That is a good amount of weight for your Tacoma, as long as you don't exceed the GVWR which according the the Toyota website is if you have the Automatic with the 4x4 your payload cap is 1360. I would load it up as you would for a typical trip and take it to the scales. I think you are close enough you shouldn't have a problem even if you exceed it by 100 lbs or so. I am not saying that exceed the manufacture specs is a good idea, but I think you should be fine. I would definetely invest in some Supersprings, if your camper is going to be on your truck most of the time I would install them on the highest setting, if not the recomended setting should be fine. Goof luck and happy camping!

 

I'd suggest going for SuperSprings too.

I'm on the fence about getting Air Bags or SuperSprings.

At least with the SuperSprings its a no brainer, when the truck gets loaded, the SuperSprings take the weight.

With airbags you have to fill them and I've been told with a min amount of air, I think 5lbs, it does give a slightly stiffer ride.

There's nothing worse than being rear heavy, especially on the highway with all that wind pushing on the camper.

You might want to increase the air pressure in your tires a little too.

 

Remember the passengers are part of the GCWR, GVWR as is all in cab misc items, and it adds up fast. You will actually be a little light on the front, and might be slightly over the rear axles weight rating, but Toyota's axles have always had quite a bit of over capacity built in compared to other makes. I would think some increased roll stiffness would be welcome, such as the larger diameter front anti-sway bar from the on-road TRD pkg as well as an Addco or other make rear bar, plus some firm setting rear shocks that would help delay body roll in an evasive manuver. Some good used TRD Bilstein's take-offs or some Rancho 9000's would be good. Operating the truck at 95-110% capacity will have different driving characteristicsso acting ahead of time might make things go smoother.

 

As LRH has said, passengers are part of the GVWR. So two people and the camper, and you are there.
I guess it's for camping, and you usually pack a lot of other stuff for that. I think this might be pushing it.

 

Thanks for the replies, guys. If I keep and use the camper on this truck, I will be getting extra springs. I'm more worried about breaking the frame or bed on my truck

Help me understand how the payload (cargo) maximum weight and the GVWR relate to eachother. I'd think the math would add up, but it doesn't.

I called Toyota (again) and they finally sent me to my owners manual to a page I must have missed the first 9 times I read through it before buying the camper

Apparently, the "Payload" of my truck (which the owners manual says includes the weight of the driver, passengers, optional equipment, and cargo) is 1183 lbs.

Clearly, myslef plus passengers and my gear in the 1000 pound camper exceeds the "cargo" rating. But later in the book there is a section specifically about slide-in campers. There is says not to exceed the front and rear axle maximuns (2755 and 3100, respectivly) and not to exceed the GVWR (5350 pounds for my truck).

So.........

If I am over the "cargo" limit but that still puts me under my GVWR and GAWR, WHY EVEN HAVE THE CARGO LIMIT???

To further complicate matters, my Toyota parts department quoted me 1400 pounds bed capacity - NOT INCLUDING passengers, which completely contradicts my owners manual and I've found out is flat WRONG.

At this point, I don't know if it's safe to use the camper or not. I may end up just having to sell it.

 

I am not sure you are correct about the axle weight ratings, I am not positive what mine are exactly but last time I checked I remember that it added up to like 700 lbs over my payload capacity. I really dont think you need to worry about the strength of your rear axle, it is a very tough axle. I also doubt you will run in to any issue with your frame. You are right at Toyota's limits, maybe a little above but I highly doubt that will be enough to damage your frame, Toyota is way to conservitive to cut it that close. Deffinetly take it to the scales to see exactly where your at.

 

I am sure you have seen those post where people have carried well over the factory limits without serious, if any, consequences.

I say, enjoy your camper and don't worry about it.

I would suggest overload springs and better shocks.

 

Clearly, myslef plus passengers and my gear in the 1000 pound camper exceeds the "cargo" rating.

That sounds like you would be waaayy over the limit. You may want to look at other alternatives, like a camper trailer for example. In that case, only the tongue weight counts as cargo weight.

 

Thanks for the replies, guys. If I keep and use the camper on this truck, I will be getting extra springs. I'm more worried about breaking the frame or bed on my truck

Help me understand how the payload (cargo) maximum weight and the GVWR relate to each other. I'd think the math would add up, but it doesn't.

I called Toyota (again) and they finally sent me to my owners manual to a page I must have missed the first 9 times I read through it before buying the camper

Apparently, the "Payload" of my truck (which the owners manual says includes the weight of the driver, passengers, optional equipment, and cargo) is 1183 lbs.

Clearly, myself plus passengers and my gear in the 1000 pound camper exceeds the "cargo" rating. But later in the book there is a section specifically about slide-in campers. There is says not to exceed the front and rear axle maximums (2755 and 3100, respectively) and not to exceed the GVWR (5350 pounds for my truck).

So.........

If I am over the "cargo" limit but that still puts me under my GVWR and GAWR, WHY EVEN HAVE THE CARGO LIMIT???

To further complicate matters, my Toyota parts department quoted me 1400 pounds bed capacity - NOT INCLUDING passengers, which completely contradicts my owners manual and I've found out is flat WRONG.

At this point, I don't know if it's safe to use the camper or not. I may end up just having to sell it.

load the truck up like you are going camping (camper, all passengers, gear, etc.) and hit the scale. if the total weight is under the GVWR on the sticker on YOUR door jamb (not the Internet, and especially not the parts guy) you are fine. if it is over, than you are free to take your own chances. the #1 concern would be the handling of the truck and the second (i think) would be the frame. also, depending on the terrain the truck can handle more or less weight. 105% gvwr will have more likelihood of cracking the frame on a washboard road than a smooth highway. it all comes down to the gvwr (the max the vehicle can weigh) and the actual weight (from the scale). good luck.

 

I had one of these campers on a 1989 Tacoma and it handled great. I had an extra leaf added to the rear suspension which made it ride a bit rough when empty.

Does you truck have two leafs plus the extra overlaod which is shorter? The '07s have 3 plus the overlaod. I compalined to my dealer and they are changing mine under warrenty next week.

 

Go to scales with full tank of fuel, weigh entire truck/camper combo loaded with passengers in vehicle, then weigh front and rear axles seperately for the F & R GAWR. A little over is not of much concern. Your trucks F & R axle ratings combined will exceed the GVWR, but you are still not supposed to overload either end, although I think for occasional use you will be ok. As I said in my earlier post; you may want more roll stiffness if the campers COG is too high. Do a few L-R-L maneuvers at low speed to check body roll. I think as long as you are not way over; total, or at either end, you will be fine.
Have fun.

I have lots of old books/brochures, and it always amazed me that from 1964 up untill 1966, all the major truck manufacturers showed full slide in campers on C-10's, F-100's and D-100. Most of these trucks had GVWR's of from 4600lb to as much as 5200lb, most with 950-1,100lb payloads. By 68-70 all ads showed 3/4 ton models with footnotes showing what chassis/tire options were "preferred" and what was "required" to carry the slide-in's. Stuff people live through in the 60's, scares people to death today; safety wise.

 

Well, I weighed my truck sans camper, with me and my wife in it and 3/4 tank of gas:

Front Axle: 2620
Read Axle: 1940
Total vehicle weight: 4560

that leaves me about 800 lbs to my vehicles GVWR.

Assuming the camper is 1,000 pounds, with me and my wife in the truck, it would be 5560 lbs - about 200 pounds over the GVWR. And that's not counting any gear.

Thing is, the camper rides pretty well even without extra springs, and the truck handles great. I actually wonder if the camper really weighs what it says.

I have reason to believe (ok, HOPE) the camper may be a custom camper and weigh less than it says on the identification plate. NADA lists my camper with a ton of options and even says every Dutchman camper came with an A/C unit - there was NO OPTION to not have A/C.

And, mine has NO A/C.

But I'm sure it's wishful thinking. All I can do at this point is weigh the cmaper to see how far over I am and make the decision - should I keep and use the camper, or not.

If I am really, really close to the GVWR, I keep it. if I am more than a couple hundred over, the camper has to go :td:

thanks all for the input!

 

I live on the route to the Alaska highway, and I can tell you I've seen plenty of Taco's with wayyy to much on them. They all seem to make it just fine. But if you want to get down to the legal nitty-gritties, if you wad your Taco and they figure out you were 500lbs over limit, you might be liable for the results.

 

I can only tell you what I have 05 trd acc cab 4wd. I have had my truck since 10/04 with canopy bed slide and 500 lbs. of tools. With me in it, it weights 5260 lbs. ( 2700lbs. frt 2560 lbs. rear) all this is in truck 90% of the time. I have had stock rear springs which did not like constant load they saged after a few months,next I bought Road Master overloads, work great accept they hit frame on severe compression. next Deaver made me a set of springs with a extra leaf in the 2nd position they have held up fairly well, but now I am lifting the truck and I had Alcan build me a set to match my load and I am thoughly impressed with them. I just put them on last weekend and they ride almost as good as stock did empty.
The spring Deaver made is good if you leave the weight in it all the time but mighty rough empty. Don't know about Super Springs but have heard good things for partime loads.
I have had know problems with any other part of this truck as a result of carrying this load around for the past 2 1/2 years, I don't think you can hurt the truck unless you offroad it real aggressively. Hope I helped good luck and enjoy!

 

Is air bags a better solution than booster springs?

 

thanks for the replies.

Yes, the straps were a temporary solution. If I keep the camper, there will be tie-downs.

The camper in that first pic looks goofy because I had it sitting on a palate in the back of the truck.

The next day I shimmed it up properly and it looks very nice on the truck - just maybe a bit heavy.

I will be taking it back to the scales this weekend and deciding what to do from there.

Here's the camper properly mounted (but still with ratchet straps):

 

I agree with Bob: look at a pop-up camper that you can tow. Much less hassle, no weight problems, and you can take the truck for short trips from camp. We have one, and it's awesome. Set up time is around 20 minutes. It weights 2,000 lbs empty with 300lbs tongue weight, leaving a lot for extra gear. I can actually put 1,000lbs of gear inside the camper without effecting the load capacity on the truck as long as I keep the 300lbs tongue weight (the trailer has a GVWR of 3,200lbs).
And, when camping, I would guess that the camper is at least 4x as big as that slide-in. (the box is 12ft long and two king size beds extend out, plus it's wider.
They can be found used for very little money ...

BTW, did you plan on towing something behind the truck while the slide-in was on? I noticed the hitch ball in your pictures ....

 

I actually had a pop-up camper and sold it. I prefer a cab over camper and it actually makes life easier for me, not harder.

For the kind of hunting I do, this solution will be far warmer than the pop-up I had, and is far less a liability on icy and snowy roads - assuming the whole weight issue works out. I camp mostly in the fall and winter in Colorado.

When I hunt I travel very light so it's not like I need the bed of the truck to haul gear. I also had one problem 2 years ago where I got caught in a freezing rain, and the canvas on the pop-up froze, so I could not lower the roof.

So, for dragging the enire family along in the summer a pop-up may work great, but I was really looking for ease of use, limited set up time, and just a warm place to sleep and make coffee.

--Duck911

 

Duck, that is a completely different use of the camper then what I had in mind and what I do with it.

Yes, I can see your point .... For what you are doing, the slide-in would be the better choice.

Good luck hunting, and I hope the weight issue will work out ...
- Steve.

 

I would think being close to or being over the GVW on icey and snowy roads would be a bad thing. At least with a properly set up camper trailer with electric brakes it shouldnt effect your trucks braking and handling as much as having your truck weight over the limit. Plus if you are off-roading at GVWR and your truck is bouncing back and forth. Sure Toyota may under rate their vehicles, but how far are you willing to push it?

DAP had a nice pop-up for sale last year, it was a 05 Fleetwood Mojave Evolution SE. You can even mount a canoe or whatever to the top of it. Or in your case for pulling out game, you could free up your bed for a atv or other gear.

Tent Trailer Fleetwood Evolution E1 2007 $10,997.00 Pan Pacific RV

Ok, so it still has canvas walls... This one supposed to be good for cold weather:
AutoHome Maggiolina top roof tents for car camping

Heres a few more options:
Four Wheel Campers Product Listing
Little Guy Teardrop Trailers - Home

Or find a decent sized trailer frame with real tires on it, and build your own camper to suite your needs, sort of like this custom bed camper:
Turtle Expedition

This is kind of cool, but expensive:
Airstream Basecamp :: Product
Airstream Basecamp :: Product

 

Check out Forest River : Producers of RV's | Cargo Trailers | Boats | Commercial Vehicles and look for the 190XR tent trailer. The front 8 feet are an open cargo deck with ramps for a quad, the back 2/3 is the pop-up. Decent price, and comes with a huge frame and 15 inch off-road tires for getting to those rough spots.

I'm getting one once the end of season sales come around...

 

There is a place over near Morningside (hang gliding spot) in NH that sells some trailers that look like a angle. I'm not sure if they collapse or not but they do not have soft sides to them, or so it appears that way from the road. I'm not having much luck finding info off the web so I guess I'll have to stop by there and see who makes them.

 

This one is pretty cool.

Kimberley Karavans.Home

 

just curious?when your hunting, where do you put the animal after you've shot it? in the box camper?

 

just curious?when your hunting, where do you put the animal after you've shot it? in the box camper?

Thats a great question...


Okay for the wedge/angle trailer I mentioned it is a A Liner Scout. Guess its considered a A-frame... It wouldnt be too bad with some off road suspension and tires, and a rack on the top for the bikes, kayaks or whatever.