Newbie, artic fox 990 and 1140, handling on F350 Drw

That's 5-700lbs more than I got sitting on a short bed 2500 and I'm comfortable hauling it. Full timing? I'd want a bigger truck, but I believe a newer Long bed dually is plenty of truck in most conditions. Not like you're going to get more gnarly off road with the same weight on a bigger truck. Still 12' tall over 8' wide and a high center of gravity.
As long as the truck is solid and in good shape it will handle it. Although if I could cut 1/4 to 1/2 a ton off the back with a different brand with acceptable feature I would if I was traveling a lot of miles and off road day in day out. I'm not sure TCs get heavier by the foot than AF and the other big double/triple slides. As full timers you'll, I think, inevitably also have more weight aboard with belongings than the avg weekend warrior. Aside from theft issues, a small enclosed trailer for everything but the essentials in the camper may be a good move. Will help with not having to be as weight conscious.
Sounds like fun though!

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24072311.cfm

This is worth a read too.

http://www.eastendcampers.com/images/af-1140d.jpg
Dry bath

http://www.eastendcampers.com/images/af-1150w.jpg
Wet bath


Here is what I can tell you about the 1140 and the 1150.

If I'm not mistaken, 04 and possibly 05 still had wood framing. I know 06 went to aluminum for sure, stick with that IMHO. Look at the floor plans here and I will tell you why I liked the 1150 over the 1140. First the kitchen vent hood in an 1140 does not vent to the outside!!...I know it's crazy it recirculates inside!!, horrible idea burn something on the stove once and see what I mean. The wardrobe is behind the stove blocking the access to the outside, another bad idea also because you have to crawl into the bench seat to get to the access door. The 1140 has more storage on the outside than the 1150 but those bad design flaws did it for me.

Now on the other hand...the 1150 has a bench seat in front of the fridge and right next to the wardrobe closet which is sooo nice to have. You can sit and get dressed comfortably. The closet is big too. Another wardrobe closet is right at the foot of the bed and has easy access. Now look how much bigger the kitchen counter space is...way bigger!! and the hood vent, vents to the outside...a no brainer. One draw back is getting the flap open on the outside on the stock install...I had a custom one that automatically opened when you turned the fan on...a custom modification well worth it.

Both models come in a wet or dry bath which both are a little tight in my opinion. If you go with an 1150 dry you will lose a little bit of counter space.

So overall my pick is the 1150 without a doubt...hope this helps you out..

I had an 1140 and it will weigh about 5,000 pounds when loaded. Please check the tire load capacity on your truck. Your concerns will start there.

Thanks everyone for the replies so far, please keep them coming! The truck is a 4x4. Most of the roads will be paved. But forestry type roads are a definite and probably beaches. And I do plan on keeping a blog!

Mom,
You might as well get a stiffer, heavier anti-sway bar too with that much weight. Have every known weak part on your truck replaced with stronger aftermarket parts. Tires make a big difference. If you are staying on pavement, go to 19.5's for shear capacity, but don't expect to cruise beach sand as they do not deflate well. You didn't mention 2WD or 4WD. This also makes a difference in payload, the 4WD having less. The '99-'02 or so has the best reputation, as the most reliable of the International Harvester engines in a Ford. With a heavy load and older tech (pre Diesel Warz), you will be slowing down on the hills. I was going to ask if you had a pre-DEF and soot bag, smog controlled truck (2006 being the cutoff year), but you answered my query. You should be good to go with Mexican and Central American diesel fuel with judicious filtering. If you have an automatic transmission and it has a small oil cooler, get a bigger trans cooler. Your C-4 or C-6 is a good trannie (assuming you have one) but the achiles heel of ANY auto trans is heat.
The Rule of Thumb (whoever invented that term?) is, "the longer you are out on the road in a truck camper, the larger and more comfortable you want the mobile domicile to be." We have the special privilege of having several full-timers on this forum with widely contrasting styles and modus operandi. There are a few good-to-haves: A BIG truck: 450/4500 and 550/5500 being the gold standard. What this means for you is you may want to have a lighter (smaller) camper to haul around, well below the GVW rating to fit your truck. There are scores of people on here that can guide you through the potential mine field of full timing preparation. Then again, one school of thought says: "just get in and go. You can work the bugs out along the way." There is no fix like a road fix. Digest as much info as you can (like the Vagabonds) before you write the check for a TC. No one but you knows the edges of your wants and needs as a full timer. If you are adept at writing, keep a blog. I'll be there in spirit.
jefe

Can't speak to your specific Campers, but we have a 2010 F-350, dually, diesel, FWD and Boss Towing Package. Our camper is a Northern-Lite 10'2 (2016). We also tow a Toyota RAV4 behind us. Honestly, we don't barely notice any of it!

I got the F-350 to tow a 14,000 lb, 30ft BBQ Concession Trailer on a 2 5/8 hitch. That makes the F-350 work, but doesn't give me stability problems either. Very easy but just slows me down!

What I'm saying is that my humble opinion is that an F-350 dually diesel is a lot more truck than you need to virtually any camper you want to carry.

Bill

The truck is a 2002 7.3. We're getting stable load, and upgrading shocks.

We have the AF1150 which is essentially the same as the 1140. Your truck will haul it fine. The only suspension changes we made were stabiloads and timbrens for stability and sway control. Not sure I would want to haul that large heavy TC around on the roads of South America though.

There is a lot of difference in the campers, BUT there is also a lot of difference in trucks by the year too.

Likely the most important question is, what year is the truck, and what engine does it have? Certainly, there are upgrades with trucks that help carry the load safer, things like 19.5 tires, Rancho shocks, sway bars and Stable-loads.

Both campers are big and heavy, and both are carried by F350 duallies in this forum, but from experience carrying a lot more on a SRW than I should have, the truck is really the determining factor.

You will likely be around 5000 pounds in the back. Lot's to think about.