(Edit- I'll have to work on the pictures later. Not sure why not displaying)
My fishing hobby has turned into a camping and fishing hobby, but after seeing a buddy's set-up fishing Bouy-10 in the Columbia this year, I decided a truck camper was the way to go. First step was to realize my 07 Chevy 1500 wasn't up to the task. After shopping around for awhile I ended up trading my commuter car in on a used 01 F-350 PSD Crew Cab SRW long bed. I did add new E-Rated, 10 plys and homemade "TorkLift" style tie downs. Figured that should do it, now I can look for a camper, but cost of the truck really bit into my camper money. Ideally was looking for 8-9' camper since the towing the boat was a concern, but an aquaintance of mine put me onto a 1991 Fleetwood Caribou. The previous owner (the 2nd) kept it inside and it was very clean, everything worked and he worked in the industry so I trusted him. He was towing a bigger boat than mine on an F-250 and assured me it would be no problem. Although bigger than I was looking for, the price was right, and it's a darn nice camper.
Took it out last weekend for a test overnighter to Fort Stevens near Astoria. I have NO truck camper experience, but am a very cautious driver and am used to towing a boat and other loads. I drive a truck, like a truck, not a car. The outfit didn't seem to sway, but i could tell it was very heavy. Dry wieght is listed at 2400, I had both holding tanks approx 1/2 full (thanks old owner) and about 1/2 tank on the water. The campers does sag the rear of the truck just a little bit, maybe 1-2". On the way, I decided to hit a wieght station and was shocked!
- Listed: GVWR 9900#, GW-Front Axle 5200#, GW-Rear Axle 6830#
- Actual GVWR of truck only...unknown, need to weigh it without camper
- Actual wieghed GVWR 11750#! (11500# on the way back after emptying tanks)
- Actual Axle Weights: Front 5000#, Rear 6750#
As you can see I'm about 1800# over GVWR, but still under the axle and tire maximums (barely). Truck squeks a lot, and as you can see from the picture below, the overloads are engaged, and spring pack has no "bow" left in it. I'm planning on keeping this set-up unless you all say I'm a crazy, danger to society driving this rig.
Questions:
- Am I crazy with regards to this set-up, and MUST upgrade the truck or look for a pop-up camper?
- I've ordered some Air Lift Load Lifter 5000's to try and take some load off the springs. Realize I might need to keep overloads at least touching, but thinking some more spring action might help it ride a bit nicer. Am I correct?
- The truck is also my hunting, towing rig, so adding big springs is not ideal for when camper is off truck. Does this make sense?
- General suggestions about this set-up and keeping it all running good and safe?
- Would you recommned a weight distribution hitch for the boat when I get to that stage? As you can see I'm close to max axle rating already, and not very familiar with these hitches.
Still working on the boat towing portion of this project, that has been put off until I feel better about the camper only set-up.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
-= Scott
* This post was
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1991 Fleetwood Caribou 11'
2001 F-350 Crew Cab
2007 North River Seahawk - Still figuring how to tow it with the camper!
Scott_PDX wrote: First post on this forum, so be kind
(Edit- I'll have to work on the pictures later. Not sure why not displaying)
My fishing hobby has turned into a camping and fishing hobby, but after seeing a buddy's set-up fishing Bouy-10 in the Columbia this year, I decided a truck camper was the way to go. First step was to realize my 07 Chevy 1500 wasn't up to the task. After shopping around for awhile I ended up trading my commuter car in on a used 01 F-350 PSD Crew Cab SRW long bed. I did add new E-Rated, 10 plys and homemade "TorkLift" style tie downs. Figured that should do it, now I can look for a camper, but cost of the truck really bit into my camper money. Ideally was looking for 8-9' camper since the towing the boat was a concern, but an aquaintance of mine put me onto a 1991 Fleetwood Caribou. The previous owner (the 2nd) kept it inside and it was very clean, everything worked and he worked in the industry so I trusted him. He was towing a bigger boat than mine on an F-250 and assured me it would be no problem. Although bigger than I was looking for, the price was right, and it's a darn nice camper.
Took it out last weekend for a test overnighter to Fort Stevens near Astoria. I have NO truck camper experience, but am a very cautious driver and am used to towing a boat and other loads. I drive a truck, like a truck, not a car. The outfit didn't seem to sway, but i could tell it was very heavy. Dry wieght is listed at 2400, I had both holding tanks approx 1/2 full (thanks old owner) and about 1/2 tank on the water. The campers does sag the rear of the truck just a little bit, maybe 1-2". On the way, I decided to hit a wieght station and was shocked!
- Listed: GVWR 9900#, GW-Front Axle 5200#, GW-Rear Axle 6830#
- Actual GVWR of truck only...unknown, need to weigh it without camper
- Actual wieghed GVWR 11750#! (11500# on the way back after emptying tanks)
- Actual Axle Weights: Front 5000#, Rear 6750#This with only two tires rated at 3,042 pounds each!
You are lucky it was not a hot day, and the tires stayed together!
As you can see I'm about 1800# over GVWR, but still under the axle and tire maximums (barely). Truck squeks a lot, and as you can see from the picture below, the overloads are engaged, and spring pack has no "bow" left in it. I'm planning on keeping this set-up unless you all say I'm a crazy, danger to society driving this rig.
Questions:
- Am I crazy with regards to this set-up, and MUST upgrade the truck or look for a pop-up camper?
- I've ordered some Air Lift Load Lifter 5000's to try and take some load off the springs. Realize I might need to keep overloads at least touching, but thinking some more spring action might help it ride a bit nicer. Am I correct?
- The truck is also my hunting, towing rig, so adding big springs is not ideal for when camper is off truck. Does this make sense?
- General suggestions about this set-up and keeping it all running good and safe?
- Would you recommned a weight distribution hitch for the boat when I get to that stage? As you can see I'm close to max axle rating already, and not very familiar with these hitches.
Still working on the boat towing portion of this project, that has been put off until I feel better about the camper only set-up.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
-= Scott
Hi,
You need to put a height and width in the pictures when you post them.
This is what I added to your post to get them to fit.
height=410 width=550
You can click "Quote" for my post, and see what the post should look like.
The SRW F-350 from 2000 - 2004 have a GVWR of only 9,900 pounds, and after 2005, with larger tires and rims, and higher weight rating on both, the GVWR went up as high as 12,000 pounds. It also included larger disk brakes.
So if you have a heavy camper, and want to carry it with a SRW, then you need a 2005 and later. But that still might not be enough weight capacity, if you also want to include the water, camping gear, food, and people into the truck weight.
So you might be stuck buying a dually. Check the GVWR first. And it is best to take your total weight, then subtract your empty truck weight, and see how much that darn camper is! Add about 1,500 - 2,000 pounds for camping stuff and people, the dog, bikes, ect. and you should be good to go with that weight rating.
Remember the heavier truck is also going to have a higher curb weight too - in most cases. Also a gas pickup is normally 400 pounds lower curb weight than the equal truck with a diesel engine.
Sure you can drive the truck overloaded, but is it smart? Not really.
The tires are only rated at 3,042 pounds each, and you almost have the front axle overloaded, the rear axle and tires are so much overloaded it is not funny!
It looks fine to me...........the numbers are good. If it feels good when you drive it, stop worrying and enjoy it. You'll get all kinds of answers on here, but only you knows how it feels...if you have a TC you're going to be overweight...If it feels good , do it!! ...............TD
If I had the truck, I would probably start with Stable Loads from Tork Lift to get the overloads to engage quicker. From there you can decide if you need further mods. If you have very little sway, you might not need airbags. As far as weight goes, I try to always drive my truck/camper combo dry if possible, that cuts down on the weight considerably.
2008 Dodge Ram 2500 QC 4x4 - HEMI
2004 Northern Lite Ten-2000 CD
1998 Glastron GS 180 SF w/ Merc 150 HP Tizi's Transformer by whazoo
Wow, you are me 2 years ago! Stable loads are a great start. Does your truck have a rear sway bar? If not I would make that next, then shocks. I would do air bags as a last resort and would put Timbrens ahead of the air bags. Wait till you get to the hitch and extension!
Have fun and break out you check book.
1999 F350 4WD CC SRW V-10, 4.30 Tow Package, HD Camper Package.
1999 Northstar TS1000, Torque Lift tie downs with Fastguns.
2006 Triton Frontier 17 with 60hp Merc 4 stroke tiller.
2003 Lance 1010.
My weights are real close to yours. I went with Super Spring Sway Stops to engage the overloads earlier. This is key since a lot of the roll can be stopped with the overloads. Air bags are good if you know how to use them. Over inflating them causes more problems with sway and that tipsy feeling. I only inflate mine to 25psi (I have an in cab controller with gauge) and after the TC sits in the bed the psi raises to about 50. Between 45-50 psi is my sweet spot for load leveling and weight carrying. Quality “E” rated tires will get he job done, I went banana’s and got Rickson wheels and “H” rated tires (6395 lbs rated) just to be sure. I had worn out “E” tires before the upgrade and was not unhappy with them. After market sway bars are available along with adjustable shocks as needed or required. Everyone’s set up is different, there is no one fix all. Also, everyone has a different comfort level driving with the TC on. Even a lot of dually drivers on these forums have ride/leveling enhancements on their trucks. After my upgrades I can honestly say it is a pleasure to drive with my TC, and it’s a honker. You can do it, you are within reason of the abilities of your trucks running gear, you just need to dial it in!
2000 F-350 7.3L PSD Super Cab 4x4 SB SRW 2006 Lance 861
(Slideout, Solar, Gen, etc.)
Air Bags/In Cab Cntl, XL 9000's,
Roadmaster Sway Bar, Rickson's
trapperdick wrote: if you have a TC you're going to be overweight...If it feels good , do it!! ...............TD
Not always true. There are some on here that are not overweight. I have about 4200# left before I reach my 17950# GVWR on the F550.
To the OP,
Scott, welcome to the forum.
I guess I'm one of the few that is going to say that is a lot of weight. 11500# with the tanks empty (water is 8.3# per gallon) and then you are going to add a boat to it and cause more weight on the truck. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.
This is IMO
Butch
2006 F550 CC 4X4 Lariat PSD/Torqshift Dark Shadow Metalic Grey
2009 Excel Limited (sold)
2009 Arctic Fox 1140
2006 Dodge 3500 Laramie 4X4 QC SB SRW/Cummins Jake exhaust brake
Golden_HVAC - Thanks for the tip on resizing graphics first, I'll work on that next time. Personally I like big pictures. I was wrong on the rear axle GW, it's 6830, the same as my tires, so I'm actually a little bit under weight in the rear so hopefully my tires are being overloaded. My math was wrong they are good for 3415# each at 80 psi, which is what I'm going to run.
Saggys - I don't think there is a rear swaybar on there, unless they look a lot different that a front sway bar. I'll have to look close in the daylight and add that to the list along with Shocks as I can do it.
Other than being a little "rough riding", there was very little sway, but then again I took corners at the suggested speeds and slowed down for turns etc. It didn't feel unsafe on the first voyage. I felt more apprehensive that I might be doing damage to the truck then I did about it being unsafe to drive. I feel better about the capabilities of the truck now, and will just to be sure to continue to drive safely in addition to the recommended mods.
You're alright as long as you're under both axle ratings, but you're very, very close!
If it were my truck, I would-
Add another leaf the rear main leaf spring packs and a second leaf to the overloads too. Any local spring shop can do this.
Add the rear sway bar if it doesn't have it.
Swap to polyurethane bushings for both front and rear sway bars and the front axle tracking arm too. Energy Suspension and Prothane both make polyurethane bushing kits for your truck. The kits are cheap, about $25 per axle for the sway bars and $20 for the tracking arm. Very easy to put on.
Put on Bilstein HD or Rancho 9000X shocks.
DEFINATELY run the rear tires at their max 80 psi. You're right at the max limit for the rear tires. I would think about swapping to 285/75-16E's on 16x8 wheels. My BFG AT's in 285-E size have 3750 lb rating. I went with 4000 lb rated heavy duty steel 16x8 wheels from Stockton Wheel. You'll have alot more safety margin with 285-E's than your 265-E's. 285's will fit on the truck without any modifications.
My F350 SRW weighs close to 11,000 lbs with 3500-4000 lbs in the bed and 6500-7000 lbs on the rear axle, depending on how I have the truck loaded and 7000-7500 lbs with the trailer connected, depending on how I have the trailer loaded. I put on Bilstein shocks, poly bushings all around, heavy duty 8600 lb/pair rear springs and the aforementioned tires and wheels. Truck sits level and rides firm and solid on the road. The tires handle the load very well.
* This post was
edited 10/23/09 12:07am by SoCalDesertRider *
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...............TD
