Truck Camper and Bounce

[Co33]

Hello,

I am prepping my camper but had a question on Truck Bounce.  I purchased a light weight camper around 800 pounds.  The camper is pretty bare bones no tanks/stove/bathroom ect  Driving back home the truck would bounce A LOT every once in a while for about 10-20 seconds.  I was driving super slow around 55 miles per hour and had to camper racket strapped strapped pretty well down (no other option but racket down for now).  

I have a few guesses from google searches.  I just purchased a rubber mat to put in the truck so I am hoping that would help because maybe it was due to wind moving the camper around?  not sure if that could be it as I had about 6 heavy duty rackets rated at 1500 pounds?  I will be testing it out next week.  

Has anyone actually dealt with this issue? what was the fix?

Thanks!

 

[highdesertranger]

is it just the camper bouncing or the whole truck. highdesertranger

 

[Co33]

is it just the camper bouncing or the whole truck.  highdesertranger

The whole truck.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Is it an old truck with worn shocks? Or a brand new smaller or mid-size truck that might be overloaded?

Give us some details....

 

[Co33]

Truck is a 2017 Ram 1500 tradesman single cab long bed.  Camper is a Capri maverick (I believe) that has nothing in it but a table that can be made into a bed....no tanks, no heat, no anything.  Camper weighs around 800 pound and my truck can handle a little over 1600 pounds.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Hey that's new and under warranty. I'd take it by the dealer and ask them to look at the rear suspension. Make sure the shocks and springs are OK. 

You might have a broken shock mount or maybe a defective pair of shocks. I think those new dodges have coil springs all around...which might be related.

That truck should easily handle the 800 pound camper.

 

[Canine]

That's weird and concerning. Do you by chance have overload springs? I doubt it, but that can create the type of bounce you care talking about. Very annoying. Overloads are good if you are empty or fully load, but not half-loaded.

 

[highdesertranger]

that is weird. I wonder if not being secured properly has anything to do with it. highdesertranger

 

[Canine]

Coil springs all the way around then putting an 800 pound load in the back of a half ton may feel way different than what you're accustomed to. I had a truck with coil springs in the front, leaf in the rear, and it would drive squiggly when fully loaded. Had a friend with a 65 Chevy half ton with coil springs in the back and it was a joke. Terrible ride. Empty, great; loaded, goofy as all get out. Those were old trucks, though. Yours is new and would seem to me it could handle 800 pounds with relative ease and drive very well at that.

 

[tripper]

Are you sure the camper is really 800 lbs? What you are describing usually happens with too much weight, or the center of gravity way too far back. Are you running a camper made for an 8 foot bed on a 5 or 6 foot bed truck ?

 

[Co33]

I am not really sure about coil springs and leafs? I dont know how it is loaded? According to what I have been told and all my research online, there is no way the camper is over 1000 pounds....and that is at a generous high end! however, always better to be safe then sorry! I am planning on going to the public scales and get the truck and camper weighed to see what I am working with? I will be putting down the rubber mat just in case the bouncing was due to shifting.

 

[Harry-O]

I have a 17 Ram 2500 Diesel 6.4 bed with coil springs all around, I do plan on buying a camper to put in back 1400-1600 lbs. plain no bells or whistles. I plan on putting a stabilizer Dardar on the rear to stop the side to side sway and possibly the bounce the might occur.  :s

 

[Harry-O]

Dardar ( Bar )️

 

[katajojo]

What you are describing is called "porpoising." Ive had that a few times on bad roads. Center of gravity should be centered according to manual specifications. Your truck manual should have a section showing where the center of gravity is located when a truck camper is installed. It should also have a "speed limit per payload" chart. Follow these instructions and it will help.

Search "truck camper porpoising." You should find quite a few good answers.


Ford F250 7.3L Turbo w/2100lb camper package
Shadow Cruiser 11.5' truck camper