Hauling a heavy camper and towing
We are working on leaving the 5th wheel business and entering the truck camper side. We have hit the lower 48 and parts of Canada. We are looking to spend the next 10 years, more in the boonies, plus bringing the 48 CJ2.
So the camper first, the floor plan that hits the high spot is the Eagle Cap 1165. This is not open for debate, unless the boss changes her mind. She likes the kitchen. It is a heavy son of a gun; I make it loaded with our stuff at about 6000 pounds.
By using the 2020 Ford towing guide, and following their description that the camper payload, is minus 6 people at 150 pounds each sitting in the seats. So for crew cabs, with us and our usual cab junk, I can add back about 400 pounds.
We then have in the F350 4X4 dully with the 6.2, 6108 pounds; the 7.3, 6112 pounds; and the 6.7, 5367 pounds. The F450 is even lower, since it and the F350 are both 14,000 pound gross vehicles. I will also need an additional 450 pounds when we bring the jeep on its trailer.
So, how do you folks haul those heavy campers, let alone pull a boat or a trailer?
My solution would be a F450 chassis cab, with a 16,000 pound gross. I and a welder nephew would fab a minimum bed, or really a platform, just above frame rail height, box in the wheel wells, and add a few tool boxes in empty areas. The price, using MSRP, looks to be very similar.
However, one more question. Some say that the F450 pickup and chassis cab are really the same creature and the 14,000 pound limit on the pickup is just a paper function. In other words the F450 would be fine with the weight. So is the 2,000 pound difference between the trucks just paper?
So the camper first, the floor plan that hits the high spot is the Eagle Cap 1165. This is not open for debate, unless the boss changes her mind. She likes the kitchen. It is a heavy son of a gun; I make it loaded with our stuff at about 6000 pounds.
By using the 2020 Ford towing guide, and following their description that the camper payload, is minus 6 people at 150 pounds each sitting in the seats. So for crew cabs, with us and our usual cab junk, I can add back about 400 pounds.
We then have in the F350 4X4 dully with the 6.2, 6108 pounds; the 7.3, 6112 pounds; and the 6.7, 5367 pounds. The F450 is even lower, since it and the F350 are both 14,000 pound gross vehicles. I will also need an additional 450 pounds when we bring the jeep on its trailer.
So, how do you folks haul those heavy campers, let alone pull a boat or a trailer?
My solution would be a F450 chassis cab, with a 16,000 pound gross. I and a welder nephew would fab a minimum bed, or really a platform, just above frame rail height, box in the wheel wells, and add a few tool boxes in empty areas. The price, using MSRP, looks to be very similar.
However, one more question. Some say that the F450 pickup and chassis cab are really the same creature and the 14,000 pound limit on the pickup is just a paper function. In other words the F450 would be fine with the weight. So is the 2,000 pound difference between the trucks just paper?
