2900lb truck camper how stable?

[Peter Schachtel]

I'm thinking of purchasing a 12' truck camper with a weight of 2900lbs. How well will my 98 Chev 3/4 ton 4x4 TD carry this load? Do I need to modify the OEM suspension?

[rjwest]

I run about the same weight on a 1 ton 4x4 Duelly.

Put in air bags to get truck level, MADE a big
differance in driveability. Less front wheel hop
and much better tire wear. BUT with truck level, (less weight on rear when level) , got a little more sway. Put in sway bars, Know drives excellent.
And The air bags allow you to adjust hight for extras the wife always puts in ....

Was running on 1/2 ton, Way overloaded...

[rjwest]

One more very important thing. Is the 2900 lbs
actual weight or sticker on unit.

Each manufacture is different. but most are under weighted.
and does not include options installed and what you
put in it. ( I rarly go with less than 500 lbs
og gear. If the 2900 is on sticker, i would guess closer to 3900 lbs when loaded.

Check iRV2.com, there is a Truck camper forum section

[CareyWeber]

Peter,

Something to think about:
I have a 97 GMC CC SRW that I haul my Lance 9.5' camper on its tagged as weighing 2372lbs wet (with water, gas and food) my truck weighs in at 7000lbs empty.

Total weight 9372lbs in theory however the three times I

[Scottpearce]

I have an '89 Coachmen 11.5' camper that I haul with my 93 CrewCab 3500 DRW. The Dry weight in the manual says 2490 lbs. My truck weighs 6600 pounds with half a tank of fuel, and combined weight in as-used condition (water, gear, people, etc.)with the camper is a tad over 11000 pounds. The only thing in my suspension not stock is the shocks. They are heavy duty truck style shocks. The DRW handles the weight very well, but it depends alot on exactly where the weight is centered on your paticular camper. When running with the camper in the bed, my front axle weighs in with 3750 pounds on it. When running without the camper, the front axle weight is 3500 pounds. This tells me that this camper is balanced just right for my rig, as 90% of the weight is loaded onto the back axle (7500 pound w/camper, 3100 pound without).

The guy I bought the camper from had it on a SRW 3500, and he said that he had to add a sway-bar to his rear suspension to get rid of sway going down the road. He had it on a 2500 before the 3500 and he claimed that it was not able to handle it even with the sway bar installed and heavier shocks. It would tow it, but he didn't go over 45mph with it and if it got windy out, he waited out the wind. :eek:

I know my 3500 DRW handles it fine, as I even haul a trailer with it at the same time. :cool: Trailer weight is anywhere from 2700 to 4500 pounds, depending on which I am hauling, the boat or the jetski's (The Jetski's are 4500, the boat 2700)

[Tough Guy]

Is your truck a std. ext. or crew cab? Do you know what your truck weighs? I would research this further.

You will need good E rated tires, air bags, sway bar and pray you don't have a tire blow out, ever....

Cheers