Towing a camper

[rico47635]

Yeah, a one ton dually would be much better, but I had one of those really big slide-ins that hung way over the back of the truck in a 1978 Ford 1/2 ton with overloads and it hauled just fine. It doesn't make sense to me that a 1/2 ton would not be good for a small slide in.

 

[Fobroader]

If you can find a small one, at the RV show last year all they had was huge slide ins made for 1 tons. They were awesome for space and features, but gigantic. They went way over the cab in length and height and hung down behind the rear bumper. Heavy ******** too, way over 2000Lbs. The RV salesman, a moron, was like "yeah this one is on special for $30g....thats 5 grand off, good deal eh?" all I could respond was "yeah, if I didnt need a $70g diesel 1 ton to haul it....". When I was younger I remember they had the low profile campers with the pop up tent trailer tops that were super light....havent seen those in a while.

 

[GMCTRUCKS]

Buy or rent a small pop up camper your truck should pull it just fine don't forget to install a trans cooler maybe even a biger trans pan with drain plug.

 

[rico47635]

I wouldn't mind a pop-up if it was kind that was all hardsided. I saw one they called a Hi-Lo that looked pretty neat, but it was way out of our price range. We're gonna use the camper so we don't have to pay motel bills, and we will use it in cold weather, so a regular pop-up won't work for us. However, my dad had a pop-up for several years and he loved it.

 

[GMCTRUCKS]

We would take one when I was kid on vacations we would stay at KOA camp grounds.

 

[chevy_man]

A slide in generally sucks all around. IMO get a small bumper pull in the 20-24ft. range and have more room without too much more weight. Also, electric trailer brakes will make your life safer, and keep some brown stains from forming on your seat. I had to tow one of our work trailers the other day, and while I was using a 05 K3500, it sucked without trailer brakes. The same trailer after I stopped and re-wired the plug let the truck stop as if nothing was behind it. I towed the same trailer behind my 88, and while it got it moving fine, it was downright scary with no trailer brakes. This is with the 3/4ton rear brakes, and all pads and rotors in spec. And that was only about 3K lbs, I can't imagine a 5-6K lbs. camper. A trailer brake controller is a great investment if you tow more than once a year IMO.

 

[borahshadow]

A slide in generally sucks all around. IMO get a small bumper pull in the 20-24ft. range and have more room without too much more weight. Also, electric trailer brakes will make your life safer, and keep some brown stains from forming on your seat. I had to tow one of our work trailers the other day, and while I was using a 05 K3500, it sucked without trailer brakes. The same trailer after I stopped and re-wired the plug let the truck stop as if nothing was behind it. I towed the same trailer behind my 88, and while it got it moving fine, it was downright scary with no trailer brakes. This is with the 3/4ton rear brakes, and all pads and rotors in spec. And that was only about 3K lbs, I can't imagine a 5-6K lbs. camper. A trailer brake controller is a great investment if you tow more than once a year IMO.

 

[95C1500]

www.northstarcampers.com there is a pic of a gmt 400 in the TC650. Just scroll through the pics.

http://northstarcampers.com/online-catalog.php?view=item&parentId=11&catId=13&numId=24

 

[LoudnLifted88]

the guy that owned my 98 before me use to haul a inbed truck camper with it and when i bought it it had 128k and the tranny was smoked the rear leafs were bad and the shocks were blown in the rear

 

[xredge]

Watch slideouts they add quite a bit more weight to the package. When I was looking for a pop up when we were going fdorm tents and still just had the minvan to pull with found this out. I know mid 90s they also had some lighter campers, my 97 30 footer is an ultra light and under 5000 pounds. Get a controller for sure, I had a scary instance when my brakes blew out stopping on a yellow light ended up coasting through as I lost everything and pedal went to floor good thing was almost already stopped and was able to get it stopped right after. Gave it a few minutes and limped it to campground was only a few miles a way and relied more on the trailer brakes and had my buddy tow it back home for me.