F350 slide-in Truck Camper load capability

[blackwel1]

Hello, I am new to this forum and am hoping for advise concerning the capability of F350 SRW 6.8L V10 auto transmission with LT315 75R16 . I have frame mounted tie downs. As of this writing I do not have air bags.

As you can tell I am a novice to truck campers and would appreciate any comments.

My question concerns the capability of this truck to specifically carry a large Lance 11'3'' camper LT780. The camper is 3600 Lbs 'wet' and I am starting to have second thoughts because the LT315 All Terrain tires are rated at max load of 3190. Also, I do not know the rating for the axle on this SRW. The gentleman I am buying the LT780 from also is of the opinion that I should have 10 PLY tires, and from what I have discovered the LT31675R are only 3 PLY.

Thank you in advance.

[prohydroracer]

Air bags work well and I have used them for years with my truck camper. However after a couple of years of using just the bags, I had some custom overloads built (which carry more weight and make contact sooner) and they made a lot more of a difference especially in sway than the bags do. With the bags only, I get more sway side to side. Nowadays, I drop the camper on the truck, put very minimal air in the bags to help pick up the rear, but i make sure the overloads are still engaged. With this setup it drives great! I'm actually getting ready to try something else to see if I can get it even better. I know my setup is overkill and I could put more weight on the truck than it can hold, but thats not what I'm trying to do. I'm more about getting it to drive and ride better and safer. I also haul a 20ft Enclosed trailer with the same setup on the freeway no problem.

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try and answer them, as I have tried many different ways of doing this.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Look in the "My Photos" tab below my avatar picture and you can see my custom overload springs

[SmokeyWren]

SRW pickups were never intended to haul heavy truck campers. That's why God made Dooleys.

3,190 max weight capacity for each rear tire means 6,380 max weight capacity on the rear axle. So that means about 11,000 pounds max GVW. Or 1,100 pounds over the max GVWR of 9,900 pounds for your truck. If your wet and loaded truck weighs 7,000 pounds before you load the camper, then you'll be right up against the tire capacity with a 3,200 pound payload. But if you also tie onto a trailer, you'll overload the tires. And if your wet and loaded truck (including passengers) weighs more than 7,000 pounds, or if your wet and loaded camper (no passengers) weighs more than 3,200, you'll overload the tires.

'99-'04 F-350 SRW with 16" tires has a rear axle weight capacity of 6,830 which is more than your tire capacity. So if you ignore the GVWR of the truck, then tire capacity seems to be your next limiter.

Bigfoot tires are indended for show. LOOK AT ME!. They are not intended to be work tires, hauling max weight. LT265/75R16E tires came on your truck, and that's what you should use to haul that camper. Then the tire capacity of 6,830 pounds on the rear axle will match the axle capacity. You'll still be overloaded over the GVWR of the truck, but not so dangerously close to being overloaded over the tire capacity.

And if you insist on bigger-than-stock-size tires, you can get BFGoodrich AllTerrain LT285/75R16E tires that have 3,750 pounds weight capacity when pumped up to 80 PSI.

...I should have 10 PLY tires, and from what I have discovered the LT31675R are only 3 PLY

You're mixing up your apples and your oranges. Don't confuse "ply rating" with real plies.

Your load range D tires are equivalent to the old 8-ply rating. Load range E tires are equivalent to the old 10-ply rating. But most radial tires have only two actual plies in the sidewall. Your expensive tires have 3 plies in the sidewall, or half again as much as ordinary LT tires. No modern tire is going to have more than three actual plies in the sidewall.

Think of a "ply" as a piece of cloth, similar to bedsheet material. Way back when, tire plies were cotton cloth. But then along came the much-stronger nylon and polyester fabrics, and the tire makers could achieve the same strength with only two plies in the sidewall (plus 4 plies in the belt of a radial tire). Then steel plies were made, as well as fiberglass-reinforced cloth plies. So today my 10-ply-rating tires have 4 steel plies in the belt plus 3 steel plies in the sidewall.

So tire language changed. Instead of a 6-ply tire, you had a 6-ply-rated tire that had less than 6 actual plies. Then several years ago ply ratings were replaced by load range. And right now load range is obsolete, replaced by Service Description, which is made up of Speed Rating and Load Index.
Tire Tech Information - How to Read Speed Rating, Load Index & Service Descriptions

[MarkEkberg]

Not that I am legal here is what I haul.

Lance 11'6". Pretty sure the gw is the same as yours. Has a slide out.

I have a 96 single screw with bags and bfg 315's. Hauls it perfectly. I hauled this exact camper without bags. It did it, but it did not like it.

Tires do fine, truck does fine, and best of all vacations go fine.

[prohydroracer]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

SRW pickups were never intended to haul heavy truck campers. That's why God made Dooleys.

3,190 max weight capacity for each rear tire means 6,380 max weight capacity on the rear axle. So that means about 11,000 pounds max GVW. Or 1,100 pounds over the max GVWR of 9,900 pounds for your truck. If your wet and loaded truck weighs 7,000 pounds before you load the camper, then you'll be right up against the tire capacity with a 3,200 pound payload. But if you also tie onto a trailer, you'll overload the tires. And if your wet and loaded truck (including passengers) weighs more than 7,000 pounds, or if your wet and loaded camper (no passengers) weighs more than 3,200, you'll overload the tires.

'99-'04 F-350 SRW with 16" tires has a rear axle weight capacity of 6,830 which is more than your tire capacity. So if you ignore the GVWR of the truck, then tire capacity seems to be your next limiter.

Bigfoot tires are indended for show. LOOK AT ME!. They are not intended to be work tires, hauling max weight. LT265/75R16E tires came on your truck, and that's what you should use to haul that camper. Then the tire capacity of 6,830 pounds on the rear axle will match the axle capacity. You'll still be overloaded over the GVWR of the truck, but not so dangerously close to being overloaded over the tire capacity.

And if you insist on bigger-than-stock-size tires, you can get BFGoodrich AllTerrain LT285/75R16E tires that have 3,750 pounds weight capacity when pumped up to 80 PSI.



You're mixing up your apples and your oranges. Don't confuse "ply rating" with real plies.

Your load range D tires are equivalent to the old 8-ply rating. Load range E tires are equivalent to the old 10-ply rating. But most radial tires have only two actual plies in the sidewall. Your expensive tires have 3 plies in the sidewall, or half again as much as ordinary LT tires. No modern tire is going to have more than three actual plies in the sidewall.

Think of a "ply" as a piece of cloth, similar to bedsheet material. Way back when, tire plies were cotton cloth. But then along came the much-stronger nylon and polyester fabrics, and the tire makers could achieve the same strength with only two plies in the sidewall (plus 4 plies in the belt of a radial tire). Then steel plies were made, as well as fiberglass-reinforced cloth plies. So today my 10-ply-rating tires have 4 steel plies in the belt plus 3 steel plies in the sidewall.

So tire language changed. Instead of a 6-ply tire, you had a 6-ply-rated tire that had less than 6 actual plies. Then several years ago ply ratings were replaced by load range. And right now load range is obsolete, replaced by Service Description, which is made up of Speed Rating and Load Index.
Tire Tech Information - How to Read Speed Rating, Load Index & Service Descriptions

Thanks! Tons of good reading here for sure. This is why I went with the tires I did, they have a 3415lb rating.

[nitrogen]

can't say i agree that you need a dualie to haul a slide in unless its big and heavy.as far as gvw of the op we can only guess because he didn't mention the year( my 05 is good to 11500) inmo if your using a slide in you do need to have the camper special pkg. i'm running the bfg 285's with camper loaded wet i'm about 10600 and it handles like a dream srw and even in very heavy side winds(guessing 30-45 mph). load range E or the "new" equivelent are a must its not likely that his 315 are but once again without knowing brand and model he might as well not told us tire size either

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by nitrogen

as far as gvw of the op we can only guess because he didn't mention the year... load range E or the "new" equivelent are a must its not likely that his 315 are but once again without knowing brand and model he might as well not told us tire size either

He has 16" wheels, therefore he has a '99-'04 truck with a GVWR of 9,700 (CA emissions) or 9,900 (49-state emissions). Notice that your '05-up F-350 SRW doesn't have 16" wheels.

And he said his tires have a weight capacity of 3,190, but he probably meant 3,195, which is load range D in a tire size LT315/75R16.

Yes, the '05-up F-350s SRWs have a lot more weight capacity than the '99-'04. But you're still going to be overloaded over the GVWR of the truck if you load a 4,000-pound or heavier 11' camper on the typical CrewCab 4x4 PSD SRW longbed truck.

...with camper loaded wet i'm about 10600 ...

Including driver and passenger(s) and a full tank of diesel? If so, then you either don't have the typical CrewCab PSD 4x4 longbed truck, or else you don't have an 11' slide in.

[nitrogen]

wow theres alot of stuff you picked up on Smokey that i missed. I do agree everything you said about the op's truck makes sense. Theres still a couple things we don't know,does he have the camper special suspension, if he doesn't he should load the camper even if everything else was ok. What configuration of truck is his i'm going to guess with the big rubber its 4x4 but reg cab super or crewcab, also boxlength. We assume he wouldn't put an eleven footer into a shortbox, but... we all have seen people haul some crazy stuff. I'll admit mine isn't as long as what he's looking at(8ft scamper) but my real point was that it isn't automatically neccessary to have a dualie to haul a slide in.yes i have weighed my truck loaded and empty, gov't self weigh station. I'm not sure how much payload he has to work with, but as a guess around 3k, so yes a 4k camper is a bit much especially with the tall tires. We don't know what his plans are for the camper, is he going to cross the country or just drive 40 miles out of town for weekends. If he isn't making long trips i'd be a little less worried about the overload but he is a min of 1000lb maybe more over weight.unlike most car people who just assume that if they can make it fit its ok to haul it, blackwel has shownat least he's thinking about it before he goes flying down the road. Perhaps he should let this camper go and look for something a little smaller like an 8 footer, it won't be as fancy but it likely leave him some payload if he did want to pull a small boat or something. Definately he has load D tires and if he loads any slide in they have to go its not an option

[harleycb]

Being one that hauls a camper around on a SRW F350, I'm guilty of being overweight. However, I only have an 8-1/2' SnowRiver that weighs in at 3,100# empty. That said, I'm completely comfortable on being overweight since I have made some changes. I run the Rickson 19.5" wheels with 245-70-19.5 tires rated at over 4,500#. That was the single best improvement in my book. Also the Torklift stableloads have provided me a very good bang for my buck....

You might also want to check on a truck camper forum to see what others feel that haul campers - my recommendation is NATCOA.com.

[u2slow]

There are some other 16" tires that have higher load ratings.... a number of 285/75 and 255/85 are rated for 3750# now.

Another route you can go is 19.5" wheels and tires... even if only on the rear. That's what I did on my work van and it is much more stable. My 245/70R19.5s are rated for 4800# each. They have a steel ply in the sidewall also.

I don't agree with Ford's axle ratings. If you notice, the SRW axle ratings are exactly equal to the load capacity of two of the stock tires. IMO, the rear end can handle more weight. FWIW, the 5.4L F350 duallies used the 10.5" axle and the rear GAWR is higher.

[Greyman]

I run my 08 with a 10'2" Citation that weighs 3151lbs with water and propane. I have air bags and torklift stable loads, I weighed on the way out camping 3 weeks ago and I was 13,160lbs with wife, 5yrold kid, dog, and 1/2 tank of diesel. The truck rides and handles great, sure I'm over, but just barely over the axle rating. The tires are 3640lbs each so I'm ok there. I think that was my biggest concern.