How large can I haul?

[bigdog]

I have been considering a slide in camper for a number of years. Have a 3/4 ton ext. cab chevy with an 8' box, 350 motor. I am wondering how large of a camper the truck would handle without having to add extra springs, air bags, etc. I know what the truck says it can carry, but I want to know what people have had success comfortably using.
Thank you for the help.

[Dave]

I have a F250 extended cab with 8' box and haul a 9-footer with no problem. My camper weight is 1600-pounds unloaded since it has no hot water. After loaded with water and goodies, I'd guess it's about 2000-pounds and my Superduty rides great with it.

[This message has been edited by Dave (edited 06-10-2004).]

[Woods&Water]

I have a '99 Chev Suburban and I tow a 24' travel trailer without any problems. My max speed going down the highway is about 65 mph.
the weight of the trailer fully loaded is about 7600#.

[fubar]

I have a 91 F250 and haul an 8ft older camper about a 70 model. The camper is quit heavy but I don’t have any problems trucking it around. I started out with a F150 and it felt like I was going to flip over going around corners. If you don’t want to spend the money on suspension, stick with a 8 or 9 footer and put the money into the camper (more goodies) here's a picture http://www.tc.umn.edu/~nordx016/redlake/IMAGE013.JPG

[Ben Trod]

I would go to your local Chevy dealer and have them do a truck job rating for you. This is the only true way to find out how much your truck can handle. It takes into account the weight of the passengers and gross weight of the camper and gear.

[bigdog]

Thanks for the replies. I had bought the 3/4 ton back in 97 but have never purchased a camper. Reason I asked about weight is that the truck is rated for just over 2000 pounds and most campers, even 8' pop-ups weigh pretty close to that. So was wondering if the ratings were very conservative or if I needed to wait until its time for my next truck and then get a 1 ton.

[Big Roy]

Try the HSOforum rv.net, they have a good forum for pick up campers, it sounds to me like you are overloaded and you want to hear that going over is O.K. I would not do it, I did and I could not use my truck, I felt it was too dangerous. I bought a dually and that fixed the problims. Most truck and camper combos are over but you have to decide what is right.

[Norsk Fisker]

I had an old Chev 3/4 ton rated at 7800 gvw and I carried an old 10 1/2 foot slide in (2,200 dry wt). It handled it OK, but when I upgraded to a 1 ton (8600 gvw), I really noticed an improvement. The 1 ton was an extended cab, so the ride was a bit smoother. The other thing about the 1 ton vs 3/4 is not readily obvious. The brakes are heavier on the 1 ton, axles, etc. Springs aren't everything.

Occasional use may be fine, I would worry about repeated use especially rough roads, etc. Good luck.

[Big Roy]

The dry weights on pick up campers are b.s. If the tag on the camper door says 2,000 lbs it means that the whole thing will weigh about 3,000 lbs.