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mjedlin66's avatar
mjedlin66
Explorer
Aug 14, 2021

96 F-250 diesel, campers under 2300?

First time poster. I grew up camping out of a truck camper. Back then my parents hauled a camper and 3 kids on a 1970s F-150!! Knowing what I know now, they were way overloaded, and so are probably half of the truck campers on the road.

My truck is a 96 F-250 4x4 standard cab, long bed, 5-speed manual with the 7.3L powerstroke. GVWR from sticker is 8600 lbs. E-rated tires.

I weighed the truck empty with both fuel tanks full and me sitting in the seat, 6300 lbs. So that means I've got 2300 lbs of payload left.
At first I thought 2300 lbs was pretty good. Then I started looking at what campers weigh. Holy ****!

If I'm not mistaken, the only difference between a 96 F-250 Diesel and a 96 F-350 diesel is the front axle. An axle swap would weigh an extra 100 lbs, but the GVWR on the F-350 is 9000 lbs, so I would gain 300 lbs of payload. I would rather swap my front axle than buy a different truck. Trouble is, that doesn't change the legal GVWR.

The problem with getting a different truck is that I want to stay with the mid-90s 7.3L diesel. And buying a 25 year old truck, even one in good shape, is a risky ordeal. It took me quite a while of fixing small things on this F-250 to get it just right and trustworthy.

And if that's not enough, I also would like to tow my boat with the camper installed. My tongue weight is only like 300 lbs. But still, that's weight that has to come off the camper.

So I'm looking at light campers. So called "half-ton" campers.

Truckcampermagazine is a GREAT website, and so is this forum. The only "new" camper I can find that looks feasible is the Adventurer 80RB, with a dry weight of 1762 lbs + options. I also have a lead on a 2004 Eagle Cap 800 lite, which has a brochure dry weight of 1990 lbs.

Are there any others out there that are under 2000 lbs dry? Preferably a model that has been around for 10 years so I'm not shopping in the 30k budget range. Maybe I should be looking at pop-up campers?

Thanks
Matt
Truck Campers

19 Replies

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  • mbloof's avatar
    mbloof
    Explorer
    Aug 15, 2021
    For a SRW most trucks RAWR is indeed the OEM installed max tire rating x2.

    The actual Axle weigh rating is usually more. This depends on the brand of truck and the year of the truck itself.

    For most Ford SRW trucks in the 3/4T and 1T load range they use/used a "Sterling" axle. (I forget the exact years and ratings) Generally 1990's trucks used the 9.5" axle and newer Fords (about the switch point to the "Super Duty" series) use the 10" axle.

    While the older model is rated lower then the newer one, last I recall looking it up the 10" version is rated for 9800lbs.

    I carried a ~4000lbs camper on a 1997 F250 for many years. (total weight packed ready for camping was ~12000lbs)

    I did however upgrade my tires+rims to 19.5" class "G" rated tires due to the limits of available tire ratings for the OEM rims.

    Overloading your tires (causing excessive sidewall flex and overheating) is one of the primary causes of a blowout and something every driver wants to avoid (especially with a "top heavy" camper load in the bed).


    - Mark0.
  • Supercharged111's avatar
    Supercharged111
    Explorer
    Aug 15, 2021
    KD4UPL wrote:
    mjedlin66 wrote:
    Rear GAWR on sticker is 6084 lbs. My tire ratings add up to that exactly.
    Rear axle weight empty is 2640 lbs.

    So... Payload 3,444?


    That's the way I'd do it. If you upgrade your tires you could probably gain some capacity up to the limits of your wheels and then the actual axle's capacity.
    The axle's actual capacity may be hard to find. For GM trucks the rear is made by AAM. I found that they list the one under my truck at 10,000 pounds or so even thought the door sticker declares it to be around 8,500.


    I'd only seen it rated around 8700# myself, can't find the site I found with that number but it seemed more legit than Wikipedia. If I could ever find a 12k GVWR cab and chassis I'd have a better idea of how high the general was willing to rate it. OP this is the approach I'd take to finding how high Ford rated your axle. In my application, I'm limited by spring pack at a minimum. The C&C trucks also had taller, beefier frames with reinforcements for a measley 2000# increase in GVWR.
  • VTLee's avatar
    VTLee
    Explorer
    Aug 15, 2021
    I have a 97 F-250 with the diesel and have been hauling a 9.5ft camper since the truck was new. Camper weighs 2300 lbs. dry. Does your truck have the camper package with the auxiliary springs? If so, put on upper stableloads to keep the springs engaged and you will be good to go.
  • KD4UPL's avatar
    KD4UPL
    Explorer II
    Aug 14, 2021
    mjedlin66 wrote:
    Rear GAWR on sticker is 6084 lbs. My tire ratings add up to that exactly.
    Rear axle weight empty is 2640 lbs.

    So... Payload 3,444?


    That's the way I'd do it. If you upgrade your tires you could probably gain some capacity up to the limits of your wheels and then the actual axle's capacity.
    The axle's actual capacity may be hard to find. For GM trucks the rear is made by AAM. I found that they list the one under my truck at 10,000 pounds or so even thought the door sticker declares it to be around 8,500.
  • mjedlin66's avatar
    mjedlin66
    Explorer
    Aug 14, 2021
    Rear GAWR on sticker is 6084 lbs. My tire ratings add up to that exactly.
    Rear axle weight empty is 2640 lbs.

    So... Payload 3,444?
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Aug 14, 2021
    From forum feedback, pop-up campers are not much lighter than solid walls?
    Anyway, ditto on checking your rear axle capacity and go from there.
    Enforcing GVWR can be tricky.
    Years ago I drove F450, who at the time was registered under it own weight of 9000 lb.
    Having small backhoe on it, I got pulled over by DOT officer, who read door sticker saying 15,000 lb, so he send me to DMV and in California at the time they required GCWR declaration, what gave big weight labels to be attached on sides of the cabin.
    The 30,000 lb declaration cost me additional $450, what later went up to $600.
  • JimK-NY's avatar
    JimK-NY
    Explorer II
    Aug 14, 2021
    The common rule of thumb is to add 1000# to the WET weight for a reasonable estimate of the total weight. One thousand pounds may seem excessive but not for most of us. That would include kitchen and cooking gear, food/drinks, clothing, tools, cleaning supplies, toiletries, lawn chairs, generator/fuel, etc. Also remember your "cargo" weight needs to include the weight of passengers in addition to the 1000# estimate.

    I agree, you should be looking for a pop up camper. They are extremely hard to find used in good condition. If you are also determined to pull a boat with that truck, I think you should consider tent camping.
  • KD4UPL's avatar
    KD4UPL
    Explorer II
    Aug 14, 2021
    First of all there is no "legal GVWR". GVWR is not a legally enforceable number. The DOT or anyone else can't ticket you for being over it. In fact, most "hot shot" truck drivers exceed their GVWR daily thru all manor of weigh stations and DOT checks and it's not a problem. Only tire weights and bridge axle weights are legally enforceable.
    I would look a lot more at your axle weights than your GVWR. Your rear axle is probably good for 6,000 or more pounds (it's on the door sticker). Did you get individual axle weights at the scale? What was the rear? I'd guess it wasn't much over 2,000 pounds leaving your with roughly 4,000 pounds of rear axle weight capacity.
    Don't worry about swapping front axles. The front axle weight will change very little when loading up a TC.
    I carried a 4,000 pound camper on a 2007 Chevy 3500 SRW for a couple years. The truck's GVWR was 9,900 but fully loaded with the camper and my family it weighted about 11,100. I eventually put the same camper on a 2005 Chevy dually. This truck's GVWR is 11,400; fully loaded with the camper and family it weighted about 13,100. I drove both rigs thru many states and thousands of miles for years with no problems. I was NOT over my tire or axle weights. (but very close)
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator II
    Aug 14, 2021
    Front axle has nothing to do with it, once you realize that all or nearly all of the weight is on the rear axle. To be fair, a reg cab may put some weight on the front depending on the camper. The only reason to change Axle is to get rid of the TTB axle. For the obvious reasons around that thing.
    Obviously you’re planning on supporting suspension mods for the camper. Do it right and I’d go up to 3500lbs or so loaded. Obviously the lighter it is, the more nimble it is though.

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