Let's See Those HDs With Slide-In Truck Campers!

[SoCal Angler]

Thought I'd start a topic where you can post pic(s) your truck/camper combo and tell us a little about why you chose it (year/model camper), how you use it, and any trucks mods that were needed to carry it safely.  I am considering purchasing a slide in camper and would love to see what all of you are using.  NOTE:  Let us know if you are using your Multi-Pro Tailgate as a camper entry step.

 

Thanks for participating!

[jake111]

2007 Lance 835 on 2024 2500HD WT 6.6L Gasser Long Bed

 

Bought camper new and put on 2004.5 3500 Duramax long bed.  Sacrificed having space for a generator and larger holding tanks so camper didn't extend beyond bumper, so I could also tow a toy hauler trailer.  Camper has been great for wife and me for almost 19 years now.  I wish I had counted the number of nights spent in it (probably 1000!).  Also wanted as small as possible for National/State Forests/Parks.

 

The 3500 didn't need extra springing but definitely needed anti-sway bars for the back.  Added StableLoads on the lower overload which helped a lot.

 

The newer 2500 handles the camper better than the old 3500 (normal ride and in the wind).  So far (one year) I haven't made any suspension modifications.  Heavier duty shocks seem like what it needs right now (suggestions?).  I wouldn't mind raising the back an inch or so, like maybe StableLoads again, but I'm not in a hurry.

 

One problem with the new truck is seeing out the back.  The mirrors just aren't working for me.  On the old truck I could at least see along the length of the truck under the camper overhang on the sides.  Not so on the new truck.  I just added a $100 rearview solar wireless camera with 7" monitor to see out the back but am not quite finished and haven't tried it on a trip yet.

 

Usually have a bike rack on the hitch but not in this picture.  Wife just had knees replaced so no biking for a year (ouch!).

[SoCal Angler]

Nice set up!  I’m surprised about the tow mirrors not extending far enough out to see sides of truck/camper.  I’m assuming you fully extended them?

 

What are your holding tank sizes?

[Another JR]

I’ve posted pictures before, but I’ll join in:  

 

2021 Four Wheel Campers Grandby Front Dinette pop-up camper on a 2021 GMC 3500HD CCLB gas SLT SRW. The tailgate is in a crate in the garage. The camper is pretty fully optioned, so it weighs 1900 lbs with water and propane full and all our typical camping stuff loaded, and around 2000 lbs with food for a long trip. The truck payload rating is 4055 lbs.  The vehicle height with the top down is 8’ 1”, so it fits in my barn. 

 

In static conditions, the camper puts 100 lbs on the front wheels and the rest on the rear wheels. The camper “levels” the truck nicely and the third stage “overload” springs on the rear are not engaged except when i go over a significant bump. It rides very nicely with the camper on. I have made no suspension modifications other than removing the 5600 lb rated front camper springs I ordered and replacing them with the standard 5200 lb rated springs for that model. 
 

My granddaughter named the truck “Frederick,” and the camper is “Frederick’s Backpack.”

[jake111]

I don't extend the mirrors because it didn't really help much, and I don't like being any wider than I already am.  If they mirrors were mounted lower, I would be able to sight below the camper overhang on the sides, but they don't and I'm not ready to start trying to swap out mirrors.  I have high hopes the rearview camera works out.

 

Holding tanks are 8 gallons gray, 8 gallons black.  About 3 days max on the black.  The gray is okay as long as no showers and very conservative on sink usage.  Over 30 gallons of fresh.  Standard traveling plan would be to stay every 3rd night with hookups, dump station, and showers.  We sometimes have 3 night outings dry camping but then need to do something (RV park or go home).

 

On old truck, camper had a couple of inches on each side when mounting and just needed a bed mat underneath.  New truck needed over an inch of bed mat/plywood to clear side rails and shark fin.  Probably less than an inch clearance on each side when mounting!  Instead of just backing in I had to get more creative so I could roll camper side-to-side (and next time I will buy 4 car dollies to put under the jacks).

[Chuck FB]

On 11/25/2025 at 3:19 PM, SoCal Angler said:

Thought I'd start a topic where you can post pic(s) your truck/camper combo and tell us a little about why you chose it (year/model camper), how you use it, and any trucks mods that were needed to carry it safely.  I am considering purchasing a slide in camper and would love to see what all of you are using.  NOTE:  Let us know if you are using your Multi-Pro Tailgate as a camper entry step.

 

Thanks for participating!

 

I read this thread with interest as I've thought about it as well in the idea of having a slide in camper to use to travel around a bit and have the very same truck platform as you do. Looking at what my brother has done over the years as he has used the truck camper theme quite a lot, the trucks being used under the campers he had were one ton long box crew cab duallys and not even an option to have less of a truck for the camper he has used for the last number of years and its not like it has slide outs ( adding even more weight ) but its got the basement for the tanks of a fair size water tanks and the true queen sized bed up front, nice bathroom with a shower to the side of it. I look at a camper like that and it has all these nice creature comforts although due to its year built it lacks much of a solar system. Its designated as a 10'8" camper 

 

That measurement listed of my brothers and other campers I mention here, that would be from the from the front of the box where the front of the camper base is to the back of the camper, the front bed overhang is not included in that measuring scheme. 

 

So I look at camper specs on manufacture websites of something that would seem nice but scaled down to fit into a 6'10" box although with the overhang as well out the rear of the box and while lots of claims are made by manufacturers of yes such and such model is for a 2500 or 3500 standard box single rear wheel truck, the weights of some of these newer campers are way higher than they used to be years back. Also a lot of manufacturers are very good at manipulating the weight figure and even the weight figure sticker right on some campers can be a bold lie just for the structure of the camper if it has options beyond a "base" model spec.  Camper weight specs do not include the weight of batteries or propane and definitely not the weight of water. Then if an air conditioner is an option that is not included, typically if one has a built in generator that seldom is added to a weight. 

 

I looked up the specs for Jakes camper model which is meant for an 8 foot bed and is called a 8'6" camper for reference and it lists the base dry weight at 2114 lb but there is a very long list of options for that camper and I can just see from the photo that Jakes has various options added on, but an example of base weight vs realistic weight with the desirable features. 

 

I wish I would have kept track of the information that a youtuber had talked about in having bought a Northern Lite 8-11 and I he optioned it right out with the generator and everything. The NL camper website lists the weight of that camper in its deluxe version at 3050 pounds which he had so that would have included quite a few options but not the generator for sure or batteries. He had a one ton short box truck that he bought the camper specifically for and of course the sales guy says oh yeah your truck can carry this no problem. He buys it and is a dealer states away from where he lived and gets it mounted in and then he found out as he loads it up with water and gear, how badly it handled at least in his mind as per camper sway and I think he said with all his gear in it and fresh water tank full the truck was 1000 lb overloaded. He ended up selling his truck and bought a dually and then slid that short camper which is not meant for a long bed into it and made a wooden stop in the box so the camper would come up against that. He claimed it was working out ok and was not taking weight off the front axle of the truck but realistically the camper should probably have been sold for a wonderful loss and bought the correct box length camper. That took the wind out of my sails in a sense as that was one of the campers I was thinking in terms of although I have an issue with many campers and that is I am 6'4" and a lot of these mid sized campers don't have a high enough ceiling height and that was the issue with this NL 8-11 as well. 

 

I don't at all mean to make my comments come off as a downer, there certainly are campers out there that are lighter but certainly some of them would potentially  have less features and am speaking in terms of hard sided walk in at a moments notice type campers like Jakes. Like Jon pictured with his pop up camper but again his is a full 8 foot bed truck, there are pop up campers made to fit these shorter trucks without a doubt but that style of camper would be a different type of RV experience but with that its a lighter unit and pushes far less air down the road and not the top heavy unit of a tall camper with a basement for its water work and far easier could be used on I will call it light off roading trail situations that the big campers are not suited for ( unless its certain youtubers out there doing stupid things for views as I shake my head ). It all depends on your wants/needs and expectations as one person enjoys the simpler more frill free way of going RVing or tent camping for that matter which allows more freedom to go certain places and I have certainly done since I've never had an RV while the next person may want a literal house on wheels and there is everything in between. 

 

But going back to the beginning, the "actual" weight of the camper both out of the factory in what it truly is vs what the manufacture claims it is as well as once its all loaded up with the kitchen sink ready to hit the road is one of the big factors to watch out for in choosing a camper for any truck and certainly a single rear wheel truck even though it is a one ton and "seems like" it should have all kinds of capacity. 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2025 by Chuck FB

[jake111]

My advice is always to get the smallest, lightest unit that meets your minimum requirements.  In 2007, I really wanted the Lance 815 because it was a couple inches lower, a couple inches narrower, lighter, and had slightly larger holding tanks.  BUT, I would have to sit down to pee (or head up in the skylight for that or to shower) and the shower drained into the black water tank (a terrible idea when the tank fills and backs up and is now illegal).  This 835 had an oven, a/c, awning (rarely use this), north-south queen bed (so you don't have to climb over the other person), 2 propane tanks, and probably some other advantages I don't remember, and was just $2k more in cost.

 

Pop-up would be nice but we stop every few hours to rest or eat lunch or take a nap and didn't want to raise/lower all the time (I am lazy that way).  We also wanted hard sides (bears?).  Advantages/disadvantages no matter which rv style you choose.

 

This camper went to Alaska when new, later (2014) from San Diego to Nova Scotia (actually, even north of there), up/down the west coast quite a few times, a 3 week trip every April, a 1 week trip every June, half a dozen local 3-day trips each year.  A lot of 1 night stands along the way so quick/easy setup and take down are important to me (compared to, say, a trailer).

[Chuck FB]

On 11/25/2025 at 11:33 PM, jake111 said:

2007 Lance 835 on 2024 2500HD WT 6.6L Gasser Long Bed

 

Bought camper new and put on 2004.5 3500 Duramax long bed.  Sacrificed having space for a generator and larger holding tanks so camper didn't extend beyond bumper, so I could also tow a toy hauler trailer.  Camper has been great for wife and me for almost 19 years now.  I wish I had counted the number of nights spent in it (probably 1000!).  Also wanted as small as possible for National/State Forests/Parks.

 

The 3500 didn't need extra springing but definitely needed anti-sway bars for the back.  Added StableLoads on the lower overload which helped a lot.

 

The newer 2500 handles the camper better than the old 3500 (normal ride and in the wind).  So far (one year) I haven't made any suspension modifications.  Heavier duty shocks seem like what it needs right now (suggestions?).  I wouldn't mind raising the back an inch or so, like maybe StableLoads again, but I'm not in a hurry.

 

One problem with the new truck is seeing out the back.  The mirrors just aren't working for me.  On the old truck I could at least see along the length of the truck under the camper overhang on the sides.  Not so on the new truck.  I just added a $100 rearview solar wireless camera with 7" monitor to see out the back but am not quite finished and haven't tried it on a trip yet.

 

Usually have a bike rack on the hitch but not in this picture.  Wife just had knees replaced so no biking for a year (ouch!).

 

I was watching a video as in yet another RV youtuber who put on a set of timbrens on the rear of his srw 3500 GM although he was towing a fifth wheel but it has a heavy pin weight of in excess of 3000 lb and so he wanted to reduce the squat and the side benefit is gaining sway stability but a slide in camper would benefit more. He made the comment that timbren has a however many day satisfaction guarantee and that they can be returned if not happy with their performance. I have zero personal experience with them but the neighbor had rigged up a Chev dually duramax last year to haul a full size 10-2 Northern Lite he bought used so its tag says around 3200 lb and he said with the camper empty of anything other than the batteries that would have been in it when he bought it, that his truck was not feeling very stable even though its a dually, simply because of that top heavy weight. So he put in a set of timbrens rated for an HD and he claimed it totally changed the handling and got rid of that excess sway issue. Last winter he had gone from here ( Alberta ) to California etc and this summer he went to Alaska and claimed it was doing good and with thanks to the timbrens for helping to carry the weight as well as the handling. Certainly something to maybe give a try. 

 

Shocks, there is a good question and all I can say is what you have probably seen on this forum as well as various comments about the Bilstein 5100 being a more controlled ride than the factory shocks or at least the Rancho factory shocks and not insanely expensive. You could even try just a set on the rear for starters and see if you notice a difference. 

[Chuck FB]

This link might have some value to scroll through and read a few camper review articles, I only went through one article so far but weights certainly were talked about and other items. Looks like the articles go from the present back to around 2013 so it could be helpful for looking for a used one as well. But nothing takes the place of actually being around and using an RV type and figuring out the good and bad of it and comparing to other brands and designs.

 

https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/camper-reviews/

[PBNB]

3 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

 

I was watching a video as in yet another RV youtuber who put on a set of timbrens on the rear of his srw 3500 GM although he was towing a fifth wheel but it has a heavy pin weight of in excess of 3000 lb and so he wanted to reduce the squat and the side benefit is gaining sway stability but a slide in camper would benefit more. He made the comment that timbren has a however many day satisfaction guarantee and that they can be returned if not happy with their performance. I have zero personal experience with them but the neighbor had rigged up a Chev dually duramax last year to haul a full size 10-2 Northern Lite he bought used so its tag says around 3200 lb and he said with the camper empty of anything other than the batteries that would have been in it when he bought it, that his truck was not feeling very stable even though its a dually, simply because of that top heavy weight. So he put in a set of timbrens rated for an HD and he claimed it totally changed the handling and got rid of that excess sway issue. Last winter he had gone from here ( Alberta ) to California etc and this summer he went to Alaska and claimed it was doing good and with thanks to the timbrens for helping to carry the weight as well as the handling. Certainly something to maybe give a try. 

 

Shocks, there is a good question and all I can say is what you have probably seen on this forum as well as various comments about the Bilstein 5100 being a more controlled ride than the factory shocks or at least the Rancho factory shocks and not insanely expensive. You could even try just a set on the rear for starters and see if you notice a difference. 

I had Timbrens in my 1/2 ton which had a coiled spring rear suspension. The first set was jarring as they were very close to the perch so after 1/2 inch of travel they came into action! I was able to get a softer set and they were better. 

 

Not sure how they would work with a 1 ton leaf spring setup. I think 3,000 lbs is a lot for the pin. Mine says max 3,180 lbs so that sort of weight would be near the max! Maybe a set of overload leafs to go with the existing leaf pack would be better or some airbags?

[Chuck FB]

1 hour ago, PBNB said:

I had Timbrens in my 1/2 ton which had a coiled spring rear suspension. The first set was jarring as they were very close to the perch so after 1/2 inch of travel they came into action! I was able to get a softer set and they were better. 

 

Not sure how they would work with a 1 ton leaf spring setup. I think 3,000 lbs is a lot for the pin. Mine says max 3,180 lbs so that sort of weight would be near the max! Maybe a set of overload leafs to go with the existing leaf pack would be better or some airbags?

 

The neighbor that has the full size Northern Lite camper on the one ton dually, his son had a "mini me" Duramax and he has been pulling a ball hitch holiday trailer with it and I believe he has a weight distribution hitch or think he does but whatever he was doing was not sufficient and he installed the 1/2 ton version of the timbrens and claims its working ok for his towing as well as driving empty. 

 

Your right about the video comment I had, that was a long box crew cab srw truck and he talked about being over 3000 lb on is pin and the truck looked a little saggy even with timbrens on it !. 

 

You mentioned air bags and that brings up the topic of how air bags and a tall style of top heavy slide in camper do not go well together. What happens is that the air bag if inflated a fair amount starts lifting the truck up from its sagging situation which sounds good but the problem is that is reducing the amount of work that the springs themselves were doing so its transferring weight over to the air bags and they cause instability as in sway. I will see RV salesman ( doing the youtube thing to flog their campers/trailers any way they can ) and will most often say just put airbags on it, its because they either are clueless or really don't give a crap and just want to sell that camper anyway they can con the customer into signing on the dotted line.  I'll use my brothers one ton dually as an example, he gets his camper in BC and its empty and he hauls it back to Alberta but when they loaded it onto his truck his truck is sinking and sinking and sinking as they lower the jacks ... like WTF ?, I am sure its heavier than that bs weight sticker on it claims. So he literally drags his behind home with his new camper and promptly goes to a spring shop where they added two more leaves per side in the main pack plus a set of air bags. Yes it held it up "ok" after that was thrown at it but what he didn't realize from then on is that it was the air bags that were causing horrible handling in cross winds or around more aggressive curves and it did have the factory camper special sway bars front and rear. He struggled with that for years and had some good scares in the wrong weather and it was not a pleasure to drive unless the road was perfect and there was no wind as it would suddenly change direction without warning and had to be on the ball driving it. He still has the air bags on it since they were on there already but only puts a max of 20 pounds in them and he had added both upper and lower stabile loads and that made a certain amount of a difference to both carrying it up a bit better and better sway so it was more acceptable but I encouraged him to drop more coin and buy the largest sway bars that are available for both ends of his truck and we put them on and that sealed the deal it seemed, its been like a different truck ever since with all those different items added and lowering the pressure in the air bags. His truck is used exclusively for that camper so it doesn't matter that the leaf springs are stacked up and the stable loads on it as he said it rides like crap on the back when he has reason to unload the camper. That truck rode smooth when new with the factory suspension and no load in the bed, which to me doesn't quite add up that it can ride great and be capable of carrying heavy loads and in its case it couldn't carry the load that Ford claimed it could ( the empty camper ). But at least with the dually the tire capacity is there and yes he is over weight by gvw some and near at max on his rear axle weight. 

[PBNB]

8 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

 

The neighbor that has the full size Northern Lite camper on the one ton dually, his son had a "mini me" Duramax and he has been pulling a ball hitch holiday trailer with it and I believe he has a weight distribution hitch or think he does but whatever he was doing was not sufficient and he installed the 1/2 ton version of the timbrens and claims its working ok for his towing as well as driving empty. 

 

Your right about the video comment I had, that was a long box crew cab srw truck and he talked about being over 3000 lb on is pin and the truck looked a little saggy even with timbrens on it !. 

 

You mentioned air bags and that brings up the topic of how air bags and a tall style of top heavy slide in camper do not go well together. What happens is that the air bag if inflated a fair amount starts lifting the truck up from its sagging situation which sounds good but the problem is that is reducing the amount of work that the springs themselves were doing so its transferring weight over to the air bags and they cause instability as in sway. I will see RV salesman ( doing the youtube thing to flog their campers/trailers any way they can ) and will most often say just put airbags on it, its because they either are clueless or really don't give a crap and just want to sell that camper anyway they can con the customer into signing on the dotted line.  I'll use my brothers one ton dually as an example, he gets his camper in BC and its empty and he hauls it back to Alberta but when they loaded it onto his truck his truck is sinking and sinking and sinking as they lower the jacks ... like WTF ?, I am sure its heavier than that bs weight sticker on it claims. So he literally drags his behind home with his new camper and promptly goes to a spring shop where they added two more leaves per side in the main pack plus a set of air bags. Yes it held it up "ok" after that was thrown at it but what he didn't realize from then on is that it was the air bags that were causing horrible handling in cross winds or around more aggressive curves and it did have the factory camper special sway bars front and rear. He struggled with that for years and had some good scares in the wrong weather and it was not a pleasure to drive unless the road was perfect and there was no wind as it would suddenly change direction without warning and had to be on the ball driving it. He still has the air bags on it since they were on there already but only puts a max of 20 pounds in them and he had added both upper and lower stabile loads and that made a certain amount of a difference to both carrying it up a bit better and better sway so it was more acceptable but I encouraged him to drop more coin and buy the largest sway bars that are available for both ends of his truck and we put them on and that sealed the deal it seemed, its been like a different truck ever since with all those different items added and lowering the pressure in the air bags. His truck is used exclusively for that camper so it doesn't matter that the leaf springs are stacked up and the stable loads on it as he said it rides like crap on the back when he has reason to unload the camper. That truck rode smooth when new with the factory suspension and no load in the bed, which to me doesn't quite add up that it can ride great and be capable of carrying heavy loads and in its case it couldn't carry the load that Ford claimed it could ( the empty camper ). But at least with the dually the tire capacity is there and yes he is over weight by gvw some and near at max on his rear axle weight. 

 

It is amazing that some of these rigs can got so heavy! Coming from the 1/2 ton world, I was always looking at ways to lighten the load but it really depends on the level of comfort one is looking for. 

 

Add the lifts and suspension upgrades and how they will affect towing capability. Adding airbags could improve things but if you are taking most of the weight off the springs then maybe a different system would be better and more balanced.

 

With the airbags that you mentioned above, could it be that the air line was teed off on filler valve? I ask because thats what I did many years ago with one of my cars. Individual completely separate air lines and fillers are better to prevent the air from moving to the unloaded side when cornering. this takes the stability out the system by running off one connected air line. 

 

 

[Chuck FB]

1 hour ago, PBNB said:

 

It is amazing that some of these rigs can got so heavy! Coming from the 1/2 ton world, I was always looking at ways to lighten the load but it really depends on the level of comfort one is looking for. 

 

Add the lifts and suspension upgrades and how they will affect towing capability. Adding airbags could improve things but if you are taking most of the weight off the springs then maybe a different system would be better and more balanced.

 

With the airbags that you mentioned above, could it be that the air line was teed off on filler valve? I ask because thats what I did many years ago with one of my cars. Individual completely separate air lines and fillers are better to prevent the air from moving to the unloaded side when cornering. this takes the stability out the system by running off one connected air line. 

 

 

 

Good question you brought up about how air bags can be plumbed in a couple of different ways, separate or tied together. Without a doubt my brothers are separate and done for that very reason of stability so the air does not cross from one bag to the other, however the airbag concept with the sizing of the bags just doesn't seem to pan out with a top heavy load. It just seems to come down to spring capacity/stiffness to carry a load and help counter the sway issue along with big assed anti sway bars. I may had said what that rear aftermarket bar on my brothers truck size is, its 1 1/2 inches in diameter and I think the factory one was maybe slightly over an inch, that extra amount made it many times more stiff. And the somewhat larger front one just added to the over all package of better handling. For a dedicated heavier camper truck setup, having big sway bars is a a worth while upgrade if sway is found to be an issue, or like with the current GM platform I don't think a rear sway bar is even an option through GM and has to be sourced aftermarket. 

[Chuck FB]

I had someone mention this camper company to me today and its not one I am familiar with but they specialize in making custom campers as well as models they build out to a finished product, they are built up in Alaska, near Anchorage. Thought it was interesting and worth posting a link to the companies website. 

 

Fishhook - Cache Camper Manufacturing, Inc.

[Another JR]

I have met two people who had Northern Lite 8 foot campers on their 2020+ 3500HD SRW trucks and they had verified at a scale that they were within the weight limits of the truck, but without much margin when passengers are considered.  I don’t remember the weights they told me. I doubt you can achieve that with a Lance.  The payload for my truck is 4055 lbs. 

 

I agree that you can’t rely on the data plate of a truck camper, which is the base model weight. The data plate on my pop-up says 1222 lbs, but as I said above it actually weighs about 1700 lbs with tanks full and nothing else. The base model for that camper is called a “shell” and has nothing in it, and that’s the weight they apparently use on the data plate. 
 

I see on the road a lot of hard-sided 8 to 10 foot campers on SRW 2020+ 3500HDs, including Arctic Fox campers.  All the 10 and 11 foot heavy Lance campers I see are on duallies. 
 

Regarding bear safety with a pop up camper, the top of the hard side is eight feet high, so most black bears aren’t really a threat. Also, if we are worried, two of us can sleep comfortably in the lower dinette bed with the top down. I’ve done that a couple of times in stormy weather. A third person could also sleep on the floor or the back seat of the truck in a pinch, but that would be a last resort.