Ok - this decision has changed to 3/4 ton or 1 ton?

[ruthiebaby88]

I am researching buying a pickup and camper to ride in bed.

Most of the camper manufacturers say a 3/4 ton pickup is fine for the campers I want to carry, however some of the truck manufacturers claim that their maximum payload is 2800 with a 4x4 and extended cab like I want. Sounds like lots of people carry with a 3/4 ton, but don't like the ride so eventually upgrade to a 1 ton.

What is your experience with these vehicles?

How would owning/maintenance expenses vary between the 2 pickups?

Gas mileage? Driv-ability?

I'm on a limited budget, so buying a 1 ton means it has closer to 150k miles on it, where I could find a 3/4 ton with about 100k miles.

[PA12DRVR]

Perhaps to atone for eating all that gas I could buy an electric car for town use.

That's my theory. F550 drinks lots of diesel....Toyota Prius hums along just sippin'

[wintersun]

With my 2011 GM 2500HD the difference between it and the 3500HD was in three areas and only three areas. The 2500 had 17" rims while the 3500 came with 18" rims. The 3500 had an extra set of leaf springs. The 2500 was available with the extended cab and the standard bed but with the 3500 I would have had to choose between a regular cab and a crew cab.

I wanted the extended cab with the standard box so I bought a 2500HD and spent $445 on a set of SuperSprings. It took me all of an hour to install the Supersprings and they work perfectly with a 3700 lb. camper load in the bed.

Neither the tires provided on the 2500 or the 3500 models were adequate for the camper load so I replaced the ones on my truck with Nitto tires rated 555 lbs. more per tire with a gain in payload at the rear axle of 1110 lbs. with this upgrade. My truck has a rear weight when empty of 3200 lbs. and with the camper in the bed the total load on the tires is 6900 lbs., hence the need to replace the factory tires.

My 3700 lb. camper when in the bed of the truck puts an extra 3600 lbs. of load on the rear tires and an extra 100 lbs. on the front tires so I care only about the rear of the truck. The axle and wheel bearings are rated for 10,900 lbs. so that is not a concern.

If I wanted dual rear wheels I would have had to buy a 1-ton truck. I wanted SRW so the 2500 truck was not a problem. If I wanted still more load capacity I can always go to 19.5 rims and tires.

With all but the DRW 1-ton used trucks you are probably going to need to add to the capacity of the factory springs and upgrade the tires and possible replace the shocks.

There are also differences based on the model year and truck type. GM upgraded its truck frames in 2011 and Ram upgraded its 1-ton frames in 2013 and its 2500 truck frames in 2014. With Ford the F-450 has less of a payload than the F-350 with the pickup version. To get a greater payload with the F-450 you have to buy the chassis cab version which is quite different.

[airspro]

ruthiebaby88 wrote:
In the end I opted for a
$4995 - 2002 Lance 815 (wet weight 1879#) &
$9500 - 2002 Chevy Silverado 2500 SRW (payload per sticker = 2842#)(101k miles)

They are both in great shape and I found them on craigslist. I had both of them inspected by professionals prior to purchase. The sellers were both wonderful people and I enjoyed purchasing from them a million times more than at a dealer. Karen even sent me home with baklava! I feel like the camper and truck have everything I need and nothing I don't. The camper is tiny, but certainly larger than our tent and has a bathroom and shower. No AC, but we can ad later as needed. The truck has an 8.1L Vortec engine (Allison transmission) which may be more than I need, but I'm sure we'll enjoy it on the hills.

We are cleaning things up and packing and should be out of here in a couple of days.

I was bowled over by the wonderful help I received on the forums - some people even searched the camper/trucks ads and sent me their great finds!

If I meet more truck campers like you when I'm out traveling, I'm sure we'll be loving this sport for years to come.

Happy Camping!

Sounds just about what I came up with . 2001 Lance 815 , with a 2000 Ford F 350 to haul it ( 5.4 , auto , 2 wheel drive )
I got the bigger payload so I "could" if needed pull a smaller enclosed trailer for my motorcycle etc .

I listened here before buying too - over truck , under camper - 🙂

[bikendan]

congrats on finding what you wanted.

based on what you wanted to do, i think you made the right choice in a truck camper.

good luck!

[ruthiebaby88]

In the end I opted for a
$4995 - 2002 Lance 815 (wet weight 1879#) &
$9500 - 2002 Chevy Silverado 2500 SRW (payload per sticker = 2842#)(101k miles)

They are both in great shape and I found them on craigslist. I had both of them inspected by professionals prior to purchase. The sellers were both wonderful people and I enjoyed purchasing from them a million times more than at a dealer. Karen even sent me home with baklava! I feel like the camper and truck have everything I need and nothing I don't. The camper is tiny, but certainly larger than our tent and has a bathroom and shower. No AC, but we can ad later as needed. The truck has an 8.1L Vortec engine (Allison transmission) which may be more than I need, but I'm sure we'll enjoy it on the hills.

We are cleaning things up and packing and should be out of here in a couple of days.

I was bowled over by the wonderful help I received on the forums - some people even searched the camper/trucks ads and sent me their great finds!

If I meet more truck campers like you when I'm out traveling, I'm sure we'll be loving this sport for years to come.

Happy Camping!

[ruthiebaby88]

Thank you for the feedback, in my budget I think I'd better go with the best quality truck I can find, and then choose a camper that fits it's payload.

[rhagfo]

ruthiebaby88 wrote:
Moving on up the line,

I saw a 1 ton dually for sale today 4x4, 159k miles GMC Sierra

So I thought I would take a drive. I can see why people say they are a stiff ride and the handing/stopping is not as quick - but I felt I would get used to it like anything else.

It's frustrating that the EPA doesn't even create MPG numbers on these vehicles. Just because I'm going to be hogging gas, doesn't mean I don't want to know what it is at all!

Perhaps to atone for eating all that gas I could buy an electric car for town use.

Anyway, thank you for all of your feedback. Has anyone done mpg comparisons between their 250/350s?

Also I noticed that cars.com lists curb weights and GVWR on their site so I can at least get some idea of the payload of different vehicles, though I'm guessing that they are listing curb weight stripped of options.

Keep in mind you are buying a TRUCK to carry a load not a car. If you feel the handling and braking are sub par, pass on that truck! The handling and braking of 3/4 and one ton should exceed that of any 1/2 ton!

[Dayle1]

ruthiebaby88 wrote:
I am researching buying a pickup and camper to ride in bed.

Most of the camper manufacturers say a 3/4 ton pickup is fine for the campers I want to carry, however some of the truck manufacturers claim that their maximum payload is 2800 with a 4x4 and extended cab like I want. Sounds like lots of people carry with a 3/4 ton, but don't like the ride so eventually upgrade to a 1 ton.

What is your experience with these vehicles?

How would owning/maintenance expenses vary between the 2 pickups?

Gas mileage? Driv-ability?

I'm on a limited budget, so buying a 1 ton means it has closer to 150k miles on it, where I could find a 3/4 ton with about 100k miles.

I doubt many people upgrade from a 3/4 ton to a 1 ton because they don't like the ride. More likely they are upgrading to a newer vehicle primarily. There is very little difference between the two. Let me say it another way, find the truck you like, either 3/4 ton or 1 ton. If the truck is a 3/4 ton, then air bags and higher rated tires will give it the same capability as a 1 ton would have for the same brand/year/engine.

[ruthiebaby88]

oh - my price range includes vehicles from 1995-2005 if that makes a difference - I notice a lot of people are talking about modern trucks, but not sure what they consider modern exactly

[ruthiebaby88]

ksss - ah the wind - good thought

BenK - I haven't found any of these Fake half tons - Do you know which models/years they are? Perhaps it would open up more possibilities in my vehicle search. Do you think they are better in gas mileage than other 3/4 tons?

Wow - KD4UPL - Isn't it unsafe to overload your weight rating like that? I read that handling and stopping power will be decreased making driving less safe?

Just wondering because I found a pickup I liked but it's GVWR was 160# less than my goal so I was worried about exceeding it. Of course my goal was created by adding 1250# for full tanks/batteries/people/stuff to the dry weight and payload numbers I was able to dig up online. I haven't verified them. If I pulled the combo onto a scale, my concern is that I might be exceeding my GVWR by quite a bit more because of optional installed equipment that wasn't in my prepurchase calculations.

[BenK]

Even a higher class pickup can be over loaded...so pay attention to the OEM's ratings...

Story behind F450 pickup frame failure? (photo)

[2112]

I'm happy to see that you may have dropped the idea of dropping a TC onto a 1/2T.
I own a fairly well capable 1/2T with a payload of 2080lbs. After using this truck for almost 4 years now I can honestly say there is no way I would consider dropping a TC onto it. It would not handle well at all and I'm sure I would be way over the rear axle rating.

Keep looking at the 1 ton's.

[APT]

3200 pounds of payload requirement is barely a 3/4 ton gas powered truck from 2008+. 3900 pounds requires a SRW 1-ton, maybe dually.

MPG is all the same for 3/4 and 1-tons, bad. Diesel is less bad, but the trucks cost more up front. Figure 12-14mpg for gas powered late model HD trucks unloaded, slightly better highway and 10mpg with a TC. Diesel will be about 2-3mpg better under all conditions.

You can get away with a small travel trailer and stick with a half ton, but you won't save much on fuel. They tend to get 15-17mpg around town and at best 20mpg highway unloaded. Same 10mpg towing.

[ruthiebaby88]

Moving on up the line,

I saw a 1 ton dually for sale today 4x4, 159k miles GMC Sierra

So I thought I would take a drive. I can see why people say they are a stiff ride and the handing/stopping is not as quick - but I felt I would get used to it like anything else.

It's frustrating that the EPA doesn't even create MPG numbers on these vehicles. Just because I'm going to be hogging gas, doesn't mean I don't want to know what it is at all!

Perhaps to atone for eating all that gas I could buy an electric car for town use.

Anyway, thank you for all of your feedback. Has anyone done mpg comparisons between their 250/350s?

Also I noticed that cars.com lists curb weights and GVWR on their site so I can at least get some idea of the payload of different vehicles, though I'm guessing that they are listing curb weight stripped of options.