If you do end up adding airbags make sure each side runs its own air circuit. This will keep it from leaning or swaying. I ran a 3500+lb camper in my 17 CCSB and the airbags were a dream.

 

I installed dual-circuit air bags on our F350 to help level the truck (and restore headlight aim) when carrying our Lance 855s camper. Our truck also has the factory camper package option.

I’m very happy with the end results.







Our previous camper was also ~2K lbs. “dry”. We did not need suspension enhancements when carrying this one, even when fully loaded.




HTH, and safe travels!
Jim / crewzer

 

It would be worth double-checking your truck’s actual rear leaf spring configuration via a visual confirmation. Typical F250 + camper package is four leaves (3+1), and typical F350 SRW configuration is five leaves (4+1). I do understand that the some of the MY2020 configurations have changed.

Also note that payload includes not only the camper, but also other stuff and people you put on/in the truck.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

 

I finally installed airbags on my '18 F350 CCLB 4x4 CamperPkg 6.2l. I have a slightly less than 2000 pound dry hallmark Guanella pop up truck camper. I was frustrated because I was constantly getting flashed at night time because our stupid fords have four low beam headlights. I have the XL halogen lights package. The first time I used my truck camper a few years ago, the back end felt pretty wallowy and bottomed at speed in dips so I upgraded the rear shocks to a set of Fox 2.0. That helped control the load back then.
But At night over the last couple years I was still frustrated because people continuously flash their headlights because my rear had settled an inch or two with the added camper weight and frequently hauling a motorcycle on a rear hitch carrier
I installed the 5000 pound airbag kit myself and Plumbed each airline To my license plate illumination pockets on their respective sides. At the same time I finally put a set of fox 2.0 front shocks on, my truck is at 34,000 miles. One of the two front oem shocks was blown.

Immediately after the install with only five psi of air in the rear airbags, good God the front and felt stiff with the new shocks. And those that are looking for a better ride empty the set of fox shocks is definitely not the way to go. In fact the low quality OEM shocks provide a really nice Ride when the tires are inflated properly for an empty load.

Good golly I'm halfway through a trip from Flagstaff to Gooseberry Mesa in southern Utah mtn biking campout with a gang, drove back roads the whole way, speeds from 45 to up to 95 miles an hour passing. I love it, my airbags are inflated to 60 PSI so I'm actually maybe a quarter to half inch higher ride height them when I unladen with no air in the bags. The drive across the reservation and across the north rim and over lots of potholes and dips and the truck handled phenomenally well. I'm gonna drop the pressures for my drive home on Sunday to either match my stock ride height or possibly squat a quarter of an inch. We'll see which performance ride height setting I like. But I love the fact that I didn't have that bottoming effect when going through dips, confidence handling the truck at speed on crappy roads is vastly improved

Last comment. The Hellwig air bag install I did was awful. Hellwig instructions are **** poor, parts were missing, They don't include the basic parts list in the instructions so you can verify you got all the parts before you start installing, it was a cobby inelegant install procedure. I would definitely not recommend and Hellwig products to anybody, it was the worst experience of any aftermarket part I've installed in the last 40 years. In retirement From my mechanical engineering career, I rebuild engines, rebuild forks and shocks, Upgrade the on motorcycle and bicycle shocks For my racer clients, so I'm a fairly good wrench.

Just took a photo. Steel oem wheels, LT265/70-17 studded tires. 33F this morning, My tent sleeping younger buddies have got to be freezing their butts off! 😁. I think the back of the truck looks a bit too high, because of where I parked, Or I really do need to drop pressure a bit before I drive home. I'll take a look at it again when I'm level once I return to the pavement on Sunday... I got a question for y'all when I do voice to text on my iPhone why does it randomly capitalize words? My old android phones did not do this

 

We have an F250 with camper package and 6.2 gas. We pull a 11.5K 5er with a pin weight of 1830 pounds. Then there is the two of us and a few things in the truck. At these weights, the truck squats about 3 inches. One end of the overload just touches the pad and the other end is about 1/4" from touching. So, you will be on your overloads IMO. The truck handles this fine for us but you will have a higher center of gravity and a bit more weight. I'd say give it a try. As long as you are not doing a 3-5K mile trip to the Rockies, you might be fine. Wind could be your biggest issue. Per a previous post, traveling at night with the lights on can cause you to get "flashed" as the SD's do run with all 4 lights on. Then, people think you are running your brights. We rarely pull the 5er at night so not a problem for us generally. But, a darker, rainy day can be problematic when you are running with lights. For us, it is not enough of a problem to go through the hassle and expense of a rear spring assist.

 

Timbrens & a Hellwig swaybar should keep the body roll to a minimum.

2,000lbs + 500lbs of gear + your body weight and a passengers body weight. quickly approaching 3,000lbs. Its going to want to lean and sway quite a bit.

Hit the scales when the truck is full of fuel and no camper for a baseline weight.
Then Load it up with camper and hit the scales with driver & passengers in it on the scales.
Its going to most likely weigh more then you think. I dont know from experience, ive just read most with bed campers say they weigh much more then the manufacturer says.

 

The benefit of bags is that it addresses the sag, but more importantly to address that your camper load will likely not be balanced (depending on design and how you load it). I would install bags as either a manual fill, or with a dual-path compressor. Both give you the ability to independently adjust side to side. So if you are heavy on one side, you fill that side up a bit more to level out. I have no experience with Firestone bags, but AirLift installed as a manual fill is a very quick job easily done at home. Adding a compressor doubles the cost and more than doubles the time but can still be done at home if you are mechanically inclined.

 

I would let it sag so the overloads engage so it spreads the load across the chassis. Looks like it would be a little wobbly.

I would probably run those stabile loads instead of the airbags unless its sagging a lot.

 

As I've mentioned several times before, my first Truck Camper was in the late 70's. Before that, it was with my father. You want to carry your weight on the Springs. Engaging the lower Over-Load springs with Lower Stable Loads is a great option. Next, Air Bags. Truck Campers Air Bags should be setup for individual fill. Not Simultaneous. Truck Campers are Typically heavier on one side. This is where Air Bags help the most. By simply adjusting the air pressure on the lower side. Leveling is just that easy. Do not Over Fill your Air Bags. As I mentioned earlier, you need enough Suspension to support your weight. Air Bags to make up the Lt to Rt lean, and Sway Bars to Minimize Sway. Tires to support your loaded weight. Then go out and enjoy the most universal RV out there ..

 

Couldn't disagree more. That's the way I've run it the last couple years , but with the new airbags, handling is vastly superior and I'm not getting much roll even when my tires are squealing in turns. And all the weight is still on the frame whether or not the Overload springs are engaged