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Truck Camper Forum _ General Discussion _ Greetings

Posted by: Oscar Dec 7 2012, 09:28 AM

Greetings,

New to this forum, not new to forums.

Have a Chevy 2500HD DmaxAllison6 Crew Cab short bed and currently pull a Keystone Cougar 29BHS ultralite with it, and we love it and use it a lot.

But, sometimes we just go somewhere for one day or night and it's quite a bit of work to get it out of storage and out of the gate. Also the one night is often at someone's house for a party when driving home is ill advised, and with an overall length approaching 50 feet that is not always practical.

Soooo, we've been looking for something smaller and more nimble. LOVE the Winnebago ERA's......don't quite have a 100 large laying around. blink.gif The low to mid 20's is more doable.....

So then I (re)discovered truck campers. Yesterday looked at a Livin Lite 8.5 Neat little setup and it sleeps a couple and two grown children. Not for a week, but a day or two will work just fine. Also found the Truck Camper Magazine site with the buyers resource. Working my way down the list.

Have read a lot of what's on this forum, and understand what GVWR and axle ratings are. With the Keystone it's not an issue as it is around 8000 pounds on it's own axles, with about a 1000 pound tongue weight.

Today I will have the truck weighed, as well as the individual axles so I know exactly where I stand.

Questions..... I mentioned a couple and two grown kids. The Livin Lite has the optional drop down bunk over the dinette. Does anyone know of any other brands that have his option? Also, do I have to remove the tailgate on my short bed? Or can it stay down with the camper in it?

Thanks.

Posted by: Oscar Dec 7 2012, 08:39 PM

Thanks for the warm welcome.....

The numbers are disturbing..... GVWR for my truck is 9200

The scales today said I was 7680, with two people, a truck cap and some stuff in the bed.

So, minus the cap, tailgate and the stuff it's the two of us and minus, say, 250 pounds..... That's 7430......

That would leave 1770 for a DRY camper.....

That really doesn't leave me anywhere to go does it?

Is EVERYONE out there illegal?

Posted by: Sailor Dave Dec 8 2012, 10:05 AM

Oscar,

I congratulate you for doing your homework BEFORE you decided to purchase anything. It can be tough when you already own a truck that wasn??¢â??¬â??¢t designed for most truck campers.

Is everyone out there legal? Hardly. There are those in your position who add springs, shocks, air bags and anything else they can find to try and increase their load capacity. Truth is you can't increase the GVWR of a vehicle once it leaves the factory. Sure you can add after market suspension but you won't be legal and that can lead to expensive litigation. To say nothing of pushing your truck past what it was built for.

Check out Four Wheel Campers http://www.fourwheelcampers.com/

There may be other pop-up style truck campers that will work for you. Truck Camper Magazine has a complete list of manufactures.

Dave

Posted by: Oscar Dec 8 2012, 10:32 AM

Thanks for the reply. I'm afraid mama won't go for a popup. It's starting to look like I need to get a bigger truck first........

Posted by: Sailor Dave Dec 9 2012, 09:27 AM

you might already know this but, if your going for a new truck watch out for the extra weight of the desiel (approx 700 pounds) and the 4 door crew cab (approx 200 pounds) as well as some other options that can eat away at your load capacity.

I'm looking at ordering an Arctic Fox 1150 next month and estimating the dry weight with options to be about 4400 pounds. Then add another 950 pounds for gear, 2 passengers and 15 gallons of water for traveling. Thats darn close to 5400 pounds.

I'll be pushing close to my GVWR of 13300.

Dave

Posted by: Oscar Dec 10 2012, 10:04 AM

Your point is taken. That said, I enjoy the diesel I have now too much to forego it. The torque and economy are just too nice not to have. I also need the crew cab as I have two kids that travel with us on occasion.

Also I don't want TOO large a camper. This is for us a "short mission" vehicle. One, two nights tops. The Lances we're looking at all come in wet at around 4000 pounds, with another 800 pounds of us that should be no problem for a dually.

Posted by: aqualung Dec 10 2012, 11:40 AM

I have noticed that the Ford truck's tend to have more available cargo payload that Dodge and GM. This may not be for every configuration but in general they beat out the others. Of course I found this out after I bought my Dodge. But at that time I got a deal on the Dodge that Ford couldn't touch so I am still happy.

And yes, once you have the diesel, its really tough to go back to gas. All of my vehciles are diesel now, including the car.

Posted by: Sailor Dave Dec 12 2012, 11:36 AM

Aqualung is right about different configuration. For me, the Ford had the best payload but that might have been different with another truck configutation. And I might have chosen a differnt configuration if I was towing a trailer or fiver.

FTI, when I speak of configutation I mean the length of the bed, cab style, engin type and 4x4 vs 2x4. Dont be fooled by the ads about the "largest cargo capacity" or "biggest tow capacity" as these are usually figures quoted on stripped down, regular cab models.

D

Posted by: Oscar Dec 12 2012, 11:31 PM

OK pulled the trigger today....

For once the gods of commerce were smiling on me and I WASN'T in the market for the same darn thing everyone else wanted.....

One ton duallys are aplenty right now, especially the 2012's and they are NOT flying off the lot.

So, beating the 12/31 deadline I signed up for a 2012 1 ton Chevy 3500 Crew Cab Long Bed Dually with the DMax and Allison 6 Speed. LT trim, so basically the same truck I have now with a fat rear end. Irony is that after the $6000 in rebates and such and the top dollar on my 2500 trade I am paying less than I paid for the 2500 three years ago....and with interest rates in the basement the payments are less too.....

More truck, less payments..... yahoo.

Lance dealer, here we come.

Posted by: Sailor Dave Dec 13 2012, 09:23 AM

Congrats Oscar!

I'll be interested in following your search for a good camper match with your new truck.

BTW, have you gotten a curb weight on the new truck yet? Dont know that the GVWR is on the Chevy DRW and was wondering what kind of payload your new Chevy has.

It's an adventure!

Dave

Posted by: Oscar Dec 19 2012, 09:06 AM

Hey Sailor Dave, think I asked this elsewhere, don't remember the answer. Do I know you from L&A, now CO????

Anywho, haven't gotten a weight on Super Max yet as I'm not taking delivery until noon.......

But, roughly the empty truck is 8000, and the GVWR is a little over 13, so payload around 5. 4 for the wet camper, plenty left for 4 peeps.

Will take it to the scales tomorrow.

Ordered about $700 in Torklift products yesterday....... blink.gif

I am also mounting a fifth wheel hitch for the fiver we're planning on getting for long missions. (Have a TT right now, will pull that in the meantime). So, have done all kinds of thinking about how to build up the floor around the rails that will be bolted into the bed for the fiver hitch. Settled on making grates out of Trex, and then a rubber mat on that for when TC is in. This allows me to take it all out for cleaning etc, but the TC will be properly supported.

Plywood not good. Looked at spray in bed liners, expensive, and not without drawbacks. Drop ins not good with the holes cut out for the fiver hitch, water would accumulate under, bad. So a grate will keep stuff out of the water and allow for plenty of air circulation. Also gives me a place to screw in tie down eyes......

When neither TC or 5ver are in play tonneau cover will keep it all dry.

Posted by: Oscar Dec 19 2012, 04:09 PM

This oughta do it......

Posted by: Spanky Dec 19 2012, 06:59 PM

Dang nice ride.........for a Chevy......lol........congrats..

Posted by: Sailor Dave Dec 20 2012, 04:23 PM

Hey Oscar,

Nice truck you have there. Been to the scales yet? I'd like to know the curb weight and the weight on the front and rear axles.

Dave

Posted by: Oscar Dec 20 2012, 08:39 PM

QUOTE(Sailor Dave @ Dec 20 2012, 05:23 PM)
Hey Oscar,

Nice truck you have there. Been to the scales yet? I'd like to know the curb weight and the weight on the front and rear axles.

Dave
*




Not yet..... will soon though.

Posted by: Oscar Jan 7 2013, 06:00 PM

OK, have all the Tork Lift receivers mounted on the chassis today..... (whilst brewing 20 gallons of beer, how's that for multi tasking)....

Ready to make a purchase....

And yes, SD I am heading for the scales. Have the fiver hitch rails mounted too....(part 2 of my plan for world domination)......all I have to do before weighing is to put my grates in the bed to make a level floor for the TC....

I will post pictures at some point, it will all be clear....

Posted by: Oscar Jan 9 2013, 02:48 PM

Well, I've put money down on a 2012 leftover Lance 1191.......

Hope to take delivery later this month. Can't wait!

Posted by: Sailor Dave Jan 9 2013, 04:40 PM

Congrats Oscar!

Keep us posted with stats and pics.

SD

Posted by: Oscar Jan 11 2013, 04:38 PM

Ordered hitch extension and cable splitter from Torklift today. Planning on occasionally pulling the cargo trailer too. And, put together a spreadsheet for weight calculations.

Anticipate taking delivery on the 25th.

Posted by: Oscar Jan 24 2013, 04:09 AM

Three more days..... oh boy oh boy!

The dealer is Campers Inn in NH. Timing is working out perfectly. We were going to Manchester NH anyways, as there is an SCA event there this weekend. So, we are killing two birds with one stone.....

Have a hitch extender for my cargo trailer to schlepp all the stuff to the event, and have a place to put it on the way back as the bed will be unavailable. In fact the bed is empty except for the grates and the rubber mat. Also, the tail gate can go in the cargo trailer on the way home....

The grates were added (pressure treated 3/4" true for the stringers and 5/4" cedar which is light and rot resistant for the boards) to compensate for the fifth wheel hitch rails. The hitch comes out and then a filler piece goes in. A 4'x8' rubber mat and the TC should not slide anywhere....

Also, bringing it all up just under two inches leaves room for the tonneau cover rail.

Posted by: aqualung Jan 25 2013, 08:34 AM

Looks great! I'd love to see some pics of the whole rig once you have it all together.

Posted by: Oscar Jan 28 2013, 06:35 PM

Well, it is done. Mostly good, a few detractions.

Friday night hauled from Eastern PA up to Manchester NH. Snowing.....traffic.....idiots.....more snow. 360 miles should have taken 5 hours, it took 7. Average speed 45 mph.

Got to hotel in Manchester (we were there for an SCA event...Google that) and had it set up so that the next morning I "escaped" to go to Campers Inn of Merrimack NH. Nothing but good to say about them. Professional, large, seriously run operation. They kindly took my salt covered rig in and washed it while I did the paperwork. Then I spent a good 2 hours with one of their techs to get familiar with the unit and load it on the truck. A nice experience all around.

Drove back to hotel, parked in employee lot out back and the next morning drove home. It rides VERY well. A little more '76 Impala sway than empty (duh) but very controllable and pleasant. I have no urge to run out and get performance enhancing hardware at all. Truck sat nice and level too. No ass heavy look.

So far so good. Unfortunately a stop at a CAT scale told a less pleasant story. This unit is in the brochures at 3500 dry, the sticker on it says 4000 and apparently that is before they put the batteries, propane and a few more things in there. Best I can tell, it's well north of 4500#. Add three people, stuff in the truck and a 250 pound tongue weight for the VERY lightly loaded cargo trailer on the hitch extender and the whole thing was 440# north of the 13000# GVWR. And that's before we put ANYTHING in the many, many storage compartments.

Realistically speaking, the Lance people should not market this as something that one can put on a pick-up truck, not even a one ton dually. Period. This technically takes an MDT. But, it is what it is.

But, as I said it all handles well, so we'll keep the weight to a minimum.

Oh, the unit is AWESOME. We are going to have a LOT of fun with this.

Posted by: Spanky Jan 29 2013, 05:40 AM

It sure looks heavy, but very nice.

Posted by: aqualung Jan 30 2013, 09:37 AM

Nice looking rig! Congrats!

Now you got me thinking about an upgrade unsure.gif I just hope my wife doesn't see these pictures, it could turn into a very expensive proposition for me!! blink.gif laugh.gif

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