It's Been a Long Wait...
I have wanted a slide-in for years, even before moving to the land of slide-ins (Idaho). The truck I presently own was bought with evil intentions back in 2011. I told my wife that it was for pulling ...
Forum Discussion
This type of pre-buy research is fun. Kind of like a puzzle with a treat at the end. In this case it will be a new camper. I doubt I will find exactly what we want used, but you never know. Rear wheels have less capacity than the tires I am running -- King Ranch aluminum painted wheels @ 3525 lbs ea. vs. General Grabber AT2 tires @ 3640 lbs.
Data from the scales shows:
Front Axle 4720 lbs
Rear Axle 3140 lbs
GVW 7860 lbs
Full tank of fuel and no gear/occupants
This puts me at about my best guess, right at 8250 lbs. with occupants (I'm a big, tall guy). The rear wheels let me have 7050 lbs, so the difference is 3910 lbs. There must be factors in the placement of the payload/COG that bring the factory recommended camper weight down to 2815, but I'm not going to sweat it. We are okay with Tork-Lift StableLoads instead of air bags, if they will make a difference. Will I need them from the get-go? Also need to find out if the dealer has the tie downs we want or if we'll have to forego writing them into the note. Many more things to work out, but at least I have the weight issues figured out
It looks like our choice is between the Wolf Creek 840 or the Adventurer 80RB. The Adventurer achieves the weight difference by having less water and fluid storage it appears. In the back of my mind I fantasize about having a Four Wheel Camper but this truck is not an off road demon. At our age and motivational level a hard side is more our speed.
It's hard to believe there are folks such as yourselves that actually read through these posts and find the time to reply. I am definitely grateful and will send pics of the process and of the travel destinations. Idaho is a crazy beautiful state and there is a campground or boondocking spot every five feet. It will take me a couple of years just to camp my way through the surrounding counties.
Data from the scales shows:
Front Axle 4720 lbs
Rear Axle 3140 lbs
GVW 7860 lbs
Full tank of fuel and no gear/occupants
This puts me at about my best guess, right at 8250 lbs. with occupants (I'm a big, tall guy). The rear wheels let me have 7050 lbs, so the difference is 3910 lbs. There must be factors in the placement of the payload/COG that bring the factory recommended camper weight down to 2815, but I'm not going to sweat it. We are okay with Tork-Lift StableLoads instead of air bags, if they will make a difference. Will I need them from the get-go? Also need to find out if the dealer has the tie downs we want or if we'll have to forego writing them into the note. Many more things to work out, but at least I have the weight issues figured out
It looks like our choice is between the Wolf Creek 840 or the Adventurer 80RB. The Adventurer achieves the weight difference by having less water and fluid storage it appears. In the back of my mind I fantasize about having a Four Wheel Camper but this truck is not an off road demon. At our age and motivational level a hard side is more our speed.
It's hard to believe there are folks such as yourselves that actually read through these posts and find the time to reply. I am definitely grateful and will send pics of the process and of the travel destinations. Idaho is a crazy beautiful state and there is a campground or boondocking spot every five feet. It will take me a couple of years just to camp my way through the surrounding counties.
