Questions on using a Sierra/Silverado to haul a slide in camper

RKCRLR · September 10

16 hours ago, Another JR said:

I would not decide between the tailgates based on weight. They are very close in weight. Instead, I would choose based on which functionality I preferred. Is the multiflex even offered as an option for your truck? I’m not sure it’s just a swap - the wiring would have some differences.

I have the multiflex and pretty much never use it as anything other than a conventional tailgate except when showing it to somebody. However, I either have the tailgate off for a slide in camper or I’m running the bare truck. If I had a canopy or topper and was camping in that I would use it a lot. The bed is quite high, so the step function would be nice for that use.

If I had the option of a powered gate instead it would have been a hard decision. It’s almost a two hand lift for me to close the tailgate, so powered might be nice. At rhe time I bought my 3500 SLT it was conventional non-powered one-piece or multiflex, and the price was the same, so I bought multiflex.

I don’t really like the electric latched tailgate thing in any form - more stuff to potentially fail. I like the old school gate on my 93. I can pop it off myself in less than a minute. My multiflex is a two man half hour job to remove or install including crating, and it lives closed in this crate 7 months out of the year.

I will be using the truck both to haul my camper and to haul things around town and on my property (firewood, etc). The camper will go on and of several times a year. On my current truck (K3500) I can remove and reinstall the tailgate myself without tools and there are no wires to deal with.

Since I'm unlikely to find a gas long bed crew cab dually that will suit my needs I'm considering custom ordering a truck. When I select the options I want on a LTZ I'm forced into a powered tailgate. I have the option of upgrading to a Multi-Flex tailgate (which is still a powered tailgate) for around $250. If there was an option for a lightweight tailgate without wires and didn't need tools to remove I'd select that. But once I'm forced into the powered tailgate I figure I might as well select the Multi-Flex tailgate if it doesn't add much more weight.

Edit: Now that I've re-read the option is says the MultiFlex tailgate has Power Lock and Release. And if I add it it removes Power Up and Down Tailgate. So the weight difference is probably small although I'd still prefer that it would let me option the truck without either and still get the other options I want.

Edited September 10 by RKCRLR

Another JR · September 10

When I ordered my SLT (similar to LTZ) in 2021 you could select a standard tailgate instead of the Multipro (multiflex) that came with that trim. They didn’t give any money back, though. It didn’t show it in the brochure but the on line configuring site showed that option.

Even without multiflex or powered lift you will have a wire harness for the electric latch and the camera.

RKCRLR · September 10

Another thing I'm coming up against with the GM trucks is the longer bed length. I know I'm going to have to raise my camper a couple of inches to clear the bed rails. Once I do that it looks like I'll have plenty of clearance for the cabover portion of my camper even with the truck's shark fin antenna. The Ram trucks have a higher cab and I'd probably have to relocate the shark fin antenna unless I want to raise the camper even higher to clear it. I'm not even considering Fords because I'd have to use 4x6s.

However, the longer bed on the GM trucks might make me have to move the camper back so my generator exhaust can clear the bumper. The distance from the front of the camper to the generator exhaust is 106.5". The dimensions I'm seeing for GM long bed trucks is the distance from the front inside of the bed to the back of the bumper is about 109".

Does anyone have an actual measurement of the distance from the front inside of the bed to the back of the rear bumper?

Edit: Assuming the new long bed is 2" longer than my current K3500 8' bed it looks like I'll also have problems clearing the septic drain on the other side and the tail lights unless I put a 1.5" spacer between the camper and front of the bed.

Thanks

Edited September 11 by RKCRLR

AndrewF · September 11

1 hour ago, RKCRLR said:

Another thing I'm coming up against with the GM trucks is the longer bed length. I know I'm going to have to raise my camper a couple of inches to clear the bed rails. Once I do that it looks like I'll have plenty of clearance for the cabover portion of my camper even with the truck's shark fin antenna. The Ram trucks have a higher cab and I'd probably have to relocate the shark fin antenna unless I want to raise the camper even higher to clear it. I'm not even considering Fords because I'd have to use 4x6s.

However, the longer bed on the GM trucks might make me have to move the camper back so my generator exhaust can clear the bumper. The distance from the front of the camper to the generator exhaust is 106.5". The dimensions I'm seeing for GM long bed trucks is the distance from the front inside of the bed to the back of the bumper is about 109".

Does anyone have an actual measurement of the distance from the front inside of the bed to the back of the rear bumper?

Thanks

The bed is 8’2” at the bottom but at the top there is a bump (into the bed) which when measuring from that is 8’0”. And then another 9” to clear the bumper.

RKCRLR · September 11

4 minutes ago, AndrewF said:

The bed is 8’2” at the bottom but at the top there is a bump (into the bed) which when measuring from that is 8’0”. And then another 9” to clear the bumper.

Thanks! So it looks like that bump would be a built in spacer for me and that I'll have enough clearance for the exhaust and septic with 105" to the back of the bumper. It sounds like I'll also clear the tail lights.

Ozark Dually · Friday at 01:42 AM

I've had my 2024 Sierra SLE 3500HD DRW Double Cab for 6 months now..... Love the truck

I went with the Sierra specifically because I was able to get a standard tailgate, code (QK1), whereas the Silverado did not offer that option. I saved $450 by going with the standard tailgate. I want to remove the tailgate as easily as possible and see no need for the "transformers" tailgate

My truck was ordered with the intent to purchase a slide in camper. I opted for the Snow plow / Camper springs code (VYU). Just recently drove the truck from St. Louis to New Mexico to rescue family stranded with a dead 2500HD. The truck drove so incredibly smooth, both unloaded and with a gooseneck trailer with the 2500HD diesel on it. No front end bounce even through some nasty work zone road surfaces. The 10-speed transmission is nothing short of awesome.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a 1-ton truck, not my wife's Impala.

Right now my only complaint is finding a slide in camper that meets my requirements of a pass-thru window and 3-way (propane) refrigerator. Anyone have suggestions for a camper similar to the Palomino HS-8801? Most manufacturers dropped the propane frig and pass thru window.

RKCRLR · Friday at 02:50 PM

Deleted - Accidentally responded to message.

Edited Friday at 03:16 PM by RKCRLR

RKCRLR · Friday at 03:15 PM

I went by a Chevrolet dealer to take some measurements. Interestingly I measured 100.5" from the front inside of the bed to the "nub" above the tail light which is exactly the same as my camper length in that area. So I'd probably need a small spacer to ensure some clearance.

What concerns me is the measurement I wrote down for the height from the bed to the top of the cab is 44" (not including the shark fin antenna). I've been using 40.8" (dimension E = Top of bed floor to top of Cab per attached document). Did I write down the wrong number or is it really 44" to the top of the cab?

Silverado & Sierra Truck Camper Loading (dimensions).pdf

newdude · Friday at 03:32 PM

4 hours ago, RKCRLR said:

I went by a Chevrolet dealer to take some measurements. Interestingly I measured 100.5" from the front inside of the bed to the "nub" above the tail light which is exactly the same as my camper length in that area. So I'd probably need a small spacer to ensure some clearance.

What concerns me is the measurement I wrote down for the height from the bed to the top of the cab is 44" (not including the shark fin antenna). I've been using 40.8" (dimension E = Top of bed floor to top of Cab per attached document). Did I write down the wrong number or is it really 44" to the top of the cab?

Silverado & Sierra Truck Camper Loading (dimensions).pdf 528.86 kB · 0 downloads

E is top of the bed floor to top of cab.

edited disregard what was here!

Edited Friday at 07:16 PM by newdude

RKCRLR · Friday at 03:42 PM

13 minutes ago, newdude said:

E is top of the bed floor to top of cab.

Looking at other truck measurements GM has, bed floor to the top of the rail is 14", top of the rail to top of the back of the cab is 24". From the top of the cab to highest point, the antenna, its a difference of 1.4".

The the bed floor to the top of the rail can't be 14", I would have noticed if the rails were that low (but I didn't measure them). The measurements I've seen are 22.4". And if I add 22.4 to 24 I get 46.4" which is even higher than the 44" I measured. I think there is something screwy going on with GM's dimensions.

Edited Friday at 03:46 PM by RKCRLR

newdude · Friday at 07:16 PM

3 hours ago, RKCRLR said:

The the bed floor to the top of the rail can't be 14", I would have noticed if the rails were that low (but I didn't measure them). The measurements I've seen are 22.4". And if I add 22.4 to 24 I get 46.4" which is even higher than the 44" I measured. I think there is something screwy going on with GM's dimensions.

I think I read something wrong there myself.

I went and measured one quick, approximately 21 inches from floor to top of the side rail.

RKCRLR · Friday at 09:41 PM

On 9/13/2024 at 12:16 PM, newdude said:

I think I read something wrong there myself.

I went and measured one quick, approximately 21 inches from floor to top of the side rail.

If I add 21 to 24 I get 45" which is closer to the 44" I measured but a lot taller than the 40.8" per the 2024 Chevrolet camper loading guide.

Edit: I went and carefully measured again. I get 44.5" so the Chevrolet Truck-Camper Loading document is definitely incorrect. It looks like they never updated the cab height dimension when they changed the body style.

Edited 17 hours ago by RKCRLR