30 replies to this topic

[Doff]

Hi all

We are on the count down for purchasing our truck and camper. I am having a tough time trying to figuring out what truck. The truck will be my daily driver and the camper will come on and off. We live in the mountains so I will be driving in the snow during the winter. With the camper we plan to do long road trips and disbursement camping. Lots of rough dirt roads, but usually nothing too technical. We want a full size truck to accommodate children and dog. Currently we are looking at the Ram Power Wagon, Ford Tremor, Ford FX4 and the Chevy Z71. I Was pretty set on the Power Wagon, but the roughly 12mpg has me doubting now. I love the idea of a diesel, but I think the roughly extra 10k would be stretching our budget too thin. Does anyone have any input or opinion on any of these trucks? Pros? Cons?

Thanks!

[BBZ]

You will get lots of different answers but ultimately it will come down to what works best for you.

 

Which camper and how loaded? Most people will tell you that you will need a 3/4 ton truck. 

 

We have an old Grandby that I remodeled. I made it light (1000 lbs) as we are fair weather campers. 

 

We have a f150 super crew with 6.5 bed. Its perfect for us, two dogs and two adults. When loaded (like loaded to go on a month long trip) we are right at gross vehicle weight. added air bags and better shocks and e rated tires.

 

I need my truck for work so the camper comes off and on.. I thought about an F250 for awhile, but honestly, they are just to tall and would imagine loading and unloading would be a pain. 

 

Our truck has the 5.0 motor and gets around 16-17 mpg with camper on...

[Karlton]

As BBZ asked - what camper and is it a shell or fully appointed?  

 

I just moved up from a Tundra to a Silverado 2500HD for my Hawk because it has quite a few features and we carry a lot of stuff.  But I ran it on the Tundra for 3 years with no issues, but we traveled lighter.  

[JaSAn]

I prefer Ram, but that is just a personal choice; I would also consider a Ford for my next truck.

 

I carry my Grandby on a stock Ram 2500 4X4 Hemi.  At 8000 lbs fully loaded for a 4 week trip I am under GVWR with no modifications needed to carry the camper comfortably and safely.  I average 16 MPG highway and 13 around town without the camper.  The camper costs me about 1 - 2 MPG.

 

The bigger brakes, full floating rear axle, and beefier frame  that a 3/4T has are important to me.

[larryqp]

I had a 2009 ford Ranger with an eagle shell for 3 years, due to a complete loss in an highway accident, I replaced it with a 2016 F150 FX4 supercab, and a new 2019 Hawk shell. It is my everyday driver, but the camper never comes off. I get 15 mpg combined, a little better on long highway trips. I added a new custom rear spring pack built by Alcan Spring company in Grand Junction CO, with OEM hight and 1100 lbs more capacity, load range E tires. I previously had airbags, but removed them. I removed the larger of the 2 back seats, and left there smaller seat. I built a "basement" behind the driver's seat and a large cabinet behind the passenger seat.

 

At times I miss the smaller ranger, but love the quiet comfortable ride I get in the F150. It comes down to personal choices and compromise. I would not do a custom spring pack if you plan to remove the camper, my guess is the truck would not handle or ride well, but for me it has been great. Good luck 

[Doff]

It will be a fully featured Hawk and will plan to have it stocked with 5 days to 2 weeks worth of supplies and toys. I’d like to do as little modifications to the truck as possible (will probably do airbags regardless of what truck we pick).

[heinphoto]

If you use the "build" tool on the FWC web site and choose the model and options you want, it provides a relatively accurate estimate of the dry weight of the camper. Then, add the weight of water, all your gear, passengers, etc. to estimate the fully loaded weight.

With that knowledge you can evaluate the GVWR and payload of different trucks to determine how well they are designed to handle that load. Unless you are going with a lightweight shell, that analysis will likely put you in the 3/4 or 1 ton range. That doesn't mean a 1/2 ton won't work, but it may require suspension upgrades, and some of the components like brakes may be stressed at times.

Based on this kind of an analysis, we ended up going with an F350 for our Grandby, and it handles the load very well. We probably could have gone with an F250, but would have been much closer to the GVWR, and these days there isn't much of a penalty in price or performance in choosing F350.

[Durango1]

I'm happy with my Ram 3500 chassis cab in a regular cab configuration with a Grandby flatbed and a crossbox behind the cab. It works for the two of us with a 20# dog.

 

However, in your situation I'd seriously look at the Ford Tremor. (I've been tempted myself but Sioux says no!) Most of the features of the Power Wagon (which has serious weight capacity issues) but in a true one ton truck.

[Espresso]

I have no opinion on the truck brand, but I strongly believe at a minimum you need a 3/4 ton.  It is a safety issue.  You have children and a dog and you won't be travelling light.

 

The 3/4 ton is both designed and built to carry more weight.  If you get a 1/2 ton, you will be doing suspension upgrades, but you will never turn your 1/2 ton into a 3/4 ton.  I have a Ram 1500 and my next truck will be a 3/4 ton.

[Karlton]

Agreed that a 3/4 ton would be an 'off the lot' option without lots of mods.