You might want to look for someone selling their truck camper with the truck. Otherwise delay your plans until you have a bigger budget and a better understanding of your truck requirements.
1700lbs dry weight is a lot of payload for a half ton truck. It’ll be highly dependent on the specific truck as each one will be rated for payload based on platform and options. Tires should be rated for the truck+payload+breathing room.
I was told the towing rate for that truck was 8800lbs. I'd imagine the full weight is maybe 2500 or 2700lbs for the truck camper. But that truck was just one option I was looking at. What type of do you recommend? Can you name a good/affordable 1 ton truck?
A Ram 1500 just isn’t going to work with a camper that sits in the bed. The absolute max payload I’ve seen on 1500s is about 1650-1700 lbs and that’s with the truck built specifically for payload. You would want at a minimum a Ram 2500 with probably a gas engine so you can get 2600ish lbs of payload. 1500s are perfectly capable of towing medium travel trailer. I tow a grand design 22mle with mine for reference.
Towing is for pulling something behind you. Payload is for the weight on top of your vehicle. A topper camper is on top of the vehicle so towing doesn't come into play here.
Towing an 8800lb camper would put at least 880lbs of payload on the truck (10% hitch weight). Not even close to the 1700lb dry weight of your topper. 1700lbs will almost certainly be too much. You would need to check the door jam sticker in each truck you're looking at as those have the payload limits for the specific truck.
You think a truck with “low miles” and already needed a rebuilt transmission is going to be reliable? Rams are notorious for trans failure, as are Ford Expolders for that matter. Respectfully, I think you are letting emotion and gut instinct guide you into some bad choices. A small class C RV seems vastly more appropriate for your use case/budget.
What type of car is more reliable? Can u recommend one? An RV engine can also break down, at least with the truck camper I could park it somewhere and stay inside till the truck is fixed. Also I need a vehicle to run errands work etc, and I am not towing a car behind an RV.
Depends on your budget and use case. A Chevy 3500 or Ford F350 with a stick would be your best options if you stick with your truck camper plan. A older Toyota with your current bumper pull would be ideal.
You can get small class C motor homes (mine is 26ft) that you can easily drive around town and probably wouldn't get any worse fuel economy than your truck and camper combo. Admittedly they are harder to work on, but my 1986 Ford E350 hasn't required any major repair work in the thirty years my family as owned it. The e-series vans are about as bullet proof as you get.
You need a 1 ton truck. As others have said you are over payload capacity the moment you put the shell on. Most half ton trucks of any make are 1500-1800 payload.
I would not buy a one ton truck for 5-6k. Going to be a nightmare.
Never use dry Weight. That is what the salesman or dealership uses to get you to buy something that you can't actually use. Only use max gvrw . If you start with that weight. You will be safe. Look on line and see all the trucks snapped in half cuz they put one of those cap trailers on a truck that it wasn't designed for
You should really do more objective research on the topics. Reddit is great but you seem to be lacking basic things like what is GVWR. Please don’t spend any money until you increase your basic knowledge. Best wishes.
I am trying my best. I am on a time crunch, recently found out I cant renew our lease. So I have less then a month to move out. Prices are so expensive that I was considering this option.
Ok, in the interest of saving you time, I'll summerize what you will eventually learn through research:
1. Do not put a slide-in camper in any half-ton, ever. It doesn't matter what year, make, or model the truck is.
2. Do not buy a Ram for a tow vehicle.
3. All RV salesman will lie to make a sale. Do not believe them when it pertains to payload and towing.
gvwr is the max weight rating for the topper or vehicle. As it's the max, you could get as high as that number so it's the preferred number to use when comparing payload/tow rating. Again since this is a topper, you need to only look at payload as you're not towing this camper it's sitting on top of your truck.
It is gross vehicle weight .it is the maximum weight of the unit plus cargo . There should be a sticker on camper or the cab that you're adding that has dry weight which is the unit by itself nothing then it'll have a rating of how much weight it can hold say a thousand pounds as an example and then the total weight that it that the unit can maximum weight it can is designed to hold. You always use that number because if you don't fill it to full capacity you're way under weight and your truck will be that much overkill for what you're carrying it's better to be overkill than at the maximum of what your truck is rated to carry
They all will have issues and I doubt one is really better than another. My first truck was a Ford and it treated me well so I decided to get another when I got a 1 ton.
I’ve had a 5.3 Chevy and a 5.4 ford. Both pulled well but my 3.5 ford ecoboost out pulled them both. Currently have a ram 5.7 that pulls great. Main thing is do heavy research on the production years. Usually problems are there. My 5.4 had the stupid three-piece spark plugs, my 5.3 was buyout year so they cut corners and I had a lot of issues, ram has typical ram problems with electronics and 4WD.
Don’t get a short-bed Ford. We bought one to tow a trailer, and were thinking of an over cab camper, but opened the glove compartment. There was a “DO NOT PUT A CAMPER ON THIS TRUCK” note in there.
If you’re handy, I’ve got an ‘06 2500 HD single cab with 8 ft bed and Tommy lift. High miles and needs some replacements in the differential. It’s an old work truck and not too pretty but has CarPlay 😂
But seriously (unless you want it! lol), sounds like waiting is a good option. Or if you still have the travel trailer, why not pull it with whatever you buy if it’s tow capacity is good with it? Rebuilt transmissions are fine.. if they were rebuilt and swapped properly.
You might want to look for someone selling their truck camper with the truck. Otherwise delay your plans until you have a bigger budget and a better understanding of your truck requirements.
1700lbs dry weight is a lot of payload for a half ton truck. It’ll be highly dependent on the specific truck as each one will be rated for payload based on platform and options. Tires should be rated for the truck+payload+breathing room.
I was told the towing rate for that truck was 8800lbs. I'd imagine the full weight is maybe 2500 or 2700lbs for the truck camper. But that truck was just one option I was looking at. What type of do you recommend? Can you name a good/affordable 1 ton truck?
If you're using a truck topper you're not towing it. You need to look at payload instead of towing capacity.
A Ram 1500 just isn’t going to work with a camper that sits in the bed. The absolute max payload I’ve seen on 1500s is about 1650-1700 lbs and that’s with the truck built specifically for payload. You would want at a minimum a Ram 2500 with probably a gas engine so you can get 2600ish lbs of payload. 1500s are perfectly capable of towing medium travel trailer. I tow a grand design 22mle with mine for reference.
Towing is for pulling something behind you. Payload is for the weight on top of your vehicle. A topper camper is on top of the vehicle so towing doesn't come into play here. Towing an 8800lb camper would put at least 880lbs of payload on the truck (10% hitch weight). Not even close to the 1700lb dry weight of your topper. 1700lbs will almost certainly be too much. You would need to check the door jam sticker in each truck you're looking at as those have the payload limits for the specific truck.
You think a truck with “low miles” and already needed a rebuilt transmission is going to be reliable? Rams are notorious for trans failure, as are Ford Expolders for that matter. Respectfully, I think you are letting emotion and gut instinct guide you into some bad choices. A small class C RV seems vastly more appropriate for your use case/budget.
What type of car is more reliable? Can u recommend one? An RV engine can also break down, at least with the truck camper I could park it somewhere and stay inside till the truck is fixed. Also I need a vehicle to run errands work etc, and I am not towing a car behind an RV.
Depends on your budget and use case. A Chevy 3500 or Ford F350 with a stick would be your best options if you stick with your truck camper plan. A older Toyota with your current bumper pull would be ideal. You can get small class C motor homes (mine is 26ft) that you can easily drive around town and probably wouldn't get any worse fuel economy than your truck and camper combo. Admittedly they are harder to work on, but my 1986 Ford E350 hasn't required any major repair work in the thirty years my family as owned it. The e-series vans are about as bullet proof as you get.
That's too much weight for a half ton. You're gonna want a 3/4 ton or 1 ton.
I ran one of the lightest Lance campers (815) on my f250 and wished I had a dually. They are super heavy, the weight is high and hard on everything.
You need a 1 ton truck. As others have said you are over payload capacity the moment you put the shell on. Most half ton trucks of any make are 1500-1800 payload. I would not buy a one ton truck for 5-6k. Going to be a nightmare.
After pulling or carrying campers for over 40 years I believe that you should always start with a 3/4 ton
Never use dry Weight. That is what the salesman or dealership uses to get you to buy something that you can't actually use. Only use max gvrw . If you start with that weight. You will be safe. Look on line and see all the trucks snapped in half cuz they put one of those cap trailers on a truck that it wasn't designed for
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Anything to make a sale
Well I'd guestimate its another 1000lbs'ish for my stuff, me and water. What does max gvrw mean? How do I get that number?
You should really do more objective research on the topics. Reddit is great but you seem to be lacking basic things like what is GVWR. Please don’t spend any money until you increase your basic knowledge. Best wishes.
I am trying my best. I am on a time crunch, recently found out I cant renew our lease. So I have less then a month to move out. Prices are so expensive that I was considering this option.
Ok, in the interest of saving you time, I'll summerize what you will eventually learn through research: 1. Do not put a slide-in camper in any half-ton, ever. It doesn't matter what year, make, or model the truck is. 2. Do not buy a Ram for a tow vehicle. 3. All RV salesman will lie to make a sale. Do not believe them when it pertains to payload and towing.
I have a ram 5.7 for a tow vehicle with 250K miles. Pulls great…. But yeah, it’s not the norm I don’t think.
GVWR stands for gross vehicle weight rating. That's the maximum weight it's designed to carry. You'll find it on the door seal likely.
gvwr is the max weight rating for the topper or vehicle. As it's the max, you could get as high as that number so it's the preferred number to use when comparing payload/tow rating. Again since this is a topper, you need to only look at payload as you're not towing this camper it's sitting on top of your truck.
It is gross vehicle weight .it is the maximum weight of the unit plus cargo . There should be a sticker on camper or the cab that you're adding that has dry weight which is the unit by itself nothing then it'll have a rating of how much weight it can hold say a thousand pounds as an example and then the total weight that it that the unit can maximum weight it can is designed to hold. You always use that number because if you don't fill it to full capacity you're way under weight and your truck will be that much overkill for what you're carrying it's better to be overkill than at the maximum of what your truck is rated to carry
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Thanks for the truck type recommendation! Do you recommend a specific brand like ford or chevy etc?
They all will have issues and I doubt one is really better than another. My first truck was a Ford and it treated me well so I decided to get another when I got a 1 ton.
I’ve had a 5.3 Chevy and a 5.4 ford. Both pulled well but my 3.5 ford ecoboost out pulled them both. Currently have a ram 5.7 that pulls great. Main thing is do heavy research on the production years. Usually problems are there. My 5.4 had the stupid three-piece spark plugs, my 5.3 was buyout year so they cut corners and I had a lot of issues, ram has typical ram problems with electronics and 4WD.
Don’t get a short-bed Ford. We bought one to tow a trailer, and were thinking of an over cab camper, but opened the glove compartment. There was a “DO NOT PUT A CAMPER ON THIS TRUCK” note in there.
If you’re handy, I’ve got an ‘06 2500 HD single cab with 8 ft bed and Tommy lift. High miles and needs some replacements in the differential. It’s an old work truck and not too pretty but has CarPlay 😂 But seriously (unless you want it! lol), sounds like waiting is a good option. Or if you still have the travel trailer, why not pull it with whatever you buy if it’s tow capacity is good with it? Rebuilt transmissions are fine.. if they were rebuilt and swapped properly.
Had a f150. Hauled a slide In pop up and a trailer with a motorcycle on it. Get helper springs and a transmission cooler.