2017 host Mammoth triple slide
Anyone own one or know about there quality? Thinking of taking a trip to truck camper warehouse to look,4.5 hrs away.
Forum Discussion
I was successful in carrying 8000 lbs reliably and safely on the rear axle of my F250, but know you can only modify to some point where it is no longer cost effective. Like most people, I could not afford to take the financial hit of buying the camper and truck at the same time, so I bought the larger truck first and kept the design flexible enough to carry my current Arctic Fox and future Host.
The reason I tell people to skip the Class 4 trucks, is the GVWR limits. If you go with the pickup F450, you are limited to 14k lbs on a truck that already weighs 9K lbs. If you go with the chassis cab F450/4500, your GVWR goes up to 16.5K lbs, but the typical upfitted truck will weigh over 10K lbs. The axles are much beefier in Class 4's and can take the weight, but why start with truck that is over GVWR and has no room to grow?
The Class 3's are limited by rear axle capacity. Even adding 19.5's to these DRW's will not help their capacity (although it will help handling). Most of the guys hauling triple slide TC's on a class 3 are over vehicle GVWR and RAWR but most can stay under OEM rear axle and wheel ratings by not filling the fresh tank completely and not towing anything with tongue weight (flat tow is fine). Could you slip a Dana 110, 111 or 130 axle under your Class 3? Yes, but then you have additional costs of mismatched lug patterns and gear ratios (if 4wd) and the question of how much actual payload can your pickup frame and bed really handle.
We have been very happy with our Arctic Fox and would give their triple side a serious look if they were in their second year of production. If they are successful, Host and Eagle Cap will have bring their campers up another notch to prevent AF from eating into their sales. For us, EC chose components which we do not want, were less flexible than AF or Host on modifications and had some visible flaws that should not be present in this price level of camper.
We have just completed our last road trip with the AF (like Mike with his truck). This past week between rains, we have been emptying it out so it can go on the market and still are not done. Surprising how much stuff you can get into a TC even if you keep an inventory...
The reason I tell people to skip the Class 4 trucks, is the GVWR limits. If you go with the pickup F450, you are limited to 14k lbs on a truck that already weighs 9K lbs. If you go with the chassis cab F450/4500, your GVWR goes up to 16.5K lbs, but the typical upfitted truck will weigh over 10K lbs. The axles are much beefier in Class 4's and can take the weight, but why start with truck that is over GVWR and has no room to grow?
The Class 3's are limited by rear axle capacity. Even adding 19.5's to these DRW's will not help their capacity (although it will help handling). Most of the guys hauling triple slide TC's on a class 3 are over vehicle GVWR and RAWR but most can stay under OEM rear axle and wheel ratings by not filling the fresh tank completely and not towing anything with tongue weight (flat tow is fine). Could you slip a Dana 110, 111 or 130 axle under your Class 3? Yes, but then you have additional costs of mismatched lug patterns and gear ratios (if 4wd) and the question of how much actual payload can your pickup frame and bed really handle.
We have been very happy with our Arctic Fox and would give their triple side a serious look if they were in their second year of production. If they are successful, Host and Eagle Cap will have bring their campers up another notch to prevent AF from eating into their sales. For us, EC chose components which we do not want, were less flexible than AF or Host on modifications and had some visible flaws that should not be present in this price level of camper.
We have just completed our last road trip with the AF (like Mike with his truck). This past week between rains, we have been emptying it out so it can go on the market and still are not done. Surprising how much stuff you can get into a TC even if you keep an inventory...
