[ Outline ] · Standard · Linear+ Greetings, General Questions

[Oscar]

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. 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.

[Oscar]

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?

[Sailor Dave]

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