camper hauling questions - Diesel Forum

whittier · 12-14-2009, 03:43 AM

I am in going to be in the market for a camper for my 1995 F250 xcab PSD. How much camper (weightwise) can I safely haul on my truck? Would adding air bags be helpful? Are there any other aftermarket modifications that would make it safer? It seems to me that campers are a lot heavier these days (3,000+ dry weight) and I don't want to make the mistake of getting something that is too heavy for my truck to safely haul. I'll also be towing a boat that when loaded with gear and crap weighs 1200 lbs. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

beartoo · 12-14-2009, 06:29 AM

I would check out RV you'll find all kinds of answers there.

dieselfreak09 · 12-14-2009, 09:46 AM

Do you have a trailer in mind that you are thinking of....as long as you are within you weights on the truck you shound be fine.....if you are going for a trailer that you hitch on a ball i would suggest that you go with a good sway/weight distribution hicth eg: reese dual cam,equlizer

Good luck

Larry S. · 12-14-2009, 12:07 PM

Its hard to not overload a F250, with a camper, if you go by Ford's recommendations. I found Ford rated my 95, similar to my 97, at a little over 1500 lbs. That being said, I went with a 9 foot self contained slide-in that has a wet weight, with all options, of 2700 lbs. Overall this camper and truck handles better and has better brakes than my Wife's 2001 E350 dually based motorhome. That motorhome is lighter and has a lower CG than my pickup with camper. I would not go much heavier. Shop around and you can find new lightweight campers of comparable weight. If you want to go fancier and heavier your 250 is not the right truck. BTW: I know I am over GVWR by a few hundred pounds but am willing to take the legal risk involved.

fordsforever73 · 12-14-2009, 12:52 PM

If you decide to get a camper and are a little overweight, you might want to consider replacing your single overload leaf with a hd "4-pack". I did this to my '95 F-350 and it made a huge difference when I had my 2850 lb (empty) camper on. Truck sat level and got rid of the dreaded lean when cornering. I had the job done at a competent spring shop for about $400 total. I did have airbags, but ended up removing them, as they caused the frame to crack and didn't allow the suspension to travel enough when off-road. I have pics of the setup in "my photos". Good luck.

dieselfreak09 · 12-14-2009, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordsforever73

If you decide to get a camper and are a little overweight, you might want to consider replacing your single overload leaf with a hd "4-pack". I did this to my '95 F-350 and it made a huge difference when I had my 2850 lb (empty) camper on. Truck sat level and got rid of the dreaded lean when cornering. I had the job done at a competent spring shop for about $400 total. I did have airbags, but ended up removing them, as they caused the frame to crack and didn't allow the suspension to travel enough when off-road. I have pics of the setup in "my photos". Good luck.

Or you could consider getting a sway/weight distrubition hitch....a 12 k equilizer costs in canada about 450 on rvwholesalers website

Equal-i-zer Hitch 1000/10000lbs Trailer Weight - RVWholesalers.com RV Parts

RatherBNtheWoods · 12-14-2009, 01:49 PM

They're chatting about pickup campers freaky.

csj992 · 12-15-2009, 10:58 AM

I have a 96 F250 with camper package. I added the Timbren SES system, no air lines or busted bags. I tried a Maverick 1000 TC and it was too much camper. I ended up with a Sun-lite popup and you don't even know it is there. Check out Truck Camper mag.

Big Mac · 12-16-2009, 10:08 PM

I have a Lance 835 that weighs about 3200 lbs. that I carried on my 97 F250 excab and it handled it just fine. I did add larger rubber stops so the overloads would engage sooner,that makes a big difference as they won't touch otherwise.

**Diesel_Aggie** · 12-20-2009, 11:27 PM

I'd first weigh your truck with full fuel and all the gear you'd normally have with you. Get the weight that is on both front and rear axles. With a SRW truck your ultimate limitation will be the weight rating of the rear tires. It's something like 6,830 pounds if you have 235/85-16 tires. It is not hard to be over this with some of the larger campers. I recently sold a 1990 Lance Model 900, an 11'3" truck camper. On my '96 I was at 6960 on the rear axle and 4780 on the front axle with full fuel and a completely empty camper. With moderately loaded camper I was at 4780 front and 7360 rear. My camper was about 3000 pounds empty per the scale. Keep in mind the rear of my truck has DRW adapters and two extra wheels are tires that add several hundred pounds. Still, you would be pushing your tire limits with a similar camper. The guy I bought it from had a SRW F-350 Crew Cab 2wd. He said he blew rear tires frequently until switching to Michelin LTX tires. I'd want to really respect the weight limit on a SRW.

On the towing a boat, that is probably the easy part. Tongue weight is only a few hundred pounds and total weight of the combination will not be anywhere near pulling even a moderate size 5th wheel. If you have an extended camper (past the end of the bed) Torklift and Reese both make a 2.5" receiver with extensions up to 60". It seems the Torklift is better regadred from the research I've done.

Don't forget about camper tie down attachments for the truck. Torklift and Happijack make vehicle specific ones, Stromberg Carlson makes a universal. I don't recommend the universal....I got it for free with the camper and was not please with it. The Torklifts bolt to the frame and are what I plan to install on the '02. You might also look at the Torklift Fastguns tie downs. I had the old fashioned turnbuckles and hated the things.

For stability there are many choices. Air bags can be nice as one side of the camper may weigh more than the other and you can fine tune things side to side with air pressure. Timbrens get great reviews. Torklift makes a rubber pad that bolts to the spring that makes the overloads engage sooner. Super Springs also makes a product. I'd certainly recommend both front and rear anti-roll bars. There are two companies that make larger ones for the RV market. Both names escape me right now.

As another poster mentioned, check out Truck Camper Magazine | Dedicated to Slide-In Pickup Truck Campers - HOME

MikeJ60 · 12-21-2009, 04:46 PM

I have a '99 shortbed F250 with a Bigfoot camper at 2500 lb dry so probably 3500 lb loaded and wet and undoubtedly over the GVWR. I added air bags, a helwig sway bar, extended the overload pads with a pair of hockey pucks and then added a second overload spring. It handles fine. Engaging the overload springs earlier is the key, then the sway bar, the air bags keep it level. Better shocks help also.