Recommend TC??

[River4ever]

Current Truck
2013 Chevy Silverado
Diesel 4x4 LTZ 71
4 door crew cab
8 foot bed
SRW
GVWR 10,000lbs
7750lbs @ the scales full of fuel
270/70/18 BFG All-Terrian E Rated 3740lbs
Torklift tie downs
Firestone air bags
Torklift lower stable loads

Just my wife and I & 1 dog+ 19foot Jet boat occasionaly

Just trying to see what the experts think?

Thanks in advance!!

Mike

[Cadillac_Jack]

Your going to be seriously overweight with a slide out. Dry weights are useless for the most part. I have an 8 1/2 foot non slide camper on a Ford F 350 long bed crew cab diesel. I am 500 lbs over my GVWR. However I am almost 300 lbs under my rear axle weight, and even more underweight on the rear tires.

My Truck has 4400 lbs of capacity. That is way more than your Chevy, and I am still overweight. Air conditioners , generators dual batteries , dual propane tanks etc add a lot of weight. Not to mention your gear and food etc.

You would be best served to stick with a simple 8 1/2 foot non slide model. You will still be massively overweight on your GVWR but probably just under your rear axle rating.

I would steer clear of the Adventurer models. They are poorly built in my opinion, but to each his own. The North Stars are well built but seriously lack some of the nicer creature comforts like a real face to face dinette, and a one piece shower with a real door, outside vent etc.

Truck campers are costly. Most people like to gloss over the little stuff like Tork Lift frame mounted tie downs tork lift stable loads solar panels second batteries rubber mats etc. These things will add a few thousand dollars to an already expensive purchase, not to mention insurance costs etc.

Just keeping it real. If you are looking to buy new, you will most likely be well over 30 grand when all is said and done.

Good luck.

[joeshmoe]

I'm guessing your boat is probably similar to my 20' 79 southwind jet cruiser. The tongue weight is maybe 180 lbs. Certainly not your biggest concern unless you're stowing a bunch of gear up under the deck.

[Redsky]

All you need to worry about is exceeding the load capacity of your two rear tires. If the weight of the truck at the rear axle is 3,000 lbs. and your two rear tires support up to 7,480 lbs. then the maximum payload is the difference or 4,480 lbs. though that leave no extra capacity for pot holes, etc.

With 4400 lbs. at the outside and subtracting 1000 lbs. for gear and 400 lbs. for a safety margin, that means a dry camper weight of 3,000 lbs. would be "ideal". All you give up is having a dry bath in your camper. Plenty of campers for long bed trucks that weigh less than 3,000 lbs. including the Lance 950, 950s, 1050, and 1050s camper models.

[campingken]

Unless you, the wife, and dog are really light weight you have about 2000 pounds of CC before you exceed your GVW. Since you want a slide and a generator you will be, at the minimum, close to 1000 pounds over weight before you pack and add the tongue weight of the boat.

Personally I wouldn't do this and would buy a non slide, maybe even a pop up, camper. However many people are several thousand pounds over their GVW and it works for them.

[Artum_Snowbird]

Alternatively, you can get a 1 Ton dually, a 9.5 foot camper with a dry bath, a slide or two, and throw on a heavy extended hitch perhaps. Tow that jet boat with it's several hundred pounds of tongue weight, load up for a week, and feel a lot better about everything except giving up your 3/4 ton truck.

Some of us that have gone to 19.5 wheels and tires, Rancho shocks, air bags, sway bars, and heavy rigs have done so gradually. Being familiar with how your rig will handle when it's heavily loaded is a learning curve.

With what you are considering, it's pretty hard to not get close to 5000 pounds of weight, most from the camper, but then the boat too, and hitch, and distance behind the rear axle...

Good luck.

[GeoBoy]

I would look at the Northstar Arrow 8.5. Scatt RV's in CA has one in stock.
Good luck.

[Buzzcut1]

Be forewarned, the lead time on Ricksons is approximately 6 months. I am at 3 months on my order.

[River4ever]

Thanks anutami I have been down twice now and checked out there inventory and spoken with Norm!!

[anutami]

I'm no expert but I really like the Wolf creek line. Don't listen to the sales people on the lot they don't really know what they are talking about.
Check this out in Poway Wolf creek 850 in Poway, Ca

[River4ever]

Budget Wise
20-30k
Generator is a must & a slide is preferred!!
Yes I have been researching the 19.5 Ricksons
When does it end???
I'm all for, of you wanna play you have to pay!! But gezz!!

[dadwolf2]

What's important to you floorplan wise? What's your budget? Do you want a slide? Do you boondock or stay in campgrounds because that will make things like tank size or solar/generator options more or less important.

Adventurer makes several nice mid size campers, Wolf Creek has the 840 and 850. Lance has several mid size units. Arctic Fox has the limited run 865 available right now (don't look for it on their website).

[Buzzcut1]

put 19'5 wheels and commercial tires rated at 4850# each then keep the rear axle scale weight under 8000 loaded and you should be good to go towing the boat too with most single slide TC's

Beefy anti-sway bars too are a must