Small TC on bigger truck

[RichandLiz]

I've got a shadow cruiser popup TC that I have been hauling on a Dakota. Looking at upgrading the truck.

Anyone run a smaller TC on a bigger truck? What mods did you need to do to haul?

TC weighs in at 990lbs and still in great shape. Has 3 legs on tripod bases. Guessing I may need to extend the leg brackets due to wider truck and possibly raise the base depending on cab of new truck. Will I need dually brackets or do you think another type of shim could work.

Gots my thoughts, but as usual somethings get overlooked. Words of wisdom....(thoughts too) are greatly appreciated. If done it, pictures a plus.

Picture of truck and TC in profile.

Thanks for the replies!
😉
Rich

[JimBollman]

I moved from a 6 cyl F150 to F250 7.3L Diesel to carried a pop up Palomino 1200 about 8 years ago and now carry a pop up Shadow Cruiser on the F250. It is very nice having an over powered truck instead of under power. When I had the F150 I took the camper off any time I was going to use it and was limited to flat lands when pulling a trailer. With the F250 I take the camper off when I need the truck, don't really even think about it being back there except for rear view mirror is useless. Truck actually rides better with the camper on.

[kjenckes]

I had a similar TC for a couple of years. It was built for the Dakota class trucks. 36 inch floor and 7 foot length. I loaded it into Dodge 1500 4WD long bed and F250 4WD 7 foot bed. I loaded it onto a couple of 8 foot 4x4s to get the height needed for the side walls and cab roof. I had no issues with the jacks clearing. I did't even know the camper was there going down the rode. I had a window AC in the pass through window and with the camper set back I still had enough room to use the tailgate like a porch.

[trailgranny50]

You might need to check the bed height in new truck vs the Dakota. Look on the bright side, with the extra room you could possibly add basement and side storage by boxing out the camper base?

[s1214]

Rich, my old SunLite was used in both a 1500 and on my new 2500. The width was never an issue except for the angle of the tiedowns. As some have said, the bigger truck never even knew it was back there. The end of the camper came right to the end of the bed so that wasn't an issue. The narrower camper was even an asset due to the newer truck's tailgate opening being rounded at the corners. Since it wasn't wide enough to touch the opening, no modifications were needed.

[RichandLiz]

I think ithe TC was originally made for the mini trucks as the space between the wheels of the Dakota is 44" . I shimmed out the base of the TC to make it wider to fit tighter in the Dakota.

Thinking about placing it on a bigger truck, possibly even a 2500. Worried more about the fit in the bed and loading then the weight no matter what truck I get. The Dakota handled it well. Trying to avoid both new truck and TC at the same time.

[rickeoni]

Have a 8.5 foot camper, and loading it on the F450 is a chore, the camper is so narrow that it requires perfection when loading, after that it was so easy.

[d3500ram]

My first TC was a NorthStanever TC-800... the truck (see sig) never knew it was there. I did nothing to the truck except new after market shocks.

No overhang off the back so pulling a utility trailer was easy. I don't know how wide the Shadow Cruisers are, but the Northstar pop-ups are only 7' and backing in was like threading a needle. Extending the brackets may not be necessary but it could be tricky with the 3 tri-pods... I would not want to accidentally "bump" one of those. I would recommend 4 corner jacks.

[trailgranny50]

We had a Shadow Cruiser pop up for a time and hauled it on a long bed truck. Single rear wheels tho. No adjustments needed. The front jack and the single side will need extended if you're running a dually. A heavy duty "I" beam to match up with jack brackets type extender would work as my son in law made a set for the front two on the hard side Shadow Cruiser we now have on an 04 Chevy Duramax 3500 DRW. Standard corner brackets wouldn't work on our new old camper especially on the water heater corner, no room. We take them and the jacks, front and rear, off traveling as we don't take the camper of at camp sites. Either the Torklift or Happijacks will work, that's just personal preference and pocketbook decision. We're using HJs and are well satisfied but others not so much as the bumpers on the new trucks aren't as strong without added braces. Love hearing about folks with the old Shadow cruisers!