so basically... 3/4 ton/1 ton heavier camper

[::Squish::]

If you plan on putting a lot of miles on in a year, then diesels start to make sense

You give up a lot of money and a lot of payload for a diesel. and not just up-front money cost, maintenance is a lot higher as well.
It's off-set by resale, but not by much.

It is nice hauling the weight in the hills

I would look at a dualie especially since you don't plan off road much.

Also try and rent a truck camper for at least a weekend, I know cruise america have them at some outlets and there are some "shareing economy" RV rental places that have them.

This would give you a good idea what works for you and your family layout wise and what doesn't

Think about stuff like black water dumps, and tank clean out,
Along with the nice things inside.

Campers are heavy things and when you go to the larger ones they get even heavier.

airbags, springs, shocks none of that increases your rig's payload, only how well it does with the weight.

And good luck

 

[Buliwyf]

I'd strongly recommend rethinking about towing.

-you can drop the trailer at the campground and then have the freedom of an empty truck
-trailers are half the cost of slide in campers, especially big ones
-you can get away with less truck with little trailers, slide in campers are hard on trucks
-most country towns have plenty of easy roads and parking. You only take up two spots with smaller trailers. Park at the back of a local grocery store and walk.
-even small trailers are 5 times roomier than a slide in camper
-slide in campers have lame, very lame, bathrooms. They're better than nothing, but not acceptable for multiple people and full timing. So where ever you camp out, better have a shower house. And camp grounds with shower houses, are always trailer friendly.

A small trailer, say 20-23 feet is easy to tow in small towns. I tow 20-23' utility trailers in big cities more often than I want to. And towing them to any actual place fun to go is cake. If you oversize your truck, F350 DRW, CC 4wd, it's even easier. Although a SRW truck is all that's needed with little trailers. DRW is always great for slide in campers.

Even a el cheapo single axle trailer is a mansion compared to a slide in. Even a big quality slide in like Lance.

Grey Wolf 20':

Grey Wolf 23'

I'm abandoning my wants of a slide in camper. Too expensive, too heavy (need a truck bigger than my F250 SRW), and a TT gets me everywhere I want to go. 5th wheel trailers are out, I need bed space. I still have my tents in case I want to get a boat.

I'll never tow or haul a camper with anything smaller than a F250 CC, LB, 4WD ever again.

 

[Bobzdar]

What climate are you going to be in? For a truck camper to work with a family of 4, you'd have to be somewhere where you can spend most of your time outside. Otherwise they're just too small. I have both a truck camper and a travel trailer. Travel trailer is vastly preferable with my family of 4. Truck camper is good for boondocking or places you can't get a camper to fit. If you mostly plan to be in campgrounds and/or in locations that don't have nice weather 80+% of the time, I would seriously think about overcoming your tow-phobia as it will be a lot more comfortable full timing in a travel trailer, even a smaller one. You also need much less tow vehicle, a 24' TT weighs maybe 6500lbs loaded with full tanks, which can easily be towed by a half ton. It's also much easier to hook/unhook a TT than take a truck trailer in/out.

 

[Garbinator]

I can't thank you all enough for thoughts, opinions, questions, etc. They've all made me think and consider my options. Tomorrow my boys and I are going to be looking at truck campers. The place we're going has the one I think I want (Legend 990) as well as 20-something others. And, thanks to all the great advise you all have given, if I do end up with that one, or something similar, I will absolutely look for a 1 ton dually and consider air bags sooner rather than later.

I owned a 1996 Legend 990 until last year...

Whatever you do, get underneath the unit and check for wood rot. Tanks and valves are not protected as the newer units are. Years of road grime and water exposure will take its toll.

Also, check underneath at all the wireing to make sure it is not cracking or rotted.

Get on top and check for roof damage. Even the A.C. As in my case my A/C unit made contact not once but twice times pinning my whole rig underneath the weight of large tree limbs. My Lance was built tuff! It survived ME!

 

[Garbinator]

Excellent points to trailering... Also, who am I to try arguing with a Viking of all things! My being a Welshman I might just welsh-out on any further comment! As the broadsword whooshes just over me head!

As a Longtime camper owner I must agree with the above opinions. In addition, trailers are FAR easier to enter and exit. No climbing. Bathrooms are far and above better as to me, they seem almost rented room-like on the road. The only reason I stayed with our Lance was my wife "refused to learn how to drive while towing."

Another important point, very few parks allow one to "Off-Load" their camper. I must say after what I have witnessed in parks over the many years I don't blame RV parks for this rule at all. Especielly us folks who are getting older. It can be daunting trying to back under, straighten a pickup bed center without coming into contact with either inner wheel well to the lower camper sides.

 

[IdaSHO]

For the full-timers or foul weather travelers, a trailer can be dangerous.

With our winter travels, the safest option has always been a truck camper.

Towing in the snow or mud? No thanks. :Wow1:

 

[Flhtruss]

Hi not a expert, but what I hear from time to time is find the camper, or trailer first. Then get the proper vehicle for the job. Weight adds up quick so that piece of advice made sense to me.
Russ

 

[AbleGuy]

Just so you know, I'm not making this statement in reference to or in regards to Lance or XP or any specific other brand campers.

But, I hate to tell, you,....For all of you proud overweight camper owners.....you'd better hope you never get into a serious accident with them, because if so, when the overweight issue of your rig is made known, the injured party's attorney will positively eat your lunch, and plus there's a damn good chance that your own insurance company will probably deny you any liability coverage for your willful violation of your weight limits.

At that point you're screwed.

A good rule to consider: Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

And liability wise, I strongly disagree with those who say manufacturers' GVWR ratings are less important than what your upgraded axle or suspension can hold. Let a good lawyer argue to a jury that your safe braking capacity as set by the truck's manufacturer was voluntary ignored by your built and camper load, and that that contributed to causing the accident.....and ka ching ka ching ka ching!


(From a former insurance defense industry counsel)

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

gball,
I notice you don't even own a truck camper and have cut and pasted this or similar note on at least two truck camper threads.
I just have one question for you:
Do you have any evidence in hand that a truck camper owner has ever been involved in litigation over the weight question?
I've driven our 2500 series with Lance camper for more than 165K miles over 16 years and have never 'felt' overloaded or illegal. Even with the added 800 pounds of capacity given to the 'Camper Package' secondaries when we bought new, I'm right at the 'factory' limit per the doorpost sticker, but still way under the axle loading capacity per Dana Corp. Further suspension work has netted a plethora of capacity to carry my lightweight Lance.
I've been on many truck camper forums and have never heard of any of the more than 1K truck camper owners (or more) have litigation woes over weight. Sorry for the alliteration. If there was an actual litigation problem, I'm sure it would immediately be broadcast all over the internet TC forums.
jefe

 

['round n' back again]

LITIGATION: you must keep in mind jefe, that common sense and feel, and anecdotal evidence stand no chance in court against a rapacious plaintiff, the armies of legal experts on the side of the insurance industry, and a jury convincd you were a "cowboy" and reckless.
lawyers are well paid to worry over such trivial issues as gvwr. i giver the post-er due respect for the concerns so stated. lawyers worry,
while we indulge ourselves in cavalier practices that , though they have caused no harm to date, will someday be brought into court as evidence of our guilt. when that day comes, the hell will be paid by all of us through more stringent regulation, insurance premiums and a hitch in our giddiup.

short question if you are found to be overloaded and at fault as cited, who is going to bat 4 u? tire co? truck maker? axle maker?. uummm kinda on ur own there.

 

['round n' back again]

as for the original poster, unless this is planned very carefully full timing it will end quite rapidly in less than satisfactory circumstances.

common sense tells us to garner the maximum space possible for the least dollars. im unsure exactly what your goals are in undertaking this, or your experience in actually doing this . both are a bit vague. it is no easy thing traveling with children full time.
its not easy on children to not have a permanent base camp, and the associated cost of life on the road are not commonly discussed or even known.

as for towing and driving, the skill set used for camper or trailer will be the same, with different emphasis, but the same issues. again if you feel your driving skills are shaky for a trailer, they will be equally so for a camper.

strict advice would be thus: a 4 door vehicle, as large a trailer as you can pull behind it , some realistic and thoughtful planning then a cost /benefit analysis.

furthermore its obvious a large motor home towing your newly paid off car under the circumstances stated, is the intelligent way to become reasonably assured of some degree of success in the outcome.

 

[Freebird]

Bumper pull/TT sounds like/is wise advice for your situation, IMO, and I'm a TC owner, and big fan of TCs....

 

[Peneumbra2]

And be sure to watch "The Long, Long Trailer."

 

[pappawheely]

And be sure to watch "The Long, Long Trailer."

:smiley_drive:

 

[Buliwyf]

I tow in the snow all of the time. If your rig is safe and proper, it's easy and perfectly safe. We have rules at work to avoid towing in snowy weather. But the heavy hitters, like me, sometimes have to deal with it.

If you have any ignored faults with your setup, they will greatly get worse under snowy conditions. For example:

-Trucks that bounce over bumps. Undersprung, underdamped Chevy's, or 1/2 tons.
-Non-level trucks and trailers.
-Old, bad, trailer tires.
-Overloaded tow vehicles.
-Small tow vehicles even if they aren't overloaded.
-Modern half tons anywhere near their rated capacity. 1/2 ton tow ratings are nonsense.

20' trailers are incredibly easy to tow around corners. They hardly turn inside the truck, so you don't have to swing wide much. Just go slow at 1st.