mooring product
Pompano Beach Florida
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Joined: 05/08/2011
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I had built my truck for mild off road when I purchased it. It has a custom 4" lift. The front springs are military grade from National Spring and the rear is F350 springs with F450 block. The shocks are custom valved from Truck Toyz. I also upgraded the sway bar bushing with Energy Suspension and Moog products.
I had 35" tires on it before but went down to a 33" when I got the camper. The 33" handle better.
I will eventually be going down to a 2 1/2 inch lift when I get enough money saved.
If I were you I would go with a 35 inch tire and leveling kit.
Pete
2012 RAM 3500 Mega DRW. Stable Loads and Torklift tiedowns.
2006 Lance 881 Max.
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recycler
michigan
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Joined: 02/15/2012
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if your truck is 98 up 35s will fit no lift...
alot of lift and a tc would not be good..
and as been posted you can go most places with stock truck if you want proof of of someone going some hard core place is stock vech look on youtube is videos on there of a guy doing the baby loin's back in moab in a crown vic
* This post was
edited 05/03/12 07:51am by recycler *
1968 franklin 11fk
93 d250 cummins
99 f550
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tilemantim
Santa Rosa,Ca
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Joined: 10/31/2010
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Remember if you lift it you will need to widen the track. The lift on my Chevy is a bit different than what you would use, it is 4" Rancho which widens the track by about 1.5" per side, and with the offset on the aftermarket wheels they add about another 1.5". In my opinion the truck rides and handles way better than stock. I helps that I'm running Rancho 9000's and not riding on those stock pizza cutter tires.
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mkirsch
Rochester, NY
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Joined: 04/09/2004
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Wait... I said this exact same stuff to someone a while back and got attacked by the, 'I have an 12" lift and 42" tires and a 5000lb camper and it handles it JUST FINE,' crowd.
How dare I warn the OP that handling might be affected? How dare I warn the OP that load capacity of the truck might be affected? Why, I'm just a wannabe weight police and an idiot for thinking that I need a dually for a 1500lb camper!
Where's all the guys to reassure the OP that he'll be "JUST FINE" with his big lift kit and gigundo camper?
2002 Chevy 3500 DRW 8.1L/Allison
2000 Palomino B1500
...and the reason why I need a DRW to haul a Palomino:
2004 United 7x14 tandem axle enclosed toy trailer
2011 PJ 8x20 7-ton deckover equipment trailer
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saltamontes
la, ca
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Joined: 05/06/2004
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w/ a hardside TC offroad, it rocks around a lot and you have to be careful to protect the camper and truck bed where they come into contact. Otherwise the truck bed will be dented and the camper's exterior damaged when things start to shift, rock & roll (been there, done that). Since the weight of hardside and popups are typ. comparable, its the higher COG of the hardsides that cause this excessive movement. Camper manufacturers do not take this into account when they build a TC they think is only going to see pavement and the occasional class 1 fireroad which is why the camper's front "bumpers" are so inadaquate.
overhang on the rear is also a big prob w/ many TC's offroad. Lots of damage possible when you hang up a rear wing or jack on a rock.
also think about your tiedowns when offroad. heavy camper and happijacks/bumper mounts do not fare well when the tiedowns are tight and you hit some whoops at speed.
i guess my point is that a leveled truck will get you everywhere you should go w/ a hardside as long as you design the truck/camper interface well and have a TC w/out excessive overhang (lots of guys remove the rear jacks). A 4+" lift makes a truck capable of doing roads most would not want to do w/ a 3k lb, tall hardside in the back. Also, when boonie-bashing one of these things, lightweight is your friend (less mass = less movement = less inertia of sway = less damage).
07 f350 srw shortbed 4x4
06 Northern-Lite 8'11" Q
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Francesca Knowles
Port Hadlock, Washington
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Joined: 02/23/2011
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mkirsch wrote:
Where's all the guys to reassure the OP that he'll be "JUST FINE" with his big lift kit and gigundo camper?
They're all dead or in jail.
Or both.
" Not every mind that wanders is lost. " With apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien
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big whitey
raleigh,nc
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Joined: 03/21/2011
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a different unmentioned issue is the distance from the camper door to the ground, can you say holy bunch of wobbly steps to climb batman.
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mooring product
Pompano Beach Florida
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With my Lance its not bad at all getting in and out.
Lance 881 at Lake Oceechobee by MooringProduct, on Flickr
The only issue is the nose high look. The truck is level when unloaded so when I load the camper it looks like Im going to pop a wheelie. If I add air to the bags it pulls the overloads off the stableloads.
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rehoppe
Denver & Nathrop Colo or somewhere else
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Joined: 01/30/2009
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I think I'd take a wait and see attitude. Get the camper you like/can live with. Put it on the truck and go camping, if it needs leveling do it with stuff that can be reused IF you decide to do the lift. This way you get to feel the load, power, and road clearance, pretty much stock. That will give you a much better feel for how/what/if, for Mods
Depending on the current gearing, you may not want to lower the gearing ratio with 35"ers. But you may want to add some to the height, or maybe not. COG vs. Stability vs. comfort level with a Hardside TC is certainly a personal preference, for the most part. Depending on 'where' can be a serious consideration as far as 'sway' is concerned. You'll hate yourself in the morning if you slap a tree or rock with the camper, or a truck body panel. Don't ask!
Why spend $s on an if come? You can always spend them later, as wanted/needed.
Hoppe
2011 Dodge 1500 C'boy Caddy
2000 Jayco C 28' Ford chassis w V-10 E450
Doghouse 36' or so Trophy Classic TT
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zman-az
Northern AZ
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Joined: 03/06/2006
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I assume the lift and larger tires is just for looks. Then you want to put a camper on it. I have several lifted vehicles and the older I got the less I appreciated the large tires and lift. Just makes getting in and out of the vehicle a chore. I assume you are rather young, if not you will probably regret the larger tires in the long run. Not familiar with your truck, but you probably could get by with a mild lift, some aggressive 33" tires and still have a nice looking truck. The larger the lift the more issues. Your steering will suffer, a wider stance will throw mud all over the sides of your truck and the inside if you like to drive with your window down. As mentiond larger tires and you should regear that truck (about $1500). Also large tires mean the brakes don't work as well. I would look at some Ford forums regarding lifting your truck as you will get more people with real experience to help lift your truck.
As far as camper choice I love my 4 Wheel Camper. It is a pop up but I love the low center of gravity, light weight and rugged construction. It's loaded with fridge, , hot water, heater, outside shower and queen sized bed. Even threw a solar panel on it for my boondocking trips. Setup time for the roof is done in seconds. They also sell a artic kit for cold weather.
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