the advice and input - it's definitely been helpful! The camper is in really good condition for being an oldie. I think it's from 1978??

I'm not sure what truck my uncle had used to haul it, but it turned out to fit just fine in my truck. After reading these comments I was worried about it so I loaded it into the truck right away -- felt very lucky that it fit well. I still need to install the tie downs and I'm considering upgrading from the old turnbuckles that my uncle gave me when he dropped off the camper. I've installed some Firestone airbags as well.

Turns out there is a local shop down in Kent that had torklift tie downs on sale. Super excited to install these aluminum and stainless steel ones this weekend: LINK
Hopefully the installation is pretty easy. Sounds like its just bolt on.

Also - I've discovered the flimsy plastic step ladder is not ideal entry for me or my son. Shopping around step options so if there's any recommendations - I'm open to it! 🙂

[towpro]

All the factory weight numbers and recommendations for the truck are available Here

[Grit_dog]

work2much wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Nice setup! Have fun with it.
Before freakin out about all the weight stuff, see of it fits, drop it on there and see how the truck likes it. Will keep you from buying stuff you may not need or help you decide what you do need.

Good advice but OP will need all the weight related stuff you have in your sig. Our first camper was an old siesta. No Bath. No holding tanks aside from 10 gallon fresh. One 5 gal propane and it stuck our 2500 down hard. We added all the same stuff you did. That was a 94 Dodge Ram std cab 3/4 ton Cummins with a Dana 80 rear axle. A very stout 3/4 ton truck.

Like you say sit the camper on the truck. That will tell you what you need to know.

The OPs truck has coil springs in back and a sway bar from the factory. You're correct, I would anticipate air bags though. Bags or Timbren type blocks are the only easy options for the new ram 2500.

[SidecarFlip]

Like you say sit the camper on the truck. That will tell you what you need to know.


I call that the squat factor and will determine what accessories you need to level it out. No point in buying more than you need. I would additionally check the tires for maximum loading (on sidewall). Stock OEM rubber tends to be low on the loading scale.

[noteven]

Grit dog wrote:
Nice setup! Have fun with it.
Before freakin out about all the weight stuff, see of it fits, drop it on there and see how the truck likes it. Will keep you from buying stuff you may not need or help you decide what you do need.

this ^^

... and - what truck hauled this camper in the first place?

[work2much]

Grit dog wrote:
Nice setup! Have fun with it.
Before freakin out about all the weight stuff, see of it fits, drop it on there and see how the truck likes it. Will keep you from buying stuff you may not need or help you decide what you do need.

Good advice but OP will need all the weight related stuff you have in your sig. Our first camper was an old siesta. No Bath. No holding tanks aside from 10 gallon fresh. One 5 gal propane and it stuck our 2500 down hard. We added all the same stuff you did. That was a 94 Dodge Ram std cab 3/4 ton Cummins with a Dana 80 rear axle. A very stout 3/4 ton truck.

Like you say sit the camper on the truck. That will tell you what you need to know.

[Grit_dog]

Nice setup! Have fun with it.
Before freakin out about all the weight stuff, see of it fits, drop it on there and see how the truck likes it. Will keep you from buying stuff you may not need or help you decide what you do need.

[ScottG]

Welcome and congrats on the great rig.
My family had a blast exploring and traveling in an older (much older than yours!) TC when we were first married.
You'll have a blast!

[gbopp]

Welcome to the forum.
I don't have a TC. But, leaks in any RV can be a disaster.
Check for leaks and seal them before you do anything to the interior of the camper.
Enjoy your travels.

[Kayteg1]

Congratulations on both toys.
As you already hear, the weight distribution is critical on our sets.
I would start with taking truck empty to the scales (google will find something in the area) , weight each axle and plan later to do the same with camper on.
Camper looks like 10 or maybe even 11', so rear axle will get stretched.
Make a rule that nothing heavy goes behind rear axle. Even if you don't overload the axle, the handling is going to be poor.
All heavy stuff goes in truck cabin. Tools, bottled water, beer (not open).
I did pick up my 11' camper with F250 and made long trip home with rear badly overloaded, but it is not fun to think "how I control that thing when tire blows?"
Once you check everything is safe, then enjoy.

[Freep]

The camper looks old. You will want to do a thorough inspection of all seals and caulking. Do searches for "rot" and for "caulk" on this site for a good idea on what to look for.