The wife wants another boat, so we are thinking of getting rid of the TT and going to a bed mounted camper. Any Ideas as to what I should be looking for? My concern is safety and comfort. I prefer to stay stock, or maybe air bags. I think my bed payload is going to be around 2500 #'s to stay in the 9900# GVRing.

 

That will depend on how you are going to use it. Are you going to only use it during summer, or for fall/winter too. I'm sure you could find a camper for summer that will stay within your "rated" weight. But if you want a quality one with insulation, etc. for colder temps, you will be over. I know I am. I use mine for hunting in late fall, & the sticker weight is 2780#. However when I ran it over the scales fully loaded for the season my truck weighed 12,600#. I have air bags, etc. & it handles it fine. I know some will disagree, but I have several thousand miles traveled with it with no problems. Knock wood. Do I wish I had a dually when I'm loaded up, yeah, but it's all good.

 

I would look in the 8' range without a slide with a shortbed. I think Lance makes some that should work for you, and are pretty good campers IMO. I have a Lance 1010 and Reese Titan hitch with a 42" extension to tow my boat. I added air bags and just bought some torklift overload spring stop extensions which are suppsed to help with body roll.

FYI: my Lance had a 3k dry sticker weight but weights over 4k wet with all the options.

 

Have a look at Four Wheel Campers. They have an aluminum frame, pop-top and really are a good company that stands behind their product. They have been in business forever too. They are also fairly lightweight and should not require any additional support.

They're are quite a few others out there that are somewhat cheaper and can do the job, but just may not last depending on how hard you use them. The Lance's are nice, but heavy and me personally, I don't like hard-sided campers. I had one, but just got sick of how big it was for the places I go. I really like Alaskans, but they are heavy and very expensive. (been looking for an old used one though) Have a look at Truck camper magazine's website, rv.net or expedition portal. (not trying to advertise for any of these, delete if needed). They're are lots of good reviews and info that should help you.

Good luck on your search.

 

Hi i have pound for pound roughly the same truck 9900gvw and a 7400 lb truck .That gvw is dodges safety cushion the important #'s are the gawr which will be 11300 and the gtwr 12400 lbs with stock (265 70 17 e rated) the tires are allways more than the axles and the axles are allways more the oem gvw . The axles are the only number of real world importance