camper help

i like the SRW as well, but there are advantages both ways. i like the tire size options i have with the SRW and ours is definately easier to park at the mall than our DRW. the advantage of the DRW comes apparent when youre towing a trailer weighing more than the truck. ive pulled our trailer with both trucks and the DRW truck definately controls it better. its not that the SRW doesnt control it....it just doesnt control it as good as the DRW.

Reply to
Nathan W. Collier
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as far as the truck itself, overall i like the f350 better than my ram. to bad ford doesnt put a real diesel engine in them. if i could get a king ranch with a cummins, thats what i would be driving.

Reply to
Nathan W. Collier

Nate.. I decided that the truck I wanted was one that I can't afford to build... an f-250 super cab with a cummins and an allison tranny.. IMO, best of all 3 worlds..YMWV

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

Nate.. just one of those "logical" things that usually don't meet with reality, but I've always figured that the best use for a DRW was for things like a slide-in, where you have more of a tendency to sway from being kinda top heavy..

We saw a nice rig on a recent trip... 3/4 ton ford with a huge slide in that raised and lowered like a popup.. cab height when on the road... The guy said that he drove offroad a lot and between high center of gravity and cross winds, he got rid of his old slide-in and got the "popup" one... He was pulling a 20' fishing boat with an atv rack on the trailer..lol

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

Nate I had a slide in cab over camper that I carried around for for about 10 years in two different trucks. One being a Dodge Cummins 2500. Never had a problem with control. Mine was only a 8.5 model that weighed in about 2900 pounds fully loaded. They just take getting use to, keeping in mind your center of gravity and height clearance. Couple things I discovered was make sure you have quality sway bars front and rear. I used the skinny hydraulic shocks that connect from the cab to the front door jam/fender area. A lot of people say you don't need them and they didn't want to drill holes in their truck but it takes out all that forward bucking bounce a cab over can sometimes give you. Forget about the airbags in they rear...... they simply didn't work for me. Instead I went with Helwig progressive overloads. What I did was have extended shackles made up so that I could remove the shackles when empty, thus giving me the factory ride because with the Helwigs on while empty it will beat you to death. I didn't use the Helwig for the overload capacity but for the benefit of taking out any sway and they worked great for that. In your case with a 3500, you're in better shape than I was. In addition to hauling the camper around I pulled my boat on most trips which weighted in about 3,000 pounds. Sounds like you are talking about a 11 or 12 foot slide in but I think if you took a hard look at the 9.5 or 10 foot model you will be surprised at the room you have in them, especially if they have a slide out dining area section which wasn't available when I had mine. Todays slide in campers are build much better than when I had mine and the center of gravity is much lower in them now. Probable over 90% of the cab over campers going down the road are overloaded but that is the nature of the beast, I know I was most of the time.

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry

I ran across this blurb in a Lance Camper brochure. It had a section that talks about the Reese Titan Class V hitch box extensions and the trailer weight capacity based on different Lance models. For the smaller campers (Lance 845, 820, and 821 short beds) the tow capacity of the hitch extension is 8000/800 (trailer weight/hitch weight) based on a 21" extension, but for all the other larger campers it goes down to 6000/600 based on a 48" extension. Those values are with a weight distributing hitch. Without, deduct 2000/200 or 1500/150 based on model from the above figures.

John

Nathan W. Collier wrote:

Reply to
JPH

The GVWR is the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. You are correct in assuming that is the maximum amount the truck and everything in it is allowed to weigh. This includes any weight induced on the tow vehicle by hitching a trailer. Keep the GAWRs in mind too. That's the Gross Axle Weight Rating. It's the amount of weight allowed to be carried by each axle. If you add the front GAWR and rear GAWR together it will be more than the GVWR. It is possible to load the vehicle under the front and rear GAWR and still be over the GVWR. You cannot responsibly exceed *any* of these ratings.

Can you hook the trailer up legally? Maybe, if you move the fuel to the trailer (I'm assuming the fuel is in cans for the snowmobiles). The trailer will have an effect on the vehicle weight. Normally 10% to 15% of the weight of the trailer will be carried by the tow vehicle as tongue weight so double check your weights after hitching up. You are already within 200 lbs of the GVWR. If your trailer weighs 2500 lbs, you should have a minimum of 250 lbs tongue weight. This will put you over the GVWR by at least 50 lbs. If your fuel cans weigh 100 lbs and you move them from the truck to the trailer, you should be OK. The tow vehicle will actually see a carried weight reduction of about 90 lbs just by moving the fuel to the trailer (100 lbs removed from truck, 10 lbs added in increased trailer tongue weight). Also, don't exceed the maximum GCWR. GCWR is the Gross Combined Weight Rating. This includes the weight of the truck, everything carried in it, and the weight of the trailer. There should be a section in your owner's manual explaining all of this. A 2500 lb trailer shouldn't even get you close to this, but keep it in mind. The GCWR of my Ram is 16,000 lbs, and the max trailer weight is 9,800 lbs.

The sticker in the door jamb is the vehicle certification label. This is what officially certifies the vehicle as to what load it can carry. The owner's manual shouldn't contradict anything on the certification label, only explain in greater depth.

The maximum pressure embossed on the tire is simply the maximum pressure that you can put in that tire. The tire manufacturer has no idea what vehicle it's going to be mounted on. The maximum pressure isn't always the best pressure. Be sure you have the proper size and load range tires on your truck. Your truck is 8800# GVWR so you should have load range "E" tires. Check for a separate tire pamphlet bundled with your owner's manual. My '99 came with one of these pamphlets titled "Tire Inflation Pressures 1999 Light Duty Trucks Wagons & Vans". It gives specific tire pressures for carrying light loads, full loads, and for carrying a snow plow. My 2500 4X4 QC Cummins calls for 65 psi in the front tires and 80 psi in the rear tires with a full load. Light loads call for 50 psi in the front and 40 psi in the rear. With the snow plow mounted, front tires should be inflated to 70 psi regardless of load. That's a pretty big variance, especially in the rear tires.

Reply to
Nosey

i figure with a standard slide in i could take turns with the wifey sleeping/driving. a popup is only usable when its popped up.

Reply to
Nathan W. Collier

? i have _no_ idea what youre referencing. do you have an online source available to show/tell me a little more about it?

i used to hate airbags but have since come to believe they were beneficial. please explain.

ive since decided to fine one even with the end of my truck bed so that extending my hitch wouldnt be an issue.

Reply to
Nathan W. Collier

I've never used air bags, but Timbren springs work great.

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Reply to
Nosey

Oh, ok... don't get caught up in the "1/2-ton", "3/4-ton", "1-ton" descriptions.... they lost their meaning long ago. They no longer refer to the vehicle's actual capacity... more of a general, "big, bigger, biggest" relative rating.

You can't... the 5,000lb. figure comes from the 3500 dually's GVWR of

12,200lbs., with a curb weight of about 7,000lbs. (depending on configuration). The biggest reason for this increase is the four tires on the rear axle, as opposed to two.

Only if the tongue weight is at, or under, 200lbs. Tongue weight has to factor in to your GVW calculation, because it's weight applied to the truck's suspension.

Your truck should have come with a tire manual as part of the owner's manual package... it has recommended pressures for various loads. Your optimal tire pressures will vary according to how much load you're putting on them, but you can never exceed the pressure stamped on the side of the tire.

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

Was he getting the truck up on plane, with the front tires bouncing about

6-8" off the road? :)
Reply to
Tom Lawrence

I don't recall what they were named or called. take a look at the truck at the top of the picture here....

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. See the long shocks connecting the overhang to the front of the truck.

All the air bags done for me was give me a harsher ride when unloaded. You can pump them up to increase payload but think about what you are really doing. They are nothing more than hard air spacers between frame and axle and nothing to cushion a rut or pot hole when you hit it hard. Besides just when you don't need it they will blow in a turn or start a slow leak that you can't patch and you will be going down the road like a crab. I just didn't have any faith in them for the long haul. The springs that Nosey mentioned should work well, especially if you leave the camper on 24/7 but I took mine off all the time and by simply removing the four separate end shackles on the springs I was back at stock ride and the overload springs were still bolted to the axle. Worked for me.

Then the 8.5 foot or even the 9.5 foot model would work well for you.

Reply to
Jerry

Thank you Tom and everyone else for your input, on these two issues I am a little wiser. Suprised there were no comments about the beer. :) Now if someone could help me understand women a little better... or where their manual is hidden... Thx LJB

Reply to
LJB
8> haul. The springs that Nosey mentioned should work well, especially if
8>
Reply to
Nosey

gotcha, thanks. i wouldnt want to drill my truck like that either.

Reply to
Nathan W. Collier

Jerry,

If I may . . . I suggest you look at AirRide Technologies. The most common cause of air suspension failure is a leak in an improperly installed line.

Helper bags can be deflated to a couple pounds of pressure just to avoid chafing.

-- Budd Cochran

Reply to
Budd Cochran

Well, probably not, but I can't say for sure (The sheer terror, ya know). The side to side sway was scary enough. If he'd tried to avoid any size rabbit, for example, we would have most likely rolled over on a side.

I looked under it a couple days later and he had coil over boost springs in the back with tires a little bigger than stock and the stock front sway bar, iirc.

-- Budd Cochran

Reply to
Budd Cochran

This one looked like you could sleep in it, from what I saw when he popped the back door... it was like a cab high topper when down... Damn thing probably cost more than a new truck, though..

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

I'll take a shot at that one... being married 3 times, you have to learn SOMETHING..

It gets down to their basic philosophy: Women are from Venus and don't give a shit where men are from, as long as they stay there.. or at least go back on Monday morning..

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

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