First time with the camper on the dually...amazed so far.

Some of you have helped in answering a lot of questions that I've had not too long ago. When I first got my camper, it was hauled three times with my Dodge truck that's listed below. The truck had no problem hauling it, but there were a lot of safety concerns with the weight of the camper plus possibly another vehicle in tow.

Some of the same people here may have also noticed within the last few days that I have hopefully rectified those concerns by buying another truck that should have no problem taking the weight now.

We went from this

To this!

I have only driven it from where the camper is stored to the house so far. We are taking a one or two day trip to a friend's house a little north for the weekend and are leaving tomorrow evening. Figured we'd bring our own room.

Here's what I can say so far from that little drive...WOW!!!

I never wanted a dually. Never. It was always a to each his own kind of thing. Never liked the way they looked. My personal opinion. But if this thing handles on the highway the way that I expect it to handle like it did in the short two mile drive, then I have become a believer. I can easily get past the way something looks if there is true utility in it.

So, I figured I would share my very little experience and throw a couple of questions at you guys, now that the battery is connected and the beer is getting cold.

One is, when I got the full weight of the camper down on the truck, it didn't sag much. But when on the drive home, I hit a couple of bumps and the front end got light. So I pulled into the gas station and threw about 60lbs in the bags. That took me off of the overloads. I know from here that in order for them to work properly, they must be at least engaged. So I came out and fiddled with the license plate stuff and aired them down to about 50lbs and now they are touching. Does this sound about right? I need to have them touching on both sides, but the truck level, right?

The second question is a learning how to deal with this truck question for the most part. While at the gas station, I checked tire pressure also. Load rating on the side of the tires say 80psi max load. I've been reading here and elsewhere and it seems that a lot of guys are running around 65psi or so. What's a good happy medium? Should this change when towing? I'm at about 65 now and the tires aren't bulging or anything like that. Is this a good place to start now? And if I need more air, what exactly am I supposed to look for when I stop and inspect?

Second part of that question...to air these tires up seems a bit difficult. Especially with the flexible nozzles they have at gas stations. I was going to go by the auto parts store and pick up a nozzle specifically for airing up dual wheels, but that can wait till after work tomorrow. I think it's best to get some feedback on this first.

Let me know what you think on any and all accounts here.

Thanks.

Truck Campers

27 Replies

HMS_Beagle
Explorer
Feb 05, 2016
The tires on my dually have rotted the side walls before the tread is anywhere near gone (replaced the last ones at 88K miles because of this). So I am not that worried about tread wear, though the methods you describe are accepted ones. But it handles better with 75 or 80 in the rears, even though the charts don't call for it. Tread wear may not be the most important consideration is all I am saying.
towpro
Explorer
Feb 05, 2016
HMS Beagle wrote:
Regarding air pressure: there are charts from the manufacturers suggesting pressures for loads. However there are really two questions: what is best for tire longevity, and what is best for handling feel. The answers to those questions may not match. According to the charts I should be fine with 55 lbs in the rears, but the handling is much better at 75. So I run 75 with the camper in.

I have always used these charts for loaded and unloaded. My goal is to have the tires wear flat across all the tread and have had pretty good luck using this.

I adopted this method in 1998. My ram 2500 said something like Rear = 45psi empty, 80psi loaded. within 5000 miles the center of the good years was showing signs of over inflation (center wearing out).
I called Dodge who told me "when we say empty, we mean full of tools but not carrying any load". :(.

I switched to inflation charts (what could I loose, I was wearing center of tires out empty).
I seem to recall running around 28-30psi empty and they wore perfect.

I hear another method is to mark the tire with chalk across the thread and run a couple feet down a straight road to see if the chalk comes off all the tire.
My current dually I am running rear pressure 40-45psi empty (only because I been to chicken to go lower), 55psi with 5th wheel and 65psi with Pickup camper and hitch of box trailer hooked up.

My new truck also has the pressure indicator in dash.
I understand an under inflated tire generates more heat than an over inflated tire. as tires get hot, the pressure climbs.

based on door sticker, my front tires are inflated to 80 psi.
I can see the front tires gain around 5-7 PSI in a couple miles of driving as the tire temps come up.
If I am running 65psi empty in the rear the rear tire pressure might go up 1psi in that same distance. IF I run rear PSI based on weight charts the PSI climbs the same speed as the front tires as they heat up :).
For what its worth?
realter
Explorer
Feb 05, 2016
That looks like a new garage. When you were doing it, why didn't you put in a tall door for your TC?
Bedlam
Moderator
Feb 05, 2016
I didn't see a marked difference in handling between my F250 and 5500 when loaded, but I do have a caveat: The 5500 is completely stock and the F250 had many modifications to suspension and wheels. I firmly believe you can configure a SRW to handle well and safely or you can just buy a DRW, load up and drive off to get the same or better experience. I still find many people are applying the same modifications to their Class 3 DRW as I did my Class 2b, so maybe to do nothing you need a Class 5? I don't know since I "skipped classes".
jmtandem
Explorer II
Feb 05, 2016
The second question is a learning how to deal with this truck question for the most part. While at the gas station, I checked tire pressure also. Load rating on the side of the tires say 80psi max load. I've been reading here and elsewhere and it seems that a lot of guys are running around 65psi or so. What's a good happy medium? Should this change when towing? I'm at about 65 now and the tires aren't bulging or anything like that. Is this a good place to start now? And if I need more air, what exactly am I supposed to look for when I stop and inspect?

I owned a 2000 Elkhorn 10V (basement model) cabover and put it on a Ram 3500 dually. I suspect the camper is similar in weight to yours. I found that the bags aired so they were just touching the overloads using Energy Suspension Overload bumpers provided a ride that was 'just right'. As far as air in the tires, try using 75-80 up front and I found 75 for the four skins in back worked just fine. A good test is the Pacific Coast highway with all the varied geometrics and alignment issues and mine was solid in handling. I needed about 30-35 psi in the bags to get it right. I also took it to the scales and found the camper mostly empty weighed about 3000 pounds. Add water and all the stuff and it easily can be more than 3500 pounds.
HMS_Beagle
Explorer
Feb 05, 2016
Regarding air pressure: there are charts from the manufacturers suggesting pressures for loads. However there are really two questions: what is best for tire longevity, and what is best for handling feel. The answers to those questions may not match. According to the charts I should be fine with 55 lbs in the rears, but the handling is much better at 75. So I run 75 with the camper in.
Buzzcut1
Nomad II
Feb 05, 2016
fyi the stop and go at vasco by 580 has diesel at close to $2.00/ gal
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Feb 05, 2016
getpower1 wrote:

I believe there was a reason they were made. Finding out why. There's a big difference between being legal, and getting by. As far as parking, I drive a concrete truck for a living. Anything less that size is a vacation. But I can parallel park that truck fine. When it comes to my personal trucks, it takes a couple of tries.

Fuel mileage...I never get what others claim. I have a small grade on the way to and from work to get into and out of town. Then the freeway is kind of hilly. If everyone claims 16, I get 12.5.

You live close by. ;)
I experienced it endless times that crazy Bay Area traffic is big mpg killer. Left lane idiots can cost you over 20% higher fuel consumption.
Than I live at 460' elevation. Having trip computers I see driving to lower elevation gives me additional 10% on mpg comparing to coming back.
They say that driving on hilly roads you will regain the fuel on downgrades, for what you lost going up.
Not per my computers. When I cruise I-80 in Nebraska, I can make 45mpg in Mercedes diesel.
My dually will make 12 mpg on Bay Area freeways, or 16+ mpg going to Vegas.
noteven
Explorer III
Feb 05, 2016
Nice looking Ford ...

Adding air springs (bags) to rear springs adds to the pogo stick effect which eventually over-powers the damping of the shocks. Talk to a suspension / shock absorber company about correcting the damping.

Use tire load and inflation tables for your exact tire to set the cold inflation pressures once you know the axle weights of your loaded truck and camper. Lots of us run the recommended pressure plus 5 psi or so.
mkirsch
Nomad II
Feb 05, 2016
A 5000lb truck camper with the COG 6" behind the rear axle has the same effect on the front axle as a 500lb tongue weight on a ball hitch at the receiver. In other words, not even noticeable.

For the COG of the camper to be making the truck of the front end "light," it would have to be near the rear edge of the truck bed.

I really don't think what you felt was the front end "getting light." Duallys have very stiff suspensions, and they will launch you into space if you hit a bump hard.

I once made the mistake of rolling over a speed bump at more than a crawl with my empty dually, and threw my back out.

It would behoove you to SLOW DOWN when you anticipate hitting a significant bump, rather than just charge over it at speed like you would with a softly-suspended car or half ton truck.