Taking a camper on vacation is a great way to travel, but will you be able to tow it if you only have a short bed truck? We looked at the details and figured out what was going on.
You can put a camper on a short-bed truck as long as you don’t go over the truck’s maximum weight and capacity. If you want to put a bigger camper on your truck, you can make sure it can handle it by upgrading the suspension.
So, do you want to learn more about why short bed trucks can pull a camper? Then read this article to learn how you can do this and how big of a camper you can put on your truck.
What is a Camper?
As the name suggests, this is a type of recreational vehicle that lets you go camping and still have a place to sleep, cook, and use the bathroom. They come in different sizes and are great for long camping trips.
Some RVs can fit on the bed of a truck. These RVs usually have a much smaller living space, and many of them don’t have a bathroom. But you can choose to pull some behind your truck. These are usually equipped with everything you need and have more space inside.
Some campers have a full-size body and a cab, which means you can drive the camper itself and don’t have to use another vehicle to pull it.
Can You Put a Long Bed Camper in a Short Bed?
Even though it may not seem possible, you can put a camper with a long bed on the back of a truck with a short bed. But it’s likely you’ll need to make some changes for this to work.
So, you’ll have to keep the tailgate down and on the truck. The camper’s body will go over the tailgate and past the truck’s bed.
If the truck’s tailgate is down, this may make it harder for you to turn. But this shouldn’t make it hard for you to turn too much.
Because the camper adds weight to the truck, the suspension will need to be upgraded so the truck can handle it.
This is especially true for half-ton trucks, which often have suspensions that could be damaged if you try to put a camper on the short truck bed.
How Big of a Camper Can I Put on My Truck?
If you want to know which campers will fit safely on the bed of your truck, you should take a close look at your truck’s towing capacity or weight limit.
You don’t want to try to go over that limit because it could hurt your car.
Even if you are just putting the camper on the truck bed, the towing capacity is still the same. So, look in the owner’s manual to find out how much your car can hold.
If you don’t have your owner’s manual or can’t find it, you can probably find one online by looking up your car’s make and model. No matter how much you can weigh, stay well under that limit.
What is Included in the Weight Limit?
If your truck can only carry up to 5,000 pounds, you might think that a camper that weighs 4,800 pounds is the best choice. But you also need to list everything that will be in your truck and camper.
If you don’t, and you end up with the 4,800-pound camper, you will likely go over the 5,000-pound limit and put too much weight on your vehicle when you add your travel supplies and bags.
If this happens, your truck will not only be harder to drive, but it will also put more stress on your vehicle and cause a number of problems. This makes it more likely that you will get into an accident, so you should try to avoid it at all costs.
Instead, think about what you will bring with you and estimate how much it will weigh. If you have about 200 pounds of supplies, choose a camper that weighs between 4,000 and 4,500 pounds.
This will give you more room to add more supplies and make sure you don’t go over the truck’s weight limit.
How Big of a Camper Can I Put on My Truck?
Keeping this in mind, you can get a bigger camper if your car can carry more weight. It depends on how much they weigh.
A truck bed camper can weigh anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 pounds on average. So, depending on how much weight your truck can carry, you might be able to get a bigger camper if your limit is higher.
If your weight limit is 5,000 pounds and the camper you want weighs close to 4,000 pounds, you should be able to fit the camper and all of your gear. If you want to move something bigger, you will need a bigger truck.
So, just keep in mind that you should leave room for extra gear in case you forget something. If you don’t do this, you might get into trouble while driving and your truck might break down.
How Long is a Short Bed Pickup Truck?
If you aren’t sure if your truck has a short bed or not, look at how long the bed is. A typical pickup truck is about 8 feet long, and the bed takes up about 6 1/2 feet of that space.
With a short bed truck, on the other hand, the truck bed will take up about 5 1/2 feet. This means that your camper will take up about 1 foot less space in the truck bed.
This might not seem like a big deal, but when you’re hauling things, you’ll see that the length makes a big difference. So, with a short truck bed like that, you’ll need to make sure that the camper you buy will fit on your bed.
The camper will sit on the truck with the tailgate down, as we’ve already said. This will make the truck bed bigger, letting you put a camper in it that you might not have been able to with just the truck bed.
Though, you need to make sure that you are not getting something that is too big and will difficult to drive with it connected. If the camper is not hard to steer and doesn’t weigh more than the limit, you shouldn’t have any problems.
How to Drive with a Camper on Your Truck Bed
When you are driving with lots of extra weight, you will need to adjust your driving so that you are safe on the road. This means you will have to pay more attention than usual to your speed and moves.
When you’re in a smaller car, you can see better all around. If you have a camper on the back of your truck, you won’t be able to see anything out the back window.
This means you’ll have to get used to always looking in your side mirrors to see what’s going on with the cars behind you. This is very important when you are turning or changing lanes.
You need to look to see if a car is coming up where you want to go. If you don’t, you could hurt someone.
Also, you will need to drive more slowly with that much weight in the truck bed. You must stay in the slow lane and drive at an average speed of 60 miles per hour or less.
This will make it easier to stay in the lines, even when the wind is blowing, and keep your load from moving. By doing all of these things, you and the people around you will be safer on your next camping trip.
Final Words on Putting a Camper on a Short Bed Truck
Putting a camper on the bed of a short-bed truck might seem like something you can’t do. But you can do it if you make a few changes to your truck and drive safer.
As long as the camper doesn’t weigh more than what the truck can handle, you can put it on the truck bed with the tailgate down. And with a few safe driving tips, you can get where you’re going without getting hurt.
So, if you were thinking about trying to put a camper on your short truck bed, you now know that you can do it with these tips.
