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Pickups Pickups - Archived Discussions Cabover Campers & Camper Trailers (pickups) 
1377 messages, Last post on Nov 20, 2003 at 1:43 PM
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Finally I remembered to add up my mileage for the trip to Newfoundland. Looks like we totaled 11344.4 miles, 801.57 gallons, for an average of 14.15mpg for the trip. Not bad for 6.0L and almost 7500#. For the life of the truck we have averaged 14.12 mpg. Looks like the numbers are starting to stabilize now the the warranty is worn out (over 36K). Mike L |
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| My 6.0L now has 31,000 miles and still gets about 12.5 with the sun-lite. Best I've done empty is about 14.5 so your lucky. Made a 2 day trip last week to look at a new hard-side sunlite. Hope to go to Delaware soon to look at a Lance hard side. That will be a 3 day trip.It sure is a lot of money to get a bathroom!! | |
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You can get a Sun-Lite popup with a toilet and/or a shower, depending on the model. We saw them at the Sacramento RV show. My wife liked them because they (and most other popups) the Heyco?? roof lift system. Withe that system, she can put the roof up. Because of our bed layout we can't use that system. And she can't lift our roof into position.
I don't remember the exact models, but they should be on the website:
http://sunliteinc.com/folding.htm
Or, are you planning on deserting the popup ranks for even less gas mileage? Mike L |
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| The current Sunlite popup with the toilet/shower layout is similar to our '95 model except that the bath is now on the same side as the kitchen. This must make the plumbing layout more efficient. Plumbing has been a headache for us in our camper. I note that the current Eagle model has a black/gray water holding tank of small capacity. If I were buying again I would be careful to find out how the holding tank was constructed. Our gray water tank is fine except that it prevents the use of our trailer hitch unless we get an extension. Our blackwater tank was constructed by joining the lower portion to the plastic floor of the bathroom under the toilet. It was this join that was imperfect in ours and too bad that we didn't figure this out while still under warrantee. The putty job I did with silicone, mirrors and heater is still holding but is unlikely to represent a permanent fix. A really good repair is not worth the effort/cost. | |
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When you put a slide in, in the bed of a truck that is 1400lbs wet and you are allowed 1600lbs payload, is the full 1400lbs actually considered payload since all of the weight isnt in the bed? I mean that the cabover part is so far forward, I am sure that the front axle is taking some of the 1400lbs right? I want to make sure that I load my truck right and I would think that payload is whats over the rear axle. The reason I ask is that I am looking at these hard sided campers for compact trucks but they are all over 1000lbs and when they are wet, they will probably come out to 1400lbs or more. That sure is close when some of these compact trucks only allow up to 1500lbs payload, and the manufacturers advertise that these units are for them. My truck is allowed 1600lbs payload and one camper advertised to fit my truck is over 1400lbs dry. Its so confusing. Any advice with this is greatly appreciated. You guys have really helped me alot and it is greatly appreciated more than you know. Thanks for your patience. Robert |
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When you are allowed 1600# payload, that includes everything, driver, passenger, food, clothers, camper, firewood, options from the base model truck, etc. With a 1600# payload, you'll be lucky if you can carry a 1200# camper. More likely a 1000# camper, driver, passenger, full tank of gas, food, gear, AC, etc. will put you at or over the GVWR.
Our first Silverado had a 2000# payload and we got a 1400# camper. We were 50# over the GVWR. And we had to install Air-Lifts to keep the back from riding on the bumpstops. In my glovebox was a rating for a slide in camper - 1400#! You may find a similar rating on your ratings plate, or in the owner's manual.
Don't believe the camper manufacturer's when they tell you a camper is 1/2 ton compatible. Maybe somewhere they found a '1/2 ton' truck rated to carry the weight. But clearly, all trucks in that class cannot carry the same weight.
The only slide in campers that I've found suitable for a typical 1500 series ext. cab truck are the lighter weight popup campers. See Vince's list:
HARDSIDE:
Good Luck, Mike L |
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Mike is correct. "Payload" includes everything down to the optional CD changer, power seats and the bottle of water sitting in the cup holder. If you already have the truck, I agree with Mike again and suggest a pop-up slide in. If, on the other hand, you are looking to buy a truck then the camper, go get a 3/4 or SRW 1 ton if you are set on a 1,400 lb camper. If you think you'd rather have a 2,000+ lb camper, get a 1 ton DRW. All of this may sound like overkill, and to some degree it is. But, trust me on this one, you'll be much more relaxed driving down the road knowing your truck is beefy enough to handle the camper and anything that gets thrown at you. I used to have a slide in that weighed 2,476 lbs dry, according to the manufacturers tag. By the time I added the water, propane tanks, food, clothing, firewood, etc... I was packing well over 3,000 lbs. Well, I have a 1 ton DRW with a GVWR of 11,200 lbs and I estimate that I was about 500 lbs over! But, the truck handled it almost as if it weren't even there! One last thing: Does your truck have FRONT AND REAR sway bars? If not, you need both! When you put that much weight that high up, your truck will roll from side to side as if it were a boat in high seas. |
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I finally weighed my rig on my last long trip. I paid at a Pilot station for the weigh and then noticed later that in Oregon, Idaho, etc. you can pull onto a public scale when they are closed; the scales are always on. Some are just a wide spot in the road. Very different from Calif where the weigh stations are like fortresses. Anyway I had a shock. I expected low to mid 8000's and it came back at 9020 lbs! And that was with 3/4 tank of gas and water. So full up would be about 9150 lbs. This is on a 8600 GVWR truck. The breakdown was 4040 on the front and 4980 on the rear. That includes 2 passengers & 1 dog. The truck axles are rated 4400 front, 6000 rear. The camper has a sticker with a typed value of 2225lbs wet which I assume is correct for that model but doesn't include "optional equipment" like the jacks. The glove box sticker in the truck shows a camper rating of 2805 lbs so I assumed I was fine. In fact, without any air in the airbags the camper only makes the truck sit level so it doesn't seem like an overload. Where is the extra weight? If the truck is 5500 with fuel + 2600 camper + 500 passengers etc. = 8600 lbs. Yet I'm 500 over that. Obviously I'm underestimating somewhere. Mike, do you know how much our trucks weigh? Or anyone else? 2000 Silverado reg cab 4x4 2500. By the way, to you folks worried about a few pounds, I feel very comfortable and safe in this truck even though it's overloaded technically. I did add some suspension helpers but acceleration and braking are fine as is. |
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| As you can see from my experience it's hard to estimate the true total. I have no first hand experience but I bet the small trucks aren't built to be overloaded as gracefully as the big ones. Your best choice is a popup. If you want a hardside then expect to have to beef up your suspension with ALL the goodies. Probably even the popup will make you want airbags or springs. If at all possible try to test drive a similar setup or your truck with the camper. You may find it's not what you want to live with. | |
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Vince, my truck weighs 5600 (my estimate of 5500+ air bags, driving lights, tool kit, sliding rear window, etc). And with the 1400# camper in the bed, it weighs in at 7550-7600#. So, it looks like my two passengers and water/food/clothes/etc add about 600#. We only have an 11 gal water tank, and no black/gray tanks. Your extra water/dog probably add 150#, jacks add 150#, you have more storage space and more food/pots & pans/utensils than we can carry (100#), your wheels and tires might add 100#, air bags, air compressor and sway bar add 150#, so the 9000+ doesn't seem out of line to me. In fact the camper may weigh less than you estimate and other items weigh a bunch more. It is very easy to add stuff to the load and forget about it - lawn chairs, extra cleaning supplies, full refrig, etc. With the airbags and conservative driving, the truck probably isn't dangerous. The real worry would be liability. If you are running over the GVWR and have an accident, your insurance may not cover you and you may be sued for contributing to an accident that is not your fault. That would concern me a great deal. Is there any chance you could leave the jacks home, fill up the water at your destination, cut back on the pots/pans/food to the minimum and see how much weight you take off? Weigh the jacks and water and stuff removed on you bathroom scale and add it up. It would be very nice to get down to the GVWR. Mike L |
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