When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I will also post up a pic or two and tell you about my setup.
Better shot of camper on the truck...
I have an '04 Eagle cap camper with a slide, generator, a/c, bathroom, and a queen bed. It's a 9.5ft which extends a foot and a half past the bed of the truck. It's weighs 3,500 lbs fully loaded. The trailer with the Jeep weighs about 6000 lbs. I did this setup with a '95 F250 ext cab Powerstroke and now a 1997 F350 crew cab Diesel. Both were single rear wheel but the F350 does feel more stable. I will say the F250 did the job just fine too. I bet your F250 has a much higher GVWR than my F250 did so doing this on your truck might be a lot easier. I would suggest airbags and E load range tires. I have 285x75R16 Michelin ATX's which had the highest weight rating I could get.
For the camper I would suggest something newer as they are a lot nicer. I bought my '04 in '09 for $12,000 which sounds like a lot until I read the original MSRP was 30k! They depreciate fast so don't waste the money on a new one. I would get exactly what you want. The propane generator is nice as it pumps out AC current that I can use for a lot of things when I do not have any hookups. My girlfriend loves that she can use her hair dryer and curler. I like using a blender to make frozen drinks. I go for a week easy with no hookups at all when I go wheeling in the mountains. The slide is nice for the room it gives. The fridge and freezer are 2 way (ac current and gas). I have an outside shower for rinsing off all the dirt. It has heated holding tanks which is part of a super insulated Northwest Cold Package. It can go anywhere my truck can go.
Now to pull a trailer with any real load on this setup, I would suggest a Superhitch or something similar. It's a dual receiver extended hitch. It is really freaking strong and DOES NOT SWAY even at 70mph. Basically you can tow 15,000 lbs on that hitch which is crazy. If you're gonna have thousands of dollars moving down the road don't cheap out on the hitch.
Wow Lud04x that is a REALLY nice set up, and such a clean truck! I loved my '94 7.3L but non turbo sucked.
I am really leaning toward a newer camper, but they are much more expensive sooo. But that looks like the route we will go.
I have looked into that super hitch, it looks like the way to go if I get a camper that is longer than the bed of the truck, but it is pricey, but of course you get what you pay for.
After a lot of research and trying to convince my wife she told me she will not use it. She does not like the ride of a bumper pull horse trailer, she wants gooseneck. So I could get myself an old one for quad riding trips but it just did not seem worth it. I'll save my money for the toy hauler or horse trailer with living quarters.
We purchased a '94 Lance Squire for our recent trip to FL. We didn't want to board the dogs. This is our second slide-in, the first being a Northland Polar 860 with slide we purchased new. We weren't fans of the slide after a while because it really had to be out to even get in the camper without a very tight squeeze. We really enjoyed the Lance, but we had some very high winds on the trip, and you could definitely feel it. In fact, we had to stop and wait overnight for the winds on I80 to calm down as they had a "high profile, light vehicle" restriction in effect with gusts over 60 MPH, sustained 30-45. I have bags and RS 9000 shocks, but you can still feel the sway in high winds. Our Northland went on our 7700 first, then we got our dually. The dually is the way to go. Used a hitch extender when towing, and no issues. In fact, we towed our subsequent TT with the hitch extender so we could lower our tailgate with it hitched, otherwise the gate would hit the tongue jack. Again with no issues. You push a lot of air with a slide-in, and I noticed a fuel economy hit even compared to hauling our 34' enclosed gooseneck which weighs twice as much empty as the slide-in does fully wet.
Be careful on camper purchase. I had one for my 89 F250 and planned to use it with my 04 F350. Guess what the side boards are taller and the tailgate opening is smaller. So you will be looking for a pretty new camper to utilize. make sure you MEASURE all the opening, side board height and the bed to bottom of the camper clearances other wise you will need to elevate the camper in the bed (2x4 or something to raise the floor in the truck bed). I just gave my old one away to a friend who wanted something to go hunting in and he has a 90 some thing 4x F350. With some of these going new in the $30-40K range its amazing. My dentist has one with slides that he uses with his F350 dually. The important word is DENTIST! Also he said his weighs in around 4500 lbs so that is a load, its 10.5 slide in so longer than what you plan but even my old one was in the 2500+ range and it was 10 ft.
Mine is just old......I thought they did away with the window's in the front for safety reasons. Is t legal to ride in the camper in your state?
I don't think they put windows in them anymore, mine is a 2001 not real old. I don't see the new ones with windows. I don't like the window, I have covered on the inside with cardboard.
As far as riding in the camper, I haven't checked the laws but sure it is not legal to ride in the camper.
05-16-2012, 01:42 PM
I go for a week easy with no hookups at all when I go wheeling in the mountains. The slide is nice for the room it gives. The fridge and freezer are 2 way (ac current and gas). I have an outside shower for rinsing off all the dirt. It has heated holding tanks which is part of a super insulated Northwest Cold Package. It can go anywhere my truck can go.
