saenzm wrote: ...that could handle anything we throw on the back. ... I have kids. ... a bigger truck camper with shower/toilet and maybe a slide to create a little more room for our dogs/kids.
Thoughts? ...
Absolutely have thoughts! For what you are wanting to put on the truck bed, you need a dually.
(purchase the truck to handle the load. Don't purchase as a daily driver and then just hope it handles the load. It won't).
DutchmenSport
2013 Outback 298RE
2014 Chevy Silverado 3500 Duramax Dually
1400 / 14000 Equal-i-zer Weight Distribution
2 Dachshunds, 1 cat, 2 old folks and lots of love!
I carried my camper for a few years on a SB SRW truck and was hesitant to go to a dually.
Despite my concern I bought a dually this time and really don't notice much difference driving it. IMO the width is not noticeable at all. To get a dually I had to go to an 8' bed which made the truck longer which I do notice.
We went from a 24' TT to a TC (12', but no slide) on a Ram dually. We are 2 adults, 2 older teens, and spent 4-9 weeks on the road over 2 summers. We had plenty of space! Needing a certain amount of personal space is, well, very personal. Some need a ballroom sized bubble, others don't mind squeezing by someone on the way to the bathroom. We 4 work well together, are low-maintenance, and aren't drama queens.
For us the smaller footprint, off-road ability, maneuverability, convenience, and no more setup time were well worth "downsizing" the floor space. However, it all depends on the dynamics of your own family and how you camp!
As for dually width, remember that most TCs are at least as wide or wider than 8', even without a DRW. Our TC is actually narrower than the dually fenders. So, going DRW doesn't usually add to your total width. As a daily driver without the TC, that is a different story.
saenzm wrote: Thanks for all the great info. Our main reason for considering the TC is because we would like the ability to take some back mountain roads to remote locations. We feel the TT is probably the best for our space needs; however, we feel it would be a pain to pull in the mountains or winter. We are concerned about being cramped though. Good info here and lots to consider. Thank you thank you thank you.
I ran a crew cab, short bed, single rear wheel, no slide while my kids were growing up. Kids got to set up and sleep in a tent. Took the back mountain roads to remote locations with room enough for all.
donn0128 wrote: My 07 Ram dually still shows around 35K trade in value.
Wow! Most '07 Rams would have around 150,000 miles on them by now. Yours is either gold plated or very low miles.
donno just got into some of the good Or E gun sticky icky apparently.
Even a 5.9 Laramie, 4wd with sunroof and Nav AND 20,000miles shows a NADA $28k trade in value. No doubt these trucks hold their value well, but some think they're sitting on a proverbial pot of gold...
saenzm wrote: Thanks for all the great info. Our main reason for considering the TC is because we would like the ability to take some back mountain roads to remote locations. We feel the TT is probably the best for our space needs; however, we feel it would be a pain to pull in the mountains or winter. We are concerned about being cramped though. Good info here and lots to consider. Thank you thank you thank you.
I ran a crew cab, short bed, single rear wheel, no slide while my kids were growing up. Kids got to set up and sleep in a tent. Took the back mountain roads to remote locations with room enough for all.
Same here. Kids, 11 and almost 15 now got kicked into a tent this past summer. A TC isn't for everyone, it's for people who want to be outdoors and camp with enough amenities to keep the wifey happy!
Advice: buy a STOUT truck. So many people buy light duty pickups then want to haul a camper... and they already own the wimpy truck and don’t want to sell it and buy another. You have the chance to do it right the first time.
Go for the one-ton dually.
Any American one ton dually ever built will haul whatever camper you want, and feel stable and secure doing it
All diesel pickups of all years are NOT created equal.
There are strategic good ones to look for.
If you’re looking at diesel trucks from the era you mentioned, the Ford is a good choice. ‘99 was a particularly good year for Ford diesels.
If you buy an older Ford diesel, don’t buy anything with a 6.0. Get a 7.3, they went up to the middle of 2003.
If you’re a Chevy guy, I’d avoid the earlier Duramax for a few reasons but if you can get your hands on an ‘06, grab it, that’s the Holy Grail Duramax, the “LBZ”. It’s got all the good parts in it, it’s got the better trans than the earlier ones, and it’s the last year of pre-emissions junk.
The ‘07 is second choice. It’s got emissions junk but that can be deleted.
The Dodge with a Cummins is an extremely excellent truck, but unfortunately Dodge had their head up their hiney and didn’t make them in a real crew cab until much later, so if you need a full-size crew cab, the Dodge is out.
* This post was
edited 01/08/18 06:57pm by burningman *
99 Ram 4x4 Dually Cummins
A whole lot more fuel, a whole lot more boost.
4.10 gears, Gear Vendors overdrive, exhaust brake
Built auto, triple disc, billet shafts.
Kelderman Air Ride, Helwig sway bar.
This is how they should have built them!
saenzm wrote: Hello. We are considering buying a truck camper and truck. I'm going to buy a used truck and was wondering if there was a solid favorite among you guys.
I started looking at 1999 - 2002 diesel duallys thinking that could handle anything we throw on the back. Then I started looking at the picture thread and see that a lot of people don't have duallys.
I will need a crew cab since I have kids. And we will likely buy a bigger truck camper with shower/toilet and maybe a slide to create a little more room for our dogs/kids.
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Mark
Get as much truck with as much capacity as you can afford - this will vastky open up your options in the future.... Be advised that GCWR have continued to increase with each model generation - 14k GVWR is the latest norm for Ram 4x4 Diesel dually Crew cab with a GCWR of about 5k...
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