Need a 3500 series monster truck for a camplite 6.8?

[Jonnygsx]

Sold my travel trailer awhile back and have been looking into truck campers the last couple days. I would be purchasing a truck as well as the camper. This would be for a short trips a few days/ weekends etc. Nothing long term. The camplite 6.8 caught my eye and sounded like a solid camper. Its supposed to be lightweight as well. I also want to carry a few dirtbikes on a hitch carrier which would equal about 600lbs. I thought I could swing all this with a 2500 series 4x4 crew cab silverado but tonight I started looking at the numbers and It seems like I need at least a 3500 for all this? I'm kinda shocked that the smallest truck camper they make still needs a 2500-3500 series truck.

The camper dry weighs about 2000lbs, wet they say 2800lbs. Plus my 600lbs of dirtbikes brings us to 3400lbs without any gear or people. The long box crew cab silverado is only rated for 3200lbs so i'm already over. Am I doing the math right here? I really need a 3500 series truck to pull this off safely and comfortably? And they claim this camper is made for 1/2 ton pickups?!?

[jaycocreek]

You do not need a monster truck to haul that camper and some dirt bikes.The f-250 will work just dandy..I hauled a Lance 8ft camper on my 1976 F-250/7200 GVWR pickup for years pulling an ATV trailer with dirt bike/ATV's and side by sides with the only mod being 3500 pound Helwig helper springs that I put on only for a 35 foot Jayco fifth wheel I was using.



I hauled a lot of weight in that trailer with extra propane/generators and water..



The F-250 is more than capable within reason contrary to some's opinion you need a 3500 for anything truck camper.

[burningman]

One of my first camper haulers was a ‘67 Chevy 20 with the coil spring/trailing arm rear. It worked fine. The problem is where Ram mounted them in their 2500.
And this is the truck camper section, we are talking about high-CG loads.

[JenneK]

Grit dog wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:

burningman wrote:
Whatever you do DON’T buy a 2500 Ram! They have a coil spring rear suspension that wouldn’t necessarily suck but they are mounted too close together. The truck sits on a too-narrow suspension platform and they handle unbelievably terrible with a camper.
A buddy of mine made that expensive mistake.

Coil springs out back are meant for luxury cars, not trucks. Bad choice all around.

You should spend some time in one before speaking in generalities. Agree, high CG load like a TC = coils aren’t the right suspension.
For “in the bed “ loads the coil 2500s do great.

Yeah! Coils on trucks is crazy. Who'd ever think that having coils on a high CG truck would be a good idea?

Oh wait...





https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh_TAK-4_Independent_Suspension_System


🙂

[wvabeer]

By the way Vodka is great any way you make it or mix it. 🙂

[burningman]

There’s nothing inherently wrong with coil springs for heavy duty work. Plenty of luxury cars had leafs, plenty of extremely heavy duty trucks have coils.
The problem with the new Ram 2500 coil spring suspension is how narrow it is.
The springs are too close together, too far inboard. They’re unable to resist sway with a top heavy load like a camper because of that unfortunate placement.
It’s not what the springs are, it’s where the springs are.
A friend of mine bought one to replace his ‘07 Chevy. Huge mistake. He can’t even drive over maybe 40 mph without the thing trying to do sideways somersaults. Camper rode on it once, never again. It’s useless for that.
The leaf spring setup has a wider stance, they’re mounted further outboard in the chassis.
That’s why they work better in that Ram.

[OutdoorAddict]

Jknight611 wrote:
I had a very nice Chevolet 2500 SWB Crew Cab, that when I added the published weight from the manufacturer’s sticker we were under gross weight. The truck seemed to handle the weight “OK” with a Big Wig sway bar and air bags. We were over gw, under axle and tire gw as per the local CAT scale. We upgraded to a new Chevolet 3500 LWB dually and the difference in driving is astounding! The long bed dually is not as bad to drive as I thought it would be, it is longer and wider.

Anyway, my point is the dually long box is way better driving truck than my 2500 SWB with my 3,400 wet weight camper. Expensive lesson learned!

I went the same route with a 2500 RAM to a 3500 DRW, IMHO 3/4 ton trucks are a waste of money, just get a 3500 SRW or DRW.

[MORSNOW]

Kayteg1 wrote:
Flip you should meet more Polish people.
When we chat at party, having 5 guys talking about World wisdom (God forbid politics) - we always have 5 different opinions.

I camped with a group of about 6 different rigs of Polish people last summer, they all agreed that all good vodka is made from potatoes. I prefer vodka from grain, but I am only 1/2 polish....go figure?

[Kayteg1]

Flip you should meet more Polish people.
When we chat at party, having 5 guys talking about World wisdom (God forbid politics) - we always have 5 different opinions.
But human race would still build pyramids with hands and ropes if somebody would not contradict the idea.

[SidecarFlip]

One thing about posting on this forum.. No matter what your view is, someone will contradict it....

If I posted the sky is blur, someone would say it's green...amazing

[Tom_Barb]

Grit dog wrote:
You have no good reason to go To a dually unless you want even more factor of safety.

Yep that's me, I'll take the safety factor every time.

[Kayteg1]

SidecarFlip wrote:

burningman wrote:
Whatever you do DON’T buy a 2500 Ram! They have a coil spring rear suspension that wouldn’t necessarily suck but they are mounted too close together. The truck sits on a too-narrow suspension platform and they handle unbelievably terrible with a camper.
A buddy of mine made that expensive mistake.

Coil springs out back are meant for luxury cars, not trucks. Bad choice all around.

My luxury 2003 car was riding on air.
About time pickup manufacturers got the idea?

[Grit_dog]

dhull, you contradicted yourself in the same paragraph.
And the artificially low rawr is based on tires and some believe on rims.
You have no good reason to go To a dually unless you want even more factor of safety.

[Grit_dog]

SidecarFlip wrote:

burningman wrote:
Whatever you do DON’T buy a 2500 Ram! They have a coil spring rear suspension that wouldn’t necessarily suck but they are mounted too close together. The truck sits on a too-narrow suspension platform and they handle unbelievably terrible with a camper.
A buddy of mine made that expensive mistake.

Coil springs out back are meant for luxury cars, not trucks. Bad choice all around.

You should spend some time in one before speaking in generalities. Agree, high CG load like a TC = coils aren’t the right suspension.
For “in the bed “ loads the coil 2500s do great.

[SidecarFlip]

burningman wrote:
Whatever you do DON’T buy a 2500 Ram! They have a coil spring rear suspension that wouldn’t necessarily suck but they are mounted too close together. The truck sits on a too-narrow suspension platform and they handle unbelievably terrible with a camper.
A buddy of mine made that expensive mistake.

Coil springs out back are meant for luxury cars, not trucks. Bad choice all around.