How much squat?

Question

So... traded in the '18 F350 SCLB SRW for a '22 F350 CCLB DRW. Got the Torklift mount swapped over, and the dually brackets fitted to the front jacks, and plonked the camper on the truck. Completely stock suspension - "heavy service" front suspension, rear anti-sway bar. Nothing else - yet.

Camper is a 2017 Adventurer 910DB, which scaled @ 3980 'dry' with two FLA batteries, two 20 lb empty propane bottles, and no water (winterized). More recently, with two 206 ah LFP batteries, propane full, 3/4 tank fresh water, plus solar panels, chargers, etc. etc. it weighed a tick over 5000 lbs.

I measured the heights at the fenders (top of the arch of the wheel well) all the way around, with the truck backed up under the camper, and then after I'd lowered it down. Then took it for a short test run, and at the turn around point I took the opportunity to measure the fender heights again, since the driveway at home has a bit of a slope to it and things tend to settle differently than on the flat. I didn't lift the camper off for a second 'unloaded' weight, though. Trying to measure the top of a curve with no real center mark is definitely a bit of an eye-ball measurement, so there's a bit of +/- to the readings for sure.

Driver Front: 40.75 (unloaded) 40.50 (loaded, driveway) 41.00 (loaded, parking lot)
Passenger Front: 41.50 (unloaded) 42.00 (loaded, driveway) 41.00 (loaded, parking lot)
Passenger Rear: 42.00 (unloaded) 38.50 (loaded, driveway) 39.50 (loaded, parking lot)
Driver Rear: 42.00 (unloaded) 38.00 (loaded, driveway) 38.50 (loaded, parking lot)

With this particular camper, the slide is on the driver's side so there's a couple hundred extra pounds in that corner. Right now the tanks are all empty; the fresh tank is on the same side as the slide so going down the road there's *another* couple hundred extra pounds there as well.

We'd like to avoid inadvertently hi-beaming people with our low beams, so riding somewhat level front to back would be nice. I'm not sure how critical side-to-side is.

On the SRW truck, I had air bags in the rear. Partly to help with the (over) weight situation, and partly to level the camper side to side. Had to run like 30 lbs on the passenger side, and at least 50-60 on the drivers side.

What do you think? Would something like Timbrens or Sumos get the job done as well or better, both side to side and front to back, or should I go ahead and get some air bags on the new rig?

srschang · Answer

I have a 2022 Ram 3500 CCLB dually with a Northstar 12STC that scales at 4800# fully loaded to travel, full water, propane, fridge, clothes, etc. The rear wheel arch of the RAM drops about 4" when I load the camper, so very similar to yours. Not sure if we hi beam folks or not, nobody has flashed their lights at us, and we have over 25,000 miles on the combination so far.

One thing you want to check is as you lower the camper onto the truck and the bed is dropping, at what point do the overload springs make contact? On my truck, the overload springs just make contact as the bed stops dropping. That's where you you want the truck to sit. So in my case, if I were to add airbags to level it, the airbags would lift the bed off the overload springs. You absolutely don't want that, as it will make the truck more tippy side to side. So my only choice, if I want the truck bed to sit higher with the camper loaded is to install something like Torklift Upper or Lower Stableloads. They make the overload springs contact sooner as you lower the camper into the truck bed, so they should reduce the bed drop as the camper weight is applied.

Like I said, I'd like my truck bed to sit a couple inches higher just for looks, but it's not worth the $400 to me.

memilanuk · Answer

srschang wrote:One thing you want to check is as you lower the camper onto the truck and the bed is dropping, at what point do the overload springs make contact?  On my truck, the overload springs just make contact as the bed stops dropping.Excellent point!  I had to go out and check... the lower leaf spring is in full contact with the one above it, and it looks like the upper spring is just touching the rubber stops.On the 350 SRW, I started with Torklift lower StableLoads, which didn't do a lot given how much weight it was carrying.  The lower leaf on this DRW looks a *lot* thicker than what I remember on the SRW, and that was miserable enough to drill through.

3_tons · Answer

srschang wrote:I have a 2022 Ram 3500 CCLB dually with a Northstar 12STC that scales at 4800# fully loaded to travel, full water, propane, fridge, clothes, etc.  The rear wheel arch of the RAM drops about 4" when I load the camper, so very similar to yours.  Not sure if we hi beam folks or not, nobody has flashed their lights at us, and we have over 25,000 miles on the combination so far.One thing you want to check is as you lower the camper onto the truck and the bed is dropping, at what point do the overload springs make contact?  On my truck, the overload springs just make contact as the bed stops dropping.  That's where you you want the truck to sit.  So in my case, if I were to add airbags to level it, the airbags would lift the bed off the overload springs.  You absolutely don't want that, as it will make the truck more tippy side to side.  So my only choice, if I want the truck bed to sit higher with the camper loaded is to install something like Torklift Upper or Lower Stableloads.  They make the overload springs contact sooner as you lower the camper into the truck bed, so they should reduce the bed drop as the camper weight is applied.Like I said, I'd like my truck bed to sit a couple inches higher just for looks, but it's not worth the $400 to me.Exactly!!

grit_dog · Answer

Y’all have the bigger half of $100k in truck and campers so to say $400 is too much for suspension help is silly.
However you can make nice lower stable loads for about $50 or free if you’re being cheap.
Headlights? Idk, adjust them. It’s not hard and once you figure it out it’s 2 minutes to adjust x number of turns.
Those big doolies are likely just barely engaging the upper overloads. You can stiffen up both the lower and uppers pretty easily with cheap backyard engineering.
But sitting 3-4” down in the rear is barely past level. Although like you guys I prefer level or level + a smidge. So it don’t look like it’s arse is dragging.
Lots of easy options for not much $ to $400. Not worth pontificating. Do something and see if you like it.

stircrazy · Answer

its a simple 1 screw adjustment for up and down for those trucks. Find a place about 20 feet from a wall on flat ground at night, lift the camper with the jacks till the weight is off the bed and use chunks of painter's tape to mark the height of the low beam pattern. lower the camper back on the truck and then crank the lights down till they match the tap while counting the number of turns and writing it down for each side. Then you just need to do that many turns up or down depending on if you are loading or unloading.

Steve

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