Cab over camper & car hauler... what truck?

[Greg]

I am trying to talk the wife into something like this, not having much luck.

My wife still isn't too sure about it, but sounds like she's willing to try!

 

[BlueWolfFab]

Personally if I wasn't relying on towing 5 days a week and it making me money for work, I don't think I'd buy another diesel. I've been so much happier with my Titan gasser engine than any of my diesel engines. I've towed about 6k lbs with it no problem and still got about 10 mpg doing so, and unloaded I avg ~18 mpg and don't pay the premium cost on diesel fuel. Other than regular oil changes I haven't had any maintenance to do on it and it's at 176k miles.

I'm not suggesting a Titan for what you're wanting, I think a camper and trailer would be too much for the chassis rating to do that often, but it's not a full-size truck (even though they advertised it as such when revealing it in early 2000's) but it's realistically a F150.

I absolutely LOVE the vortec 6.0. So much so that I put it in the H3 lol. You'd have plenty of power for what you need and a 4/6L80E transmission depending on the year you went with (-07'/07'+)

 

[mbryson]

...You know my well documented dislike for Dodges after my last 2003... like I mentioned above, I've owned 3 Cummins trucks. I think I'm well over Dodges for the rest of my life.

If I could find a Ford F250 with a V10 and a manual trans, in a extended cab long bed for the right price I'd be interested. Not even going to consider a Ford with a 6.0!

I've found some campers around $4000 that are quite nice, that's about what I'm shooting for.

I am aware of your 3rd gen issues. I had almost similar on my own 2004. It was tough for me to buy this 2nd gen Chrysler truck but it was a solid deal for a very clean truck. I honestly think it's quite a bit more truck than my 2004 was. My next truck will be a F*rd again. I've had a few 7.3L, a V10 and a 32 V 5.4 that I've towed with. They all work pretty decently. V10 is likely my favorite. I'd get a long bed as the short bed have stupid small fuel tanks (24-25 gallon or something). Not exactly ideal for a V10 as they are a bit thirsty. No spendy injectors, glow plugs and turbos to deal with. Just coil packs and spark plugs to watch out for. I think a 4.30 geared, V10, manual crew long bed on the cheap would be pretty sweet! It'll hit you at the gas pump but do the job in solid comfort and be pretty reliable.

The V10 I had was a short bed with at least a 6" lift, 3.73 gears and 35" tires. HUGE truck! It was quite respectable dragging around my Jeep despite the lift and gearing. It was an XLT and I honestly prefer the cloth interior vs the problematic "leather" of the Lariat trucks.

There's a few trucks I wish I had kept. The two that come to mind are my V10 and the burgundy 7.3L I had about 18 months ago. You will have some F*rdisms to deal with but I prefer them to the Dodge/Ram issues or what I find as a relatively uncomfortable truck in the GM units.

 

[Greg]

Personally if I wasn't relying on towing 5 days a week and it making me money for work, I don't think I'd buy another diesel. I've been so much happier with my Titan gasser engine than any of my diesel engines. I've towed about 6k lbs with it no problem and still got about 10 mpg doing so, and unloaded I avg ~18 mpg and don't pay the premium cost on diesel fuel. Other than regular oil changes I haven't had any maintenance to do on it and it's at 176k miles.

I'm not suggesting a Titan for what you're wanting, I think a camper and trailer would be too much for the chassis rating to do that often, but it's not a full-size truck (even though they advertised it as such when revealing it in early 2000's) but it's realistically a F150.

I absolutely LOVE the vortec 6.0. So much so that I put it in the H3 lol. You'd have plenty of power for what you need and a 4/6L80E transmission depending on the year you went with (-07'/07'+)

I'm a fan of the GM 6.0 as well, have probably put close to 100k miles on a couple GM 6.0 work trucks over the last several years. I think it would do the job, but with a cab-over camper and trailer it would be stressed.... and driving it long distances would stress me! We will see.... thinking hard about a Ford diesel.

I am aware of your 3rd gen issues. I had almost similar on my own 2004. It was tough for me to buy this 2nd gen Chrysler truck but it was a solid deal for a very clean truck. I honestly think it's quite a bit more truck than my 2004 was. My next truck will be a F*rd again. I've had a few 7.3L, a V10 and a 32 V 5.4 that I've towed with. They all work pretty decently. V10 is likely my favorite. I'd get a long bed as the short bed have stupid small fuel tanks (24-25 gallon or something). Not exactly ideal for a V10 as they are a bit thirsty. No spendy injectors, glow plugs and turbos to deal with. Just coil packs and spark plugs to watch out for. I think a 4.30 geared, V10, manual crew long bed on the cheap would be pretty sweet! It'll hit you at the gas pump but do the job in solid comfort and be pretty reliable.

The V10 I had was a short bed with at least a 6" lift, 3.73 gears and 35" tires. HUGE truck! It was quite respectable dragging around my Jeep despite the lift and gearing. It was an XLT and I honestly prefer the cloth interior vs the problematic "leather" of the Lariat trucks.

There's a few trucks I wish I had kept. The two that come to mind are my V10 and the burgundy 7.3L I had about 18 months ago. You will have some F*rdisms to deal with but I prefer them to the Dodge/Ram issues or what I find as a relatively uncomfortable truck in the GM units.

Good info Marc, thanks again! I think the 7.3 gets the nod at this point... just have to find the right truck!

 

[kmboren]

You could go with an early 2000s 8.1 silverado. They are paired with an allison tranny. More torque and better towing than the 6.0

 

[Greg]

You could go with an early 2000s 8.1 silverado. They are paired with an allison tranny. More torque and better towing than the 6.0

Good call! I've looked for 8.1's and they're hard to find! I know @Vonski picked up a nice one recently.

 

[kmboren]

I love my 8.1 Suburban. The trucks do tend to be on the higher end of your price range. This is one of the better priced ones.

 

[Gravy]

I liked my 2002 supercab long bed F250. The 5.4 was a little slow but crazy reliable: I only did brake rotors & serpentine once, a couple sets of pads and 1 unit bearings, a fuel pump and 1 coil in 260k miles. Zero mechanical failures they all gave me some warning.

 

[NYCEGUY01]

I looked for a while when I bought my Chevy.
2002. 6 Speed Manual Trans. 8.1 motor.

Recently drove down to Casa Grande, AZ ( About an hour south of Pheonix ) to pick up my newest project.

Empty trailer on the way down through Vegas got 14mpg.
Loaded trailer driving through Flagstaff on the way home ( Driving up hill forever, should have gone back through Vegas on the way back .lol ) and it got 9mpg on the return trip.

It did 1 or 2 better before I put 35's on it but it looks better now ..lol

I really like the big block 6 speed Manual combo. I never actually use 1st gear unless I have the enclosed hooked up.

When my last diesel got totaled I decided Id be staying with gas motors going forward. I haven't regretted it once.

 

[Greg]

I looked for a while when I bought my Chevy.
2002. 6 Speed Manual Trans. 8.1 motor.

Recently drove down to Casa Grande, AZ ( About an hour south of Pheonix ) to pick up my newest project.

Empty trailer on the way down through Vegas got 14mpg.
Loaded trailer driving through Flagstaff on the way home ( Driving up hill forever, should have gone back through Vegas on the way back .lol ) and it got 9mpg on the return trip.

It did 1 or 2 better before I put 35's on it but it looks better now ..lol

I really like the big block 6 speed Manual combo. I never actually use 1st gear unless I have the enclosed hooked up.

When my last diesel got totaled I decided Id be staying with gas motors going forward. I haven't regretted it once.

That sounds like the perfect combo! If I could find a 8.1 & manual trans truck, I'd be all over it! 14 MPG with an empty trailer is pretty impressive, 9 MPG sounds normal for a 8.1 with a load. Perhaps I'll expand my search and try to find a 8.1 manual truck. I'm not in a rush to buy, but would like to take the time and buy a truck that'll last for a long time.

 

[tv_larsen]

I would imagine a cab-over camper will be around 4,500#'s...

That's a big camper, if you get one that big you'll want a DRW. There are a lot of lighter options though. I also imagine you'll want a long bed or your camper will have to be very short in order to also tow a trailer behind it (I don't trust those camper-hitch-extenders when you're towing a trailer that heavy).

For a few years I carried a 10' long pop-up Sun-Lite camper and towed my Ramcharger with a '98 12 valve Ram 2500 (with factory camper overload springs). I would estimate that the camper dry weight was about 1500 pounds. The truck barely noticed the extra weight from the camper and towed almost the same as it did without it.

Note that the 10' camper worked with this trailer, but another trailer may have clearance issues based on the tongue jack location.

 

[Greg]

That's a big camper, if you get one that big you'll want a DRW. There are a lot of lighter options though. I also imagine you'll want a long bed or your camper will have to be very short in order to also tow a trailer behind it (I don't trust those camper-hitch-extenders when you're towing a trailer that heavy).

For a few years I carried a 10' long pop-up Sun-Lite camper and towed my Ramcharger with a '98 12 valve Ram 2500 (with factory camper overload springs). I would estimate that the camper dry weight was about 1500 pounds. The truck barely noticed the extra weight from the camper and towed almost the same as it did without it.

Note that the 10' camper worked with this trailer, but another trailer may have clearance issues based on the tongue jack location.

View attachment 110834

I've found a Lance 845 shortbed camper that weighs around 2,100#'s, I think it's a good size with the options we're looking for and it's just 2 of us so I don't need a massive camper. I'm not sure how it will end up sitting far as the trailer & hitch, but I agree... last thing I want is a hitch extender! I'm back & forth on the longbed vs short, but if I can make a shortbed truck and short camper work with a trailer, than that's what I'd prefer.

 

[Pile of parts]

My 9' camper on a long bed works, with my trailer, with no extender.

We've never used the inside shower on our camper because the way it's set up, you'd just about have to sit on the toilet to do it. I think the Lance campers have a little better design on their wet bath. Just not sure of the overhang on a short bed.

We do use the outside shower. I've rigged up a fairly easy way to hang a shower shelter off the luggage rack on the top of the camper. The downside is that when it's cooler weather, it's a little cold. The upside is that you're not filling the black or grey tank. (whichever it empties into on your particular model)

When we do upgrade, I'll go a little bigger (10') to have a dry bath. I'll just have to install the Superhitch in order to tow safely. It's just two of us as well and my wife seems to like the camper idea. She'd just like an inside shower. We've been using ours for about 8-9 years now and it works well for us since we usually tow something when we go somewhere.

I would definitely recommend electric jack's.
We've gotten by with no A/C but it would have been nice on a couple of occasions.

 

[Greg]

My 9' camper on a long bed works, with my trailer, with no extender.

We've never used the inside shower on our camper because the way it's set up, you'd just about have to sit on the toilet to do it. I think the Lance campers have a little better design on their wet bath. Just not sure of the overhang on a short bed.

We do use the outside shower. I've rigged up a fairly easy way to hang a shower shelter off the luggage rack on the top of the camper. The downside is that when it's cooler weather, it's a little cold. The upside is that you're not filling the black or grey tank. (whichever it empties into on your particular model)

When we do upgrade, I'll go a little bigger (10') to have a dry bath. I'll just have to install the Superhitch in order to tow safely. It's just two of us as well and my wife seems to like the camper idea. She'd just like an inside shower. We've been using ours for about 8-9 years now and it works well for us since we usually tow something when we go somewhere.

I would definitely recommend electric jack's.
We've gotten by with no A/C but it would have been nice on a couple of occasions.

Thanks Jason! We've showered outside camping for quite awhile... it would be so nice to have a decent wet-bath indoors to cleanup!

The Lance 854 we're looking at does have electric jacks, too! Seems like it's an ideal camper for us with all the extras, size, etc.

 

[Greg]

Went and looked at the Lance 845 today, really liked it! Loved that it has electric jacks, A/C, shower/toilet and good sized tanks. I think it's just the right size for us!

After looking at the camper, we talked about upping the budget for a better truck. Sounds like $10k for a used diesel truck is what we're going for, still wanting a Powerstroke. The $5k truck we were looking at turned out to be 2WD... owner didn't mention that in the ad until I asked.

 

[kmboren]

Doesn't that open up your options for a short bed truck now?

 

[Greg]

Doesn't that open up your options for a short bed truck now?

Yeah, it sure does... as well as give us a chance to buy a cleaner, lower-mile truck.

 

[Hickey]

Yeah, it sure does... as well as give us a chance to buy a cleaner, lower-mile truck.

I think Cory still has his, but it's a 97 crew cab.

 

[Greg]

I think Cory still has his, but it's a 97 crew cab.

If I'm going with a Ford, it'll be the Superduty body style. The looks & interior are more modern and I actually like the '99+ trucks.

 

[mbryson]

If I'm going with a Ford, it'll be the Superduty body style. The looks & interior are more modern and I actually like the '99+ trucks.

I’ve had both. Both are MUCH better than their competitors. ‘99-up are awesome trucks but the older ones don’t suck at all. Something to be said for a truck with a $3 key vs something that “needs” a $2-300 key and all the other stupid stuff that comes along with it