Confused in UK

[Chris Ingham]

Well the standard in a 1500 truck is 1000 lbs US or .50 tons. But this can be increased by adding heavy duty springs, shocks, or several other ways. I have put over 2000 lbs US in the back of my 93 1500 WT with OE springs, ext. when I had it. The real issue is stopping the truck with the added weight. Also your rear end gears play a big roll in getting the load moving, and climbing a hill. Your tire size also plays a roll in pulling power. If the truck pulls the camper down the road well, and stops good, that is what counts.

Cheers Kenny, very useful info. Yes, I thought 1500 was 1/2ton. Still trying to find my way round the truck and getting to grips with some of the US terminology. It's running 17inch alloys but not sure if springs are heavy duty.

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[454cid]

...Yes, I thought 1500 was 1/2ton.

It is a 1/2 ton, but in this situation it's not a quantity and unit of measurement. It's just a label/name/category/title.... It's kind of like the Queen. She's still the queen but she's not the ruler of England anymore. You should have weight rating on the door sticker, unless it's gone.

It's running 17inch alloys

Those are factory rims from a newer Chevy.

 

[Chris Ingham]

It is a 1/2 ton, but in this situation it's not a quantity and unit of measurement. It's just a label/name/category/title.... It's kind of like the Queen. She's still the queen but she's not the ruler of England anymore. You should have weight rating on the door sticker, unless it's gone.



Those are factory rims from a newer Chevy.

Thanks, door sticker still there,will post some pictures later. It certainly looks like can handle more than half a ton. I checked the Chevy VIN checked and that gave a GVWR of 6200lbs.

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[Chris Ingham]

Thanks, door sticker still there,will post some pictures later. It certainly looks like can handle more than half a ton. I checked the Chevy VIN checked and that gave a GVWR of 6200lbs.

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Photos of door an glove box stickers

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[Moparmat2000]

GVWR is the vehicles empty weight, and it's useful load rating as a combined total. This throws people off a lot. Since you didnt mention what year it is, I went by the mirror style in your pic. I looked up a 1997 K1500 extended cab on the net. A 1997 extended cab short bed GMT400 empty weight is about 4,500 lbs or 2 &1/4 tons. The GVWR on the sticker lists 6,200 lbs. This means that its max weight capacity for its useful load is 1,700 lbs or just a tick under 1 ton.

I have taken engine parts to swap meets in mine, C1500 standard cab long bed and probably have loaded it to a 2200 lb capacity. When I would step on the brake with that kind of a load, believe me I felt it.

 

[Moparmat2000]

That all being said 780KG converts to roughly 1,700 lbs. Which puts the truck at capacity with just the slide in camper, providing like others have said, you dont add any additional gear, or provisions to the camper. On the other hand you can easily bolt on 3/4 ton rear springs, heavier duty tires, and beefier 3/4 ton shocks to help with the camper useful load and additional gear you want to add to the slide in camper. The stiffness from these modifications however will make it ride somewhat harsh when the camper is not installed. If you plan on using the camper a lot, I recommend it, if not, then I recommend you pack light for your trips knowing that just the camper puts you at the load limit for the stock vehicles suspension.