5500 campers real life experience

[tim87tr]

Cool. More of a trailhead basecamp jeep tow vehicle. That's even easier to build for.

These guys make removable motorcoaches. Pops off just like a camper. They'll build whatever, just need your truck for a bit.

http://www.powerhousecoach.com/Pickup Truck Campers.html

Yes, but not sure I even want to tow the Jeep too often or at all, I'd rather just take it out West a couple times a year, or possibly leave it out there at a friend's home. It does real well driving on the highway, has 37" bfg ko2s/5.13s/6 sp but I don't plan on having it with me all the time.

I'd just noticed those powerhouse coaches recently, look nice...and expensive?. Will check them out as we do like some comfort items?

 

[Buliwyf]

Finally found a pic of a big Pheonix:

......and looks like my idea of just dropping a cheap simple travel trailer on the back of HD trucks is catching on. I mean, if a f550 flatbed tow truck, can tow a truck or trailer on it's back, why not a camper?

 

[tim87tr]

You sure you need such a truck?

Us "little" 3/4 & 1-tons can get on with it pretty well, without the problems associated with larger trucks.

Wheel/tire combos, registration and insurance issues, etc...

Either way, good luck with your build. Lots of good folks here to draw input from.

Kenny, I looked again at the 3500 SRW Ram Limited chassis cab payload and found 4580 lb for the quad cab diesel. I thought it was less so if that's correct, I will investigate SRW more, you got me looking at a bigger picture. It'd be nice to have some 35s like you've put on your rig. What is your wheel and tire setup, and camper brand? I have BFG KO2s on my Jeep and really like them after running Goodyear MTRs prior.

 

[Buddha.]

These guys make removable motorcoaches. Pops off just like a camper. They'll build whatever, just need your truck for a bit.

http://www.powerhousecoach.com/Pickup Truck Campers.html

Dang, I’ve had apartments that were smaller than that!

 

[IdaSHO]

Kenny, I looked again at the 3500 SRW Ram Limited chassis cab payload and found 4580 lb for the quad cab diesel. I thought it was less so if that's correct, I will investigate SRW more, you got me looking at a bigger picture. It'd be nice to have some 35s like you've put on your rig. What is your wheel and tire setup, and camper brand? I have BFG KO2s on my Jeep and really like them after running Goodyear MTRs prior.

Wheels are a Les Schwab special, they are 18" raceline's, with a max load capacity of 3650lbs per wheel
They are among the higher load rater wheels that Schwabby sells, that dont look terrible.

I went 18's because of the tire I wanted. Last few sets of truck tires, that have completely converted me over to a Toyo buyer, are AT2's

I wanted the highest load rated AT2 I could muster in a 35" tire, so I decided on the 285/75r18.
It has a max load rating of 4080lbs, allowing me to run at a substantially lower pressure for my needs.

The combination is a pretty solid setup that doesnt weigh a ton.
Each combo weighs less than 100lbs

The camper is a custom camper I built myself back in 2012. It is the equivalent of a true 4-season 10' truck camper,
built specifically for a SRW flatbed (narrow) and weighs about 2000lbs dry.

It originally was fitted to my old Powerstroke, only in the past year or so have I been pushing it to the much newer SuperDuty

I have had a renewed number of people comment and ask questions about it, some begging for me to create a build thread for it here on Expo, perhaps I will soon.

 

[tim87tr]

Wheels are a Les Schwab special, they are 18" raceline's, with a max load capacity of 3650lbs per wheel
They are among the higher load rater wheels that Schwabby sells, that dont look terrible.

I went 18's because of the tire I wanted. Last few sets of truck tires, that have completely converted me over to a Toyo buyer, are AT2's

I wanted the highest load rated AT2 I could muster in a 35" tire, so I decided on the 285/75r18.
It has a max load rating of 4080lbs, allowing me to run at a substantially lower pressure for my needs.

The combination is a pretty solid setup that doesnt weigh a ton.
Each combo weighs less than 100lbs

The camper is a custom camper I built myself back in 2012. It is the equivalent of a true 4-season 10' truck camper,
built specifically for a SRW flatbed (narrow) and weighs about 2000lbs dry.

It originally was fitted to my old Powerstroke, only in the past year or so have I been pushing it to the much newer SuperDuty

I have had a renewed number of people comment and ask questions about it, some begging for me to create a build thread for it here on Expo, perhaps I will soon

Wow, you have skills. I have a basic grow up on a farm and work on some vehicles skills, but that's impressive. After watching a video on how they built the artic fox, I know that was an in depth and rewarding project.

Thanks for the tire info, I'd like to air down on a trail or run less than the maximum on highway depending on the load and tire charts, within reason. I'm a big fan of that with the Jeep, and have some Interco bird dog rims with an inner bead that allows 10 psi on my 37" ko2s and I went even lower on some MTs. They're rated 3000 lb in 17x9 and wish they made them HD in many truck sizes, but not sure they're made anymore.

I will work on researching and looking at in person, campers to fit a SRW 3500. This thread info really helps me see a lot more travel and trail options.

 

[Darwin]

[QUOTE="tim87tr, post: 2652962, member: 112159"

I will work on researching and looking at in person, campers to fit a SRW 3500. This thread info really helps me see a lot more travel and trail options.
[/QUOTE]

I went a similar direction as IdaSho, I considered long and hard about 5500 and almost pulled the trigger on one, but my use is a different than yours and is not designed as a "basecamp" type set up. I really needed singles in the back over dually, and a 5500 up front with single rear wheel conversion would have put my width pretty wide up front. I still haven't decided yet totally if I made the right choice or not on 3500 vs 5500. I ended up buying a 3500 cab chassis dually and converting it to SRW. Right now I am only limited by the capacity of the tires at 8000 lbs total on the rear.

My wheels are rated at 4,500 lbs a wheel and the tires 37x12.5x18 are rated at 4000 lbs. The flatbed is custom, with a 'captive spring mount' up front for offroad with the camper on the back.

 

[Jo_Duval]

When did you switch truck? I like the new platform your camper sits on, still my favorite build and inspiration so far for when we replace our van.

 

[IdaSHO]

Still in the process of making the change. So not yet really.
A bit more to address on the truck, as well as a mini-make-over on the camper, then should be good to go