9' camper with shortbed?

[wcjp]

Anyone put a 9'6 camper on a shortbed? Dry weight is 2,180pds. Truck is my 06' Mega 4x4 6spd. It's a Fleetwood Elkhorn.

 

[HBarlow]

wcjp,



No, I haven't but IMHO it is a bad idea.



Such a load hanging partly unsupported so far behind the rear axle will shift weight from the front axle to the rear. It may make steering and braking on the front axle unsafe and will probably overload the rear axle, wheels, and tires. I'm assuming loaded weight will be 3000# or more.



Harvey

 

[Grizzly]

Anyone put a 9'6 camper on a shortbed? Dry weight is 2,180pds. Truck is my 06' Mega 4x4 6spd. It's a Fleetwood Elkhorn.

You're asking for trouble, don't do it.

 

[RJWEST]

Ain't gonna work, Rear of camper will fall off... .
Ain't kidding... .

Besides, It will probably weigh more than 3000 lbs.
You really need to Weigh TC's, The 'Tag' Weight is rarely correct.

 

[KBalzuweit]

My neighbor has one in his ford srw short bed. He has upgraded to 19. 5's and all kinds of other stuff. Still looks unsafe to me.

 

[Hammy713]

What's the longest you would go with a short bed 3500?

 

[Regcabguy]

What's the longest you would go with a short bed 3500?

6 1/2 ft. Consider a popup.

 

[wcjp]

We gave up on the 9. 5' idea. Looking at 8. 5' campers. I like the weight of pop up slidein's. The wife doesn't like the bathroom or lack thereof.

 

[Grizzly]

Smart move.

 

[RJWEST]

If the camper was not made for a 6. 5 bed, the camper CG
may be aft of truck loading cg. .
can be done, but does make driving a tad interesting. .

There are campers made for 6. 5 trucks . Usually they have a floor plan where the heavy stuff installed up front, to maintain loaded cg

Weight shift to the rear can cause some driving problems.
IE: unstable steering inputs, requiring counter steer to control
the 'Tail wagging the dog ' affect of aft loading.

I would recommened a test load/weight check of any camper BEFORE purchase...

 

[NoSeeUm]

I actually saw a truck just recently with that set-up. It was a shortbed Ford (4 door) as I recall. What caught my eye was the over hang. It was a fiberglass camper, don't remember the brand.



To my way of thinking, if the camper is designed for this. IE the CG (center of gravity) is setup right then it is OK.



I have seen quite a few 11 campers on longbeds and the overhang is staggering. Actually this type of set-up is fairly common. I don't know why an 8-9 foot camper on a shortbed is any different than that. Like I said the CG would need to be checked to be sure.



Jim

 

[MSicotte]

I have a short box 3500 and haul an Arctic Fox 8'6" camper with a slide out on it. It was designed for a short box truck though. If you can, get the dealer to scale the camper for you before you buy it, the tags are usually wrong. I know this form experience, my camper was suspposed to weight in at 3450lbs WET. I scaled it on my second trip after adding bumpstop extensions to keep the truck from sagging, and it scaled at 4900LBS. Heart attack, yes, stuck with the camper, yes. Haven't had any issues with handling or braking, you just have to smart when you're driving.