I read a statement somewhere on my truck's literature (owner's manual, glove box, etc.) that my truck is not designed for using an overhead camper. I am considering adding a camper and want to know why this would be stated on my heavy duty truck?

3500 SRW longbed seems very capable of hauling a camper.

I also plan on towing a 3200# boat. Campers in 9'-11' range usually weigh about 2800#.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

I have a beefed up 2500 that I haul my camper with. Even my old furd could handle it. It's a 9' Okanagan. There are pics in my profile if you want. They put that in there to avoid any liability. Lawyers!

 

My only worry would be the tires. Now that I have a 5th wheel, I wish I had a dually (piece of mind). My trucks tows and drives fine with any load, but I just hate knowing if I have a rear blowout, I only have ONE holding the pin weight tire until I stop.

 

I went to 19.5" load range H tires on my SRW 2500 for that reason. They're rated 4400# and give a much better safety margin. I also pre-loaded the overload springs. Look at the Dodge page on the homepage of my website....... www.gogittum.com I've got 140,000 miles on that setup now and it works very well. The truck and camper drive like a huge sports car.

Lar.

 

I went with a dually, to be able to haul the camper with the boat in tow.

I couldn't imagine the same setup with a SRW truck.

Tony

 

A buddy of mine bought my 03 SRW 3500 when I upgraded to a dually. He wanted a single rear wheel truck for a camper, and I was looking at big 5th wheels...

He ended up upgrading tires, and added airbags. Camper is a 10.6 Bigfoot that weighs like 2700 empty, and he pulls a boat or ATV trailer.

It works fine for him, but I think he's been starting to rethink his position on not wanting a dually.

Anyway, a camper in that weight range can be done with a SRW, but I think I'd budget for 19.5's with some H or G rated tires plus airbags.

 

I like your spring setup. I'm not sure if my overloads are touching (is that the correct term?) when my 5th wheel is hooked up.

Either way, if I can't find some higher rated 17" tires, I'll go to a 19.5" rim when I have extra money. In the mean time, I'll just take a few spares with me.

 

Mine does great.. Love my 3500.

 

just don't get that heavy of a camper.

i got a 06 2500 SB with airbags and carry a NorthStar Arrow... around 2k lbs. No problem with e rated tires on 17's. I also tow snowmobiles

 

I know just about all of us do it but I'll give my truck as an example. 2500 4X4 long box quad cab weighs in at 7400lbs with 5ver hitch tool box two people and full fuel. GVWR is 8800lbs and no amount of air bags or extra springs can change that. So that leaves 1400lbs of usable load, now I know it can carry waaay more than that and I know that RVers don't seem to get bothered if it looks OK, but you can't help but wonder that one of these days they ARE going to crack down on RVers and I'd bet that 90% are over their GVWR maybe more.
Til then happy RVing

 

My wife and I just returned from Utah and the wind on I-15 south of Vegas was pretty stiff. The SRW's were all over the road while the dually's were the Rock of Gibralter with truck campers. Carli can build you a custom suspension to maximize the SRW's safety,but emergency handling when you must do a collision avoidance maneuver is still up to the law of physics. It's gonna roll. We carry a popup and there are many times I wish it were a hardside for convenience and warmth,but it does feels safe.

 

The biggest diffrrence between the 2500 & 3500 is springs and Dually.
I think you can make the 2500 work, but you will wish you had the dually.
I would look at what they run for tires and wheels on the current 3500 SRW's and consider something similar.

 

Dude, they don't give a flyin' patoot about the GVWR of a truck. They care about GTWR and GAWR. If you are under your axles or tires, whichever is less, you're fine. End of story.

So if you are not over your tire or axle capacities, and you have a stable enough load don't sweat the camper. I'd prefer a dually for some things, and other things I like me SWR. I can always add more safety to my SWR, but I couldn't just take off the dually width when I need to go into the city.

I bet there are just as many duallies with 5th wheels that end up wrecked, as SWR trucks carrying campers. As with anything, load it up and see how it works for YOU. If YOU are comfortable with it and drive within the set-up's limits you'll be fine. Heck people kill themselves in unloaded minivans all the time. Learn your rig and drive within it's or your limits, whichever are lower, and you'll be fine.

 

You are "fine" because as you say they don't care about it (at the moment) That's why I wrote "you can't help but wonder that one of these days they ARE going to crack down on RVers". In my part of the world the city cops set up a thermal imaging camera beside the freeway, then slow traffic to check commercial trucks and trailers. Trucks and trailers are pulled over where mechanics are standing by to weigh and inspect, most get some kind of ticket, a lot get towed. This is right on the freeway so there's no escape.

 

Don't ya love it when the cops are giving out tickets because people don't have their "papers in order"?

There really needs to be one standard for measurement of safety. . . but then how much revenue would the states lose if they couldn't always find a reason, right? Heck, that's why the locals are getting into it - becaue they see how much the state makes on the whole scam.