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Camper installed and heading out for some fun.


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Does that thing sway around every turn and blow all around the truck and stuff? The one I drove with an F250 slowly felt like the truck was rolling every time you turned and this and that. Didn't know if a SRW 3500 would have that issue.

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That's a nice looking slide in camper. Curious does it have a bathroom and tanks (water and waste)?

It has a bathroom and shower inside as well as an outside shower. Fresh water tank is 40 gal and black water tank is the same. It has a slide out and full size queen with frig/freezer, stove/oven and 2 on board batteries, 2 propane tanks, hot water heater and furnace. Also has an A/C and generator. Has 4 season insulation and double pane windows.

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Does that thing sway around every turn and blow all around the truck and stuff? The one I drove with an F250 slowly felt like the truck was rolling every time you turned and this and that. Didn't know if a SRW 3500 would have that issue.

There is a significant change in 'cg' when you set the camper on the truck. It is nearly 11" feet high at the top of the A/C. Of course the camper is tied to the truck frame but I have added the Hellwig Big Wig sway bar in the rear and I have my Rancho 9000 XL shocks cranked up to max. I don't use airbags but use a device called 'stabil load' which allows engagement of the overloads without the truck having to squat down any. It will sway in a heavy wind so you have to watch the weather conditions. But normal driving doesn't seem much worse than driving a high box van. It does feel more solid on my 3500 than on my 2500.

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I would be interested in the answers to both of the above and what she weighs.

And by the way, ENJOY!!!

Dry weight is just a shade over 2500 pounds. It is made with an aluminum frame. Loading with water a food etc. adds another 600-800 pounds depending on where I am going and what I am going to be doing. When I used this on my 2500 I was usually over GVW about 500 pounds. On the 3500 I am under GVW.

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  • Owner

Wow! That amazing to fit all that in one small slide in camper. Funny I've got my 31' travel trailer which stand just as tall as your slide in camper. I imagine the slide is really helpful and makes more room for moving around.

HAHA! Showering while on the pot! :lol:

My old 1976 Dodge Jamboree was the same for a bathroom. No bigger than a phone booth and had you toilet, shower stall, and bathroom sink all crammed in that tiny space. It was a nice RV for its time but I sure enjoy the newer Jayco sitting in the back yard...
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This guys F250 you would turn into a corner and the load would obviously shift but it rolled so much that it would cause oversteer so you would let off a little and then the thing would roll the other way a little and just sit there bouncing back and forth. The only way I could control it perfectly was to go into the turn with perfect steering wheel turning smoothness and ease so it would roll into the corner slowly without any momentum. It wasn't hard to drive really it just seemed to roll way more than it should.

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  • Staff

This guys F250 you would turn into a corner and the load would obviously shift but it rolled so much that it would cause oversteer so you would let off a little and then the thing would roll the other way a little and just sit there bouncing back and forth. The only way I could control it perfectly was to go into the turn with perfect steering wheel turning smoothness and ease so it would roll into the corner slowly without any momentum. It wasn't hard to drive really it just seemed to roll way more than it should.

My 02 Dodge 2500 gets loaded with a camper about the same weight (2475 dry). Even with the single rear wheels it does terrific on mountain turns and highways. It is the camper package version. I would not want a camper any heavier than that though. It feels like a real roller at the very first of a turn but, then there's a sudden stop to the roll and a very solid feel from the twin sway bars and air bags. I've had motor homes pull off and wait out a wind storm while I was able to keep going.
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HAHA! Showering while on the pot! :lol:

Sitting on the toilet with the lid closed can work very well for scrubbing down the feet and legs. You can stand full height at the sink with shoulder and body room but you can't bend over very well to scrub down the lower torso. The camper has some advantages like getting off the road and if pulling the boat or ATV's. But clearly TT or 5vers can be significantly larger with more room to live in daily and more conveniences. The camper can handle two people pretty well and having the slide opens up the floor space so 2 people can be standing in the kitchen at the same time, but it is too small if you have to live in it all day everyday.
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  • Owner

I nearly did just that for my truck when I was RV shopping. But when I was thinking about it slide0in camper are no better than a motorhome. How so? Well like the motorhome I had you set up camp and get comfy and day or two want to leave camp and go somewhere. Now you got to pack up everything inside and outside then you could leave. But now with the travel trailer I unhitch set up and leave home park and now drive the truck around.So the bonus to the slide is that its smaller and lighter and less impact on MPG's to extent. But you have less room and water/waste holding. Also depends on your usage as well. Like MoparMom said your slide in camper would be awesome for a weekend warrior that does hunting camps. :smart:

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Ya, and fishing trips where I am taking the boat with me etc. If you need to live in it then it will be tight. But sleeping, eating, rest room etc. it is very handy. I've been known to drop the camper off at fishing or hunting camp and make a trip with the truck to take the boat to another spot or make a grocery run etc. My longest trip was to Florida and back and I found it is very handy to get into parks or visitor sites alone the way.

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  • Owner

I've been known to drop the camper off at fishing or hunting camp and make a trip with the truck to take the boat to another spot or make a grocery run etc.

How hard is that to load and unload? I've seen plenty of vintage slide in campers with jacks that fold up or the camper fell over. Matter of fact there was a camper left behind in the wood up here for that reason. It appears they try to unload it the jack failed and fell over in its side ruining the camper. I assume the owner couldn't get it up right again so he left it in the forest. Well never the less the snow came and crushed it so now it for sure ruined. This was some time ago but I never forgot it.
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How hard is that to load and unload? I've seen plenty of vintage slide in campers with jacks that fold up or the camper fell over. Matter of fact there was a camper left behind in the wood up here for that reason. It appears they try to unload it the jack failed and fell over in its side ruining the camper. I assume the owner couldn't get it up right again so he left it in the forest. Well never the less the snow came and crushed it so now it for sure ruined. This was some time ago but I never forgot it.

The camper frame is welded aluminum and the jacks are bolted into the frame so it appears pretty solid. I have seen the jacks bolted into a wood frame campers and the anchor screws have pulled out because of some sort of accident. I don't have any trouble unloading in the garage because the floor is solid and flat. When I unload out in the field you have to have a flat area and I put something like a piece of 2x12 or 3/4 plywood under each jack pad so there is no sinking into the ground. I think if the camper was to tip because you had one jack sink into the ground you would put a huge stress load on the jack and it would likely bend, break the jack or break the anchor bolts. Many people will put a support under the camper body when they unload out in the field (something like short sawhorses or auto jack stands at each corner of the body portion that sets in the bed of the truck). I just lower the whole camper down close to the ground when I unload in the field. When I unload it for the season I set it on some timbers that form a box (the same size of the truck bed) so the camper doesn't set on the jacks all during the off season. When it's time to load the camper on the truck it takes me about 20 minutes or so to jack it up, remove the timber support then back the truck under and get it lined up then drop the camper down and then connect the tie downs and then pull out of the garage. post-11041-138698205796_thumb.jpg
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the motorhome I had you set up camp and get comfy and day or two want to leave camp and go somewhere. Now you got to pack up everything inside and outside then you could leave

That is why I like my set up. I can leave the camper and go where I want...... http://dieseltrucksite.com/picture.php?albumid=2&pictureid=9
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