The GVWR is 8800lbs. that means you are allowed to have 8800b on all 4 tires
The axle rating doesnt really mean much, I dont even know why they bother to put it on there.

I TRIED to register my CCSB my axle weights(10,184lbs) the state said NO. That the GVWR is 8,800 and that was All I could register it for

 

Exactly. (and getting over 10 characters)

 

Unless I got a reconstructed title and KILLED the value of the truck.
So I sold it and bought a F-Superduty(15k GVWR)

 

My point was about getting the higher gvwr of the 350 dually, and converting to srw. IMO you'd be able to safely retain the higher gvwr, as long as you don't go over the srw axle ratings..

 

you can just run your f250 with a camper without much concern.
you can't take a f350 dually,convert it to srw and think you'd be any more legal than just running your f250.
anyone who would ever bother weighing a pickup truck,would know it used to be a dually anyway lol.so that wont work.

the answer to your question as to why the axle ratings don't add up to meet the grvw is likely two fold.
because then they couldn't sell f350's over f250's.
and there is more than just axle ratings that make it safe to carry weight.tires are only rated to carry so much and the vacuum brake systems on these era pickups are very poor and incapable of stopping over their weight ratings in any sort of safe margin (i know for a fact,i don't care who disagrees lol.)

your best bet might be considering a small bumper pull or 5th wheel.your f250 is more than capable to tow a good trailer.id recommend this route.............or the F450 if you insist on carrying a camper.but as you say,the ride is harsh,you don't want a dually,the rear gears kill fuel economy too.kinda overkill for a slide in of course lol.then you really could be targeted for weigh stations.....but no concerns or worries about stopping either.

that's not going to fool anyone.besides he'd fall in love with the way the dually held his slide in,that he'd never wanna ditch the duals anyway.



...............
i go traveling & camping on the cheap.i take my little 4 cyl car,a sleeping bag and a tent is all i need.

 

It is TRUELY sad that a F250 is rated for 500lbs less than a F350 and the ONLY different is the 2" block on a F250/while the F350 is 4" block
and the badge on the fender

oh, yeah and the $1500 extra price tag on the F350

 

I'm not worried about the safety aspect. I fully believe I could safely carry a total of 9,500 - 10,000 lbs with my F-250HD. There's plenty of safety factor in truck designs for that (and as Brad points out, there's nothing at the back to make an F-250HD any less capable than an F-350). So I'd certainly have no personal concerns about the safety of carrying that weight on an F-350 dually that had been converted to single.

No I can't. I'd be over the GVWR and I WOULD be concerned every time I got to an open weigh station outside of Minnesota that it would end up putting a BIG crimp in my family's vacation. I know I'd be concerned because I did that with my current 1200 lb camper in an F-150 for several years and I was concerned.

That's certainly a risk with going that route. But it comes down to "what limit will they be using to judge if I'm overweight?" There are several answers to that, any of which could be true at any particular weigh station.

One possibility is that they're just worried about trucks damaging their roads, and they just need to make sure that my axle weight isn't above a limit set by their state that has nothing to do with my truck (other than number of axles and number of tires). Any camper I'm considering on any truck I'm considering will be fine by that.

Another possibility is that they'll go with the registration weight of the truck. A dually converted to SRW would still be registered at the dually weight and would be fine. My F-250HD becomes a wild card there though, because anything under a 1 ton truck in Minnesota is registered as a car. SmartCar or F-250HD, the registration fee is the same $35 and I don't think there's any weight rating on the registration. That's why I'm not concerned in Minnesota with my F-250HD. It's not a truck in Minnesota and cars don't need to stop at weigh stations.

A third possibility is that they'd look at the sticker in the driver's door. If they did that a dually converted to SRW would have the higher number and it might sail through just fine. Or it might specify that the vehicle is a dually and a lot of questions would get asked and my vacation would be ruined. So that is the concern with this approach.

The problem with a trailer is that I need to be able to bring my '71 Bronco with me (we often camp and fourwheel on vacation, or otherwise like to simply leave the truck with the camper at the campground and use the Bronco for running around).

I've looked at "toy box" campers, but even some REALLY big ones still aren't big enough inside to carry my Bronco. So I'm stuck with a camper that can tow the Bronco. A pickup with a slide-in camper or a motorhome are my only options.

And before someone suggests towing the Bronco behind a fifth wheel, that's not legal in Minnesota.

 

ah a tow toy.well it might be time for the motorhome Bob.i know you want it all lol but.......somethings gotta give lol.i mean like you say,you don't want to be concerned.when on vacation,you just want it stress free.i think it's your only option unless you wanna fab up a custom f450 of the era.re-gar to 4.30ish range (though some '97's come with them) from the 4.63/5.13 option,de-sping it a tad out back for a bit easier ride,fab up a bed/frame work to hold a slide in.then tow the bronc.
srw converting a drw is just gunna be the same stress and worry level as just running the 250.you don't want a dually yet ya need one.hey join the club.iv got 2 of 'em lol.sucks to buy tires.harder ride,and poorer traction,but oh can they haul.

 

A motorhome was the first thought, because of the weight of a slide-in camper that was nice enough for what we want (and the payload of the trucks I like obviously). But then we found an 1800 lb camper that we think we'd like. That's ALMOST light enough for my truck but only leaves 900 lbs for people, gear, AC in the camper (probably not included in the 1800 lb dry weight) and water tanks. So upgrading to a 1 ton seemed like it might be an easy way to get a little margin on that 900 lbs. But unfortunately the 1800 lb camper is for a short box (which I now have) and the lightest camper for a long box we've found is 2300 lbs. So adding 500 lbs to the GVWR by going to a 1 ton (long box) doesn't really help.

This is all still in the investigative phase. If we can find a slide-in we like, and that will work with a truck I like, it's pretty attractive to not have to buy, park and maintain a motorhome. But we might find out that the 1800 lb slide-in isn't what we want anyway, or that we won't be able to find a truck I want that will carry the slide-in. And of course if I was to get an F-Superduty and try to set it up to carry a slide-in camper, I'd probably end up with a truck that's so dedicated to carrying the camper that I might as well just buy the motorhome. So if the slide-in plans don't pan out for any of these reasons we'll probably be back to plan A, the motorhome.

 

Closing out an old thread.

We ended up deciding against a slide-in camper. Partly for the weight issues, but also because the lighter ones just weren't big enough for us inside (killing point was that there wasn't enough headroom for me to sit upright on the bed).

So we went back to looking at class C motorhomes and ended up buying one. We hadn't really wanted to buy one in the fall, but the dealer offered to store it over the winter for free. So even though we've paid for it, we won't take delivery until probably May. Which feels weird, but it is nice to not have to worry about where we're going to store it until next fall.

It's a 2015 E-450 with the 6.8L V10 and an 8,000 lb towing capacity. So I should be fine at any weigh station!

 

there ya go Bob.you cured the issue the correct way.now when you head out,you'll de-stress instead of getting more stressed.
im more of a less is more guy,when i go out to unwind;






but that rv, sure is a beauty.

 

Thanks! I've done the "less-is-more" route. I like that too. But I definitely like being comfortable, fourwheeling the Bronco is a blast, and my wife likes going too if we don't need to sleep in a tent!

Actually the lightweight slide-in camper we've used was a good compromise for a long time. It was really just a glorified tent with comfortable beds for three people and quite a bit of storage. No stove, fridge, sink, furnace. We cooked and ate outside. But we're getting older (not old yet, just older )and moving to something nicer seemed like the right thing to do now.

 

I'm young (not young-young, but nowhere near older), and can appreciate a camper. Some trips I'd love a slide in camper, especially for ski/snowboard/snowmobiling trips or trips with family. Other times I want a dual sport bike and my backpacking gear. 50mpg to a trailhead, hike a bunch for as many days as I can get away for, ride home.. Both have their place, as long as you're not wasting vacation on the couch at home!

 

Generally speaking non-commercial vehicles do not have to stop at weigh stations... hell I've been driving OTR stuff for 44 years and I don't stop unless I really
can't avoid 'em!

 

It depends on the state. I think Nebraska and Colorado are the ones that scared me the most when I was driving an overloaded half-ton. Signs saying things like "pickups with trailers must weigh" are hard to rationalize away. But now I don't need to!