Can a 8 foot camper fit into a 6 foot bed?

[KBennett]

I was at a friends house last night and he offered me a slide-in camper that is in great shape for free. The problem is I have a short bed and it's setup for a full length bed. Is this a big issue if I put it on my short bed? Will it look ridiculous or are there any safety concerns?

 

[SSell]

try it! if it's new enough (narrow enough) to fit between wheel wells, see if will fit with tailgate down. Had a 8' sixpac for our longbed ram, always pulled tailgate off when we mounted it----figured you had to. the guy i sold it to showed up in a shortbed chevy, opened tailgate & plopped it right in. Might not have bought my new longbed if i knew a 6' would work!

 

[RustyJC]

If nothing else, I would think the CG (center of gravity) is going to be too far to the rear.



Rusty

 

[TowPro]

I was supprised to see this here, I was getting ready to post the same question. I have a 9' camper for sale, yes you have to pull the tail gate because the drain pipes would hit the tail gate.



anyway, a guy with a 6' bed called and wants to know if it will fit. A 9' camper in a 6' bed would only have 2/3 of the camper in the bed. Not sure if that is to safe?

 

[KBennett]

I don't think there will be an issue with drain pipes on this one. In the rear, where it hangs over the bumper, it has a closet on the drivers side and another "closet" on the passenger side that is setup for a porta-potty.



It's setup like this Travelite but no shower:

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Rusty, good point. I am going to see if it has the CG posted on it and measure my truck dimensions.

 

[NoSeeUm]

If nothing else, I would think the CG (center of gravity) is going to be too far to the rear.



Rusty

I would guess that it really depends upon the weight of the camper and as Rusty says where the CG is.



My camper is a 9 footer. It hangs a foot out past the tailgate, which is removed. With a 6' bed it would hang out 3 feet. I would not put my camper on a truck with a 6' bed and drive at highway speeds. Not unless I wanted a lesson in crash testing.



With that said, maybe a guy could rig up some turnbuckles and tie the thing to the front tow hitch.



Jim

 

[JPope]

Years ago I sold one for an 8' bed and the guy that picked it up had a 6' bed (1/2 ton also). He said no problem ( he informed me that he knew what he was doing and had paid in cash ) tied it in with rope and drove off. His front end tires were barely on the ground, and away he went!!!



Good point Rusty on the CG !!

 

[KennethS]

That what they made tape measure for

On the 6 foot bed you leave the tailgate on and you measure the camper to see iff it will clear. Hope you have a 3/4 ton but I had my camper on a half ton and got along ok. Having a camper on a truck there a lot to learn what to do and not. Hope it works for you. Just don't get in a hurry.