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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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So you have the FourWheel camper in the garage, and the Lance in the driveway, the truck in the street and the car in the driveway? Starting to sound like my used car lot. Mike L |
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Seems like I've read this post before. Anyway; My suggestion is a 3/4 ton crewcab with a short bed. 6k lbs is a lot of weight for any 1/2 ton to handle. I seriously doubt the suspension, brakes and tranny can handle it over the long haul. The 3/4 ton not only will handle that load with ease, it will also make you, the driver, more relaxed while towing. After a couple of hours, being relaxed could be the difference in you avoiding a wreck. These trucks have been built for years, so it's a matter of how long do you want to look for one and how much do you want to spend. |
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| Sorry for the repeat in posts! thanks to everyone who has given advice it's all appreciated. One more thing Is there any noticable difference in the rear seating from a 3 dr pickup to a 4 door or quad cab?? That was a concern with triing to chose between a pickup or an suv. We'd prefer a pickup over a suv as far as hauling would be concerned on those rare occasions- I think from what I see a 3/4 ton would be the best. dumb ?? though is that like a 1500 or 250 as you can tell we haven't chosen a make or model yet either. | |
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A three or four door extended cab will not be very comfortable for your backseat adults. You need a crewcab, or whatever name it has in the brand you choose. Four full size doors. Ford offers this in the F-250 and Chevy has it in the 2500. Chevy also has a 1500-HD that has four doors. I don't know how capable it is to tow. Dodge has a four door truck in the Ram series, but they are not full size doors, basically just a glorified extended cab. Their numbering scheme is similar to Chevy, the 2500 is the 3/4 ton. IMO: Whatever you choose, make sure you get at least a 3/4 ton chassis. Whether it is a Chevy 2500 or an F-250, an Excursion or a 2500 Suburban. Very few folks ever regret having too much truck, but most regret having too little truck. |
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| When I had a Jeep Wrangler I would winch the hard top (#150) up to the top of the garage and leave it there all summer. I suppose someone (not me) could do the same with a truck camper although I would image I would be more at ease if there was at least a small sliver of lumber holding it to the rafters. | |
| You almost have it right Mike but the truck is in the driveway and the car is in the street. The car is just a Taurus but the truck is, well, My Truck! | |
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I totally agree about the 3/4 ton truck. From your comments I thought you were wanting a smaller SUV, if you can call a Tahoe smaller, which I believe only come as 1/2 ton. You need to step up to a Suburban class to get 3/4 ton. My dad pulled a 25' trailer with a 1/2 ton mid 80s Blazer and he was happy enough with it. But I sold it for him and had to take a lower price because of the transmission condition. According to the buyer GM put the 4-speed car transmission in that truck and it just isn't up to towing like the older 3-speed was. Anyway I bet that isn't true today as I've never heard anything bad about the GM 1/2 ton units. But your trailer plus cargo is near the limit for a 1/2 ton truck and it's always good to have some margin. You should go try out a GM extended cab truck. The current body style (year 2000 an up) have the most rear seat room of all the brands. See how it works with your passengers. If acceptable, those are abundant in the used market, even 3/4 ton. |
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My dad tows a 6200# trailer with his Silverado 1500. He has done it for many years without problems. What amazes me is that he gets a 3.42 final drive and still pulls that trailer. Eastern Iowa has plenty of hills, and he claims he pulls them in Drive and doesn't have his foot on the floor. Of course, he generally drives 55-60. The tongue weight is only 600-900#, no problem for a 1/2 ton. The trailer weight is well within the truck's ratings. A weight distributing hitch is mandatory (according to him). Properly set up trailer brakes mean you don't overload the truck brakes. I have both a 1/2ton and a 3/4 ton Silverado. I like both. The 3/4 ton is more like a truck, the 1/2 ton is more like a car with a big, open trunk. Drive both, see what you think. Talk to people with similar sized trailers. Find out how they drive and what they drive. Either one may work for you. Mike L |
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Don't forget to look at the door tag, it will tell you the GVW for the vehicle which is critical info for towing. I pull a 28', 6600# trailer with a 3/4 ton extended cab Silverado with no problems. Ray T. |
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Since I got my 00 2500, the clutch pedal has had too much free play - 2-3". Since it released before the floor, it meets GM specs. Bleeding had no effect. Last time I used the truck was in Death Valley and since then the truck sat for about 5-6 weeks. When I got back in it, the clutch was worse - 3-4" free play and releasing right on the floor. Since I still thought it had to be air in the concentric slave cylinder (aka the throwout bearing), I wanted to try again to get the air out. Since bleeding still didn't help, I decided to try a different method. I made a dummy clutch master cylinder cap with a seal and a port in the middle. I hooked up a vacuum pump to the port a put 30" of vacuum on the master cylinder. I was hoping the vacuum would make the bubbles much larger, and then they would come out. After a couple of minutes of vacuum, I pulled the cap off - I could actullay see some small bubbles coming up! And now the clutch is perfect!!! About 1" free play and the release point is about 1/2 way down. Better then when it was new. The vacuum worked so well that I'm going to try it on a motorcycle brake system that has always been difficult to bleed. I'm not sure the bleed port for the concentric slave cylinder is all the way at the top of the cylinder. Mike L |
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