Reg cab long bed vs extended cab long bed?

[stevem94080]

Hi all,
I have been hauling a 2001 Lance 10 foot cabover camper on my 2001 chevy 2500hd 4x4 duramax ext cab longbed for 13 years.
Truck and camper are still in great condition and the truck handles the weight of the camper just fine.
I'm looking to buy a new truck just because my truck is 20 years old.
I am looking at 2021 chevy 3500hd srw 4x4 reg cab truck.
Question is, will the reg cab with the shorter wheelbase handle the mass of the camper as well as the ext cab longbed ?

Thanks,SM.

[JRscooby]

jimh425 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
The longer wheelbase makes it possible to move the COG forward.
Pickup bed is normally centered over the rear axle. To load a pickup to GVWR the product must be pretty dense. And even if the load is centered over the drive, moving the steering forward will make weight on front remain more constant as the rear hits road bumps, so handle better..

TCs don’t have movable COGs. You get what the factory builds.

Yes, the COG is not moveable, given the limited places to put weight, and the limited amount of weight that can be added. OTOH, when shopping for camper/truck, you should be aware of where that COG will ride in the bed.

The pickup bed is never centered above the rear axle on purpose by factory but can happen on really short bed trucks. Most pickups with TCs are near or over GVWR.

If you compare length ratio front of bed-axle/axle-back of bed on a pickup bed to most truck beds, it is centered.

I’m not sure what you mean when you say even if the load is centered over the drive.

If the COG of a load is over the rear axle of the of the pickup, increasing the weight of the load will not change the weight of front axle. A shorter wheelbase, having a smaller percentage the GW on the front will affect handling more than the same changes on a longer wheelbase. Of course, if you must have a pickup, to get the long wheelbase you also get the extra heavy cab.

[Grit_dog]

Longer wheel base isn’t mutually exclusive to higher gvw. Talking big trucks here.
It’s actually not much of a factor for the truck itself. However it can be licensed higher based on highway and bridge laws.

[jimh406]

JRscooby wrote:
The longer wheelbase makes it possible to move the COG forward.
Pickup bed is normally centered over the rear axle. To load a pickup to GVWR the product must be pretty dense. And even if the load is centered over the drive, moving the steering forward will make weight on front remain more constant as the rear hits road bumps, so handle better..

TCs don’t have movable COGs. You get what the factory builds. The pickup bed is never centered above the rear axle on purpose by factory but can happen on really short bed trucks. Most pickups with TCs are near or over GVWR.

I’m not sure what you mean when you say even if the load is centered over the drive.

I think you are confusing that long big trucks are built to have higher GVWR when they make them longer with pickups that don’t. You can go look at the GVWR charts for any pickups to see this fact. Likewise, the most payload for trucks can always be found with the regular cabs compared to crew cabs. Again, you simply need to look at the charts.

Pickups typically have exactly the same rear axle/front axle/transmission no matter which cab they have. They don’t change the brakes etc just because you have a longer cab.

[JRscooby]

ticki2 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:



Anybody that has spent any time in the trucking industry will tell you that a longer wheelbase will let you have a higher GVW, without overloading the rear axles.

On a straight truck that would that would only happen if the cog of the load is in front of the rear axle . Usually minimal if at all with a TC .

The longer wheelbase makes it possible to move the COG forward.
Pickup bed is normally centered over the rear axle. To load a pickup to GVWR the product must be pretty dense. And even if the load is centered over the drive, moving the steering forward will make weight on front remain more constant as the rear hits road bumps, so handle better.
When I posted it was a reply to somebody saying shorter would put more weight on front.

[ticki2]

JRscooby wrote:



Anybody that has spent any time in the trucking industry will tell you that a longer wheelbase will let you have a higher GVW, without overloading the rear axles.

On a straight truck that would that would only happen if the cog of the load is in front of the rear axle . Usually minimal if at all with a TC .

[VTLee]

I have had the same camper on a regular cab and an extended cab. Both trucks long bed F-250 with camper package. Extended cab was better on highway (wind, semi trailers) but the off road and turning radius better on regular cab.

[stevem94080]

specta
thanks for the pic and info, it will help me make my choice.

[specta]

Here's my work truck. When it comes to hauling loads longer is better and so are DRW. I don't know how anyone could argue that.

An extended cab, a 4-dr and a dually would handle my camper better than my regular cab SRW does. Probably a lot better, especially a dually.

[jimh406]

JRscooby wrote:
I'm not well educated, can you explain how the geometry is different big truck/little truck? And Gross Vehicle Weight ratio to front axle weight was part of your statement, and trailer was not part of mine.

Big trucks normally have at least 3 axles.

GVW is the Gross Vehicle Weight. In other words, the weight of the truck. If you mean to say longer trucks are heavier, I agree with that. Is that what you meant?

[JRscooby]

Kayteg1 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

Back in the '50s you could buy a plastic prism to mount on the dash if you had a low sun-visor. Had one on the dash of my '67 Pete. If you got so it was past the visor edge light line you could tell the color.

Those were the years when we did not use seat belts neither?

Don't think the seat belts have much to do with seeing the traffic light. Of course, decades, and millions off miles, low visor never was issue. Little cars hiding under that long nose...

jimh425 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
Anybody that has spent any time in the trucking industry will tell you that a longer wheelbase will let you have a higher GVW, without overloading the rear axles.

We aren’t talking about big rigs. We are also not talking about GVW or a rig with a trailer.

I'm not well educated, can you explain how the geometry is different big truck/little truck? And Gross Vehicle Weight ratio to front axle weight was part of your statement, and trailer was not part of mine.

[Grit_dog]

specta wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
I know Spectra that you drive mostly in the parks, but making a line on the picture, from where driver head is and under the front cabover- it makes about 30 degrees.
Meaning when you are at street light hanging 15' high, you need to back up about 50' to see it. That is safety concern.

Its not a safety concern at all. I drive all over and actually seldom in parks.

I don't know why everyone always thinks I can't see a street light unless I stop way back, its just not so.

Been down this path here before and its a non issue.

Everyone doesn’t, it’s just Kaytegs Christmas cheer! That we are blessed with year ‘round!

[jimh406]

JRscooby wrote:
Anybody that has spent any time in the trucking industry will tell you that a longer wheelbase will let you have a higher GVW, without overloading the rear axles.

We aren’t talking about big rigs. We are also not talking about GVW or a rig with a trailer.

[specta]

Kayteg1 wrote:
I know Spectra that you drive mostly in the parks, but making a line on the picture, from where driver head is and under the front cabover- it makes about 30 degrees.
Meaning when you are at street light hanging 15' high, you need to back up about 50' to see it. That is safety concern.

Its not a safety concern at all. I drive all over and actually seldom in parks.

I don't know why everyone always thinks I can't see a street light unless I stop way back, its just not so.

Been down this path here before and its a non issue.

[Kayteg1]

JRscooby wrote:

Back in the '50s you could buy a plastic prism to mount on the dash if you had a low sun-visor. Had one on the dash of my '67 Pete. If you got so it was past the visor edge light line you could tell the color.

Those were the years when we did not use seat belts neither?