Camper for F250

[COwineguy]

We have a 2020 F250. It is the extended cab (not Crew Cab), 8ft bed, with the 6.2. We have been contemplating getting a camper and trying to decide between a popup or hardside truck camper or possibly a simple trailer like the Pace Moab. Currently I am leaning hardside TC but have a few questions for size. The truck has ~3300 lb payload. How far under this is reasonable? There is a used Lance camper close by that seems to fit most of our needs. Dry weight is just over 2,000 lbs. Does this seem like a good ratio? We are a family of 4 and are willing to keep the gear to a minimum. I like the idea of a TC because we could leave it attached to the truck about 10 months of the year. We are just trying to put something together that would allow us to head to the hills at a moments notice.
Cheers

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

Buy it

 

[Overdrive]

You may well go over payload with that camper by the time you're all loaded up: To the dry weight, add 500 lbs for food, clothing, bedding, toiletries, cooking stuff, dishes; assuming 30 gals fresh water...that's 250 lbs, and maybe another 50 lbs in the water heater. How much do all of you weigh, total? 500 lbs? So now you're at 3,300 lbs. Have you made any upgrades to the truck which take away from your payload, such as larger tires/wheels, accessories, HD bumpers, lights, camper tie-down system, etc.

 

[mightymike]

For comparison, we have a Lance 865 with an advertised dry weight of 2004, wet weight of 2322. Loaded for a trip with 30 gallons of water, 26 gallons of diesel, etc. my total payload is 2,720. It’s on my Ram 3500 now, used to be on a older F250. I added air bags to both trucks to level out the stance. I think you’d be fine.

 

[COwineguy]

Thanks for the replies. We have done very little to change the current payload of the truck. I have no problem adding airbags or other necessities to carry a camper but was hoping to find something we could use fairly stock to make sure we like the truck camper idea. I have a tendency to buy new and run things into the ground so if we like using a Truck camper we will eventually look into something new like a Scout Kenai I would just rather not spend money on something new until I am sure we will use it. I think most gear/water will be kept to a minimum because due to my job most of the trips will be fairly last minute for 1 night or 2 if we are lucky. I hoping that having this set-up more or less loaded ready to go it gives us the opportunity to take advantage of unreliable days off.

Thanks again
Cheers

 

[Porkchopexpress]

I have been doing a lot of internet research in this area. The only significant difference between an F250 and F350 single rear wheel that I can discern is extra leaf springs in the rear suspension. While you can't legally change your max capacity, you can definitely adjust your suspension setup to comfortably handle the upper limits of your truck. If your first camper is budget friendly and partially a test run, maybe just be conservative on how you load it. You can always weigh your loaded camper at a scale, (truck stop, garbage dump, ect).