Proper sized camper for Ram 1500 Ecodiesel

[boxcar1]

Ok . You all love your ecodiesel for it's mileage and comfort , But none has come up with the answer the PO queried.
Will it haul a camper ? What camper ( if any ) is best.
What I am getting from this conversation is: As a truck , it's not a very wise choice . As an economy car it works well ?
So why not buy an economy car for the 35,000 miles on the road a year and a real truck for the hauling?
I'm just trying to grasp the reasoning for even $30,000 investment in a truck that can't preform better than a small SUV.

 

[wanderer-rrorc]

Ok . You all love your ecodiesel for it's mileage and comfort , But none has come up with the answer the PO queried.
Will it haul a camper ? What camper ( if any ) is best.
What I am getting from this conversation is: As a truck , it's not a very wise choice . As an economy car it works well ?
So why not buy an economy car for the 35,000 miles on the road a year and a real truck for the hauling?
I'm just trying to grasp the reasoning for even $30,000 investment in a truck that can't preform better than a small SUV.

I said with the addition of air-bags in the back that it would haul it no problem...the only reason for the airbags was the soft springs that ram put in these stock..

as far as power and braking its well within safety.

 

[thethePete]

^ FWIW you can also get uprated springs installed if you intend to regularly carry extra payload...

 

[boxcar1]

I said with the addition of air-bags in the back that it would haul it no problem...the only reason for the airbags was the soft springs that ram put in these stock..

as far as power and braking its well within safety.

Not according to Chrysler / Fiat....

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

Lee brings up an excellent point about SUV/pickup engines with and without a load. In the day, a 6-cylinder engine would put out more torque at a lower rpms than a "V" engine ( the c.i. displacement being the same). Especially before the smog race became a marathon, they simply had more grunt. My CJ8, which was purpose built for grunt had a 4.4L (from a 4.2L block, bored out .060") six with Hesco's Mopar fuel injection, a 4.0L head, a built for torque bump stick advanced 6 degrees and a heavier flywheel making the peak torque at about 1400 rpm. The thing would pull like crazy @ 300 rpm, and tow anything without much loss of mpg. Just a big slug and not so fast.
Then came the quest for cleaner burning and better mpg. The Jeep 4.0L engine is a good test. I've had 3 Jeep (not-so-grand) Cherokees ( 1989, 1990, 1999) with the 4.0L I-6, the first two with the Renix F.I. and the '99 with OBDII Mopar F.I., and noticed this characteristic: pretty good acceleration and mpg with just the driver on board. Add a couple more bodies and some camping gear and the mpg drops precipitously. Tow anything with said jeeps and the mpg simply sucks. This is all by design. The only thing that saved them was the efficient Aisin/Warner Gear AW-4, wide ratio 4 speed auto.
The unloaded vehicle must have good mileage at the expense of the mpg and power with a load. My '01, 2nd gen Cummins has a narrow mpg band. Only a stiff headwind with the camper on, or very steep hills will effect the mpg to any extent. When I was pulling my jeep on trailer with the camper on the truck, the weight was just over 16,000 pounds which had not much effect on the mpg up to about 58 mph above which the wind resistance would reduce the mpg. This was assuming I could modulate the NV5600 and keep the rpms at about 1900 and above 1600. Just some ramblings.
jefe

 

[STANG302]

Well its been a while since I've looked through this thread and its taken on a life of its own. I know a few have suggested going back to a heavy truck and commuter car. But that is the exact opposite of what I have done. Traded off my 14' Impreza wagon and sold my old 01' F350 PS that was starting to fall apart at 360K miles. I'm not going back!

To support what wanderer-rrorc has been saying. I've had my truck for a year now totaling 24K trouble free miles. My mileage 24-26 mpg commuting to work (70 mile round trip) Best I've ever gotten on on a couple business trips across the state of MN (WI border to Detroit Lakes) 28 mpg. Winter mileage dropped to 20-22 mpg, which was expected. I know there are a few guys out there with 2wd Ecodiesels that can crack 30 mpg but I know that I will never see that empty in my 4x4. But am still amazed with what I can achieve with my truck. Currently there are three of us with 4x4 Ecodiesel's in my home town and we all get the same mileage and have had zero problems. Minus the occasional service builtin. We all love our trucks.

Also regarding purchase price. They seem to vary wildly around the Twin Cities. I picked up my left over 14' Outdoorsman for 35K out the door. She's loaded with everything but leather and air ride. One of the other guys in town picked up a used 14' 30K mile loaded Bighorn a couple months after I got mine. And he paid 7K more than I did at the same dealer! Deals can be found.

Now on to a progress report.

I've decided to go as light as I can. Decided to sell my enclosed trailer and picked up an 84" x 14' PJ atv trailer. This will haul my RZR, V-strom or both!

I am in the process of creating a mobile kitchen using my old aluminum truck box. Thanks to some inspiration from a few on here. This will house a sink with cold, hot water thanks to a tankless propane heater, Propane cook top, battery and small solar panel to run water pump and some lights. Hoping to have this ready for memorial weekend.

I've decided to delay a camper purchase till next year. And will be using more of my Kodiak truck tent till I decide which direction I want to go.
My front runners are to either mount a RTT to my trailer or pick up a Travel light Rayzr FB or FK. Main reason for holding off is I would like to see more reviews of of the Rayzr campers before I drop 10 grand on one. Even then the Rayzr would put me over my estimated weight limit. Unless I put my truck on a diet. Who needs a rear seat, tailgate and spare tire any how?

Here's my new trailer and toy:

 

[Ned B]

Just a thought.. If you're at all handy.. You could build your own. I'm a tear drop fan, and over on the teardrops&tinytraveltrailers forums tnttt.com there is a sub-forum about building using rigid foam. Here's a build about a foam camper on a Tacoma that came in at an estimated 400lbs: http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=64361

He used canvas with paint for the outer covering.

I learned a lot about the Eco-Ram from this thread, thanks to all for the info on the drive train and capabilities/limitations. If I were to buy another full size pickup, I would go with a diesel of some sort. Not everyone Needs a stump puller/rolling coal beast. I'd buy a light duty diesel in a heartbeat, but I'd know the limitations and my intended use before I bought it. I'm a woodworker, so occasionally I need to haul me and a few hundred lbs of lumber. The rest of the time it would be just me on my 30 mile/day round trip. I'm considering a pickup for my comfort, but I don't want to feed that uber-capable 3/4 or one ton beast. I could easily see muscle in an Eco-Ram or diesel Colorado et al. I've got 11 more payments on my commuter, and at that point I may just keep that for my youngest son & get What I want to drive for a change.

 

[Cave_Campers]

Cave Camper (750lbs, <$10k) ... easily fits a 1/2 ton

Cave Campers is a new entrant into the market. One of our design requirements was to easily satisfy the payload of a 1/2 truck. We'd love to get your feedback.

We ourselves are outdoor enthusiasts and our design vision aligns with that lifestyle. We purposefully removed the kitchen and bathroom from the design. We think there are some outdoor enthusiasts who prefer to cook and use the bathroom outdoors vs. in a confined space. What's left is a very spacious shelter for sleeping in and storing your gear. Along with that, we want our campers to last for a very long time so quality and durability is apparent in every aspect of the camper. At the end of the trip, you can hose it out.

 

[sourdough]

Aftermarket Airbag Overloads
Your vehicle factory suspension was designed by the vehicle engineers to carry the payload on the leaf spring suspension. Overloads such as airbags can help a vehicle that is towing or carrying a heavy payload by keeping the vehicle level. Leveling improves braking by shifting more weight onto the front wheels due to a forward shift in the center of gravity and front alignment stays closer to factory specification as again the vehicle is closer to a stock level stance.

The downside to airbag overloads is they accomplish all this by lifting the weight off the factory-engineered spring suspension. Your vehicle engineers designed the weight to be carried over the progressive 4' rear leaf springs. On any heavy towing or hauling set up, to level the vehicle with airbags means you have to take a majority of the weight off the factory leaf spring suspension and are now carrying that weight on an area roughly equivalent to the size of a two footballs. This is why you can actually experience a considerable increase in unsafe handling such as sway, porpoising (bucking) and body roll even though the vehicle is now closer to level with the airbags engaged.
super springs sway stops counter some of the air bags negatives. Properly engineered after market leaf springs are the best way to control our Tigers load.
More...http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/camp ... ersprings/

 

[bigskypylot]

Well its been a while since I've looked through this thread and its taken on a life of its own. I know a few have suggested going back to a heavy truck and commuter car. But that is the exact opposite of what I have done. Traded off my 14' Impreza wagon and sold my old 01' F350 PS that was starting to fall apart at 360K miles. I'm not going back!

To support what wanderer-rrorc has been saying. I've had my truck for a year now totaling 24K trouble free miles. My mileage 24-26 mpg commuting to work (70 mile round trip) Best I've ever gotten on on a couple business trips across the state of MN (WI border to Detroit Lakes) 28 mpg. Winter mileage dropped to 20-22 mpg, which was expected. I know there are a few guys out there with 2wd Ecodiesels that can crack 30 mpg but I know that I will never see that empty in my 4x4. But am still amazed with what I can achieve with my truck. Currently there are three of us with 4x4 Ecodiesel's in my home town and we all get the same mileage and have had zero problems. Minus the occasional service builtin. We all love our trucks.

Also regarding purchase price. They seem to vary wildly around the Twin Cities. I picked up my left over 14' Outdoorsman for 35K out the door. She's loaded with everything but leather and air ride. One of the other guys in town picked up a used 14' 30K mile loaded Bighorn a couple months after I got mine. And he paid 7K more than I did at the same dealer! Deals can be found.

Now on to a progress report.

I've decided to go as light as I can. Decided to sell my enclosed trailer and picked up an 84" x 14' PJ atv trailer. This will haul my RZR, V-strom or both!

I am in the process of creating a mobile kitchen using my old aluminum truck box. Thanks to some inspiration from a few on here. This will house a sink with cold, hot water thanks to a tankless propane heater, Propane cook top, battery and small solar panel to run water pump and some lights. Hoping to have this ready for memorial weekend.

I've decided to delay a camper purchase till next year. And will be using more of my Kodiak truck tent till I decide which direction I want to go.
My front runners are to either mount a RTT to my trailer or pick up a Travel light Rayzr FB or FK. Main reason for holding off is I would like to see more reviews of of the Rayzr campers before I drop 10 grand on one. Even then the Rayzr would put me over my estimated weight limit. Unless I put my truck on a diet. Who needs a rear seat, tailgate and spare tire any how?

Here's my new trailer and toy:

Nice looking truck! Out of curiosity, is that the indoor soccer dome in Woodbury?

 

[STANG302]

Nice looking truck! Out of curiosity, is that the indoor soccer dome in Woodbury?

You would be correct.
Picked up the RZR from Tousley.