Advice on Truck campers and Pickups - obviously need to be able to tow too...

[cuse1992]

I am in the market for a new pickup but am also thinking about getting a smaller slide in truck camper. This setup would be for out of town tourneys plus tailgating and short family events. I have a Stratos 201proxl (20'8") that I would need to tow as well.

I'd like to hear from anyone currently running a similiar setup.

Do I need a truck larger than a 1/2 ton?
What should I absolutley positively get on the camper.

Can you tow with a camper that overhangs off the backend or should I get one that is flush with the box?

Any thoughts/suggestions will be appreciated!

[Mykey]

That's a pretty good size boat, about the same as my DVX 520. My 18' Champ was a breeze to tow behind my F350 (my slide in camper vehicle). I definitely noticed the added weight of the Ranger though! There are light weight pop-up campers for half tons out there but, you might be tapped out with the two together.

[cuse1992]

I am thinking more along the lines of the popup slide-in variety.....

Silverado 1500 or 2500, maybe a F250.

[bbnate804]

your gonna want a minimum of a 3/4 ton rig if you plan on taking a camper boat combo down the road. my 03 2500hd sierra has a sticker in the glove box for max camper payload of 3200lbs. my 9.5ft hardside weighs 1800 before i load it with water, batteries, ice, food, clothes, gear for the weekend. i don't think it'd be out of line to figure another 700 or 800 in gear. its been a while since i looked but i'd be willing to bet that an 8ft popup would have somewhere close to similar weights. its up to you whether you want a camper that overhangs or not. you can tow with either. my dad uses a shortbed f250 with an 8ft camper to tow his 21' skeeter he uses a 2ft extension to get out from under the camper. there are a bunch of different combinations that can work you just have to be safe. use the ratings that the truck manu's give you. the weight of the camper and its gear plus the "tongue weight" of the boat/trailer should not be more then the "payload" capacity of the truck. the weight of the truck plus the camper and gear and the boat/trailer should not be more then the gvrw of the vehicle.

[bbnate804]

i knew i had atleast one picture... this is my dad's f250 diesel, with a 8ft pop up and a 201 stratos 225 etec.




the extensions and hitches have their own ratings so make sure you take that into consideration. i'm not sure what the tonge weight is on dads old stratos but it was prob more then what the hitch was rated for with an extension. the ford looks loaded down but its not as bad as it looks. for some reason the overload springs on ford's don't engage till the truck is past level. on my gmc the overload springs engage much earlier. another good place to go for truck camper info is http://www.rv.net get into the community/forums area.

[cuse1992]

Thanks guys, off to some more research!

[dipstick]

I would get as much truck as you can. I know diesel fuel is expensvie but you can pull just about anything. I hook up the beast and boat, set the cruise and roll. If you get a camper that hangs off bed you will need to look at hitch extensions or up grading the hitch on the truck. ($$$) It would be nice to have one that is flush. I agree about the rv.net web site, click on truck camper forum and you will get all the info you need. Good luck. I love mine.

[Elkhunter]

We had a setup a few years ago...Dodge 1/2 ton, extended cab with a flush mount pop up camper. Pulled a 17.5 Nitro with it. We did OK with it, however I know we really worked that truck (plus we live in the mountains).

Our current setup is a ford f250 CC diesel with a Northstar popup SC850, it has about a 18" overhang. It is night and day compared to our other setup. Check the weight of the camper for example the weight of our pop up is more than the similiar sized hardsided Northstar (Lorado I believe). We just upgraded our boat to a 20.5 so we are anxious to see how the setup works with that. We were able to find a reciever that was about 6" longer than the average so we don't need an extension.

Depends what you want in a camper, the flush ones will probably not have a bathroom.
Allen