Loading a truck camper can be a daunting and frustrating task! You may find you have only a few inches between the legs of your camper and the side of your truck. This can cause you to try to use all sorts of methods to make sure your truck is centered under your camper. However, as RV experts, we’ve got tips for loading a truck camper for you. These tips will hopefully make the process go smoothly and quickly!

This guy has an awesome video with tips for loading a truck camper. We’ve broken out some of his tips below, but we definitely recommend checking out the video too!

Before loading, make sure to raise the legs of your camper up high enough to get your truck under it. Depending on where you’ve stored your camper you may be able to raise all 4 legs at once, if it’s on flat ground, or you may have to raise the front, then the back, etc. Always try to keep the front of the camper a little bit higher than the back if you can.

If you use wooden boards in the back of your truck to help with camper spacing, add these now.

First, you need a little math. You need to find the center of the truck camper and mark it. (the portion that sits in the truck bed).  Once you’ve done that, measure from the center of the pickup bed to the inside edge of your bed rail. Let’s assume this is 40 inches. Then, measure from the center of the truck camper 40 inches out towards the driver’s side. Mark this spot on your truck camper with tape – duct tape or blue painter’s tape, for instance. Once you do this, you know when you start backing up that your truck camper is centered in the truck bed as long as the inside edge of your tape and the bed rail line up.

Tip #2 for loading a truck camper

Next, if you have someone with you, have them stand in front of the truck.  As you’re backing, their job is to look at the top of the truck camper and the center of your truck (use the rearview mirror as a guide). This person’s job is to help make sure the truck camper is centered in the truck bed (side to side centered). If you can, use the logo of the camper and line it up with the rearview mirror. If not, you might also consider measuring and marking the center of the camper here too.

More tips

Before you back all the way under the truck make sure to plug in power cord that runs from your truck camper to your truck. The plug is usually located in your truck bed and so once you have the truck camper fully loaded you WILL NOT be able to plug/unplug this easily. This is a tip for loading a truck camper that we don’t want you to miss!

Make a quick look around the entire truck and ensure everything looks good, nothing is hitting where it shouldn’t be, etc. Make sure your spacing boards are upright and then go ahead and back all the way under the camper. Now you can start lowering the legs. Don’t be afraid if you hear a few groans as the camper settles into the truck bed.

Ready to start shopping? Check out our selection of truck campers here.