Thoughts on a new truck for Camper slide in?

[steved]

I agree here. Depends on the weight of the camper. My Lance weighs about 2200 and I have never had handling problems with it. Sure, a dually would be even better but so far I have not had issues. Keep in mind the 2nd Gens with camper special have the overload springs in. I am not so sure about the newer trucks having them in stock form? Maybe someone can enlighten us about that.

I think it also depends on the amount of use it will see...



If your planning on using it like a mobile home, then a dually would be better. If its a weekend warrior, then a SRW will most like be fine (providing its not overloaded).



I believe the "camper special" (with the overloads) on the 2nd gen were renamed the SRW 3500 in the 3rd gen...

 

[steved]

My truck's maxxed out with my Northstar 8' popup. I've got enhanced suspension to boot. My concern has always been emergency handling. If you have to jerk the wheel in a collision avoidance maneuver,the SRW's coming over. I'd highly suggest looking for a popup or go with the dually.

And 6 inches of extra width is going to markedly counteract the elevated COG in an emergency situation??? I think you might be reaching here... there's no guarantee a DRW is going to prevent a rollover in an emergency stuation.

 

[Grizzly]

Wow... This thread gets more Bizarre all the time. It seems the posters think these trucks are as wimpy as the people doing the posting.

Nobody said anything that any trucks are wimpy. All we're saying is that if you are going to get a bigger heavier camper, a DRW may be preferable. Don't get your socks tied up in a wad.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

I have a 3500 4x4 SRW with a Lance 1030. I also added Rickson 19. 5" wheels with appropriate tires to carry the load.

Now, I have driven a 3500 DRW with a Lance 1030, and my SRW 20,000 + miles and I see very little difference. For all you DRW proponents, the side-to-side pivot point for a DRW is the SAME as the SRW. The spring mount points are the same. The only difference I see (your mileage may vary) is with the extra tire on each side on the rear.

#ad

 

[Grizzly]

With all due respect Mr. Jet, I wish I could say I agree with you, but having been there, done that, I can't agree with you. I have had many years of experience with an F250 Furd, SRW and 2 3500 Dodge DRW and two large campers and two 5th wheels. There is a ton of difference between a SRW and DRW.



The big test for me is passing an on coming 18 wheel truck on a narrow 2 lane highway. If your truck sways when the 18 wheel passes, you need a DRW. My DRW's have never swayed.

 

[DonTX]

I have to side with Grizzly against jumbo here. I first bought a 11 1/2 ft slide in camper to haul in my 1/2 ton way back in the early 50's (big, big mistake) and have owned and hauled a lot of em in 50 some years. With no disrespect intended, someone that says there is no difference would seem to have missed something along the line. I still fall back to my original recommendation to the query, GO DRIVE BOTH for a few miles on the highway, it won't take long to discover the vast difference. I offered my truck for a trial run, surely someone close to him can let him go for a drive!



\

With all due respect Mr. Jet, I wish I could say I agree with you, but having been there, done that, I can't agree with you. I have had many years of experience with an F250 Furd, SRW and 2 3500 Dodge DRW and two large campers and two 5th wheels. There is a ton of difference between a SRW and DRW.



The big test for me is passing an on coming 18 wheel truck on a narrow 2 lane highway. If your truck sways when the 18 wheel passes, you need a DRW. My DRW's have never swayed.

 

[DonTX]

Seeing if I recall how to upload photos or not. This is my "ol 97" with my Yellowstone 11. 6 double slide dry bath model. I have put on over 10,000 miles from late September to end of December. Handles well in the snow and ice.

 

[RACE427]

Rockland County Community College RV Show, NY State

We will be attending the RV Show at Rockland Community College here in NY State on Feb. 14th. There are alot of RV Vendors present and a huge selection to look over. When we are ready and find what we are looking for, the Dodge will be a 3500 Crew Cab DRW with a 6 spd man. gear box. There are good deals out there now, but, not what we are looking for. Have seen 3500 Crew Cabs with SRW and 6 foot beds, too short for what I need the truck to do.



Many thanks to all of you who have commented!!



Tony G

 

[Jumbo Jet]

I have to side with Grizzly against jumbo here. I first bought a 11 1/2 ft slide in camper to haul in my 1/2 ton way back in the early 50's (big, big mistake) and have owned and hauled a lot of em in 50 some years. With no disrespect intended, someone that says there is no difference would seem to have missed something along the line. I still fall back to my original recommendation to the query, GO DRIVE BOTH for a few miles on the highway, it won't take long to discover the vast difference. I offered my truck for a trial run, surely someone close to him can let him go for a drive!

\

I said I have seen little difference. My truck does not sway either. I have lead and followed the silver CTD in the above picture from Kansas to Montana, through Utah and Colorado. 2 lane roads, crosswinds, headwinds, etc. This is not my first rodeo. I was driving 1/2 ton pickups with 3000 lb. loads back in 1963 - I knew what sway was then and now.

My first TC was loaded on a new 1973 Dodge Adventurer SE. That was a dangerous load!

The Hellwig anti-sway bar does it's job. Having the overloads engage early by using the Torklift Stable loads help also.

As I say, your mileage may vary. Some variance may be due to experience, vehicle setup, speed, etc.

I have had white knuckle experiences when the vehicle was not setup properly.

Do what is comfortable for yourself.

There are many people driving Class A thru Class C motorhomes that should not be driving them. Same goes for top heavy TCs.

If you need training wheels, by all means get them!!!!:{ Just kidding!

 

[DonTX]

Your points are well taken. It has been my personal opinion from miles and miles of thinking about it, that the difference in a dually and a single rear tire with these loads, is just mostly the tires! The extra dually width of course would help, but I think most of the unpleasantness comes from "tire squish". If you follow someone struggling with an overloaded single rear tire vehicle, you can see the squish in action. The person that I bought my Host Yellowstone from, bought it new for lots of bucks, put it on a new 3/4 ton GMC single rear wheel truck. He spent lots more bucks on different tires, different wheels, shock and spring packages, but still was unable to drive it comfortably, and sold it to me for 1/2 what he paid for the camper a short time before. On my Dodge dually it is totally stable, meeting semis in crosswinds, or whatever.

I said I have seen little difference. My truck does not sway either. I have lead and followed the silver CTD in the above picture from Kansas to Montana, through Utah and Colorado. 2 lane roads, crosswinds, headwinds, etc. This is not my first rodeo. I was driving 1/2 ton pickups with 3000 lb. loads back in 1963 - I knew what sway was then and now.



My first TC was loaded on a new 1973 Dodge Adventurer SE. That was a dangerous load!



The Hellwig anti-sway bar does it's job. Having the overloads engage early by using the Torklift Stable loads help also.



As I say, your mileage may vary. Some variance may be due to experience, vehicle setup, speed, etc.



I have had white knuckle experiences when the vehicle was not setup properly.



Do what is comfortable for yourself.



There are many people driving Class A thru Class C motorhomes that should not be driving them. Same goes for top heavy TCs.



If you need training wheels, by all means get them!!!!:{ Just kidding!

 

[WyoJim]

Nobody said anything that any trucks are wimpy. All we're saying is that if you are going to get a bigger heavier camper, a DRW may be preferable. Don't get your socks tied up in a wad.

The statement that if you have a 4X4 2500 you are limited to a pop up and another that 1000 pounds is the limit insinuates that my truck is a wimp.



It weighs 9700 pounds with a GVWR of 8800 and has over 150,000 miles of hauling the camper with this set up. No airbags... Just Rancho 9000 shocks. You weight police can digest that awhile.



The experience gained with 2 campers and two fifth wheels pales in comparison to several guys of which I am one, that have been traveling the country in campers and 5th wheels for 40 or 50 years. It tends to ball a guys socks up when he finds out from a new comer that he has been doing it all wrong.



Have a nice day!!

 

[CUMMINZ]

I had a 2500 QC short box that I had spring business add 2 full length leafs and I added Helwig sway bar. This truck handled my 29 foot 5th wheel and my 36 foot Cedar Creek just fine. My wife and I discussed adding 19. 5s to the truck after we had a dump truck pull out in front of us north of Nashville in 2004. Springs or no springs/ sway bar or not if you don't have the right tire you might die someday just lovin' your SRW. We have had 2 3500 DRWs since then. We have even added 19. 5s to our 2007. 5 DRW. NO SRW wheel will ever make a good dually. :-laf

 

[Grizzly]

The statement that if you have a 4X4 2500 you are limited to a pop up and another that 1000 pounds is the limit insinuates that my truck is a wimp.

It weighs 9700 pounds with a GVWR of 8800 and has over 150,000 miles of hauling the camper with this set up. No airbags... Just Rancho 9000 shocks. You weight police can digest that awhile.

The experience gained with 2 campers and two fifth wheels pales in comparison to several guys of which I am one, that have been traveling the country in campers and 5th wheels for 40 or 50 years. It tends to ball a guys socks up when he finds out from a new comer that he has been doing it all wrong. Have a nice day!!

WyoJim, you do have more experience and more age then I do and I respect you for that. Having had two large campers and two 5er doesn't mean I'm a spring chicken either. I purchased my first cab-over-camper, used in 1974 which was a 1968 10 1/2 foot Travel Queen. You may remember those old campers with the round top. I kept it and used it plenty for 15 years, then I purchased a new 29' 5er, which I kept for 10 years. I then went back to a truck camper, which was a 11' 3" Lance. After 10 years and two trips to Alaska, we decided to go with another 5th wheel, which we have now and it's going to Alaska many times.



My 1st truck was a 71 Ford F250 gasser. That truck was frightening with my Travel Queen. I did a lot of things to it to make it stable, with the best thing I did was putting super single wheels and tires on it. I kept that miserable Furd until I purchased my first Dodge which was a dually in 1995 and gave the Furd away, which was on it's 3rd engine. At that time I had a 29' HR Alumilite 5er. To be honest with you the only reason I purchased a dually was I liked th looks of it over a single wheel. I didn't need a dually to tow a 29' 5er. Because I had the dually, we decided to get a large truck camper in 1988 for Alaska trips, since truck camper fared better then trailers on the Alcan Highway at that time. Not true any longer since the Alcan is much improved.



Based on my long experience with campers, there is no way I would have considered such a large camper on a single wheel truck. Having had dually's for 14 years, I don't believe I could ever go back to a single wheel. Having those training wheels may just be giving me a false sense of security whether I'm towing or not, but it sure feels much more stable. It even looks more stable. There must be a good reason for the training wheels or the manufactures wouldn't put them on. You've heard the old saying, "You got to have the right truck under a camper".

 

[Jumbo Jet]

There must be a good reason for the training wheels or the manufactures wouldn't put them on. You've heard the old saying, "You got to have the right truck under a camper".

Here is why:
Example using Michelin XRV 245/70R/19. 5 Load Range F tires

SRW - 2 x 4080 lbs. /tire = 8,160 lbs. tire/rear axle capacity

DRW - 4 x 3860 lbs. /tire = 15,440 lbs. tire/rear axle capacity

... and you want to know more - I have the same axle capacity under my 3500 SRW that the DRW has! Dodge Ram 3500 rear axles have a GAWR of 9,350 pounds.

You can use a lesser tire (or lower air pressure) on the DRW and achieve the same load carrying capacity.

 

[Grizzly]

You can use a lesser tire (or lower air pressure) on the DRW and achieve the same load carrying capacity.

I'm not talking about load carrying capacity, I'm talking about stability.

 

[CRuth]

I'd go with one of these

Makes your host look puny

 

[CRuth]

We can't all be wrong

Just a few of the rigs that attended the DV rally. Mines second to the right.

 

[DonTX]

Now be nice

Makes your host look puny

 

[DonTX]

??? Disabled Veterans, Dodge Vehicle, ??

Just a few of the rigs that attended the DV rally. Mines second to the right.

 

[CRuth]

Death Valley.