Extended Cab vs Crew Cab

[Coly Hope]

I see photos of truck campers in the bed of trucks with a crew cab but a very rarely on the bed of a truck with an extended cab. Is there a reason that extended cabs aren’t as good for truck campers as crew cabs?

[Dirk Keeler]

My guess is simply because they are not as common. Crew cab trucks are more useful for hauling lots of stuff and lots of people.
I did see one guy on the 2017 Ford Super Duty Forum that bought the extended cab for a camper because it is lighter and would work better. I agree. If that’s what you have it will work great.
DK

[Coly Hope]

My biggest concern is that if I get an extended cab the front part of truck camper will stick out to far over the truck cab.

[Mello Mike]

Coly,
I don’t think that would be a problem. If it is for you, I know that most truck camper manufacturers offer cabover options, meaning you can get your camper with an east-west bed configuration instead of north-south.

[Coly Hope]

Thanks for all the advice. I am not 100% sure what I want right now. I am bouncing around between an Outfitters Apex 8 or LB, Hallmark Ute or Everest, Bigfoot 15c8.2 and Northern Lite 8-11 or 9-6.

Will start to visit RV lots soon. Hallmark and Outfitters is just a 2 hour drive from me so I will start with them first.

[Jeff Sherman]

Coly,
Don’t worry about the cabover hanging too far over your cab with an extended cab truck. We have a Bigfoot with a long N-S type cabover on an extended cab Ford F350 and it does not bother us a bit – comes to just about the front of the windshield. Does not obstruct views of canyon walls.
Big advantage of the extended cab: it has a shorter wheelbase – easier turning in tight spots in parking lots and for off road travel it is easier navigating twisty dirt roads and turning around at dead ends. This was pointed out by Mello Mike in a long forgotten blog post or article that I took to heart.
We have a lot of stuff stored in the extended cab (I took out the back seat). Have never regretted it. In fact – we are very glad we do not have a crew cab.
The other extended cab advantage: it is lighter so more payload.
Now if you have kids, go with the the crew cab for obvious reasons.
Jeff Sherman

[Jim Azinger]

Completely agree with J. Sherman. The over hang makes very little difference. In the grand scheme of things you are not talking a “large” amount of space. That being said I did notice a slight driving advantage in my last extended cab. We now have a crew cab because the fur kids take up space and still allows for some storage. I just got used to driving it and no longer see it as holding me back. As per normal unfortunately – no perfect answer it’s compromises on what you want and what works

[bill delorey]

We carry a Lance 845 on a Chevy 2500HD 4×4 … not problem with cab-over. We like the slightly shorter wheelbase and turning radius.

When we looked at Crew Cab, it really seems huge, even tho it’s not a LOT longer – it seems long and less maneuverable.

[Harvey]

I’ve recently purchased a super duty short bed extended cab and will be getting a Laredo SC after lots of research.

I’d say unless you have the need for crew cab the extended will be fine. Also just had 2 adults in back seat, shorter ride, seemed to be plenty of room from what they said.

[ardvark]

I have always had extended cabs with long beds. I need the long bed for times when I need a truck to be a truck. If hauling people is a priority, we don’t use the truck, however when the TC is onboard, the extended cab still gives us plenty of backseat room for our cooler, etc. I guess the key here is space allocation depending on the size of the truck camper and the likelihood of carrying additional people along with the truck camper. Our kids are grown so space is not a consideration. If we had teens traveling with us, it would be.

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

[Ronald H. Fithen Sr.]

I had an extended cab F-250 and it was no problem at all hauling my Lance 820 and 855s. I now have a 2017 F-350 Crewcab and the back seat leaves lots of storage. On my Extended cab I removed the whole back seat for storage.

[Coly Hope]

Thanks for all the advice. At work we have a F-250 with an extended cab and I like the way it feels when I drive so I will probably buy something like that.

[manfred65]

Hi Coly,
i am with you 100% with the F-250 SuperCab. We haul our vintage 8ft Popup on it.
The Camper is between 1800-1850 lbs wet, Frehs water tank and Potti full, 120 Ah AGM and ready to go. I only sits on the truck and doesn´t affect him and all. No remarkable sag
( OK, 1/2″ ) not to feel the campers weight while driving down our winding bavarian roads. No nodding and rocking! And i have only 1/2″ of headroom between cab and cabover. See pics in the GalleryThread.

One problem was the GVWR of the 7.3 of 8800 lbs that leaves only a payload of 1650 lbs which has to include the camper ,all the stuff and my best of all wives. But i was able to raise the GVWR to 10150 lbs because of the higher max weights of the axles. With our tech control department ( TÜV in Germany ) my dealership made this possible without any suspension upgrades.

2000 F-250 SuperDuty SC Lariat Longbed 7.3 ltr. 4x4
1992 Jayco-Sportster 8ft Popup - rebuilt 2014/2015

Only official TravelLite and Palomino-Truck Camper Dealer in Europe

[Author]

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