This 5,538 Pound Truck-Camper Is So Massive It Has To Be Hauled By A Ram 5500 - The Autopian (2024)

Every day I comb the internet for awesome, weird, or frankly outrageous RV finds. Usually, I land on some rare fiberglass unit or sometimes even one of many startups. Every once in a while, I find something so ridiculous that I’m just amazed that it even exists. I think today’s find matches that. This is the 2023 Rugged Mountain RV Denali 3S. It’s a truck camper with some mind-boggling numbers. It weighs 5,538 pounds, carries 80 gallons of water, and when loaded, the manufacturer says you’ll need a Ram 5500 flatbed or equivalent just to haul it.

By reader request, I’ve been getting into truck campers lately. I grew up traveling around the country with travel trailers and motorhomes, so I don’t have as much experience with truck campers. However, this is a popular segment of the RV industry. When the RV industry began slowing down last year, buyers still flocked to camper vans and truck slide-ins. As I’ve said before, vans and truck campers tend to be more maneuverable than a travel trailer or motorhome. Many people already own trucks, too, so they can buy a camper that slides right into their own truck’s bed.

Well, that’s how a truck camper usually works, anyway. As I saw at the 2023 Florida RV SuperShow, some truck campers are mammoth creations. For example, the three-slide beast that is the Host Campers Yukon 11.6 weighs in at 4,791 pounds depending on options. That’s solidly in Ford F-350 territory. If that’s not big enough, you can pick up a 2023 Rugged Mountain RV Denali 3S (above), which weighs 5,538 all by itself.

The company doesn’t provide a loaded weight, but the camper carries tanks holding up to 192 gallons of water and waste. Assuming 8 pounds per gallon, that’s another 1,536 pounds of weight for a total of 7,074 pounds. That’s before adding the optional ten house batteries for another 450 pounds, 74 pounds in propane tanks, the tongue weight of a trailer you might want to tow, and finally, any gear you may want to carry. This is why Rugged Mountain RV says you’ll need a Chevy Silverado 5500HD, Ford F-550, or a Ram 5500 to carry it.

What Is Rugged Mountain RV?

This company is a newer name in the RV world. Rugged Mountain RV says it opened in 2014 as a manufacturer of travel trailers before pivoting to truck campers in November 2016. While it’s a newer company, Rugged Mountain says its professionals have over 20 years of experience in building truck campers. According to Truck Camper Magazine, Rugged Mountain stands out from the crowd by designing its interiors to resemble a house, not a camper. We’ll get into the interior later, but check this out:

Indeed, this interior looks like it was ripped right out of an expensive house from a new development.

Anyway, Rugged Mountain RV was founded by Jesse and Anca Collinsworth, a pair of long-time truck camper owners. According to an interview in Truck Camper Magazine, Rugged Mountain first started off by making traditional non-slide and single-slide truck campers. Then, the pair had a second child and felt that there wasn’t a truck camper on the market that truly fit them. They felt that the existing multi-slide truck campers on the market were designed more for retired couples, not families. So, they embarked on designing their own triple-slide camper built with family in mind. The result is the Rugged Mountain Denali 3S flatbed truck camper, which has features like a bunk bed for children and a door to access the bathroom when the slides are closed.

The Denali 3S

The Rugged Mountain RV Denali 3S is a flatbed camper. This means you’ll need a truck that doesn’t have a typical bed. Instead, you’ll need a service flatbed installed by an upfitter. The camper then sits on that flatbed. Jesse, the designer of the Denali 3S, says that the camper is wood-framed. Photos provided to Truck Camper Magazine show the Denali 3S decked out top to bottom in wood, which is a bit different. The magazine correctly points out that the industry standard for campers with slides is to use aluminum framing. Why is Rugged Mountain going with an all-wood design?

Well, Jesse said, from Truck Camper Magazine:

I’m going to call the other manufacturers out.

Why are they even using aluminum? I’m okay saying this because they are stuffing their aluminum frames with so much wood. Any place that’s load-bearing has aluminum stuffed with wood. If you’re doing that, what’s the point of using aluminum? It’s just adding unnecessary weight. Also, wood is an insulator whereas the metal they use is a conductor.

Later, Jesse explains how his company constructs each camper, from Truck Camper Magazine:

Our Denali series has 1.5-inch walls. We made the frame and walls thicker because most of the walls are consumed by the three slides. The wall that is there needs a lot of structure.

Since we are a wood-framed camper, I used 1.5-inch thick 2x4s and 2x6s on the sidewalls. This is the same thickness we use in our Granite series to support the corner jacks.

In a traditional slide-in, the floor cross members take the load-bearing weight. That changes when you design a flatbed model. It’s actually easier to build a flatbed because you don’t need to incorporate the truck bed rail. The structure can go all the way to the flatbed because the basem*nt and floor sit on the flatbed.

In the Denali 3S, the load-bearing structure goes all the way from the roof to the flatbed. The cross members for the floor supports are 3/4-inch plywood with an 8-inch width. That’s why we don’t require a heavy double floor like the traditional slide-in triple-slides do.

A huge benefit of this approach is that our heated basem*nt also heats the floor. To make the Denali 3S even stronger and better insulated, the interior paneling is spray foam insulated.

Jesse goes on to say that his use of spray foam insulation is in part for strength. The spray foam is said to bond the entire structure together from stud to stud. Jesse also touts the insulation benefits of spray foam, saying that it essentially makes the Rugged Mountain camper airtight. Of course, being airtight can cause condensation buildup, so the Denali 3S has thermal dual pane acrylic windows that can crack open to let the camper “breathe.” Helping to keep water out of the camper is a PVC roof and a fiberglass front cap.

Tons Of Features

The Denali 3S measures 20 feet, 6 inches. You get an interior height of 6 feet, 8 inches, and packed in that space are a ton of features. You’re getting 80 gallons for fresh water, 77 gallons for gray water, and 35 gallons for waste. The slide for the kitchen is 7 feet while the slide for the dining room is 6 feet. One more slide is situated in the rear and that one is 5 feet long. Rugged Mountain RV doesn’t say what the total floorspace adds up to, but it looks even more roomy than a Host camper.

The interior features an air-conditioner, a forced air furnace, and a full kitchen. Rugged Mountain says that the kitchen appliances are stainless steel and you get hardwood cabinet doors. Other interior features include a peel-and-stick backsplash, a stereo, a skylight, and Congoleum flooring. Really, the interior goodies of this camper aren’t much to write home about; you can get this stuff in other campers. Even the kitchen’s island, which is really neat, can be found in travel trailers nowadays.

What’s incredible here is the basem*nt. Since this is a flatbed camper, Rugged Mountain RV has a massive 12-foot, 11-inch basem*nt area under the floor for storage. Rugged Mountain RV says that from five feet forward, the basem*nt holds the camper’s tanks and batteries. You can fill the camper with ten Group 27 batteries, three 360 Ah batteries, or up to 1,080 Ah of batteries in total. The company does note that the basem*nt is heated, which means that the floor is also heated.

Rugged Mountain says it offers up to 400 Ah of batteries and the camper can support up to 1,050 W of solar power.

Lots Of Weight

All of this adds up to a base weight of 5,538 pounds. As I said before, when you start filling up the tanks and checking options, you’re looking at well over 7,500 pounds, and that’s before you even hitch a trailer to the back or throw your family into the truck’s cab. That’s why Jesse says that a Class 5 truck is absolutely necessary for this camper.

Also big is the cost. On the surface, this isn’t as crazy expensive as many of the RVs we’ve seen. The 2023 Rugged Mountain Denali 3S starts at $74,900 and Jesse says if you check every option, you’ll max out at $125,000. If you don’t already have one, you’ll need a dual rear wheel Class 5 truck. A Ram 5500 in the necessary configuration is about $56,985 before options. You’ll then need a flatbed installed, and Rugged Mountain recommends CM Truck Beds, which offers a non-skirted model for $6,000. Jesse expects customers to spend $80,000 or more on the truck.

So, unless you already have a Ford F-550 or similar on hand, this is a camper that will set you back six figures, if not a couple of multiples of six figures. But out of the other end, you’ll get an absolute beast of a camper to take your family on a trip with.

I do love some of the ideas at work here. I wish more campers had a residential-style interior design. Having easy access to the bathroom and beds is also a huge plus. But I’m not so sure about how huge the whole thing is.

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