New Truck Campers

[norcal10]

Hi everyone!
My wife and I have decided to sell our travel trailer and buy a truck camper. We have been RVing for a while now and want to be able to pull a boat while camping.
I've got a couple of questions about TC's and the truck.

1) Is it a necessity to have a rubber bed mat? We've got a spray in bedliner.

2) Does this setup sound okay with my truck? Torklift tiedowns and fastguns? If the camper we buy has the chain turnbuckles, we will use those until getting the fastguns. The truck is a 1993 Dodge D250 Cummins. I'm looking at the Timbren SES system instead of airbags.

3) The camper we are looking at is a one owner 1989 Western Wilderness that has been meticulously maintained. Does anyone have experience with these having problems clearing the bedrails? Or is that what the rubber mat mentioned above would help with?

4) I've researched the payload on my truck and come up with 3750lbs. Is the weight sticker on the camper usually dry or wet, and do you usually factor in a 1000lb cusion just in case?

You guys are helping some newbies out with the info. We really appreciate it!

[norcal10]

Gary3 wrote:
Are you confused enough yet not sure were there getting such low payloads for your truck but we carried a 11.6ft Jayco camper all over Alaska to NFLD on our 1990 3/4 ton Dodge diesel years ago no problem. If you have the same type of tire from the factory there 10ply tires good to go. As far as a rubber mat I added one last year on top of the sprayed liner just for a little more rail clearance.

It's quite confusing to understand everything, but I am definitely figuring it out. Things will make a lot more sense when we look at the camper that we may buy this weekend and I can get some hard numbers.

[burningman]

In the realm of 3/4 and one-ton trucks, just the opposite is true.
They are de-rated by the factories, they’re easily capable of much more.
There are strategic legal licensing reasons for that, it’s got nothing to do with what the components they’re made of can handle.

That Dodge will work fine.

[ardvark]

The subject of weights is often discussed and equally often contested. Good approximation of camper weight is camper sticker plus weight of options, plus 1,000 pounds.

The whole area of weight is fraught with difficulty because camper manufacturers, in my opinion, do everything they can to sound lighter than we are and truck manufacturers try to make the trucks sound more capable than they are. Only real way to be sure is to weigh things.

When it comes to weight, some folks go by their ratings, some go by whatever measure they decide is he most important.

However, having RVed in every possible way, truck campers are still one of my favorites.

[Gary3]

Are you confused enough yet not sure were there getting such low payloads for your truck but we carried a 11.6ft Jayco camper all over Alaska to NFLD on our 1990 3/4 ton Dodge diesel years ago no problem. If you have the same type of tire from the factory there 10ply tires good to go. As far as a rubber mat I added one last year on top of the sprayed liner just for a little more rail clearance.

[3_tons]

GeoBoy wrote:

sljohnson1938 wrote:
get the bed liner,

Bad advice, always use a rubber bed mat.

X2

[norcal10]

Thanks for the advice grit dog! We are just looking for now. But I'd like to get advice and knowledge from seasoned veterans. Didn't think about looking at wheels and tires from a newer Ram. My truck will need tires soon and this will give me a good place to look.

[Grit_dog]

I’d stick with as new a camper as you can afford. In general, campers don’t age gracefully in most respects unless you find a unicorn that is old and perfectly kept in every way.
BTW, we’re neighbors. Up here there are TONS of truck campers for sale. You should have no issue finding one that fits your truck and your needs.

And if your tires’ age or load rating is in question, consider takeoff wheels/tires from a newer Ram. You can find very nice new setups for less than the cost of comparable tires alone.

[Grit_dog]

donn0128 wrote:
You have a 1992 Ram 5.9? That truck has as I remember a 8800 GVWR. What does it scale loaded ready to go? 5000 pounds if you actually did have 3700 pound payload. Sadly its more likely your real world payload will be around 1500 pounds.

Sadly, you should not be such a payload pessimist.....

To the OP, some of your questions depend on what camper is going on it.
Most any camper will clear the bed rails. Your truck is old school. That’s really only an issue with the newer trucks with deeper beds
Bed mat not necessary unless you find the camper sliding around.
Yes, take “dry” camper weights with a grain of salt and 1000lbs over dry weight when wet, full and ready to camp is a good approximation
Welcome!

[ScottG]

I had the same exact truck and I think your payload is much closer to 2000#.
Still miss that truck. Had the most comfortable bucket seats of anything I ever owned. (And it could destroy any 3 series BMW on the on-ramp next to Microsoft) 🙂

BTW, I had a bed liner and some kind of thin matt under it that was guaranteed to save the paint. It didn't.
I would use a rubber matt.

[GeoBoy]

sljohnson1938 wrote:
get the bed liner,

Bad advice, always use a rubber bed mat.

[d3500ram]

norcal10 wrote:
... Tires are E rated on 16 inch rims.

Look beyond the "letter" rating. Pay attention to Load Index (LI.)

Load Index refers to the actual weight the tire can carry at max inflation. Max inflation relates to the "letter" rating.

Tire data can sometime be confusing and there are many "experts" on the forums who base wieght carrying solely on the letter. Not all "E" tires are the same and may not be able to carry the same weight.

Check out this article: Load Index vs. Load Rating

The old way of determining load capacity by a "letter" (D, E , F, G) connotation is not really valid as much as it used to be but it is important because the letter relates (among other things) to what the tires maximum PSI can handle and Load Index (LI) relates to weight carrying capacity.

LI is the actual weight the tire can handle at the max PSI. So the two go hand-in-hand. Look at both when selecting a tire.

Also- Wheels can perhaps be your weakest link. Make sure the load capacities of the rims will handle the weight as well.

[norcal10]

scout4trout wrote:
I had a 2009 Alpenlite (formerly Western Wilderness). The outside weight sticker did not include options - ours had the options listed on the inside of a cabinet door. Check the load rating on your tires because that will be the weakest link - our 16" E tires were 3,042 each and we were pushing that number on the rear.

Since we haven't purchased anything, would an older camper from the 70's make more sense and be lighter then one from the late 80's/90's. Not sure how the construction has changed over the years.

[adamis]

norcal10 wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
You have a 1992 Ram 5.9? That truck has as I remember a 8800 GVWR. What does it scale loaded ready to go? 5000 pounds if you actually did have 3700 pound payload. Sadly its more likely your real world payload will be around 1500 pounds.

Thanks for the info. I haven't had a chance to scale it yet. The sticker on the door has an 8510 GVW. I did the calculation by doing the GVW - curb weight to come up with 3710.

You will get a lot of thoughts on how much weight your truck can handle from many different forum members here. One school of thought is never to exceed your GVWR while others are in the camp that doing proper upgrades and not exceeding your axle ratings is fine.

One thing to consider is that curb weight may not include a full tank of fuel or two humans. You could have 300+ lbs of fuel or more and two humans can add another 350+ lbs easy and that is before you loaded the camper.

[norcal10]

donn0128 wrote:
You have a 1992 Ram 5.9? That truck has as I remember a 8800 GVWR. What does it scale loaded ready to go? 5000 pounds if you actually did have 3700 pound payload. Sadly its more likely your real world payload will be around 1500 pounds.

Thanks for the info. I haven't had a chance to scale it yet. The sticker on the door has an 8510 GVW. I did the calculation by doing the GVW - curb weight to come up with 3710.