First set up, In need of direction.

[taverre]

Hello,

I have been waffling between getting a conversion van or pick up with slide in camper for several months now. I am in the market to get a new car and am leaning towards a truck ( although my heart still speeds up when I see a SMB decked out with ladders and lifted tires). I'm thinking dodge ram, ford, chevy or toyota. I'm not sure what size to get but I know I would like a hard side truck camper and am hoping it will have a bunk over the dinette so that my family of five will fit. I have three kids ages 6,4,2. Here is the criteria I am working from and any direction would be greatly appreciated! I need a truck big enough for five people, four door (super cab, or double cab?). This means the bed will be short. Even if I get a long bed (have yet to find a car manu say the size difference in the longer bed, I guess I have to go to a dealership to find out). I have red on some forums that a short bed already limits my options to nearly nil as the weight would primarily be behind the rear axle. Is this right? Another criteria is that I am intimidated by getting what I consider to be a giant truck that I will look silly climbing into and jumping out of. I'm a 5 foot 7 guy and don't want to get additional herniated disks, performing acrobatics getting up into my truck every day.

My budget is around 25,000 for the truck and 3-8,000 for the camper (depending on how great the camper is).

I have been lusting/ uh looking at Lance campers but the smallest looks like it would still be too heavy once loaded with people and water...etc. I was hoping an f150, tundra, 1500 truck would be big enough. But it looks like I will need air bags, leaf springs, sway bars, better tires...bla bla bla. I know enough to be thoroughly confused.

Please enlighten me expedition portal!

 

[surlydiesel]

Look one post below yours about wanting an F150 for a hardside camper. The outcome was 3/4 or 1 ton for that kind of weight.

My first thought when reading your post was maybe a MegaCab Ram with some kind of a bumper pull with bunk beds. I think only a Bigfoot truck camper would provide you with the space you would need for family and frankly, you need a dually for that kind of rig. I would suggest going to a few dealers that stock truck campers, getting the whole family in one and "spreading out", as much as you can in one. I'm sure you are all best of friends all the time but it gets small and cramped.

As for the vehicle question, if you went with a "light" bumper pull, you could get away with a half ton truck and have a better DD. A van would afford you tons of room for the kids and a bed in the back and you could tow a bumper pull with it. It all really depends on what you and your family want to drive and where. Sometimes having a base camp and exploring beyond is fun and works for your situation.

I understand the reasoning for the Truck Camper setup but I think you'll find that in order to have space for everyone to sleep in one, you'll end up with a 1 ton dually and they don't make for great DD's. You can get truck campers with I think 3 slides now, they get big but you have to have a truck to carry it. 3 slides and 6000 pounds takes you into the F550/Ram5500 territory. You can safely tow 6000 pounds with any of the new half tons on the road. A few times a year no problem, monthly maybe more than that I'd get a 3/4 or 1 ton. Overbuilt for daily towing stresses.

That's my 2 cents. Maybe it was 4 cents

-jorge

 

[taverre]

Hi Jorge,

Thanks for your 4 cents. I like the idea of taking the fam to a dealer so we can all get in a tc to see how we like the fit. I am expecting it will feel slightly better than if we were all standing in the back of the truck bed. My feeling is the camper would just be for hauling all our stuff around, have a place already set up for cooking, bath rooming and sleeping. Bad weather and we would use rain jackets and tents for extra spread out space.

You were also confirming my fear that it isn't possible to get a hard side truck camper on anything smaller than a 3/4 or 1 ton. The lance site ID's an f150 or tundra as possible trucks for the 825 (or close to that number), do you think this is inaccurate? Hopefully some other members with 1/2 ton and 3/4 can weigh in. I read through about half of the f150 post below mine but it looked like the op has some different criteria then me. It looked like they don't have a family to take with and so could probably get a larger bed truck since a super/double cab isn't needed. This is part of my question, are there any successful tc and truck set ups that have a double cab and a hardside that are below 1 ton? Looking through the pictures thread I see four door trucks every now and then but I don't know my trucks enough yet to know if they are 2500 and above.

Thanks again for your reply and if anyone has experience with fam of five & or shortbed & or 3/4 ton or smaller truck camping, I am all ears.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

There are options out there for a short bed crew cab set up. I've got a 3/4 ton Chevy diesel with a Bigfoot truck camper. I've spent plenty of time in mine with another adult and two big dogs. It has worked fine. Can't comment on a family of five. I went with diesel but I wish I had a one ton. I've made a lot suspension and wheel upgrades because I didn't want a dually. I also advise people to look for a side door entry just in case you ever tow. I also think that generators all real nice if you like staying in the back country.

 

[wirenut]

I have a family of 4 and a dog. We have an 11' TC with no slides. It's tight. I wouldn't want an additional person in there. I carry this camper on a Chevy 3500 crew cab dually. I'm overweight. I've installed air bags and heavy duty shocks and it handles pretty good. I tow our boat behind the truck. The whole set up comes in at around 18,000 pounds. We like to go to lakes and camp and boat for long weekends and this set up works great. The diesel in the Chevy has plenty of power for the weight, even going up and over the mountains.
Don't think for a minute that you can haul a camper large enough for your family on a "1/2 ton truck"; especially not a short bed. It won't happen. There are very few short bed campers with slides, most are only 6 to 8 feet of floor length. If you go to a long bed truck you can get campers with up to 11' of floor length and up to 3 slide outs.
You're looking at a crew cab dually as a minimum with a long bed. Many of the larger, nicer campers will put a fully optioned dually overweight. Then you're headed for a 4500 or 5500 series truck with a custom bed.

 

[redthies]

I'll agree with what has been said already. If you want a truck camper that sleeps five, you're getting into dually territory if you want to be safe and/or legal. Half tons are fine to through the golf clubs in, or a couple of dirt bikes, but much more than that and you will be getting in trouble. I do a lot of towing, and even if the new crop of half tons are "rated" to tow 10,000 lbs, I sure wouldn't want to do it, or be around someone who does. Get a 3/4 or 1 ton, and go to a RV dealer and try a few campers on for size. Don't let the dealer tell you if a certain truck is "ok" for the camper you like. Do your own research on weights. My latest camper was 2000 lbs over what my truck could legally carry, DRY! I was closer to 2500 lbs loaded for a trip. But the rv dealer said "it's fine". I now own a dually and am just at my legal maximum.

 

[JHa6av8r]

I had a 1/2 ton Titan crew cab that I loved and went through the same exercise you're going through about a year ago. After crunching all the weight numbers especially payload and GVWR ended up in a 1 ton SRW with a 1,435 lb pop-up. It probably comes in just under 1,900 lbs with our gear. Conservative yes, but lots of excess capacity and feel my family is safe going down the road especially when my wife and son go on their own. Mt two cents is scrub the 1/2 idea. A 3/4 ton would be the minimum and I don't care what the manufactures tell you, a 1 ton is best if you go the hardside route.

 

[taverre]

Thank you all for the feedback. I'm currently considering a chevy 2500 hd and a sub 2,000 lb tc with bunk bed over dinnett. I'm now thinking the 2500 may not even cut it as it seems with a family my size an 8.5 ft non slide tc is not going to be big enough, in which case I would need 3500 and dually. I am still trying to convince myself that I will be able to afford the 13 mpg 2500 with gas at 3.50 and higher. Dually 3500 seems a bit out of my comfort zone in size, mpg and sticker price. Thanks again and if anyone has any tc recommendations for a 2500, I'm all eyes.

 

[Darwin]

you can pick up a Dodge dually with 4 doors for 20k no problem.

 

[surlydiesel]

Maybe a camper from these guys? http://www.livinlite.com This link was posted here a few weeks back (months?) anyway, they seem to make a quality camper that is really light and free of fake wood and such. I'm really interested in them and want to see one at a dealer. Oh and a dually is a monster. The extra width is something you always have to keep in mind beyond just the length. A Crewcab longbed is a big truck but very driveable for me with singles. Going to Duals mean swinging wider for things and being really careful near trees and the such. You would have to go light to stay in a SRW, otherwise you're stuck in a DRW. 2mpg won't save you that much in fuel...

-jorge

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

It is very simple. With a family of five, if you indeed want to spend a lot of time camping with them: forget about a truck camper. It's just too small a living area. If you go with a TC anyway, it will be an expensive mistake. With five, get a 4-door pickup and a large TT or 5-er. There will be space for five, you will have the use of a pickup, and will come out with a smaller bill per square foot of camping area. form follows function.
regards, as always, jefe

 

[dags]

Have you considered a lance 830.

 

[Capt Eddie]

A Lance 830 or the bigger 1040 has twice the floor space as any nonslide out there. We camp with 6 adults in the 1040 without any problems. Try to put 6 adults in any camper and see how they fit.