F150 and a Camper

I agree, 2800lbs is too much for any 5-lug or 6-lug F150 no matter what you do to it. You may not use it with the camper enough to adversely affect the truck's longevity. You may never get in an accident. It just won't be any fun to drive. You simply won't WANT to drive it, so it will be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Geewizard wrote:

rickeoni wrote:
I bought my camper and used it on two short trips with my 1999 F150 7700 which had air bags, rancho 9000's, overload springs and "E" rated tires, which I installed to tow my popup trailer. After 2 trips I purchased my F450. The F150 with a 1700Lb camper was scary to drive and could not stop worth a poop. If you go with this combo you will not be happy.

My experience has been very different. I have a 2004 Toyota Tundra V8 with Firestone RideRite airbags, Rancho 9000 shocks on the rear, and E load tires to carry an Outfitter Apex 8 TC. I have many miles on my setup with a full-up load. It has never been scary to drive, handles great in crosswinds, accelerates very adequately, and stops worth many poops without any poop.
I attribute this to the Toyota being built strong and mostly over-strong.

OP, Your experience may vary. Mine has been excellent.

Two completely different vehicles, The truck sat level, And drove fine on the road until you got to any bumps which caused to front end to unload and make direction stability questionable, also the bumps really made the TC porpoise in the bed.

The real scary stuff was the small brakes on that generation of F150, the stopping distances were vastly increased. Both of these things amounted to a very uncomfortable driving experience.

I only posted my results because of the similarity of vehicles and TC weight. I am sure that your combination is great for you and works just fine.

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I have a 2002 F-150 SuperCab V-8 4X4... I have Firestone Airbags and 10-ply tires on my truck and haul a Sun Lite TC and pull a pontoon boat when we go on a camping/fishing trip.

The truck does great, but I'm in the market for a F-250/F-350 diesel truck... Been hauling truck campers & pulling boats with this truck for 10 years and haven't had any problems at all.

karl1948 wrote:
I have a 2000 F150 4x4, I would like to put a Hallmark pop up camper on it, my questions are,
1. Should anything be done to the suspension on the rear?
2. is it okay to put the tailgate gate for the camper?
3. What needs to be done to the truck itself to attach a camper?

My first TC was a pop-up and I didn't have airbags, 10-ply tires or the pontoon... I had an aluminum Tracker Bass Boat and the truck done very well.

I had to leave my tailgate down with the pop-up TC and I do with the camper I have now.

If I was you, I would install airbags because they help a lot!... My airbags hold 100psi, But I only have to put 60 to 70 psi to bring the truck back up to level.

Can you weld?... I made my own frame mounted tie down mounts for the camper I have now. ( I may have a thread on here about them, if I don't, I can post pictures if you need to see them.)

karl1948 wrote:

The Camper fully loaded with water, food and clothes would be about 2800 LBS

Hard to believe the pop-up TC would weigh that much... The pop-up I had didn't, but it was a Sun Lite TC.

If I was you, I wouldn't haul around a TC loaded with water!... That will help a lot!

Here's a picture of what I haul & pull with a F-150 when we go on a camping/fishing trip... Me & my wife pack A LOT of gear in the camper... Notice that the truck doesn't squat with this load.

2800 pounds is enough to overload my 1 ton SRW. No 1/2 ton will take that for long.

I bought my camper and used it on two short trips with my 1999 F150 7700 which had air bags, rancho 9000's, overload springs and "E" rated tires, which I installed to tow my popup trailer. After 2 trips I purchased my F450. The F150 with a 1700Lb camper was scary to drive and could not stop worth a poop. If you go with this combo you will not be happy.

As far as weight....the largest Hallmark is almost 1900 pounds so I don't think his wet weight of 2800 is out of line. My hardside Pastime is 150 lighter although a foot shorter. And it has a N/S bed which I would not give up as long as I'm sleeping with someone.

My lance 8.5 foot hardside weighed in at 3000 loaded and is a handfull for my 3/4 ton. I had a Sunlite popup on my 1/2 ton chev and it was a great fit, but maxed. How long is the one you are looking at? Really ,,,a 1/2 ton is scary with anything more than a light popup. If you could test drive the camper for a short way would give you an idea on handling.

There are still smaller/lighter TCs out there that would be ok for your truck, if you can find em.

I have a 2001 F150, though its the HD 7700 model. I have E tires on it because I was in the market for a camper & figured they'd help.

Earlier this year I got an old Palomino Mini L pop-up. They were originally built in the mid-80s for mini trucks, Rangers & little Toyotas etc.

It hangs over the bumper maybe 3 inches top, dry weight is just under 800#, and is barely wider than the side rails. I had to make a little riser for it in the back but it rides great and you can hardly feel it. Also it's got the two windows so you can still see out your rear view.

Like any older camper it is a project and definitely a work in process, but it fits the truck great and we are excited to take it out on a big road trip this fall.

Not sure how common this model is (I think they only made them from '84 to '92?) but you might be able to find one on craigslist or something like that. It would probably be a lot cheaper than a new bigger truck.

Super_Dave wrote:
I'm kind of scratching my head at the posted weight of the pop up at 2,800 lbs. That's much heavier than I ever expected a pop up, even loaded would weigh.

That's what I thought, That's heavier than the hardside in the picture above and I had a full bathroom and 25 gallon fresh, 20 gallon grey and black tanks. And this pop up is almost 800 pounds heavier.