Hauling a heavy camper and towing

[thomas201]

We are working on leaving the 5th wheel business and entering the truck camper side. We have hit the lower 48 and parts of Canada. We are looking to spend the next 10 years, more in the boonies, plus bringing the 48 CJ2.
So the camper first, the floor plan that hits the high spot is the Eagle Cap 1165. This is not open for debate, unless the boss changes her mind. She likes the kitchen. It is a heavy son of a gun; I make it loaded with our stuff at about 6000 pounds.
By using the 2020 Ford towing guide, and following their description that the camper payload, is minus 6 people at 150 pounds each sitting in the seats. So for crew cabs, with us and our usual cab junk, I can add back about 400 pounds.
We then have in the F350 4X4 dully with the 6.2, 6108 pounds; the 7.3, 6112 pounds; and the 6.7, 5367 pounds. The F450 is even lower, since it and the F350 are both 14,000 pound gross vehicles. I will also need an additional 450 pounds when we bring the jeep on its trailer.
So, how do you folks haul those heavy campers, let alone pull a boat or a trailer?
My solution would be a F450 chassis cab, with a 16,000 pound gross. I and a welder nephew would fab a minimum bed, or really a platform, just above frame rail height, box in the wheel wells, and add a few tool boxes in empty areas. The price, using MSRP, looks to be very similar.
However, one more question. Some say that the F450 pickup and chassis cab are really the same creature and the 14,000 pound limit on the pickup is just a paper function. In other words the F450 would be fine with the weight. So is the 2,000 pound difference between the trucks just paper?

[Grit_dog]

We all agree on that. Next topic...

[specta]

burningman wrote:
It’s got a Dana 80 rear axle. Those have an 11,000 pound weight rating.
Four stock size 235/85/16 tires are good for 10,800 pounds.
And that’s just the rear axle.
It’s clearly got strong enough springs and the frame isn’t going to break.
No, it’s not overloaded.

I read his post when he described his truck.

All I just said was "it looks overloaded".

I never said it was overloaded.

[burningman]

It’s got a Dana 80 rear axle. Those have an 11,000 pound weight rating.
Four stock size 235/85/16 tires are good for 10,800 pounds.
And that’s just the rear axle.
It’s clearly got strong enough springs and the frame isn’t going to break.
No, it’s not overloaded.

[specta]

I only said it "looks" overloaded.

Which it does. Dually or not.

[Grit_dog]

jimh425 wrote:

specta wrote:
And I thought mine looked overloaded.

Looks can be deceiving. His is also a DRW.

And the "looks" pass muster with the un-informed rvnet weight cops because of the training wheels on the back.
When, by rvnet rules, that old D350 is waaay overloaded! Think those trucks had a gvwr of 10k or just over 10klbs.

Not saying it's too much for the truck. In fact, we bought a couple new W350s '89 and '91 models iirc where I worked. The guys would over load the trucks so bad it made the frame shaped like a rainbow!
Somewhere around 18k gvw and 40k combined combined breaks major components in half and wears out everything else in very short order.

[jimh406]

specta wrote:
And I thought mine looked overloaded.

Looks can be deceiving. His is also a DRW.

[specta]

Hemi Joel wrote:

And I thought mine looked overloaded.

[Grit_dog]

Ramp Digger wrote:

brholt wrote:
Some people just jump to the 550's skipping the 350 and 450. That solves the problem.

X2 After operating F-550 trucks in my business of hauling an pulling heavy trailers for the last 21 years I have learned hands down if you are going to haul and pull heavy you absolutely need a truck to do it with. Don't sell your self short trying save a few dollars with marginal payload vehicles. Get yourself just a little more truck than you think you will need. You wont be sorry. That extra margin of safety and drive-ability will be well worth the slight increase in cost.
Good Luck

^True story, but there is the "right" vehicle for most every situation and within the context of the OP's query, we're not talking about grossing >30klbs day in day out. Have plenty of F550s and Ram 5500s at work to do the real heavy lifting, but don't mean it's out of the question to go hook a 15klb trailer to a 3/4 ton and pull it somewhere.
Maybe it's the right choice for the OP, as he is planning long term, fulltime with a big TC and inevitably will have a bunch of extra "stuff".
But by the same token, there isn't a new 1 ton dually out there that will not haul the biggest TC's produced while towing a little trailer, safely and comfortably.
On a personal note, I would be wholly NOT in favor of having a med duty truck for personal use. Aside from license and insurance requirements and cost, they are NOT comfortable to drive around...and I'm not even old by this forum's standards.
Noone but the OP knows how they will use the truck. Are they clicking off 20-30k miles a year traversing the continent, or more gorunded but want the ability to pick up and go with a TC?
The former, I'd consider a F450 Pickup or possibly a 450/4500 truck. The latter, I would be 100% in the 1 ton camp.

All personal preferences, for sure. But the "added safety" of a bigger than necessary tow rig is like an epidemic on here.
Heck, one guy just referred to another poster's eco boost as a lawn mower engine while suggesting it was totally inadequate to tow a sub- 4 ton TT.

[Grit_dog]

jaycocreek wrote:
The old big bores are truly under estimated in this modern internet world..LOL

I know right? Ref my thread about a nice 8.1 Chevy truck for sale. By some of the responses, one would have thought that they couldn't pull a sick _____ off a ____ pot!
(Old saying my dad used to use, not suitable for mixed company, lol)

[Ramp_Digger]

brholt wrote:
Some people just jump to the 550's skipping the 350 and 450. That solves the problem.

X2 After operating F-550 trucks in my business of hauling an pulling heavy trailers for the last 21 years I have learned hands down if you are going to haul and pull heavy you absolutely need a truck to do it with. Don't sell your self short trying save a few dollars with marginal payload vehicles. Get yourself just a little more truck than you think you will need. You wont be sorry. That extra margin of safety and drive-ability will be well worth the slight increase in cost.
Good Luck

[jaycocreek]

Supercharge..Gotta love the big bore 454..I think I have owned about five of them towing large heavy trailers and fifth wheels with a bed full of gear...Never really did anything to drastic to them like the SC kit as they did fine in the mountains of Idaho where the speed limit and windy roads limits how fast you can go anyway or you get stuck behind a semi going up the hill..Just sit back and enjoy the scenery in those cases..

Nice truck and camper..Great to see another older truck with a big bore under the hood haul'n a truck camper..The old big bores are truly under estimated in this modern internet world..LOL

[Grit_dog]

joebedford wrote:
If you're towing the CJ2 4 down, it won't add any weight to the truck.

But towing a CJ2 4 down, especially long distances, does not sound like a fun and maintenance/repair free operation by a long shot. Unless it has newer axles and is really well sorted out.

[Grit_dog]

Hahaha, awesome!
I was thinkin how that old jimmy had to be struggling big time with that camper and trailer, especially in the big mountians...

Then I read blown big block! You win!

[Supercharged111]

Hemi Joel wrote:
You will love the 1165! I enjoy the comfort SO much, but it is a big, tall heavy lunker.

I have mine on a 93 dodge D350. I have a dana 80 rear axle swapped in with larger brakes, and extra leaves in the springs, plus air bags, Rancho 9000 shocks, and home made stable loads. The trans is beefed up, better tork converter, the motor has a bigger turbo, high capacity injectors, and 4" exhaust. It does very well, with just the camper, or with my 28 foot box trailer, except at high altitudes. Over about 3500 elevation, it runs out of power for upgrades into strong head winds. I think it needs more turbo. Maybe compounds.

I had the trailer built with a long tongue so I don't need a hitch extender, and use a weight distributing hitch. That transfers some of the tongue weight onto the front wheels. I don't do 10% tongue weight. I move the vehicle in the trailer to get about 400 to 500 lbs. on the tongue, and it works better.

You're not the only one with an older truck towing with a monster TC. I bet yours is heavier though being a triple slide. Mine is a single slide Lance 1131 and claims to be around 4700#. I absolutely love it.



Truck has bags, a Superhitch, Superhitch frame mounted tie downs, 4' hitch extension, and 454 with a Whipple blower. I've been nothing short of amazed at this old truck's capability out of the box and how it chugs in OD with such minimal mods. Here in CO at 6000' it only makes about 4# of boost but it gets it done. Being a crew cab it got the thickest frame of the GMT400 generation at 5/16". Based on my experience with this truck, I wouldn't hesitate to haul this way with any newer diesel truck as they're all beefier than what I have.