Good morning! Bought a 2002 V10 F-250 Lariat SD ~93k miles a few weeks ago. Live in Colorado and looking to put a truck camper on her before the fall and would like to start beefing up the carriage. Looking for any experiences/pointers.

Do I need to upgrade both the front and rear sway bars, or only the rear or front?

Thinking of adding airbags to the rear. Do I need inboard compressor? Has anyone used timbrens instead of airbags? +/- of either?

Do I also need to upgrade shocks? Front and rear?

Should I consider upgrading the alternator?

I am planning to start with the basic upgrades and then add on as time/$$$ allows.
Any thoughts/experiences are appreciated!
THANKS!
PT

 

My 2011 F250 has the camper prep, which includes rear stabilizer, +1 coil springs on the front and overload leaf on the rear. I do not have a camper, but it is only rated from ford at around 2400 lbs. I see plenty of large campers on F250's but I don't see how they do it while staying even close to the payload ratings.
We had a big truck camper when I was a kid, and what I remember is that rig feeling like it was going to tip over all of the time! Front and rear sway bars would be #1 on my list followed by air bags. I do have bags front and rear on my truck and they level it up nice when loaded. The front bags are only aired up past a few pounds when I have the plow mounted.

 

Not sure on the sway bars. Wouldn't hurt to go over the suspension for worn bushings, joints etc. Air bags are nice because you can adjust them to your liking. The on board air makes this very easy plus you air for other things(big, get the f out of the way, horn ) At 93k miles, change the shocks. I like the Monroe Magnums. Alt should be fine just use an isolator between the truck and camper batteries. Be sure that the wheels and tires are the proper load range. If you plan on keeping the camper in the truck then I think I would get it aligned with the camper on.

 

on my '02 250 ...
air bags , hooked up separate from each other
sway bar rear
rancho shocks .
just don't go big on the camper .
i had a lance 845 on mine .

 

I also agree with the air bags. I would also recommend front and rear sway bars. Hellwig is the place to go for sway bars.

 

Do you know what camper you are getting? How big is it?

-Junior

 

I would recommend checking out the TC section on RV.net, quite a bit of info on there especially if you have not bought one yet.

Weight is going to be a big factor which if you can stay under the 2500lbs loaded would be a good starting point (some will say even that is to much) as to what upgrades you will need to do, quite a bit of aftermarket upgrades available for our trucks.

Is yours a long bed?

 

anti sway bars

f-350 style over leaf springs

shocks if you need them

curious to know the weight of the camper

 

The "hooked up separate" recommendation is important... Do not "T" the left and right together. When a top heavy load leans it will make it worse. I opted to terminate the bags at individual schrader fittings in the bumpers, and keep a small portable compressor in my truck. I didn't want the hassle of installing the pump and gauges.

 

Not all F-250's have the overload leaf springs, I'd certainly make sure I had that. Air bags, with independent air circuits are great to have, as mentioned above. I like Rancho RS9000 shocks for their adjustability. What's the capacity of your alternator now? You might be OK there, a truck camper really doesn't have a huge electrical load.

-Joe

 

Thanks for all the great info.

I have yet to buy a camper, but decided on the 250 crew cab standard bed after visiting a camper convention in February. Factory alternator. Has rear leaf spring assists.

Have heard/read several recommendations per the Rancho RS9000 and RS9000XL shocks. Any downside to putting XL's on rear only?

The airbag pointers are great info! Has anyone used Timbrens instead of airbags, +/-? Airbag brand recommendations? I hear Firestones are pretty good, some say it doesn't matter what brand...

Any thought/experiences about bar diameters per Front/rear sway bars? 1 1/4" front, 1 1/2" back?

Thanks for the info/experiences!!!
PT

 

still wanting to know how much the camper will weigh.....im more concerned with the load that orverload springs can help with than any potential boating that the shocks and stabilizar bars will help.

 

We have taken a liking to the adventuers and the wolf creeks. 4-season... Looks like weight will be around 2200-2300. Maybe a bit heavy when wet.
Still learning and looking at what's out there. Will most likely buy used.

 

with overlaod springs and anti sway bars in the back (if not stock), 2200 - 2300 would be fine. There are campers out there that weight 4000+ pounds...which I would not recommended on an f-250/350.

 

What about topping out in the 3000# range (wet)? Any thoughts? It seems that keeping under about 2800# wet might be a little challenging with a 4-season hard-side...

Thanks!
PT