Well, I got my camper onto my truck for the first time today and took 'er for a little spin. Now, I've heard people talk about having a load and "hardly even noticing its back there", and that never made sense to me. I figured that had to be kind of an exaggeration, given that these trucks aren't known for being power houses.

Well, now I know what you guys mean. I'm guessing that this camper weighs somewhere around 1500 pounds, and as far as acceleration and pulling I couldn't tell any significant difference in the way it feels. The biggest difference I could see was that the EGTs bounce up a couple of hundred degrees farther when my foot is in it. It doesn't stop quite as quick, and rolls a little bit more on sharp turns, but otherwise doesn't feel much different.

I'd guess that the weight and wind resistance of the camper might have added 1/4-1/2 a second to the 0-60 time. Hardly even noticeable. This thing is going to do AWESOME on my trip to Moab next weekend!

 

Which truck?

If it was the turbo 6.9 it will take a couple thousand pounds more to make much difference in anything but stopping distance.

 

air resistance seems to effect my trucks more than weight.

 

What size camper do you have? Mine must be way heavier. I know for sure it's back there!

 

This was on the NA truck - haven't put the ZF into the turbo yet, so it isn't ready for the 2200 mile round-trip to Moab this year.

I've seen your camper Malcom. It is definitely bigger than mine. IIRC you have a queen-size or King-size cabover and a 3-4 foot overhang in the rear, right? Mine is only a full-size cabover (about a foot shorter in the front) and sits completely inside the bed with no overhang (3-4 feet shorter inthe rear).

Don't get me wrong, I can tell its back there. The whole truck just drives like its heavier, but the difference in take-off speed and acceleration is almost nominal - FAR less than I expected it to be. Of course once I hook up 4000 pounds worth of Jeep and car-dolly on the back, that will make a much mor noticeable difference I'm sure.

I'm just surprised at how much better it does than the old 350 Chevy did with the same size & style of camper. The F250 topped my 3/4 mile 12% grade "test hill" at just under 55 mph with the camper on it - and I can only just barely top that hill at 60 running empty. In contrast the old Chevy used to wheeze its way to the top of that hill at about 40 mph with the camper and 50 mph tops running empty. All I can say is this old truck continues to impress the hell out of me!

Going over the mountains on my trip to Moab is going to be MUCH more pleasant this year.

 

well let us know how the test run goes when you get the Jeep behind it. my truck has similar duty in its future, being a jeeper myself . a report on your fuel economy when you get back would be great also.

Vince

 

Actually mine is only a full size, but it's a 12 footer. I was thinking of getting a shorter one so my boat will fit behind it. It works, but I can't turn very sharp or the jacks hit the boat.

 

A 12-footer, huh? That makes the main body of your camper - the heaviest part - "only" one and a half times as long as the main body of mine

 

My truck is a 350, but it also has sway stabilizers front and rear axles, which I believe helps a lot in the cornering etc. I have an old 8.5' camper that is mostly water logged, so I suspect it weighs lots!! Ha As stated most wind resistance is the problem, otherwise you hardly know its there!

 

A little pic to go with the camper discussion.



The only real problem is stopping it.

 

I never had a problem with a head wind, it was those big gusty side winds with about a #8 pucker factor. Two lane road, 40 mph side wind, gusting to 60 or 70, no place to pull off and then here comes a big truck, tooling along at 65 and you just KNOW there's going to be a big hole displaced in the air when he goes by.....to much fun!!!

Cheaper, what routes are you taking to get to Moab? It is a nice drive from where you are.

 

I just bought an old 88 vacationeer. Its a 11.5 footer, but it was their acculite series, only 1900lbs dry.

Just got done drilling the holes and mounting my torklift tiedowns. Next is the wiring.

Had to use my friends 88 crew cab to pick it up.

I really want to see what its like with the camper and the boat. At best guess I'll be real close to GCVWR 12,000-13,000 loaded.