New F350 owner seeks TC information
Hello everyone, I recently purchased a 2000 F350, crew cab, shortbed in order to acquire a TC so that I can avoid the hour commute to and from work. I am an ICU nurse, things have been very busy l...
Forum Discussion
Hi and welcome!
Sorry if you know any or all of this already:
You need to be aware of the payload and (rear-) axle capacity of your truck.
The official numbers can be found on two stickers that you can see when you open the driver's door. One contains the weights (Gross/GVWR, Front axle (FAWR), Rear Axle (RAWR).
The other one contains the payload.
I assume the truck is single rear wheel. The rear axle rating will probably be limited/determined by the load capacity of the two single rear tires.
The center of gravity of the camper determines where the camper's weight will be carried.
On a short bed truck, the weight of the camper will usually go all to the rear axle.
If the cog is in front of the axle, some of the weight goes to the front axle.
If the cog is behind the rear axle, some weight will be transferred from the front axle to the rear in addition to all of the camper weight.
The longer the camper is, the further back its cog usually is (depending on design decisions of the camper mfg).
The most reliable way to determine the available capacity of your truck: Take your truck to a scale and get the individual axle weights. The truck should be packed in the way that you usually travel, probably mostly empty, but with a full tank of gas.
The difference between the RAWR and the actual (empty) weight on the rear axle comes pretty close to the weight of the camper that you can safely carry in the back without modifications.
How far you can exceed this is a topic of hot discussion on this forum. I will not get into this. A few 100 lbs are likely not going to be a problem.
The stated dry weights of a truck camper are usually grossly underrated and do often not contain lpg, battery, a/c on the roof, sometimes not even the jacks. And they do not contain anything you load into the camper, such as water, food, all of your belongings. Only a scale can tell the actual weight. Assume that any camper will be a lot heavier than what the brochure states.
You say that your truck is lifted. This will not help with the handling of the rig. A TC is already top-heavy.
Your questions:
Camper cog: Some campers come with a cog marked on the side.
Some state the cog position somewhere in the specifications, usually as a distance from the front bulkhead.
The actual cog is obviously subject to the way the camper is loaded (and outfitted) and may be a bit fore or aft of the stated position. As a rule of thumb, it is usually around 1/3 back from the front bulkhead. If you need to know where exactly, you are probably pushing limits already.
Tie down mounts: Have them installed and ready before you pick up the camper. It will be stressful enough the first time, so get that out of the way.
Tailgate: If your first trip with the camper takes you home, you can certainly leave the tailgate in place and carry it home inside the camper (maybe wrapped in a blanket?). They are easy enough to remove, unless the PO has installed some anti-theft device, in which case you should know about this beforehand.
So much for initial information. I am sure there will be more coming. Do not worry, the truck will carry a camper just fine.
Sorry if you know any or all of this already:
You need to be aware of the payload and (rear-) axle capacity of your truck.
The official numbers can be found on two stickers that you can see when you open the driver's door. One contains the weights (Gross/GVWR, Front axle (FAWR), Rear Axle (RAWR).
The other one contains the payload.
I assume the truck is single rear wheel. The rear axle rating will probably be limited/determined by the load capacity of the two single rear tires.
The center of gravity of the camper determines where the camper's weight will be carried.
On a short bed truck, the weight of the camper will usually go all to the rear axle.
If the cog is in front of the axle, some of the weight goes to the front axle.
If the cog is behind the rear axle, some weight will be transferred from the front axle to the rear in addition to all of the camper weight.
The longer the camper is, the further back its cog usually is (depending on design decisions of the camper mfg).
The most reliable way to determine the available capacity of your truck: Take your truck to a scale and get the individual axle weights. The truck should be packed in the way that you usually travel, probably mostly empty, but with a full tank of gas.
The difference between the RAWR and the actual (empty) weight on the rear axle comes pretty close to the weight of the camper that you can safely carry in the back without modifications.
How far you can exceed this is a topic of hot discussion on this forum. I will not get into this. A few 100 lbs are likely not going to be a problem.
The stated dry weights of a truck camper are usually grossly underrated and do often not contain lpg, battery, a/c on the roof, sometimes not even the jacks. And they do not contain anything you load into the camper, such as water, food, all of your belongings. Only a scale can tell the actual weight. Assume that any camper will be a lot heavier than what the brochure states.
You say that your truck is lifted. This will not help with the handling of the rig. A TC is already top-heavy.
Your questions:
Camper cog: Some campers come with a cog marked on the side.
Some state the cog position somewhere in the specifications, usually as a distance from the front bulkhead.
The actual cog is obviously subject to the way the camper is loaded (and outfitted) and may be a bit fore or aft of the stated position. As a rule of thumb, it is usually around 1/3 back from the front bulkhead. If you need to know where exactly, you are probably pushing limits already.
Tie down mounts: Have them installed and ready before you pick up the camper. It will be stressful enough the first time, so get that out of the way.
Tailgate: If your first trip with the camper takes you home, you can certainly leave the tailgate in place and carry it home inside the camper (maybe wrapped in a blanket?). They are easy enough to remove, unless the PO has installed some anti-theft device, in which case you should know about this beforehand.
So much for initial information. I am sure there will be more coming. Do not worry, the truck will carry a camper just fine.
