picking a truck camper

They are pricey, but look up Livin Lite truck campers. All aluminum, lightweight. I'd love to have one.

My son carries a Lance 820 on a truck like yours. He did add air bags to level the truck.

The Adventurer 80W (2013 was the last model year) fits our shortbox 3/4 ton well.

For a small camper, it has some good features: 5 cu ft fridge, toilet, north-south queen bed, good floor space (we have two dogs), good counter space, decent storage inside.

I would add to your list the Lance 845 and Lance 855 models. Your truck can handle the weight IF you add Supersprings to the rear.

Check your tires as well as if the stock ones are rated at 3200 lbs. each then the two at the rear drive can handle a maximum of 6400 lbs. less the 3,000 lb. weight of the truck leaving 3400 lbs. for the fully loaded camper - which is cutting it close. I switched out the stock tires for Nitto 285's rated at 3750 each. Toyo and BFG also make 17" tires with the higher load rating.

You may or may not need an anti-sway bar. Get the camper and verify before doing anything other than the Supersprings addition to the truck.

I spend $445 for the Supersprings and $500 for the new tires (sold the stock tires on my new truck on craigslist) to get the added load capacity for a Lance 845 camper on my 2500HD. I went with the 2500 as the 3500 is not available with an extended cab (now the double cab) and short bed configuration.

Don't go with air bags. They can break. They need adjustment and can have a negative effect on the truck's handling. Cost is the same as the Supersprings that need no adjustment and will never fail and do not wear out and cost far less to install (my set took less than an hour to install).

Lance is made in southern California. A good lightweight camper is the Wolf Creek which is manufactured in eastern Oregon and closer to your location so less shipping expense. They have a western Canada rep, Brad Clark (cell 250.549.8818).

Do you have secondary springs on the rear axle?
Either way, maybe stable loads are in order. But, as always, get the TC on before finding you need any suspension upgrades.
Since you have a large RV already, it would be good to have a small TC on the other end of the spectrum, especially for just two people. Since you are used to 'semi-luxury' in the big-mo, and if I were going out and buying a truck camper right now, from what I've seen, it would be the Lance 865. Be sure to look that one over to see if you could live with it. Here's our same-size camper on the Mojave Road in March: 86" Wide; 10' 3" High; 8 foot 6 inch floor:

regards, as always, jefe

maxum1989 wrote:
... This camper would be in addition to the fifth wheel I currently own and would be used for trips where just my son (12) and I would be going. I am looking for any suggestions I could add to my list of possible truck campers.

Current list of possible campers (all short box models)
Lance 825, 830, 865
...
My truck is a 2008 2500hd Silverado crew cab 4x4 short box duramax.

Just went through the exact same drill you are now doing except I am running a 2013 F250 SRW. We wanted something else to move more easily than the slow plodding pace of the fiver. After tons of research we opted for the 865 from Lance . Weighs out at about 2080 fully tricked out (no water). We've been running the wheel off it since we picked it up about 3 months ago all over the eastern US mountains and Florida. En-route to Central FL (about 500 miles one way) Thursday for a few days. We love the 865 and found that dealers were readily willing to negotiate well below sticker. It easily holds Momma, me, Shiloh the Red Bone Coon Hound and Sugar the Yorkie.(Shiloh is a bit of a seat hog but we still love her!) We've fallen in love with it. Had to make the usual 5th wheel hitch modification with a small pad to get the camper sitting smoothly and evenly over the 5th wheel hitch cross frame member in the bed. Works great.

I did add a set of Stable Loads quick disconnects to the rear leafs to engage the overload, Made a huge difference.

Ford curve control kicked in 3 times on the climb up and down the road to Clingmans Dome in the Smokey's but it was brief and worked well.

I would suggest a pop up. Hallmark would be my choice.
Also you should know that ICBC will not honour your insurance if you are over the GVW.
The highway safety inspectors will not bother you unless you have commercial plates or appear unsafe.
I am over my GVW and looking into downsizing.

All good responses, so thanks to you all. The ICBC comment has me concerned though. I guess I will have to look into that one. Everything else sounded great.

Will add 815 also as it is designed for both short and long bed trucks. For short bed, you just add the removable pods. Wet and loaded is only about 2,400#. Can only by used, but because the pods are plastic, no worries on rot, plus are usually pretty bare on options so price is usually on the low side.

For a small SB camper I would have to add Northstar to your list.