Help, Help ... Need some info on the F250 vs F350 capacity

[dannysgirl]

hello...
My boyfriend is in the process of buying a new F series truck. We will be using a slide on camper and trips into the wild west (:
Found the perfect truck in an F250 series with all the bells and whistles we want, but not sure if the 250 capacity will cut us short for what we are hoping for. Does anyone know for certain, if changing out the springs will be sufficent for the capacity and if there is a difference in the drive train or shaft????
Any help will be greatly appreciated! We are needing to purchase this before the end of the year!!!
Have a wonderful holiday and New Year!

Dannys girls.

[Mr_Roboto]

If we are talking about single wheel trucks, the 99-up F250 / F350 are identical. That's springs, axles, brakes, etc. Basically Ford builds one truck, and under-rates the F250 to sell it as two models. F350 single wheel trucks ride higher in the rear due to a spring spacer, not different springs.

The F350 dually uses a different axle, springs etc and has a higher capacity than the single wheel trucks.

The question is do you need a single wheel or a dual wheel truck to carry what you are hauling. And there are the legal ramifications of the load capacity sticker on the F250, which reads lower than its true capacity. It's best to find the weight of the slide-in (which will be dry weight), add the weight of people, water, cargo, etc and see which truck has the capacity to handle that weight.

If you can get the weight of the camper, I'm sure someone here will help you with the calculations.....

[SmokeyWren]

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We will be using a slide on camper...

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Big problem.

Today's bigger truck campers will overload even an F-350 with dual rear wheels (DRW). So the folks that want one without being overload order a special F-450 or even F-550 so they can travel safely without being overloaded.

The nicer slide-in truck campers weigh 4,000 pounds or more when loaded down with options such as AC and hot water and flush toilets and stove and refrigerator and microwave, including some fresh water in the tanks and some propane in the propane tanks. And some go up over 5,000 pounds.

An F-250 is simply no match for that sort of camper.

If you're stuck on the F-250, then you're limited to one of those lightweight pop-up "4-wheel" campers without much in the way of luxury.

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Found the perfect truck in an F250 series with all the bells and whistles we want, but not sure if the 250 capacity will cut us short for what we are hoping for.

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The most popular F-250 would be a CrewCab 4x4 with a diesel engine. And since you want to haul a camper that usually means the long bed. But those pickups are also heavy, leaving not much weight capacity for a camper. GVWR for a new one is 10,000 pounds, but wet and ready for the road it weighs 7,400 pounds. That leaves a net payload of only 2,600 pounds. A couple of adults in the cab, plus a few tools and a cooler, and you're down to a max camper weight of around 2,000 pounds.

So forget the F-250. Let's look at the F-350 with single rear wheels (SRW).

A new F-350 SRW CrewCab 4x4 with the long bed has a GVWR of 11,500 pounds. They weigh only a few pounds more than the F-250, so if the new F-250 was limited to a 2,000 pound camper, the F-350 SRW is limited to a 3,500 pound camper.

In other words, if you want to haul around a 4,000 pound camper, then the SRW is a no no. You need dual rear wheels.

F-350 DRW jumps up there. A new one has a GVWR of 13,000 pounds. Those extra tires and wheels and other heavy-duty stuff adds about 400 pounds, so the wet and ready for the road truck will weigh about 7,800 pounds. With 600 pounds of folks and stuff, you're at 8,400 pounds. Which leaves 4,600 pounds for the max weight of a wet and loaded camper. Which is a lot more realistic.

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Does anyone know for certain, if changing out the springs will be sufficent for the capacity and if there is a difference in the drive train or shaft????

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No, you can't increase the capacity of an F-250 by changing the rear springs. The F-250 already has the same rear springs as an identically-optioned F-350 SRW. The problem is rear axle rating as well as tires and wheels. Again, an SRW won't safely haul much of a slide-in camper. So face reality and buy enough truck for your load. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/warmsmile.gif[/img]

[FloridaEd]

Also, don't forget the capacity of the tires on a SRW truck. My '00 SRW F-250 had tires on the rear that max'ed out just a little over 3,000 lbs each, for a total load of just over 6,000 lbs on the rear axle Maximum. I only had about 2400# maximum load I could put in the bed and be in the safety range of the tires.

My 5th wheel's hitch weight is 2,000 lbs and the SRW F-250 was within 300 lbs of the max axle/tire weights when hooked up. I was not comfortable with the handling that near the limits (GVW of the truck was exceeded, but the axles were within (near) maximums), so I went to a F-350 dually. And you need a LWB for any size of camper.

My experience is that the majority of the slide-ins are sold out west...not all, but most. The guys I've talked with out there take them out in the National Forests and boon-dock a lot. But very few people travel for extended trips in them because they are so small.

They fit a specific need as a camper, but you can spend an awful lot of $$ before finding out they don't suit your style of camping. I see more and more of the slide-in/pop up combinations being carried in the beds of trucks. They're light, get better MPG due to reduced wind resistance, and cheaper.

I'd recommend talking to some folks who own them before buying. But good luch and happy trails whatever you do.

Florida Ed

[Striker101]

Hey dannys Girl. I had a F250 with ride right air bags and a 7.3 IDI
with no turbo. It handled a 1999 1025 lance camper Fine.. except for the braking. I took it slow, 55 and under. The Diesel had no trouble pulling it, the only reservation i had was the stopping power of the rear drum brakes.
That said... i sold the 1993 F250 and bought a 1999.5 F350 SRW. I just finished adding Ride Right air bags and installing better mirrors. Now some are mentioning buying a Dually. I went that route for about 3 months trying to find a good dually. Some problems of a DRW versus a SRW. the Axle bumper of the 2004 DRW i looked at when we loaded the camper was within one inch of the axle tube and it dropped the dually 4 inches when i loaded it. NOT impressed. That DRW truck rode way stiffer empty than my SRW does and it didnt give me much in the way of extra load carry capacity. ( Tires excluded here as a DRW setup inherently has a better ability to carry the load on 4 tires versus 2 with more stabilty from a DRW unit). Also the DRW truck will require special camper lift jacks that swing out to allow you to back under the camper, mine has but not all campers have em. something to really watch for is the newer Fords like this 2004 was within less than an inch of the camper hitting the marker lights on the top of the truck. and you know that camper moves some when going down the road. The F350 is a GVW of 9900 pounds, mine when loaded with fuel and myself wieghs 6700 pounds 9900-6700 leaves you 3200 pounds of camper weight you can carry. Thats a lot of camper. NOW earlier someone mentioned Tire load. Thats the BIGGIE> find a DAMN good tire that can handle 3400 plus pounds per tire ( this is where the dually excels). Many on here are willing to give there opinions on how there tires work. So listen to experience and learn from the fellas on here.

Good Luck.
Striker

[Kanman]

One thing to keep in mind. If you are going to be doing any sort of off - roading with this truck. You are going to be severely limited due to the extra width of dual rear wheels. But, thats only if you plan on getting off the beaten path and onto the cow paths.

Another option would be adding larger wheels. Such as 19.5" or 22" wheels. You can then add "real" truck tires. That is more of a band aid type fix, and VERY costly.

Other than that, everything the old feller said. Most people severely overestimate their new trucks ability to tote a load safely. You may well need to consider a F450 - F550 for your purposes. Take one for a test drive first, they are true trucks, and ride like a truck.

[Striker101]

Dannys Girl give us more info on the truck and camper
like weight of camper, truck, length of camper, GVW of the truck etc.

Striker