Sticky when asked which truck is best to haul camper.

[specta]

And post, only one ton duallys, F450s and bigger.

[jimh406]

Kayteg1 wrote:
Coming to stickies efficiency, I wonder why with so many stickies, the forum is flooded with million topics where members are mislead how to interpret taxable truck rating.

Because people like you don’t know the stickies even exist, so you throw out random trolling thoughts like taxable truck ratings.

I took this topic as humor.

[Kayteg1]

Worth pointing, that driving with TC you are protected by cabin with several air bags and roll-over rating.
98% of ClassA motorhomes are basically cardbox boxes, who collapse at any accidents.
They are driven slower, than most of the vehicles so accidents are rare, but almost any serious accident in ClassA brings fatality.
Coming to stickies efficiency, I wonder why with so many stickies, the forum is flooded with million topics where members are mislead how to interpret taxable truck rating.
Lastly Specta is trolling with this topic.
With campers ranging form 800 lb to 6000lb, there is no "one shoe fits all"

[JimK-NY]

jimh425 wrote:
.....

You obviously haven’t seen blowouts or crashes with other RV types, or why do you think those happen?
......

I would agree that weight is important for all RVs. There are, however, lots of reasons for blowouts and other tire and suspension issues. Many people fail to appreciate that tires dry rot over a few years time. That dry rot occurs when the tire is not used or worn and in fact can be worse for a tire that is not used on a regular basis. Another reason is the near criminal choice of cheap tires by some RV manufacturers. Few of us would buy a cheap Chinese tire for our cars but some manufacturers put them on RVs where the tires are under much greater loads. Buyers are often not aware of another issue, speed ratings. Even my 19.5 heavy rated tires had a speed rating of 70 mph or less.

The other issue that amazes me is cutting corners on the axles and other key suspension parts. This is really common for many trailers where the suspensions are barely rated to carry more than a few hundred or at best a couple thousand pounds over the empty, dry weight.

So we can agree that the forums for other RVs could also benefit from appropriate stickies about weight issues. Stickies might also cover tire pressure. A few psi of underinflation, a hot day and high speed driving cause most blowouts.

[jimh406]

JimK-NY wrote:
I disagree with both of your statements. First weight issues are way more common for truck campers than for other RVs. The reason should be obvious. The entire weight of the rig is carried by the truck.

Second, it is too late to make significant changes after buying the camper and the truck to carry it. The whole point of the discussion and proposed sticky is to be able to match the camper and the truck before buying it.

You obviously haven’t seen blowouts or crashes with other RV types, or why do you think those happen?

The forums are littered with tire discussions, air bag, stocks, suspension, 19.5s, etc in all of the Class and trailer forums. You only have to go read to see those.

Actually, it’s not too late. You can always change or upgrade the truck. That actually makes the TC more flexible than almost any other RV.

The most dangerous scary ride I was ever in was a friends Class C followed by a ride in a different friends Class A. The most scared my wife was when she drove the SUV that we had with a TT in wind.

We aren’t that special other than we have a huge amount of flexibility. As previously noted, I was able to carry my current TC on a SRW with no issues. I simply had to pay attention to what else I carried with the SRW.

[JimK-NY]

jimh425 wrote:

JimK-NY wrote:
New and potential buyers often have difficulty understanding the real weight of a loaded truck camper.

Trucks and TCs are really not that special compared to any other RV. The terms GVW and GVWR are the same. Many people carry a lot more than others, and overload their vehicles or trailers.

The only way to know how much you are really carrying is go to a scale.

I disagree with both of your statements. First weight issues are way more common for truck campers than for other RVs. The reason should be obvious. The entire weight of the rig is carried by the truck.

Second, it is too late to make significant changes after buying the camper and the truck to carry it. The whole point of the discussion and proposed sticky is to be able to match the camper and the truck before buying it. For those with the knowledge it is possible to come up with a fairly accurate actual weight and select the correct truck in advance. To do so it is not necessary to know the exact weight or to even be within a few hundred pounds of the actual weight.

[jimh406]

JimK-NY wrote:
New and potential buyers often have difficulty understanding the real weight of a loaded truck camper.

Trucks and TCs are really not that special compared to any other RV. The terms GVW and GVWR are the same. Many people carry a lot more than others, and overload their vehicles or trailers.

The only way to know how much you are really carrying is go to a scale.

[Bert_the_Welder]

I just figured a sticky like I suggested would be as close to a one stop shop for info that is otherwise spread all over the place. But if it's been tried or suggested prior, I'll just keep dreaming. I just know way back a decade+ ago when I joined, when we were just starting into TC's and truck's, that was the first thing I was looking for.
But I also know the use of sites like this are down due to changes in the use of the web.

[JimK-NY]

jimh425 wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
We have years of experience trying to make stickies with topics like weight distribution, Center of Gravity and truck capacity.

The sticky for those topics is here and has been there for years. You may have to scroll.

https://forums.goodsamclub.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25966285.cfm

New and potential buyers often have difficulty understanding the real weight of a loaded truck camper. Maybe I looked too quickly but I did not see any sticky which covered that issue.

[jimh406]

Kayteg1 wrote:
We have years of experience trying to make stickies with topics like weight distribution, Center of Gravity and truck capacity.

The sticky for those topics is here and has been there for years. You may have to scroll.

https://forums.goodsamclub.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25966285.cfm

[Kayteg1]

We have years of experience trying to make stickies with topics like weight distribution, Center of Gravity and truck capacity.
I figured out that making forum informative is against the owners agendas and it is not going to happen.

[JimK-NY]

mkirsch wrote:

JimK-NY wrote:
IMO the sticky that is needed should cover estimating actual weight beginning from the information provided by manufacturers.........

Except such a sticky would be so long as to far exceed anyone's patience to read, and capacity to retain.
...

I doubt the information really needs to be that long. New buyers need to understand that manufacturers and salespeople often understate what is needed. The key points are simple:
Add weight for accessories that the manufacturer did not include.
Add weight for any accessories the buyer will add such as solar panels, generator, foam mattress upgrade, extra battery, and even 100-200 pounds for the bed mat, tie down brackets and fastguns.
Add weight of fresh water and propane.
Add roughly 1000 pounds to cover personal items, tools, food, cooking gear, bedding, etc, etc.
Finally realize all the weight will be on the rear axle and should be within the load rating of the tires.

It seems simple, but new buyers rarely understand and often end up with a rig that is hard too drive and unsafe because the rear tires are grossly overloaded.

[Bert_the_Welder]

Perhaps a sticky with peoples actual stats of what they own and have actually weight at the scales.
-My truck is: ( Brand/model/yr/trim level/add-ons)
-My truck weight is (w/ me and/or companion and full/half fuel tank) Total+ rear+ front.
-My Camper is (same list as truck) plus dry listed weight
-My truck + non prep'd for camping TC weight is (total+ front only+ rear only)
-My truck + TC ready for a week away with full fuel, fresh water, stuff, pets and people (Total+ front+ rear.
Could dived the Sticky into truck brand and camper brand. People can post in both sub categories so when others are looking, they can find the info based on either.
I'll be doing weight check on the above variations just for my own knowledge and curiosity and will be happy to post them up. Granted things like people and the stuff they bring varies, but at least it's something. And this is a common question and reasonably so.
And to save clutter, only ask questions via PM's to the posters. Plus it will avoid the eventual arguments breaking out. 😉

[mkirsch]

JimK-NY wrote:
IMO the sticky that is needed should cover estimating actual weight beginning from the information provided by manufacturers. New buyers often miss highly important details. For example many times manufacturer's specs do not include the weight for common accessories such as awnings. New buyers are also likely to greatly underestimate the wet weight and weight of food, cooking gear, clothing, tools, etc. These considerations can be important for any RV but more so for truck campers where rear axle weights often exceed tire load ratings.

Except such a sticky would be so long as to far exceed anyone's patience to read, and capacity to retain.

You have to cover every camper ever made, every truck ever made, every accessory for every camper every made...

The reality is the vast majority hit the road with only a vague idea of their actual weight, and get from point A to point B happy and healthy, singing along with the radio the whole way, not a care in the world. Apparently getting down to the nearest ounce is not terribly important.

[specta]

JimK-NY wrote:
IMO the sticky that is needed should cover estimating actual weight beginning from the information provided by manufacturers. New buyers often miss highly important details. For example many times manufacturer's specs do not include the weight for common accessories such as awnings. New buyers are also likely to greatly underestimate the wet weight and weight of food, cooking gear, clothing, tools, etc. These considerations can be important for any RV but more so for truck campers where rear axle weights often exceed tire load ratings.

That would be a good one too. My post was more tongue in cheek than anything.