Gentlemen,
This looks like a nice, active, informative board. I would like to ask for your guidance and mercy…

I am looking for information about my truck’s suspension. I am a new truck owner and, yes, I’m a girl. No apologies. I bought a 1995 standard cab Ford 250 4x4 7.3L with 65,000 miles. My mechanics said that the engine looks like it is just about broken in – almost new. Good price I believe. It runs great…and stops pretty well too now that I fixed the brakes I have been hauling compost and garden supplies and getting my daughter’s furniture back and forth to college.

Now I want to put a camper on it and head out to the Malheur – watch birds, catch fish, sit under the stars. But, I think the previous owner added lift (it stands 6.5 feet high at the cab – or maybe it came this way??) and I need to know what to look for as I plan to haul a camper. I will be driving on country roads, maybe some light snow, pot holes for sure. I am thinking I may need to lower the truck. I know I need to better understand suspension issues if I am going to put a camper on it – probably only 9 foot length.

Can you help me begin my education? Is my truck too high? What sort of suspension and shocks should I have? Anybody have any experience with a camper on an F-250?

Thanks for your assistance…

1995 Ford 250 with tons of “stuff” and really nice new Hawaiian upholstery! I think the previous owner liked chew. Hey, I said I am a girl.

2001 Mazda Miata…today the top is down.

 

The most important thing to do is weigh the truck so you know how much camper you can put on it without exceeding the GVWR.

 

Thanks. I've checked the door sticker and owner's guide. I'll keep it in mind.

 

My truck is much the same hieght as yours, and has not been lifted. If you do not yet have a camper, you can get an Alaskan Camper - they are telescopic - the roof lays low down when travelling, and raises by it's own hydraulic power when you want to use it..

A camper for the truck would need to be lightweight if you going off road with it, keep the weight in it down low, and don't do anything fancy with it onboard. These trucks are very stable off road - I have done over 50,000 miles off road with mine, sometimes with heavy loads onboard, other times empty. I recently changed it to a pickup bed, from a dually flatbed, and have not tried any off roading with this setup. It will be better than the flatbed with a load, as the deck of the bed is nearly a foot lower.

Theo

 

Wow, you have a few trucks there...
I'll look into the Alaskan. I didn't really want a pop-up but I now remember that the Alaskan slides a hardsided section up, not a cloth tent pop-up.
Thanks.

 

Howdy,

Went through (and still am) the same issues, except I picked up the F350. I bought a 10.8 foot slide-in that is 2900 lbs dry, well over that loaded with water, etc.

I wanted a less harsh ride when driving around unloaded so I went with the Edelbrock IAS shocks... then I got the camper. I also went to 10" wide tires/rims improved stability (side to side) quite a bit although I did go D rated instead of E rated tires ... tire guy insisted I should be fine...

Put the camper on and while it didn't seem to make the truck squat much, the side to side motion (when you hit bumps, etc) was more than I was after ( I assume some of that was shocks). So I went and put airbags on the rear, put 50 PSI in them and a. it is really easy to level your truck and b. it quite a bit of the side to side/front to rear sway out.

So if you get a slide in I would suggest airbags...not that expensive, it will increase the carrying capacity of your truck, and allow you to compensate (level) for uneven loads (water tanks on one side of the camper, etc).

The other thing I have been thinking about is trying the Rancho 9000X adjustable shocks - you can set softer for unloaded conditions and stiffer for loaded.

 

Thanks Bricot, nothing like firsthand experience. From what I hear about sway, airbags might be a necessity.