Slide in camper

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Apr 19, 2016 | 04:56 PM

mtntop1

Thread Starter

Mountain Pass

Joined: May 2005

Posts: 209

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From: Arizona

Slide in camper

Have 95 f150 5.0L engine,4 speed EAOD trans,3.55 rear gears,two whel drive.I'm looking to buy a slide in cab over camper that weighs about 2000 pounds.Would this be to much for the truck with air bags on the rear.The rear axle GAWR is 3800lbs ,Front is 2750lbs GAWF.I tow a 24 foot TT right now and it weighs 4100 lbs.

Apr 19, 2016 | 09:58 PM

930ZZZ

Freshman User

Joined: Feb 2016

Posts: 32

Likes: 5

Pretty tough to put 2000 lbs in the box of an F150 and not be overweight. I've been through this myself, I had overload springs and the truck handled it quite well but was still overweight. I looked at it from a legality point of view, if your ever in an accident I'm sure the lawyers would be all over it.
I ended up finding a 1 ton dually, problem solved.

Cheers

Apr 20, 2016 | 09:28 AM

wrvond

Cargo Master

Joined: Oct 2015

Posts: 2,745

Likes: 72

From: West Virginia

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtntop1

When I had an F-150, I went looking for a camper to put in it without success. Keep in mind that air bags will not increase your payload, they will simply help support that payload better.

It seems odd to me, in the early 60's I had an aunt and uncle that loaded up their 1/4 ton Ford truck with a camper and drove all over the country without issue. Were we simply more ignorant of the risks back then? Trucks have gotten more capable, if anything over the years, so I really don't understand why it would be so hard to find a camper to work on an F-150.

Apr 20, 2016 | 04:24 PM

HRTKD

Hotshot

Joined: Oct 2015

Posts: 19,720

Likes: 12,864

From: Wyoming

I went through a search for a slide-in camper a few months back. Lots of nice campers out there. I concluded that the camper manufacturers were building them right up to the limit of what trucks could carry, unless you went with an ultralight model.

I was starting to sour on the whole idea of a slide-in camper when my brother told me about the white knuckle rides he had with his. He said he would never do it again unless he had a dually.

Maybe back in the 60's the campers were simpler and weighed a lot less?

Apr 21, 2016 | 09:07 PM

ejb69

More Turbo

Joined: Jan 2016

Posts: 684

Likes: 84

From: Green Bay Wi

There are a few light weight/ basic campers that will work on the 150. I and my dad went to Alaska from Wisconsin and back with no issues with a 2014 f150 with a 8' pop up shadow cruiser. The 150 has the max load and max tow packages. The camper has a dry weight of 1500lbs.

Apr 23, 2016 | 11:30 AM

5851a

Logistics Pro

Joined: Oct 2006

Posts: 4,035

Likes: 894

From: East Central Ia

Then you get into the weight rating the wheel bearings, tires and rims can handle.

Apr 24, 2016 | 05:09 AM

CaliforniaKid

Cross-Country

Joined: Apr 2016

Posts: 74

Likes: 0

From: Bitterroot Valley Montana

Just sold my 2012 F150 because it would not carry a small Lance slide in. GVWR was 7200 pounds. That is weight of vehicle, occupants and load including fuel and accessories. With the vehicle sitting stock I had a remaining carrying capacity of 1344 pounds. Minus my wife and I with luggage and fuel that left 944 pounds worth of carrying capacity or bed capacity. The lightest, smallest Lance we could find was 1830 pounds wet. Thats 900 pounds over GVWR. And I still haven't loaded a small generator, fishing or camping gear and I sure haven't added tongue weight of my boat trailer which further adds to the GVW. Funny part is Lance says these smaller slide ins are designed for 1/2 ton pick ups. There is no way an 1800 pound slide in is gonna be safe or legal in a 1/2 ton truck. Air bags DO NOT raise your GVWR. You just don't squat as much over-loaded as you did without. GVWR is based on a number of factors, including axles, wheel bearings, suspension, driveline, brakes etc. and even if you upgraded all of those.....you HAVE NOT legally upgraded your GVWR. But the slide in camper manufacturers sure make it look like you can.

Bottom, line just bought an F350, with a GVWR of 11,300 pounds and a carrying/bed capacity of 4064 pounds. Now if I subtract the slide in, my wife and I.......well you get the picture.

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Apr 24, 2016 | 09:01 AM

930ZZZ

Freshman User

Joined: Feb 2016

Posts: 32

Likes: 5

CaliforniaKid summed it up pretty good. I was in the same situation with my 2012 F150 but I had the 8200 GVW truck. The camper manufacture even had a picture of the same truck as mine on their website with the same camper as mine and it was 800 lbs. overweight.

I ended up finding a real nice F350 Dually 2 wheel drive with the 7.3, weight problem solved. I then went out and got a 10'2" Northern Lite camper with a dry bath, still under weight with the Dually and able to pull my boat as well.

I'm sure these camper manufactures that advertise their campers as suitable for lighter trucks will be in court with you when your being sued after an accident. (HaHa)

Just the idea of being stopped by the authorities for being overweight was a concearn for me and the idea of not being allowed to drive the vehicle at it's present weight ( possible fines, towing and storage fees, you get the picture )

I would think that over 50% of trucks with campers on the road are overweight.

Would be interesting to hear from anyone who has had any issues with the weight police and their story that goes with it.