A few folks over on the Truck Camper forum of RV.net have attempted to put a truck camper on a PW and have been mostly disappointed. Why? The suspension is very light and made for flexibility to allow the 4 wheels to stick to rocks, the ground, and other axle contorting positions. This style suspension is diametrically opposed to the SRW 2500/3500 truck’s suspension. If you have the funds, you can replace the rear springs entirely with more and thinner leaves to be able to carry, say 3000 pounds of loaded camper. Remember, you only need to replace the rears as 99% of the weight of the camper eventually loads on the rear axle. Then there are the inevitable Stable Loads; upper overload springs; bigger anti-sway bar; and much better, adjustable shocks. These must all fit into the equation. Because of recoil and sway, i’m not a big fan of air bags. Which camper depends on your bed length. If you have a 6.5 foot short bed there are a few lightweights that fit that bill, several of which Mike has mentioned. If it’s 6 feet or shorter the list of ‘fits’ will also become shorter. So, the question is, do you stay with the PW and go through the time and expense to make it a true 3/4 ton, or do you bail and get a factory built truck that will handle the camper you want.
jefe
Man I wish it were that simple. 🙂 It strikes me that no matter which truck we buy, the majority of us end up adding a bunch of parts in order to make it handle in a fashion that is suitable for a truck camper. It reminds me of the early motorhomes which handled so poorly in stock form that it was said the sale of aftermarket parts alone for the GM chassis paved the way for Camping World’s success. We used to talk about “unintended lane changes” when behind the wheel and it was darn near true. Just my two cents. 🙂
Steve and Andra
2012 F350 6.2 gasser SRW LB
Fab Fours front and rear in case we run into a rhino
2019 Northstar Laredo SC
