I don't believe that is the case. The camper package on the F250 upgrades the front springs one step, provides rear overloads, and adds an anti-roll bar at the rear. The F250 rear leaf spring pack is not changed.

 

I think "provides rear overloads" may indicate the rear leaf spring pack is changed. The F350 comes with overload springs and that is the main difference between the two along with the bigger block.

 

Different spring packs; same blocks is what I saw on the dealer lot. 3 leaves on the 250 and 4 leaves on the 350.

 

actually got in touch with Ford regarding my F350. I don’t have a fifth wheel yet, but I plan to in the future (6-12 months). Ford said that neither the heavy service front suspension or the camper package was designed to assist in fifth wheel towing. The heavy service front suspension was designed for snow plow and like activities while the camper package was designed for in bed campers. The fifth wheel prep package was designed for towing. Therefore I opted for the 3.31 rear axle as the tow specs showed it the same as the 3.55 without forcing the camper package or the heavy service front suspension on your build. But I added the fifth wheel prep option of course.

 

Actually the heavy service front end and camper package does help with heavy towing. Take it from us who tow heavier trailers, it helps with maintaining control of the loads.

 

Yep. And that anti-roll bar helps especially with a fifth wheel where the mounting point is so high on the truck.

 

The hitch plate on a 5th wheel is below the top of bed sides by several inches. It actually doesn't do much to the vertical center of gravity of the truck. It's also laterally centered. The trailer itself has a high VCG but that doesn't translate to the truck. Now a slide-in camper DOES raise the VCG and spread the lateral load significantly, and that's where the anti-sway bars are a benefit.
Maybe I'm an oddball because I actually take my 4x4's four wheeling (the 350 becomes the hunting truck after hauling the trailer up to camp) but I wouldn't get any suspension "upgrades" that you aren't going to use. Ride quality and axle articulation will suffer.

 

Who did you talk to at "Ford, the janitor? On the F250, the camper package adds "auxiliary rear springs" and significantly increases the payload of the vehicle. They can call it a camper package, but the fact is that the additional payload can be pretty significant for towing a fifth wheel. You'll find with experience that there is a lot more to towing a fifth wheel than what you'll find in the towing guide.

 

the janitor said there wasn’t much difference on the F350 with the camper package – said payload would not be affected with the F350 and that I could go aftermarket on the sway bar if needed. Several people here have said they had no issues towing 13-14k with the SRW F350 and the 3.31 rear axle. I may be wrong but I think the camper package has a bigger impact on the F250. I will make adjustments if needed.

 

The janitor got that part right as the camper package adds only the rollbar to the F350. The big advantage to the camper package is on the F250 (same order code on both models) where it essentially puts F350 springs on the rear of the F250.

The spring packages are described several different ways so some argue that they are not the same springs. So I'll just quote the 2018 order guide, which I happen to have at hand and I think describes the package very well, "Rear auxiliary springs (F-250 only; Std. on 350)"

So the camper package is very critical for most F250 towing of fifth wheel trailers where you usually run out of payload before tow capacity. The tow guide doesn't really address this issue. Derated GVWR always adds to the confusion so beware of RAWR as well.

 

That is entirely correct but he was talking specifically about a 350 and a 5er, so the janitor was actually right in that case. The only thing the 350 gains is the anti-sway/roll bar, and that's of little to no benefit with a 5th wheel. I took the bar off my 350 for better axle articulation and better ride on choppy roads. As soon as the rear wheels start hitting bumps out of phase, the ride quality is noticeably better sans the bar. If I were hauling a slide-in camper, it would be a different story. The bar would stay.
Your suspension breakdown/analysis is right on, and I really don't know why Ford doesn't just sell all SRW trucks as "Superduty" with various towing and payload option packages. A 250 with a camper package is a 350 (but good luck explaining that to DOT), with the exception of the 4" blocks. Split the difference, use a 3" block and be done with it. Oh well, I guess that's why I'm not a marketing executive.