Bought a truck camper!

[Everyroadleadshome]

Awesome idea re boxes down the side on a flat bed. It allows dirty items to stay outside and provides great access to outdoor kitchen set ups. Roll up solar or suitcases chairs tables etc etc. Dirty recovery gear has a place to chill as well.

While not known for being hefty Palomino Marriott are the spiffy marv versions so the weight gets up there. And 1/2 tons are notorious for being payload light. Makes them ride nice to the mall. Same trip in a 3500 and...ya gotta pee when you arrive.

If you’re swapping trucks heavier is better. The price difference between a 2500 and 3500 or 250 350 is usually small. Have a look at the sticker in the door jam and have a look at the weight stamp of the unit to get an idea where you are. Note very few camper manufactures weigh each camper, not required by law, so stamped weight is the model approximate weight before they changed X. Then Cat scale the thing. Your machine will love you for it.

Not to be mansplaining here. I sure you’ll do the due diligence. But just a general comment for others that read this thread in the future. I am always surprised at the low payload weight of trucks today.

Awesome looking rig. Love the colors. 


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      Yeap def plannin on a one ton in the near future, flat bed with boxes is exactly what I had in mind, truck campers def need help in the storage department.  There's so much wasted space in here too, drawers that have 6" of empty space behind it, drawers in the bed section have a 12x14x7 deep space empty below them.  I'm going to build drawer boxes that use all the space.  Glad I have a cabinet making background!  They box off under the sink around the pipes, but looks like I can double that space.

[Blacktank]

one thig i was keeping track off and lost was how much weight savings switching from 3/4 mdf to 1/2 ply on all the doors,the bathroom door was like 40lbs,last total was around 200lbs

[Scott7022]

Weight is always the Bugbear in any vehicle. Add to this smaller rigs Jeep, Gladiator, Tacoma’s, Rangers, Colorado’s, and it just gets more complicated. The manufactures even state in the owners manual “not to be used with slide in Campers.” Notice they don’t say a weight. Not to be used with slide in campers over 1000 pounds etc. Nope; blanket statement. You do it say goodbye to warranty. Odd when the Ford Rangers payload is as much as a “standard” F-150. Greater than the Raptor and Limited actually. Very few manufactures will say shit to you. Overland Expedition in Canada put it right on their website. They make mid sized campers and warned consumers they’ll void warranty. Four Wheel campers keep churning out their small campers for midsized trucks, silent to this fact. Funny when you see them at expos and the like. Lite duty campers marketed to the 150/1500 owners sitting on company 250/2500 or 350/3500 trucks. I am on another forum that had some great people, knowledgeable engineers types, that openly debated the physics of a bent frame Gladiator and Colorado. Neither truck was at payload limit. Close for sure but just under. It was awesome reading. For me it highlighted what I remember in Africa is the late 90’s. On road payload and off-road payload numbers being different. Here we toss a pair of airbags or helper bump-stops and call it good.

Think about it in this format. Vin diesel twisting a bolt on a twelve inch ratchet and the camp councilor doing the same with a 42 inch extension. The added torque is not a linear equation. Those roof mounted max tracks and cool overlanding propane cylinder mounted 42 inches higher than the frame twisting back and forth mile after mile...why is my frame bent?

Just add weight, bigger tires, lights, and gear and forget shocks and suspension components, and the big one brakes! I’d jump on the stupid monkey thread if it wasn’t for the marketing.

I saw one, unscrupulous manufacture, demo rig, in a video, at a show with the camper alone 200 pounds over the Dodge 2500 power wagons rated payload. Add to that number 37 inch tires and rims and baskets and over-landing swag and... easily 800 pounds over weight without a second or third passenger, water, filled propane, food, and personal gear. Not only dangerous, but criminally negligent. The ability to stop reduced by at least 50%. Loads of people called them out on the video and an official responded to the thread from the company. “It was a show truck and as such was towed to the show and for display purposes only.”

Buyer beware.



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[RoamerRV428]

your tow vehicle has to always be up to the job you ask of it.
don't underplay it ever cause roads, uphill grades and down grades are very taxing.
when in doubt, go bigger than ya need if you can at all times is my personal choice