Anyone know of a conversion company that works with slide-ins and 5th wheels? Not to stir up the weight police; but my F350 Fx4 doesn't handle my 39" center of gravity Lance 1181. I want to tow a motorcycle trailer but I'm starting out in the hole. Looks like it will take a 550 or 5500 chassis cab to do the job. Any suggestions? Thanks!!
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I have an 05 F450 from Classy Chassis. Looks like a regular dually but, the wheel base is longer. They move the rear dually fenders back to the tail lights. I bought this used with 10K miles on it, now has 50K and would buy another from them.
www.classychassis.com
Rich, Fern, Bethany, Justin. 2005 Ford F450,Lariat, 6.0 PSD,CC,DWR,4WD, Air Hitch, 100 Gallon Aux fuel tank.
2007 Cedar Creek Silver Back 35L4QB
Our "Condo in the Woods"
Leave no roller coaster unridden!
Manning Equipment Company in Louisville did a conversion job for me on a 2003 F-450 chassis cab. The way I set it up with the Ford dealer was that he had the assembly plant sent the truck to Manning (located like across the street), Manning mounted a pickup bed (exactly like a Ford bed), rear bumper, fender to fender running boards, Class IV hitch receiver, and a shroud in front of the bed to partially fill the gap (chassis rails are a few inches longer than normal pickup length). Used it both for towing my 37' 5er and my Lance 1181 camper. Manning and Ford do work together well. Be careful about beds, most of the custom pickup beds (like Fontaine which is very nice) have rounded rear corners and a tailgate which will not accommodate a slidein camper. I'm sure there are others, but this worked well. Something you have to be aware of is the fuel tank in my 2003 was in the back, where spare would normally be, thus the fender on the bed from Manning had a second position for fuel fill, located in rear fender.
Harry
With wife Carole 10 yrs fulltiming
Retired U.S. Army
2002 Carriage LS 37' 5er; 2006 Lance 1181
2008 F-450 King Ranch 4x4 fully loaded
2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee toad
SKP # 54751
Geocacher "DosTortugas" Harry's BLOG
SoCalDesertRider wrote: Ford now makes the F450 in a factory pickup. Should have a GVWR of 15,000 lbs and about 2000 lbs more payload than an F350DRW pickup if not mistaken.
I have seen F450/F550 trucks with utility tool box service beds on them, as well as flatbeds, pulling trailers and hauling truck campers too.
I've looked at the F450 P/U versions and they max out at 14.5K vs my 13K and the payload increases about 1K, but still not enough to offset my 39" COG. I would gain a little more capacity, but what would I need later?
HarryWM wrote: Manning Equipment Company in Louisville did a conversion job for me on a 2003 F-450 chassis cab. The way I set it up with the Ford dealer was that he had the assembly plant sent the truck to Manning (located like across the street), Manning mounted a pickup bed (exactly like a Ford bed), rear bumper, fender to fender running boards, Class IV hitch receiver, and a shroud in front of the bed to partially fill the gap (chassis rails are a few inches longer than normal pickup length). Used it both for towing my 37' 5er and my Lance 1181 camper. Manning and Ford do work together well. Be careful about beds, most of the custom pickup beds (like Fontaine which is very nice) have rounded rear corners and a tailgate which will not accommodate a slide-in camper. I'm sure there are others, but this worked well. Something you have to be aware of is the fuel tank in my 2003 was in the back, where spare would normally be, thus the fender on the bed from Manning had a second position for fuel fill, located in rear fender.
Harry,
Your F450 probably handles your 1181 and your toad because you have four down, but have you weighed your hitch weight? I'm worried that my single axle motorcycle trailer might put 400+# on my hitch which would really lighten up my front axle. We have similar rigs, but I thought going to the 550 might be best for the future. Are you satisfied with your 450? What have you added?
HarryWM wrote: Manning Equipment Company in Louisville did a conversion job for me on a 2003 F-450 chassis cab. The way I set it up with the Ford dealer was that he had the assembly plant sent the truck to Manning (located like across the street), Manning mounted a pickup bed (exactly like a Ford bed), rear bumper, fender to fender running boards, Class IV hitch receiver, and a shroud in front of the bed to partially fill the gap (chassis rails are a few inches longer than normal pickup length). Used it both for towing my 37' 5er and my Lance 1181 camper. Manning and Ford do work together well. Be careful about beds, most of the custom pickup beds (like Fontaine which is very nice) have rounded rear corners and a tailgate which will not accommodate a slide-in camper. I'm sure there are others, but this worked well. Something you have to be aware of is the fuel tank in my 2003 was in the back, where spare would normally be, thus the fender on the bed from Manning had a second position for fuel fill, located in rear fender.
Harry,
Your F450 probably handles your 1181 and your toad because you have four down, but have you weighed your hitch weight? I'm worried that my single axle motorcycle trailer might put 400+# on my hitch which would really lighten up my front axle. We have similar rigs, but I thought going to the 550 might be best for the future. Are you satisfied with your 450? What have you added?
That 03, as I recall had a GVWR of 15,000 and a curb weight around 9,000 giving me some 6,000 pounds for load. My camper weighs around 5,500 loaded and the pin weight for the 5er is probably around 6,000 (1/3 of 17,000 5er GVWR). I have not had the camper on this new truck but it handles the 5er just great. I wasn't trying to talk you into an F-450, just to tell you about aftermarket bed for chassis cab. PM me if you want more info.
SoCalDesertRider wrote: Ford now makes the F450 in a factory pickup. Should have a GVWR of 15,000 lbs and about 2000 lbs more payload than an F350DRW pickup if not mistaken.
I have seen F450/F550 trucks with utility tool box service beds on them, as well as flatbeds, pulling trailers and hauling truck campers too.
I've looked at the F450 P/U versions and they max out at 14.5K vs my 13K and the payload increases about 1K, but still not enough to offset my 39" COG. I would gain a little more capacity, but what would I need later?
Hmmm... Chassis-cab with an 84" cab-to-axle length would take care of that center of gravity problem .
SoCalDesertRider wrote: Ford now makes the F450 in a factory pickup. Should have a GVWR of 15,000 lbs and about 2000 lbs more payload than an F350DRW pickup if not mistaken.
I have seen F450/F550 trucks with utility tool box service beds on them, as well as flatbeds, pulling trailers and hauling truck campers too.
I've looked at the F450 P/U versions and they max out at 14.5K vs my 13K and the payload increases about 1K, but still not enough to offset my 39" COG. I would gain a little more capacity, but what would I need later?
Hmmm... Chassis-cab with an 84" cab-to-axle length would take care of that center of gravity problem .
I need to know what the rear-to-axle length is because the camper COG is fixed at 39" from the rear to the front on a P/U bed.
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