LWB camper in SWB pickup
I'm in south Texas and going on a camping trip to Colorado for a week in July. My neighbor has offered to let me use his truck camper for the trip. Trouble is, his camper was designed for a LWB and I ...
Forum Discussion
sonuvabug wrote:burningman wrote:
... snipped ... COG doesn’t have to be ahead of the rear axle, it isn’t when you hook up a trailer ...
I respectfully disagree with this COG statement. In fact, in my Operating Manual for our AML Adventurer, it specifically states:
" Centre Of Gravity - On each Adventurer camper (left and right sidewall) is the centre of gravity sticker. The centre of gravity should be ahead of the rear axle to transfer more of the weight to the front of the truck. " The Manual goes on to provide several diagrams of the recommended Centre of Gravity locations.
Their advice is consistent with my training and experience with farm machinery equipment years ago.
It's good to have the COG at or ahead of the rear axle, but no, it does not necessarily have to be.
Especially if you have a diesel, which is already a very nose-heavy truck.
When you hook up a heavy trailer to your hitch, the COG of the load your truck sees is about four feet behind the axle. That doesn't seem to bother anyone.
If you have a regular-cab, 2WD, gas engine truck, camper COG is a lot more important.
If you have a 4-dr cab 4x4 diesel, it's less important.
The camper manufacturer has to consider the worst-case scenario.
