I think one is including people and the other is not. From what I remember, it's 4 x 150, or something like that. FWIW, the GVWR - vehicle weight is 4050 based on the sticker on my body.
'06 F350 Lariat Supercab SRW, 6.0 PSD 4x4 Long Bed, Intake Elbow, Walker Big Truck Muffler. '06 Host Rainer 950 Double Slide, Fastguns. Firestone Air Bags, Rancho 9000s, Vision 19.5s with Hankook DH-01 245s, Energy Suspension bump stops.
Seems there are several "little" things I could do based on the good advice given- better shocks, rickson 19.5" wheels and stiffer tires, etc. But my truck may still be undersized for my 990.
Seems that a more expensive but better chance for success route is a real dually conversion- the correct axel and spring package. I have too much into my 08 truck with 41000 miles. Cant afford to sell it- and I bought it new so know its history- versus buying a different used truck. I think getting set up as a dually done right is my best chance for success.
I have heard people say that for a real dually conversion I would need to change out the axel and spring package. Does anyone know if there is anything else on my truck that doesnt match up with the 1 ton stock dually- ie the frame of the truck?? Has anybody heard of anyone who does these conversions?
Hey Jim. My truck with a full tank of fuel and me sitting in the drivers seat is just under 6800lbs. My truck with me in the drivers seat with a full tank of fuel and the camper loaded is right at 10900. I have weighed the truck on the same scale numerous times over the years as they are my local supply for gravel and stone which I buy to fill holes on my lane twice a year. My camper is loaded well minus a generator. So check my math... I too was surprised when I saw the numbers. Much heavier than I expected.
As others have mentioned, too much air in the air bags will increase your sway. At what PSI are you running them? You may also want to consider heading to a spring shop and having them set you up with steel designed to handle that load. I'm also curious if you've been to the scales and what your running for tires. Finally, not sure about Dodge, but for GM the 3/4 ton only uses the same rear axle as the 1 ton if you have the diesel. The gas 3/4 uses a lighter axle. Tires/wheels, stiffer spring pack and shocks would be my suggestions.
The last thing I did was replace the front bar with a Roadmaster and it also helped a lot, see my sig for the other mods. If I needed more I'd go to 19.5's they can carry so much load that you dont have to run them at max pressure.
Seems there are several "little" things I could do based on the good advice given- better shocks, rickson 19.5" wheels and stiffer tires, etc. But my truck may still be undersized for my 990.
Seems that a more expensive but better chance for success route is a real dually conversion- the correct axel and spring package. I have too much into my 08 truck with 41000 miles. Cant afford to sell it- and I bought it new so know its history- versus buying a different used truck. I think getting set up as a dually done right is my best chance for success.
I have heard people say that for a real dually conversion I would need to change out the axel and spring package. Does anyone know if there is anything else on my truck that doesnt match up with the 1 ton stock dually- ie the frame of the truck?? Has anybody heard of anyone who does these conversions?
If your truck is an F350SRW, you would need the rear axle (Dana 80), rear spring packs and u-bolts, overload springs and frame brackets with grade-8 bolts, rear sway bar and end links, front hubs, front coil springs, hydroboost brake booster system and master cylinder, 7 dually wheels and 32 new swiveling lug nuts, 7 new tires, dually fenders for the bed, cab roof running lights and wiring, rear center running lights and wiring, rear fender running lights and wiring, all from a similar year F350DRW pickup.
I would say you're looking at about $7000 in parts to do the complete conversion, if you do all the work yourself. You may be able to sell your old parts and re-coup some of the parts money expense.
It would be far easier and cost effective to just to sell your truck and buy a similar year dually. Likely, you can get a similar year dually in similar condition for about the same amount of money as you can sell your truck, if both trucks are bought/sold private party. Or, you can trade it in at a dealer and take a small hit.
jimh425 wrote: I think one is including people and the other is not. From what I remember, it's 4 x 150, or something like that. FWIW, the GVWR - vehicle weight is 4050 based on the sticker on my body.
Is the 4050 vehicle weight you refer to is the camper? The reason I ask is I have the same truck and it weighs 7980 lbs. I also have a pretty big camper on a srw and find it handles very good,but reading all the stuff on this site over the years always make me "nervous" when ever I load up. In your humble opinion how do you like the way yours handles? I sometimes get the feeling that people expect them to handle like sports cars which isn't going to happen. I would be interested to hear what your comfort rating is. Love those Host's by the way!!
Two suggestions for helping the sway, and they have both been suggested already.
1) Rickson 9000XL shocks at all 4 corners
2) Not too much air in the airbags.
My Chevy 2500HD has overload springs and I air up to the point where the overloads are almost touching. After checking #1 and #2 off your list, if problems still persist, consider getting overload springs or other additional spring support.
I had a similar problem but it wasn't too bad, the new shocks really helped a lot (for me).
Tamnative wrote: Is the 4050 vehicle weight you refer to is the camper?
No, it is GVWR-vehicle weight. However, the camper weight is probably not much off from that with the amount of water I carry and gear.
My camper/truck combo is super stable as outfitted now. I remember driving it for the first time, without the mods shortly after loading it and it felt very shaky compared to the empty truck. I think that was due to relatively low tire pressure and a full tank of water. In my case, that's almost 500 lbs! Still, I drove it to on a 500 mile road trip shortly after with no issues, and that was stock.
I have absolutely no concerns at any speeds that I'm wanting to drive which is up to 70 or sometimes a little over for short periods. I'd say really, really comfortable. It would be hard to imagine that a stock DRW could be better.
It would be hard to determine which mod made the best improvement, but my guess is the bump stops for ease of the mod and less than $100.
Since I have Vision wheels, it is a somewhat wider stance on front and rear because the wheel offsets are less. I use approximately 15 lbs more pressure in the front and rear at 80 fr and 95 rear. The tires are also a lot more stiff sidewalls with more plys. The shocks are better with the adjustability. The bump stops help with sway, and the air bags and bump stops provide two more pressure points.
The only thing that I can say bad is that the 19.5s tend to track on some roads either loaded or unloaded although 80fr/95rear with camper makes it a lot less. I've noticed that my Mustang does the same thing with my 20s at 45 lbs.
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