I did searches and did not find anything.

What I need to know is what size camper rides well with a 2012 F250 6.7 single rear wheels, super cab, 2wheel drive, 8 ft. bed 10,000 gvwr pickup? Rear gawr is 6,100 lbs. Front gawr is 5,250 lbs. Our tires are 245/75 17
So much for numbers, what size and weight cab over camper do you guys recommend for this truck? I was thinking about nothing longer than 9' 6"
Also what brand do you guys recommend. We will be buying new.

I pull a 30ft. 5th wheel and have air bags. Our next couple of trips would work better if we did not pull our 5th wheel but use a cab over camper instead.

 

Its the weight, more than the length. If you go to the rv.net truck campers forum, you find lots of people carrying very large and heavy campers, and many other questioning it. The band aids for a heavy camper include airbags, things to prop up the springs (Stableloads), 19.5 wheels, sway bars. There are people carrying 5000 lb 3 slide campers on SRW trucks. So it partly depends on how many mods you are willing to make, and how much you are willing to bend the GAWR and GVWR rules.

My experience was, started with a 9.6 Bigfoot on a 1995 Dodge 2500HD. Sticker on the camper said 2200 lbs, scales said 2800 lbs (you need to get used to that sort of discrepancy in campers). That seemed to overload it so I bought the very first Ford SuperDuty 7.3L supercab F350 dually in 1998. It still required airbags to get it anywhere close to reasonably level. In 2012 I bought a 10.4 Bigfoot (it actually about 11.5 feet), sticker says 3000 lbs, scale says 4300 wet. The 7.3L still carried it, but we were a bit over GVWR and it felt like it. Last year, bought a 2015 6.7L, exactly the same F350 supercab dually - except in 2015 the GVWR is 14,000 instead of 11,500. Nevertheless, it still was going to need airbags or something, so I threw the rear suspension away and replaced it with an air ride.

The 6.7L has way more power and way more braking and is better in all respects carrying the camper. But the 14K GVWR didn't really result in a lot of difference in real spring capacity.

If there is a point to the story, first, don't believe what the manufacturer tells you about weight - add maybe 1000 lbs and you will be much closer to reality. Second, even with a modest (these days) camper, the 350 dually is far from overkill. If you want to live by the rules with a 250 SRW, look for about a (claimed) 2000 lb camper which is going to be pretty small. Or be prepared to do a lot of upgrades.

BTW, this is the 3rd Bigfoot I have owned, and the 7th RV. I'm pretty happy with Bigfoot. It's an RV, and the quality of almost any RV sucks, but Bigfoot sucks less.

 

As illuded to in the previous post, campers weights shown are typically dry weight. A loaded camper can weigh a lot more.

Ive owned f-350s and 450s and had up to an 11.5 arctic fox slide camper. Cab overs are great, but I don't like the ride of any truck, even if it is within its limits. As a practice, I always add airbags (only to level, not to increase capacity), upper stable loads, and I add 2 leafs to the overload pack. These mods get the truck back to level and keep the truck from swaying in corners. I also tow pretty heavy with my cab over on, so these mods are a necessity. I want stability with the weight.

As for brand, ive owned arctic fox, lance, and Bigfoot campers. My current camper is a Bigfoot and I won't own anything other than a Bigfoot. My feeling is their construction and attention to detail is head and heals above the rest. Spend the money right and get what you pay for.

p.s. Campers with slides add a ton of weight. I prefer a non-slide camper as I am running a single tire truck.

Just my $.02

 

I am in the process of shopping for cab over campers for my 2015 F350 CCLB 4x4 with the 11,400 rating. My wife and I fell in love with the Northern Lite 10.2 Queen SE, but realize it is too heavy for our SRW truck. So we are focusing on the Northern Lite 9.6, which I think we can safely haul on our truck with modifications.

We have an Artic Fox travel trailer, but wanted a no slide truck camper and looked at both Bigfoot and Northern Lite. Both are high quality 4 season campers. Bigfoot has an RV Queen and Northern Lite has a 60 x 80 queen. At 6' 2" I need the longer bed, so Northern Lite gets the nod.
Best of luck in your decision and make sure we get pictures.
Pat

 

Also the dry weight is a fantasy.

Northern Lite is equivalent to Bigfoot in quality, overall. Started by some Bigfoot employees after one of the bankruptcies. They are constructed basically the same way. You won't go far wrong with either of them. I like the Bigfoot double pane glass windows, but at 5' 16", my feet do hang off the end of the bed .

 

5' 16"... I guess that means you are 6' 4"?

I'm debating between a slide in camper or just getting a small conversion van type RV, like a sprinter. Whatever I have HAS to be AWD/4WD. I, personally, cannot get around up here safely in 2WD.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I will look at both the Northern Lite and Bigfoot. I want something safe, so will pass on the slideouts, since our truck is only at 10,000 lbs. gvwr. Also I don't want to much hanging out the back since we do not have a dually. Our truck handles our 30ft. 5th wheel fine, so I know power and braking are not a problem. I am 4' 21" so length of bed is not a problem.

Thanks again.

 

It's been years since I've owned one but at the time Lance was one of the leaders with an all aluminum frame. Never had a bit of problem with the camper in the 14 years that I had it.

 

I know that Lance builds very nice units. I need to weigh our truck and see what it weighs with full fuel,wife, dog and I in it.

 

From what I have seen, Northern Lite weighs each unit and puts the actual dry weight on each one as they leave the factory.
Pat

 

^^ yeah, Bigfoot claims the same. Have the dealer promise you $100 for every pound it is over, weighed on certified scales.

I have owned 7 RVs, 5 different brands. Every single one of them was over their stated weight. Call me jaded.

 

If it helps I recently weighed my 2016 F350 CCSB FX4 SRW with 6.7. The empty weight (but with a 3/4 full titan 50g fuel tank) was 8,200 with no driver, passengers, or anything in the cab and bed. These trucks are heavy. The last time I weighed my 2006 F250 CCSB 6.0 FX4 with Lance 845 loaded and ready to camp it was 12,600 lbs.

You are not going to find much of a truck camper that will keep you below 10k LBS GVW.

 

For reference my 250 empty is 8300lbs. The size and weight of a camper for your truck may also depend on what terrain you plan to take it on and your tolerance of the pucker factor.
Add 1200lbs min for humans, gear and fluids. I'm over GWV by at least 1500lbs

Upgraded rear sway bar is mandatory, IMO.

 

Maxtor,


If this helps -


There are three weight figures to consider with truck campers.


1. Dry weight - The weight of the camper with no fluids, battery(s) or any options.


2. Wet weight - Dry weight+fluids.


3. Actual " trip ready " weight - Dry weight + fluids + options + your stuff.


My first camper was an 2002 Lance 915. This is a 9.5 foot non slide unit. I wanted a standard build unit with zero options. I had to order this camper because dealers don't carry ones like this on their lots. It had a dry weight sticker on it that said it weighed 2660 lbs. But its trip ready weight was generally around 3150 lbs. Doing the numbers on water, propane, battery and the stuff I would pack, then the dry weight sticker was accurate. I carried this camper with three different trucks. The first was an 87 F-250 4X4 SRW, then an 99 F-350 4X4 SRW and the last was a 96 Dodge 3500 2wd DRW. The Dodge handled the camper the best and the only one to be under gvwr.



The camper I have now is a 2015 Lance 995. This is a 9' 11" full wall slide model with every option for 2015. This camper has a wet weight sticker that shows it weighs 3750 lbs. with standard features and full fluids. BTW, dry weight for this model is 3290 lbs. The stickered weight on this camper is also accurate. At the scales the trip ready weight is 5000 lbs.! Options add weight in a hurry. Had to get a new truck to carry this one.



So you really can't take the posted weights at face value without factoring in options, fluids, batteries and then people, dogs and all the stuff you pack along to properly match weight to the truck.

 

I was also concerned about my gross weight when we were looking for a TC. Another concern was my ability to go offroad so we ended up getting a pop up camper for our F-350 SRW.
We ended up with a Hallmark Everest with and 8.5' bed with the North/South queen bed option.
We have only been out in it a half a dozen times but so far it has exceeded our expectations.
BTW it weighs about 2500#'s with the options we ordered.

Hallmark RV | The Best Pop-Up Truck Camper