How big a slide in?

[PBurns]

I have a 2001 3/4 ton 4 X 4 with a 5 speed and 3. 54 gears. This is a Quad Cab Short Bed. I have owned travel trailers in the past but never a slide in. How big a slide in will this truck handle WELL? Not looking to max it out and have to baby it. Will be towing a light weight bass boat when using the camper. Thanks for helping a newbie on his first post. Phil Burns

 

[Guest00]

Do you have the camper package???? #ad

What is the truck rated at gvw and what are the axel weights full of fuel and 2 people??ETC. , ETC.

 

[Crazy Horse]

Phil, I would suggest you keep it under 2500lbs, if it has the factory {overload springs}camper package. You should really check the Warranty Book Packet that came with the truck. It will tell you what the truck is rated to carry. It's a single piece of paper with your serial # on it stating your payload,and what the truck will safely carry. If you go much over 2500lbs with a trailer,you may start building your truck to safely handle the load.

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2K Dodge 3500,4x4,SLT,Quad Cab,PR4 Red,Auto Trans,3. 54's,Anti-Spin Axle,Trailer TowPack,3 Piece Auto Ventshade Hood Protector,"BEEFED" up Factory Camper Pack{No Airbags},Factory Fogs,Rear Slider,Rancho 9000's,Rhino Spray In Liner,Smitty Built Nerf Bars,Alpine 60x4 Watt CD Player,Lance Cabover Camper,BD Plug n Power,K&N w/Modifed Stock Box,Amsoil 15w40,EGT Guage,And Enjoying The Ride.

2K Dodge 2500 SLT RC LB PB3 Blue
99 Dodge 1500 SLT/Sport RC SB Solor Yellow {Her Truck}

 

[BV]

My experienced guess would be that if your wet weight was 2000# you will be over your GVW a little.
If you want to stay at or below your GVWR than load up the truck with all your normal gear, fuel and people and head to the truck scales then subtract that from your gvwr listed on the door pillar.

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'99, 2500, QC, SLT, LWB, 4x4, ISB, 5sp, 3. 5xlsd, tow pac, HD tcase, tow mirrors, camper pac.

Alias: Martin Allen Bursell (posted per guidlines)

 

[Big MAK]

Just an observation for others: with the slide-in camper you'll be wishing you had a one ton with duals for stability. Of-course if the weight is reasonable you'll be fine; the duals give you more options for larger slides.

 

[CrewCabDiesel]

With slide in campers, weight is not the only thing, watch out for height as well. If you do go with a slide-in make sure that you DO NOT tie down to the box, instead get the correct brackets that go to the frame. Box tie downs tend to tear the pickup's box apart over time, more so if you intend to go down rough roads or two tracks. You might consider pulling a small 5th wheel (16-20 feet) in tandem with your boat. The benefits are you unhook the 5th wheel in 2 minutes, and take off with the boat to go fishing, leaving the wife and kids at camp #ad
. You also don't have the truck carring all the weight and you get 2 more sets of brakes out of the deal. You also get a whole lot more room and a 5th wheel pulls like its not even there. You also won't have white knuckles every time a semi goes by or the wind blows. By the way I pull a 29' 5th wheel and a 16' boat in tandem giving my truck/camper/boat a total leight of 66'(gota have the boat trailer lose a foot so I wiil be legal at 65' #ad
. If you like I can send you a photo.

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1985 DODGE 1 ton Crew Cab(imported from California with no rust) W/8' box converted to 4X4(wasn't that hard to do!) in 1999,converted to a 1991 Cummins Turbo diesel & 5 speed Getrag in 2000(wife can't drive a stick . 4:10 gears, limited slip rear end, 205 transfer case, 16" Goodyear GSA Wranglers and LE Package and a Sony CD Stereo. A one of a kind truck(Wish Dodge would build a new Crew Cab in 1 ton. Last year for the Crew Cab was 1985)If you want to know why I did all of this, 2 kids, one on the way and I can't stand Ford and Chevy. Kyle Hoover ,Fruitport, MI

 

[rrl989]

PBurns,
You will find that your real limited on your choice of pick of slide-ons. If you want to really get around, consider one of those pop-up types.

Ron

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98 3500 QC 4X4 Int Blue, 6BTA5. 9, Auto 3. 54 LSD, PIAA Pro90's, RS9000's, Tonneau, Running Boards, 5K Air Bags, Hadley Air Horns, EGT/Boost/transmission Temp Gauges, Cobra / K40, Valley class V, Bugflector II, Bedliner, Tow Hooks, Cup Smoothie, Meg's turn-down tip, SS Fender Flares... .....

99 Lance 1110 Slide-On Truck Camper

 

[red1ton]

Also don't attempt to put a slide in that is designed for a long bed. I have seen too many slide ins that are too far back in the bed to balance the load properly. Find out where your center of gravity (CG) for your truck. To get an idea as to the models that will fit your truck, check out the Lance web site at: http://www.lancecampers.com/
They have a calculator that will let you know how much weight a particular model will weigh. I would stick with the 8' 6" models for your short bed.

Hope this helps.
#ad


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2001, 3500, 2X4, QC, SLT, Auto, 3. 54 gears, camper and tow packages. Lance model 1130 camper. Rancho 9000 5 Speed shocks. BD Brake, autoloc, pressureloc. Hadley air horns. OEM bugshield w/eyebrows and dash cover. Member San Jose Ram Runners.

 

[reoraider00]

I know you mentioned that you have a short wheel base truck, but here is my experience with my 93 D350 CC. My camper is an Elkhorn 11Z, the largest they come. My truck is factory stock (no overload springs). After the first year of camping with this combination I realized that something needed to be done with the rear suspension. With the camper loaded the truck would sag about 3 inches. Researched air bags but was unconvinced, so I had two additional leafs added to the rear spring packs. Truck is much more stable. As a side note friends of mine have a similar size Lance and found that it was too much for their 3/4 ton Chevy CC, co they replaced it with a 1 ton Crew Cab. One ton dually's definitly seem to be the way to go if you have one of the larger campers. A nice advantage with the camper set up is that you can pull a trailer. I can't say that I agree with the feasibilty of pulling 2 trailers. At least not in the Northeast.

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93 D350 LE CC, Auto, 65,000 miles, All stock except beefed up rear springs, 94 11Z Elkhorn Camper

 

[reoraider00]

I know you mentioned that you have a short wheel base truck, but here is my experience with my 93 D350 CC. My camper is an Elkhorn 11Z, the largest they come. My truck is factory stock (no overload springs). After the first year of camping with this combination I realized that something needed to be done with the rear suspension. With the camper loaded the truck would sag about 3 inches. Researched air bags but was unconvinced, so I had two additional leafs added to the rear spring packs. Truck is much more stable. As a side note friends of mine have a similar size Lance and found that it was too much for their 3/4 ton Chevy CC, co they replaced it with a 1 ton Crew Cab. One ton dually's definitly seem to be the way to go if you have one of the larger campers. A nice advantage with the camper set up is that you can pull a trailer. I can't say that I agree with the feasibilty of pulling 2 trailers. At least not in the Northeast.

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93 D350 LE CC, Auto, 65,000 miles, All stock except beefed up rear springs, 94 11Z Elkhorn Camper

 

[drives mopars]

i load a 11' lance weight 3750
trk and camper 10k
i have factory overloads duelly
all stock 4 hauling i plan to add swar bar in rear
put 9000's in front. the factory weight ratings r a big factor w/ extra weight of
truck a 3/4 no way w/ anything bigger
then 9. 50 ' camper. i love camper i have
had short bed lance for 1/2 ton in past
was a 96 light but same size trouble was weight was still 2800 to 3000 lbs, sold 1/2 ton frame flexed , had air bags on it,
springs are good way to go, plan what u r
towing 1st then buy biggest camper
trk will haul on sht bed lance has 8. 50'
will weight appx 2850' tail gat will have to come off unless u go w/ big foot trouble
w/ them higher roof due to basement
they r grt on 1 ton , bill

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1993 w350 ex cab, banks,nv 4500 in
open exaust, pw Injectors are in. Big rig flaps,tach soon to be in. Its loud and goes ok, for a 93,only beat 1 pwr strk furd. 2 optimas,
love driving it!

 

[RobG]

Lance makes some very nice short-box campers, including one with a slider.

Whatever camper you get, I highly recommend the following:

- Big rear swaybar (the Hellwig, not the factory one)
- Airbags
- Rancho RS9000 shocks
- Torklift camper tie-downs

I have all of those on my '01. 5 3500 and it makes carrying my Lance 1030 around wonderfully easy. The shocks alone are worth their weight in gold. Set the rears to 5 and the fronts to 4 and it handles amazingly well. Leave 'em at a lower setting and the thing sloshes all over the place. Makes a HUGE difference with the adjustability.

Then, depending on what the camper you choose ultimately weighs, you may want to upgrade to the Rickson Truck 19. 5" wheels and tires for that added peace of mind. The biggest problem with campers on 3/4 ton trucks is you end up exceeding not only the rear axle rating, but also the tire ratings, and that's when you get into trouble.

Rob