Artic Fox 865 wet wt 4200 or Nothern lite 8-11

Just my $0.02, but I’ve never regretted having a dually. The peace of mind is worth it, plus it’s more stable in a crosswind. Look up the payload for any SRW pickup - it’ll be 500-700 lbs less than that camper’s wet weight. If you’re in a crash, and the other guy’s lawyer learns that you were negligently overweight they’ll have a field day with you, whether you were at fault or not. Good luck in your decision!

A F350 diesel SRW is going to weigh between 7500 and 8500 pounds without the TC depending on cab and 2x4 or 4x4 configuration. unloaded the rear axle is going to be carrying about 3000 pounds add a TC and you will be at or above the tire capacity for most tires. I know because I own both an SRW and a dually F350 Crew cab diesel. With my TC the rear axle Cat Scaled at 7400 with my lance 1055 (4400 pounds wet) Suspension upgrades and 19.5 tires made it a good drive. My Dually makes it a great drive.

I think you and your dealer is somewhat confused. Diesel reduce payload , a lot. It is heavy as hell. If you wanted SRW your option is gas only since it barely meets the capacity requirement of a modern full suite hardside TC.

And diesel's extra 20% power is useless when moving something as light as 4k lb weight. You are not towing 20k lb 5th wheel or something. My Gas F350 DRW/AF865 setup can reach 55mph on interstate with 6th gear. Plenty of reserve power if I switch to lower gear. 5th gear can go to 80mph. and 4th and below just launch my truck forward, although at the cost of extreme mpg reduction.

I’m afraid that this thread is going to go off the rails to a Gasoline vs Diesel or SRW vs DRW battle. Any way ...

I’m curious why your dealer only wants to sell to people with diesels, but will sell to someone with a SRW. If you are going for max capability, might as well go for a DRW, too. The diesel only affects the rated payload since the TC will be sitting primarily on the rear axle. I will say the diesel is nice if your are driving the mountains of Montana/Idaho. I’m not saying that gasoline engines can’t go up them, but they will definitely be working harder. I’ve pulled a 4000 lb boat trailer up some of these mountains with a gasoline engine. They are starved for air at the higher elevations and really start reving. I will say that if you don’t plan to tow a heavier trailer behind the TC and don’t mind going slower up the mountains, the gasoline engine will be fine. Gasoline is cheaper most of the time, but you’ll lose range with tanks of the same size.

I’ve carried my current TC in my signature with both SRW and DRW. My wife really prefers the F450 DRW, and it isn’t close. If you can get by with a DRW, get a DRW. My F450 is overkill, but we still like it. I drove my TC for 8 1/2 years with a SRW. We’ve had the DRW for 4 years. I had the SRW because I couldn’t park a DRW where I worked, and it was my daily driver. I did add 19.5s to my SRW to increase the tire capacity. By the time you do that, it would be easier to just buy the DRW. The DRW is going to get less MPG. To drive the SRW, I paid very close attention to what we brought along to keep the weight down. With the DRW, I’ve been under my GVWR carrying everything I wanted for a greater than 1 week trip. I setup both trucks almost the same except with the SRW having Rancho 9000s and the F450 with Bilstein shocks. My mods are in my signature.

Other than the obvious width and disadvantages empty, the DRW is a better choice. There are plenty of people who have both. It all depends on what you want to trade off.

Travelin Jim wrote:
Hi, New to the site...I want to buy a truck camper...Artic Fox 865 is nice...but heavy. Have some in town. Trying to figure out if a F350 diesel is big enough. Don't want a dually if I can help it. Really like the Northern Lite 8-11 EX Dry Bath with a wet wt of 3800 but closest dealer is 400 miles. Getting a good deal on the 865. I don't own a Ford yet so my options are open. Artic Fox dealer won't sell to anyone without a diesel. Ford dealer thinks a 350 is big enough but Really need some help. Thank you

You have two campers you are deciding between, with wet weights of 3800 lbs, or 4200 lbs. The payload capacity of a 2019 F350 SRW crew cab diesel pickup, with 11,500 lb GVWR is 3552 lbs. Neither camper will work with that truck.

Artic Fox dealer won't sell to anyone without a diesel.

Umm,Why?

Now you move on to "cheating."

Payload to GVWR is 3552lbs, but payload to RAWR is around 4400lbs, with stock tires. You'll probably want airbags or some other suspension helper to take out any excessive squatting.

Still cutting it close with the 4200lb wet weight, because they always come out heavier.

My thoughts...


Lots of talk about weights and what a truck will do and what they are rated at. This is an actual cat scale ticket for our 2010 F350 SRW Power Stroke 6.4l 4x4 long box crew cab and ArcticFox 990 ready to go camping with my wife and I both in the truck.

I could have dropped the BBQ since we didn't use it (and I figured we weren't going to) and a tool box I brought along that I didn't need but wanted, but I didn't.

So, here's the skinny: this truck is rated at 11,500lbs, weighs in at ~7900lbs without the tailgate and the camper says it weighs 3600lbs wet (ya, no). Capacity is theoretically 3600lbs (11.5k minus the truck). But you have to take into consideration things like food, cloths, personal items, yourself, your wife etc etc etc

Therefore, if what the sticker tells you is what you want to go by than you must get a DRW and move on. Best for payload would be a gas powered standard cab, 2WD dually.

However, if you do any research you will learn that the rear end is not rated by the manufacturer the same as Ford (Visteon says 9750lbs vs Ford's 7000lbs) which might cause someone to ponder why that is? If you continue on this path you'll learn Ford rates based on the axle, springs, shocks, tires and wheels etc and as such they rate to the 'lowest common denominator'. Makes sense really; you build a truck and rate it that way to prevent being sued. Sure the axle can take a lot more weight but you don't want to be sued if someone doesn't understand your payload rating if you say "this much if, and that much if and that much more IF" etc.

If you choose to think that way, setting aside all legal arguments, than a set of tires, perhaps wheels, springs or suspension upgrades etc and the SRW will handle the camper fine.

Some will claim brakes are the weak point but I don't buy that at all since the truck is rated to TOW 12,500lbs (with trailer brake) and 3500lbs without (so it stands to reason the brakes are designed to stop at least 15,000lbs).

And no one has ever actually produced an actual legal case in which someone was sued for being in an accident with an overweight SRW.


I am not advocating doing anything illegal nor am I saying you can get away with doing what I am doing or that it is safe or anything else (legal disclaimer here: I am not giving advise that you can use in court, I am only telling you what I believe).

What I'm saying is that there are some who will NEVER agree that you can go over the sticker no matter WHAT you do (I once posed this thought: if I removed the box and replaced it with a dually box and put in a dually rear end, breaks, shocks, springs etc, thereby making my truck a dually wouldn't that work and was told "no, the sticker still says"....to which I concluded there was no point with some people.

In my case we have Rancho 9000's, Stable Loads upper and lower, Firestone air bags, Hellwig Bigwig sway bar and Toyo Open Country RT's rated at 4080lbs per tire. The truck handles the big camper very well and we've put about 3000 miles on it so far.


Our travels have taken us all over with this setup (some without the Rancho's and Hellwig if you read the forums much) -- ignore the numbers and nights as these aren't accurate, it's just how I put the map together to show where we've been :D

Cheers and good luck with your decision but if I had to do it again I would probably have picked a dually myself. Even though I feel safe and fine as is and prefer an SRW for offroad use in the winter specially, I would still feel better with 4 tires on the back than two. But each to our own I say.

I totally agree with emcvay.
A modern F350 SRW can handle either or those campers, possible with a few modifications. Will you be over the GVWR? Possibly.
I carried an 11' camper on my '07 Chevy 3500 SRW. The whole thing weighed in at 11,140 pounds. The truck's GVWR was 9,900. I drove this rig for thousands of miles thru multiple states. I added heavy duty shocks and air bags. I was not over the tire or axle ratings of the truck. This is perfectly legal despite what some will insist.
However, I strongly recommend getting a dually. When I started carrying this same camper on a dually the difference was immediately apparent. There was significantly less bounce, sway, and rocking. The dually was a much better driving experience. And, it was also over the GVWR; 13,100 on a truck rated for 11,400. Again, I was not over tire or axle ratings.
As for the dealer who will only sell to a diesel owner, he's a complete moron. Take two identical trucks, one gas and one diesel, and the diesel truck will have less payload. I would buy from the other dealer. Then, take your nice new gas F350 and camper by the diesel only dealer and tell him how happy you are that you bought from the other guy and how much you love your gas truck.

emcvay wrote:
My thoughts...


Lots of talk about weights and what a truck will do and what they are rated at. This is an actual cat scale ticket for our 2010 F350 SRW Power Stroke 6.4l 4x4 long box crew cab and ArcticFox 990 ready to go camping with my wife and I both in the truck.

I could have dropped the BBQ since we didn't use it (and I figured we weren't going to) and a tool box I brought along that I didn't need but wanted, but I didn't.

So, here's the skinny: this truck is rated at 11,500lbs, weighs in at ~7900lbs without the tailgate and the camper says it weighs 3600lbs wet (ya, no). Capacity is theoretically 3600lbs (11.5k minus the truck). But you have to take into consideration things like food, cloths, personal items, yourself, your wife etc etc etc

Therefore, if what the sticker tells you is what you want to go by than you must get a DRW and move on. Best for payload would be a gas powered standard cab, 2WD dually.

However, if you do any research you will learn that the rear end is not rated by the manufacturer the same as Ford (Visteon says 9750lbs vs Ford's 7000lbs) which might cause someone to ponder why that is? If you continue on this path you'll learn Ford rates based on the axle, springs, shocks, tires and wheels etc and as such they rate to the 'lowest common denominator'. Makes sense really; you build a truck and rate it that way to prevent being sued. Sure the axle can take a lot more weight but you don't want to be sued if someone doesn't understand your payload rating if you say "this much if, and that much if and that much more IF" etc.

If you choose to think that way, setting aside all legal arguments, than a set of tires, perhaps wheels, springs or suspension upgrades etc and the SRW will handle the camper fine.

Some will claim brakes are the weak point but I don't buy that at all since the truck is rated to TOW 12,500lbs (with trailer brake) and 3500lbs without (so it stands to reason the brakes are designed to stop at least 15,000lbs).

And no one has ever actually produced an actual legal case in which someone was sued for being in an accident with an overweight SRW.


I am not advocating doing anything illegal nor am I saying you can get away with doing what I am doing or that it is safe or anything else (legal disclaimer here: I am not giving advise that you can use in court, I am only telling you what I believe).

What I'm saying is that there are some who will NEVER agree that you can go over the sticker no matter WHAT you do (I once posed this thought: if I removed the box and replaced it with a dually box and put in a dually rear end, breaks, shocks, springs etc, thereby making my truck a dually wouldn't that work and was told "no, the sticker still says"....to which I concluded there was no point with some people.

In my case we have Rancho 9000's, Stable Loads upper and lower, Firestone air bags, Hellwig Bigwig sway bar and Toyo Open Country RT's rated at 4080lbs per tire. The truck handles the big camper very well and we've put about 3000 miles on it so far.


Our travels have taken us all over with this setup (some without the Rancho's and Hellwig if you read the forums much) -- ignore the numbers and nights as these aren't accurate, it's just how I put the map together to show where we've been :D

Cheers and good luck with your decision but if I had to do it again I would probably have picked a dually myself. Even though I feel safe and fine as is and prefer an SRW for offroad use in the winter specially, I would still feel better with 4 tires on the back than two. But each to our own I say.

Looks to be squatting in the back end a bit.....