If you already own a GMC Sierra 2500HD pickup, good on you. You chose well. It’s a great truck. If you’re looking to buy a quality 3/4-ton pickup truck, then the Sierra is a terrific choice. The performance, payload, and good looks are hard to beat. The latest GMC Sierra 2500HD is also a great choice when it comes to hauling truck camper with a maximum payload rating of 4,013 pounds for a 4WD long-bed single cab pickup and 3,808 for a 4WD 6-foot 8-inch short-box crew cab pickup. Fortunately, a wide variety of truck campers can be safely hauled on the GMC Sierra 2500HD. These include both hard-side and pop-up campers with and without a dry bath. With so many quality campers to choose from, the time and effort it takes to buy the one that meets your requirements can be daunting. Fortunately, Truck Camper Adventure has the done the homework for you by presenting the newest and best truck campers for your very own truck camper adventures. So without further adieu, let’s take a look at the 10 best truck campers for the GMC Sierra 2500HD pickup truck:
1. Scout Kenai
A revolutionary design by Washington-based Adventurer Manufacturing, the Scout Kenai incorporates a number of portables to save on weight. These portables include a removable Dometic CFX3 75L refrigerator-freezer with WiFi, a 4.9-gallon removable water tank, a removable dining table, a Yeti Goal Zero 1500x lithium battery pack, and a removable propane cooktop. Standard features include a 175 watt flexible solar panel, a moon roof with a screen and solar reflective shade, a four-person dinette with sleeper conversion, and dual 5-pound propane bottles. The best options include a Thetford Cassette Toilet, a Newport Real Flame 4,500 BTU propane fireplace, and a Rhino Rack Batwing Awning. Particularly noteworthy, is that the Scout Kenai can sleep up to six people when you include the optional roof-top tent, an unheard of number for a truck camper let alone a camper of this size. With a dry weight of only 1,265 pounds and a floor length of 7 feet 6 inches the Scout Kenai works well with any long-bed, 3/4-ton truck like the GMC Sierra 2500HD. Interested in a short-bed model? The company has one of those too with the Scout Olympic, which features a floor length of 6.2 feet, a dry weight of 1,081 pounds, and most of the features listed for the Kenai. The starting price for the Scout Kenai base model is an affordable $26,990.
2. Outfitter Apex 8
The best popup for 3/4-ton trucks, the Outfitter Apex 8 is a superb truck camper loaded with an impressive number of standard features. The construction of the Apex 8 consists of an insulated, one-piece composite fiberglass body and features an electric roof lift with a manual over-ride. One feature of the Apex 8 that we really like is the spacious, 80-inch cabover with a pull-out drawer. This drawer can be used either for storage or as a bed for the kiddies. Another thing we like is the camper’s fully enclosed, heated basement—a rarity for a pop-up truck camper. This basement houses a massive 44-gallon fresh water tank, a 16-gallon gray water tank, and a 16-gallon black water tank. The bathroom is fairly large for a pop-up, too, and features a marine-grade porcelain toilet, a full-size shower, and a small sink. The battery box in the Apex 8 is large enough for only one group-27 battery, but in the ones we’ve seen another battery box can be added quite easily. Popular options include an Onan 2500 Generator, a 7.5 cubic foot Nova Kool Compressor Refrigerator, and a Yakima Roof Rack with Ladder. Weighs 2,130-pounds dry. Made specifically for the short-bed GMC Sierra 2500HD pickup truck, the Apex 8 is also a very popular choice with off-road enthusiasts due to its low-profile, superb layout, and large tank capacities. The base price is $44,995.
3. Lance 825
A superb camper and steady seller at Lance Campers, the Lance 825 provides the essentials needed to camp comfortably without the burden of scale-tipping slide-outs. The dry weight of this aluminum-framed, short-bed truck camper is a svelte 1,832 pounds, making it ideal for most 3/4-ton trucks, even when fully loaded. The 8-foot 6-inch floor plan of the Lance 825 features a gorgeous interior with cherry-stained cabinets, a north-south queen size bed, a full-size dinette, a well-equipped kitchenette, a large wardrobe, and a small wet-bath with a shower. Standard features include a Dometic three-way 3-cubic foot refrigerator with stainless steel refrigerator panels, a two-burner stainless steel cook-top, an Atwood 18,000 BTU propane fired furnace, a 5-gallon propane tank, and an Atwood 6-gallon water heater. The tank capacities of the Lance 825 are fairly large with 30 gallons fresh, a 13 gallons grey, a 14 gallon black. The best options include a 100 watt roof top solar power system, rear and side awnings, a removable carpet kit, and Lance’s own roof rack system. We’re big fans of Lance’s new exterior one-piece TPO nose cap, which gives the camper a sleek and aerodynamic look, and Lance’s new Easy Charge exterior charging center that allows owners to hook up a portable solar panel or a generator for quick battery charging. The camper comes with only one group-27 battery box, but the compartment can easily be modified to fit two larger group-31 batteries if desired. The MSRP for the base model is only $50,460. Available at top dealerships nationwide.
4. Four Wheel Camper Grandby
4. Four Wheel Camper Grandby
With a floor length of 8 feet and a dry weight of only 1,200 pounds, the Four Wheel Camper Grandby is a terrific match for today’s 3/4-ton, long-bed pickup. The Grandby features a 20 gallon fresh water tank, a fully equipped kitchenette, an east-west queen bed, a three-way 1.7-cubic foot reefer, and attractive yet durable interior woodwork. Customers can choose from one of three floorplans when ordering a Grandby—a rollover side couch, side dinette, or a front dinette. For those who want more amenities, a cassette toilet and an inside shower can both be added as options, but only with the front dinette floorplan. Interested in extending your time off-grid? Four Wheel Campers has that covered, too, by offering a 160 watt roof-mounted solar system, a dual battery setup, an 85-liter DC compressor refrigerator, and two 10-pound propane tanks. Four Wheel Campers uses a proprietary tie-down system consisting of four, zinc-coated eye bolts reinforced with steel backing plates that are mounted to the bed of the pickup. The advantage of having a hidden system like this is that it not only presents a clean look on the outside of the camper, but with nothing to snag on it also works great for driving off-road. Without a doubt, one of the 10 best truck campers for the GMC Sierra 2500HD pickup truck. The Grandby lists for only $26,625, but don’t let the price fool you. This rugged, well-made camper can take you almost anywhere you want, and with its welded aluminum frame and aluminum exterior, will last for decades.
5. Outpost 6.5
Outpost Campers—a new Colorado-based truck camper manufacturer—just released its first camper called the Outpost 6.5 offering an impressive list of features at a price point without equal. These features include a cutting-edge EcoFlow 48 volt electrical system with a large lithium battery bank, an induction cooktop, aluminum cabinets, a DC compressor refrigerator, a solar power system, and an inverter. The composite camper is also propane free. The Outpost 6.5’s EcoFlow system comes with a 2,000 watt hour lithium battery bank (a 166 amp hour 12 volt equivalent), a 200 watt solar power system, a 3,600 watt inverter-charger, dual MPPT solar charge controllers, and a 50 amp DC-DC alternator charger. The entire EcoFlow electrical system is controlled with a touchscreen console with Wifi/Bluetooth capability for monitoring the electrical system from your smartphone. Both the solar array and the battery bank are upgradable as options. With a weight of 1,500 pounds, the Outpost 6.5 is designed to be hauled on short-bed, half-ton trucks and higher like the GMC Sierra 2500. Better yet, the 6 foot 4 inch length of the floor means that the tailgate of the truck can be retained and used as a platform for entering and exiting the camper. Amenities for the Outpost 6.5 include a 20 gallon fresh water holding tank, a portable cassette toilet, and L-shape dinette with a rotatable table, bamboo countertops and tabletops, a stainless steel sink, and four Tern Overland Arctic Tern dual thermopane windows with built-in window screens. A terrific value, the modern, cutting-edge camper sells for less than $35,000 and is sold factory direct.
6. Hotomobil Gladiator LB
Looking for a modern, well-insulated camper? Then the new Hotomobil Gladiator LB is an excellent choice. The sleek, European styling and one-piece fiberglass body stands out in stark contrast to the more ponderous, fiberglass campers made by Northern Lite and Bigfoot. What also makes the German-import stand out is the bedliner texture that’s resistant to scratches. Nobody in the North American market offers anything quite like it. While the Gladiator LB is the company’s largest truck camper, yet it’s light enough to be hauled on full-size trucks with lower payload ratings. This size means the 1,800-pound camper can be hauled on any appropriately-rated 3/4-ton pickup truck. The Gladiator offers everything needed to comfortably travel and explore off-grid, including a spacious large cabover bed, a 90L DC refrigerator, a well-equipped kitchen with a two-burner stove, a diesel water heater and furnace, a comfortable U-shaped dinette, and a wet-bath with storage cabinets and a raised bathroom sink. Standards include a stealthy tie-down system that eliminates outriggers, a 23 gallon fresh water holding tank, jacks that can either be removed or flipped in the up position, a side-mounted awning, a lithium battery, a 205 watt solar power system with an 20 amp MPPT charger controller, a rear ladder, a cassette toilet, and an optional roof-top tent. Hotomobil offers two Gladiator sizes for full-size pickups: the STD for 6 foot 6 inch truck beds and the LB for long-bed trucks with 8-foot beds. Available in six colors and two finishes. The list price for this stylish, European import is $45,000. Can be ordered either factory direct or from dealers.
7. Soaring Eagle Aerie 8
Looking for a hard-side option for a 3/4-ton truck? Then the brand-new Soaring Eagle Aerie 8 should be strongly considered. Like the company’s Camplite predecessors, Soaring Eagle campers are constructed using all-welded, tubular aluminum and water resistant composites, covered by thick, seamless, fiberglass exteriors. Even the exterior fiberglass and interior walls an the ceiling are back with a composite material. Moreover, each and every camper is constructed using not only 1.5-inch aluminum tubes, but also 3-inch tubes for extra strength and durability. The insulation is also first rate with the camper earning Truma’s coveted Gold Standard Certification. What makes this newcomer such a strong contender in the industry is that is weighs only 2,300 pounds, making it a lightweight, aerodynamic rig that is more fuel efficient that heavier models. The holding tanks a decent too with 28 gallons fresh, 13 gallons grey, and a Dometic 5 gallon cassette toilet. Soaring Eagle campers are beautiful inside with light and open interiors with a roomy L-shaped dinette, a north-south, queen-size bed with loads of storage a two nightstands, a full size kitchen with a two-burner range and a deep sink, a 40 x 40-inch wet bath, a DC compressor refrigerator, a microwave convection oven, and 100 amp hour lithium battery and a built-in Bluetooth controlled heater. The floor length of the Soaring Eagle Aerie 8 is a generous 7 feet 5 inches long, spacious while still allowing the tailgate to be closed and used as a back porch.
8. nuCamp Cirrus 620
nuCamp’s first attempt at building a true half-ton capable truck camper in 2019 failed with the company releasing the now defunct Cirrus 720. But where the Cirrus 720 failed, the brand-new Cirrus 620 succeeds. The Cirrus 620 weighs only 1,491 pounds dry making it an excellent payload match for most 3/4-ton pickups. The floorplan features a refrigerator and a hideaway Thetford swivel cassette toilet on the driver side, a small kitchenette on the passenger side, and a small dinette and north-south queen size bed up front. The interior height is a shade over 6 feet 4 inches. Unfortunately, nuCamp designers were unable to shoe-horn a wetbath into the camper’s diminutive 5-foot 9-inch floorplan though you can still take a shower outside using the company’s excellent Nautilus Water Management System. Standards include a 2.3 cubic foot DC compressor refrigerator, a 19-gallon fresh water holding tank, a 15-gallon grey water holding tank, the all-in-one Alde hydronic water heater and furnace, the Froli Modular Sleep System, one 5 gallon propane tank, a 210 watt solar power system, and a vented battery compartment large enough to hold two group-24 batteries. The general shape of the camper is very reminiscent of the popular and much larger Cirrus 820 model, though you won’t find anything like the 820’s rear bumper and entry steps on this model. The nuCamp Cirrus 620 truck camper lists for a $44,014. Available at top dealerships nationwide.
9. OEV Back Country 6.85
The Back Country 6.85 is one of Canadian-based Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) best selling models. This rugged, well-built, 1,350-pound camper features a proprietary composite construction with R8 insulation, and an aluminum extrusion system to help keep the weight down, while at the same time increasing the strength of the camper and nearly eliminating thermal transfer. The 6-foot 2-inch floorplan features a king-size bed, 6 feet 10 inches of headroom, a large kitchen on the driver side and an L-shape dinette on the passenger side. Features include a 20 gallon fresh water holding tank, a 20-pound propane tank, a Victron group-27 100 amp hour battery, a Dometic CFX DC compressor refrigerator, a Remo Removable Dinette Table, Redarc Manager 30 with display, a Truma AquaGo water heater, and a Truma Vario Heat furnace. The camper also comes with an outside shower enclosure bracket kit with universal adapters, four Reico Titan manual lift jacks, and four Torklift Anchor Guard Derringer tie-downs. Options include a 180 watt solar panel, a 125 amp hour lithium ion battery, and OEV light bar, OEV roof rack, and OEV king-bed extension kit with refrigerator. The Back Country 6.85 is designed specifically for short-bed 3/4-ton trucks like the Chevy Silverado 2500HD and GMC Sierra 2500HD. The Overland Explorer Vehicles Back Country 6.85 lists for $44,888 USD for the base model.
10. Lance 805
What’s old is new again. When Lance, the largest truck camper manufacturer in the world, was looking for a lightweight camper to meet the needs of today’s adventurers and overlanders, it turned to an old classic from the 1970s called the Lance M-350. Indeed, the new Lance 805 resurrects what had been a mainstay in the Lance truck camper catalog for years. Like the original, you won’t find a bathroom in the Lance 805, but you will find the essentials needed to camp comfortably including a porta potty, 10 gallons of fresh water, and 20 gallons grey, yet the new, half-ton camper still retains the layout that made the original M-350 an enduring classic, including a 6-foot countertop—the longest at Lance—a propane cooktop, a U-shaped dinette, a 60×80-inch east-west cabover bed, and a Truma Combi water heater-furnace. The new and improved Lance 805 even includes an optional 23Zero outdoor shower enclosure not found in the original. With a dry weight of only 1,555 pounds, the Lance 805’s size and weight means that better-rated, full-size short-bed and long-bed half-ton pickup trucks can carry it, including the ever popular Ford F-150 pickup. Even better-rated 3/4-ton, diesel equipped trucks like the Ram 2500 and Chevy Silverado 2500HD can safely haul this lightweight, hotel-on-wheels around. With electric jacks, the 23Zero shower enclosure, and the step bracket, the Lance 805 comes in at a svelte 1,635 pounds dry. Lists for only $26,013.
Read This Before You Buy
Before purchasing your camper, make sure your GMC Sierra 2500HD pickup can handle the extra weight. When it comes to hauling a truck camper, the payload rating trumps all other performance numbers including horsepower, fuel-mileage, and torque. For a GMC Sierra 2500HD, this rating can be a low as 3,798 pounds or as high as 4,013 pounds. This means the camper you buy, plus passengers and gear, must be below this number. Determining the payload rating of your GMC Sierra 2500HD is easy. It can be found either on the driver side door jamb sticker (pictured here) or can be determined by taking the truck to the scales and subtracting the weight of the truck from the truck’s GVWR.
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