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Last summer I bought a new GMC 1500 with a payload of about 1860 lbs, thinking I’d buy a light camper to match. Because of Covid, or whatever, choices in Alberta (that’s in Canada) were very few. The camper I chose lists its dry weight (including propane, water, and fridge) as 1367 lbs, and the first thing I did when I returned with it was take it to a CAT scale to confirm. Turns out the truck with the camper (water tank empty) weighs 2180 lbs more than the truck without the camper, so the camper is a full 800 lbs heavier than is cited on its tag. Whereas I thought we would be slightly over payload, we are now WAY over payload, perhaps prohibitively. I contacted Transport Canada and was told that truck campers are not regulated. They strongly suggested I write to my member of Parliament to lobby to get them regulated, but my first concern is addressing my current predicament. Is this a known problem in the industry? I feel I’ve been duped.
This situation is almost universal in the industry and has been for decades. It is widely known.
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 SCTruck Camper Magazine has noted it repeatedly and it is a source of ongoing conversation and heated debate. Sorry you missed it. My suggestion now would be to focus on how to beef up your truck to carry the added weight. The camper is still a relative light weight so I think you will be able to salvage a hard situation.
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 SCThanks again Steve (or Andra). I’ve added Timbrens for the suspension, and some heavy-duty tires, and I won’t be carrying much extra. I’ve been driving carefully and making it work, just not happy about it, although knowing I’m not alone helps. I’ll look around more on this site (which I came upon too late), and get drafting a letter to my MP, I suppose. Cheers…
I do not want to overstate this point, but in my opinion the majority of truck camper owners exceed their truck ratings for exactly what you discovered too late. I am within my truck ratings, but my dry weight camper leaves to camp more than 1,000 pounds heavier. You have Timbrens and if you need can still add a sway bar or if you have one a heavier sway bar and more serious shocks such as Rancho 9000s or Bilsteins. Many of us have thrown everything but the kitchen sink to make these pigs handle and you can do the same and probably would no matter what truck you had chosen.
So stay loose and Andra is my wife, I am Steve. 🙂
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 SCSeeing this late but comments are correct that this is an age old issue and probably the most debated one in the truck camper world.
I learned this the hard way and bought the current camper we have, a Northern Lite 8.11 SE, after I already had a near new Ford F250. My lack of knowledge at the time cost me about $6000 dollars when I made the decision to trade in my F250 with less than 10,000 miles on it for an F350 that had the payload capacity to handle our camper. Lesson learned but I am under all my published weight limits fully wet and can go down the road with confidence and sleep well at night knowing my rig is safe.2017 F350 Super Duty 4x4, CCSB, XLT Premium Package, 6.2 gas, 3.73 rear end, GVWR 11,300 lbs, Payload 4226 lbs, Silver Ingot, Camper Package, Split bench front seat, Upfitter switches, LED Box Lighting, Rear Step Tailgate, Air Lift 5000 Ultimate Airbags with Air Lift WirelessAIR on board compressor kit and remote, Torklift Upper Stableloads, Torklift tie downs w/ Fastguns
2017 Northern Lite 8.11 QC SEI’ll give a shoutout to Capri Campers — I had one built for my Ranger. One of the many things they did for me was send a picture of the scale weight.
I don’t know exactly how they weighed it, but I don’t think it included the jacks which I don’t roll with. However, it seemed accurate when I went to the scales fully loaded with GF, dog, and gear.
My experience with them was one of the best customer service experiences I’ve had with any company. There are very few cabover options for midsize trucks, and I couldn’t be happier with what they delivered.
Our Hallmark Guanella was well overweight. It was somewhere 400-500lbs overweight. I never got exact numbers, but I went by the city dump on my way to work and the attendant was OK with telling me the weight. Their scales were calibrated often. The thing that really got under my skin was that Hallmark, on their website, said that every camper was weighed and the owner was given a print out. When I asked for it they said, “we don’t do that anymore.” Then why was it still on the website? I had gone through the options weights and built the truck up for the expected weight.
This is a good reason to get way out ahead of the contemplated weight of your new camper and truck’s payload rating.
We have about 1K pounds of headroom with our Northstar/F-350 payload rating.
Some would say, “get way more truck than you think you will need for your truck camper”.
jefe2020 Ford F-350 XLT FX4 4WD SRW SB SC 7.3L Godzilla Gas TorqShift 10R140 397 amps dual Alt dual batts Frnt Dana 60; Rr Dana M275 E-locker 4.30's 4580/4320/4066# payload 7243# curb wt. 11,300# GVWR 5-er prepped. 2020 Northstar Laredo SC, 12v compressor fridge, cassette, 320w Solar sub zero insulation.
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