I'm considering purchasing a "Lite" style of camper, probably no longer than 8' 6" so I can use my stock class-V trailer hitch. Any words of wisdom to one never having owned a camper before? See my signature line for my tow vehicle and it has the factory tow-package/Heavy-duty cooling. Do air-bags control the sway of the truck? Anything else I need to consider? My truck weighs 5750 lbs. wet, has a max GVWR of 8800#'s, and a max GCWR of 18,500#'s.
I'm figuring with my trailer (9,000#'s), loaded camper (2,200#'s) and a loaded truck I'll be under my GCWR by 500-800#'s. I'll be weighing the truck-trailer combination this weekend to see how my load is distributed with the equalizing hitch. Deen

 

I have no experience with in the bed campers so take what I say with a grain of salt and use your head. If you estimate your camper and trailer etc all loaded up will get you within 500-800lbs of max GCVWR, I would be extra sure you are taking everything into account, especially passengers, "luggage" and water. I do tow a 30foot trailer and read Trailer Life Magazine, so that is the extent of my experience.

For example, my trailer can vary as much as 1,000lbs just due to how much water is in the 3 tanks. Add some ice chests(50lbs+ each), the kids junk, 600lbs of passengers, food, toys, bikes, bbqs etc and you can easily pass the weight rating of your truck.

Keep in mind the weights give for trailers and campers are the "standard" weight, ie the weight does't include the weight of options like AC, furniture, microwave, bigger bed etc. I have heard that campers are deceptively heavier than rated, once they are packed for the road. The camper may increase the drag, so your performance may suffer, escpecially in wind and hills.

So I would recommend weighing your rig just to be safe. If you have 500-800lbs of margin left with a full load, then you are probably OK. But if that is the margin you have with empty tanks, no food, no passengers etc, you may be over rating.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Deen,
I think that you will find that with the OEM equipment that you have, you will get along quite nicely. I strongly recommend the Firestone Air-Ride set-up, it made a marked difference on my truck. I also went with the Rancho 9000 shocks so that I could tighten things up when I'm loaded, and still have a decent ride empty. The anti-sway bar that I installed in the rear didn't really seem to have too much effect, but that's something you only feel when there is a strong cross-wind or you hit a corner too fast, obviously something to avoid in any event, so maybe it's doing more for me than I think.
FWIW, I am toting a 9.5' Bigfoot slide-in camper (fiberglass shell, extra tall with basement, 50 gallons water, etc. and weighs in at about 3500#) in my '74 Hi-Boy, which was not recommended by the Owner's Manual for a slide-in camper at all! But by taking care to beef up the suspension where I could, and installing a disc-brake front axle, I feel very confident with it. I also just put a Gear-Vendors Overdrive unit behind the X-fer case and my new 410FE, and absolutely love it! It really cut down on the noise, and I found that I'm getting an honest 9.5 mpg with fully loaded camper running down the road at freeway speed, up from about 6.5-7.0 with the old 390 and straight 4.10:1 axles. There's no way that the cost of the GV will ever be re-couped by improved gas mileage, but the measure of decibel drops inside the cab would be worth it by itself!
Anyway, with a modicum of thought and care, I think that you should do just great. Steve

 

I'm sure that you recognize that I meant to say Firestone Ride-Rite, not Air-Ride, right? Don't know where that came from!!
Steve

 

Lima leader,
I have a lite 8-1/2 slide in hardside. A little tall with the lift but
the springs, sways, rancho's and torklifts hold it well. So well there isn't any bother except for low tree's.
I pull the boat behind at about 5000lbs so gcwr isn't exceeded in my case.
Only concern I would have is your brakes.
Look for something in the 1700 lb range dry. By the time your done you'll be up a bit in weight.
Good luck

99.5 Ford Super Duty F-250 XLT 4x4. S/C L.W.B. PSD Auto loaded.
4 in. Pro-Comp lift. 35 x 12.5 x 16.5 BFG AT/KO. Weld SSII 16.5 x 9.75. Rancho 9000's Dual Front.
Warn M12000 in Semi-hidden mount. Astro-start Supreme 3001.

 

Jim, Steve, and Blue Boy,
Much thanks for the replies...
I am looking at a dry weight of 1,675 lbs. and guestimated an additional 525 lbs. for options/food/water. The Lite series of campers do not hold as much water/propane/ gray-water as there standard-series companions. I will be weighing my truck-trailer this weekend with a full load to give me an idea how much margin I have left-over for camper weight.

BlueOvalBoy, I agree with you on the brakes...even though my truck has the tow package and all the goodies it still has rear-drum brakes. I should step up to a newer truck with 4-wheel disks...but I'm not willing to spend the extra $1,ooo's more at this time. I will be calling around and see if I can come up with better brake pads and shoes this winter however.
Steve, I'll take your advice and look into the Firestone Ride-Rites. The RV dealer I was talking too sugested air bags to reduce sway and you just confirmed what he said.
Jim, you also confirmed what the RV dealer said, all options are weight add-ons including the camper jacks. My kids are old enough that they won't want to go camping with us anymore for now...to many boyfriends, etc. to hang with mom and dad!

Thanks again guys! Deen

 

I hauled a 11'6" fully self contained Lance since '94, claimed dry weight 3700 lbs . Needed a camper because I, too, haul a 5,000 lb boat/trailer into rough areas where a motorhome won't go. Had this camper on my '86 F250 4x4, 460, SRW, 35" BFG Muds, 'til last year and put a '00 F350 4x4, DRW, PSD under it with much better results.
I changed trucks because I had a lot of tire/wheel problems, i.e. blown tires at freeway speeds and cracked steel wheels (2). Be sure your wheels are HD than normal wheels that are rated about 2,600 lbs ea. I replaced my chrome steels w/Eagle aluminums rated at 3,500 lbs. The 460 w/headers was just sufficient as were the brakes but boat trailers commonly use surge brakes so imperative that they be operating properly. Hope you found any of this helpful.

 

Lebe, WOW I can see why you had problems...I'm guessing you were over your GVWR 1600-2000 lbs. That's definetly F350 DRW territory! After weighing my loaded truck and trailer I've found even the "Lite" style of campers would be too much weight with a 9,000 lb. trailer, it will be within limits however when I tow my boat (boat and trailer are under 5000 lbs.). With loaded truck and race-trailer attached I weighed in at 7250 lbs. for the truck (15000 lbs. combined). My GVWR is 8800 lbs. minus 7250 lbs. leaves me with only 1550 lbs. for camper, wife, and any other passenger/gear.
Looks like my next P.U.purchase (a few years out yet) will be a F350 Deen

 

>lbs.). With loaded truck and race-trailer attached I weighed
>in at 7250 lbs. for the truck (15000 lbs. combined). My
>GVWR is 8800 lbs. minus 7250 lbs. leaves me with only 1550
>lbs. for camper, wife, and any other passenger/gear.

With 1550 to spare you can use a Four Wheel camper like I have. The 8' model is only 785lbs dry. Not self contained, but will sleep 4 and has a full kitchen, dinette and closet. Depending upon where you live, they may be hard to find. The factory is in California and I don't think they were ever sold east of the Rockies.

Jim