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Old 01-29-2015, 04:08 PM   #2
hot rod
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 527
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Cool idea. Takes the slide in camper to the maximum. I'm thinking you are right about needing more truck, total weight aside, I'm betting your front axle is WAY overloaded as is, maybe not so much if you add the garage for a counterbalance. Have you weighed each axle? Those small cabovers are generally way underpowered, you have to remember those were generally designed with close quarters city deliveries in mind, so light weight, fuel economy and maneuverability were the main concerns, not load capacity or ride quality, and most never saw much highway use at all.

The good news is flatbed trucks of all sizes and descriptions are readily available, so it should not be a problem to find a suitable truck.

One problem you may run into switching to a conventional cab is the height of the cab vs. the overhang on the camper. Be sure to take careful measurements on any truck you are looking at. At one point I had considered a moving van box on my GMC chassis, and I found there is quite a bit of variation in that area on the boxes for sale, which tells me there is a lot of variation in the trucks. I know one good deal I found on a box would not be able to clear the roof on my Topkick. You would have the opposite, but similar problem.
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