Sticky when asked which truck is best to haul camper.

All three American manufacturers have excellent trucks.

Those are only for pulling pop-ups, get something bigger if it's a hard sided camper.

^^^^^^ :B

Just fyi, Montana calls my F450 ... 1 1/2 tons. :D Yeah, I still have the same TC that I carried on my F350 SRW both with and without 19.5s.

IMO the sticky that is needed should cover estimating actual weight beginning from the information provided by manufacturers. New buyers often miss highly important details. For example many times manufacturer's specs do not include the weight for common accessories such as awnings. New buyers are also likely to greatly underestimate the wet weight and weight of food, cooking gear, clothing, tools, etc. These considerations can be important for any RV but more so for truck campers where rear axle weights often exceed tire load ratings.

jimh425 wrote:
Just fyi, Montana calls my F450 ... 1 1/2 tons. :D Yeah, I still have the same TC that I carried on my F350 SRW both with and without 19.5s.

I figured that's what they are. 1 1/2 tons.

JimK-NY wrote:
IMO the sticky that is needed should cover estimating actual weight beginning from the information provided by manufacturers. New buyers often miss highly important details. For example many times manufacturer's specs do not include the weight for common accessories such as awnings. New buyers are also likely to greatly underestimate the wet weight and weight of food, cooking gear, clothing, tools, etc. These considerations can be important for any RV but more so for truck campers where rear axle weights often exceed tire load ratings.

That would be a good one too. My post was more tongue in cheek than anything.

JimK-NY wrote:
IMO the sticky that is needed should cover estimating actual weight beginning from the information provided by manufacturers. New buyers often miss highly important details. For example many times manufacturer's specs do not include the weight for common accessories such as awnings. New buyers are also likely to greatly underestimate the wet weight and weight of food, cooking gear, clothing, tools, etc. These considerations can be important for any RV but more so for truck campers where rear axle weights often exceed tire load ratings.

Except such a sticky would be so long as to far exceed anyone's patience to read, and capacity to retain.

You have to cover every camper ever made, every truck ever made, every accessory for every camper every made...

The reality is the vast majority hit the road with only a vague idea of their actual weight, and get from point A to point B happy and healthy, singing along with the radio the whole way, not a care in the world. Apparently getting down to the nearest ounce is not terribly important.

Perhaps a sticky with peoples actual stats of what they own and have actually weight at the scales.
-My truck is: ( Brand/model/yr/trim level/add-ons)
-My truck weight is (w/ me and/or companion and full/half fuel tank) Total+ rear+ front.
-My Camper is (same list as truck) plus dry listed weight
-My truck + non prep'd for camping TC weight is (total+ front only+ rear only)
-My truck + TC ready for a week away with full fuel, fresh water, stuff, pets and people (Total+ front+ rear.
Could dived the Sticky into truck brand and camper brand. People can post in both sub categories so when others are looking, they can find the info based on either.
I'll be doing weight check on the above variations just for my own knowledge and curiosity and will be happy to post them up. Granted things like people and the stuff they bring varies, but at least it's something. And this is a common question and reasonably so.
And to save clutter, only ask questions via PM's to the posters. Plus it will avoid the eventual arguments breaking out. ;)

mkirsch wrote:

JimK-NY wrote:
IMO the sticky that is needed should cover estimating actual weight beginning from the information provided by manufacturers.........

Except such a sticky would be so long as to far exceed anyone's patience to read, and capacity to retain.
...

I doubt the information really needs to be that long. New buyers need to understand that manufacturers and salespeople often understate what is needed. The key points are simple:
Add weight for accessories that the manufacturer did not include.
Add weight for any accessories the buyer will add such as solar panels, generator, foam mattress upgrade, extra battery, and even 100-200 pounds for the bed mat, tie down brackets and fastguns.
Add weight of fresh water and propane.
Add roughly 1000 pounds to cover personal items, tools, food, cooking gear, bedding, etc, etc.
Finally realize all the weight will be on the rear axle and should be within the load rating of the tires.

It seems simple, but new buyers rarely understand and often end up with a rig that is hard too drive and unsafe because the rear tires are grossly overloaded.