Newbie needing beginners advice
Hello everyone, I have tent camped all my life and am now about 8 years from retirement. I purchased a very clean 2002 f350 superduty 7.3L PSD 4wd cc drw 8’box and have bought but have not installed ...
Forum Discussion
First, congrats, that’s a beautiful example of one of the best pickups ever made (the last few years of the 7.3-powered Fords).
That truck will handle any camper you want. I carry an 11.5-footer (hangs four feet off the back of the truck including bumper) and tow a 10,000 trailer (carrying a cabin cruiser boat) with zero problems on either my similar-year Dodge dually or my ‘80s model GMC Dually - and the old GMC does it with zero modifications.
You can easily carry a camper that hangs off the back a bit and still tow that boat.
Camper sizes are expressed in floor length, the front overhang isn’t included.
You can buy a hitch extension but if your camper only overhangs the rear a foot or so, chances are you might not even need it.
I stretched my trailer tongue instead of using an extension on the hitch, that eliminates the extra step of installing and removing the extension when I load or unload the camper.
You sound very well qualified to do that!
If you go look at a set of dually swing-out brackets for a camper you’d be able to fab up your own, so could I, but I didn’t think it was worth the trouble I just bought a set.
It’s rare to find 8-foot campers with a bathroom or shower, which most consider one of the big reasons to carry a camper but that’s your call.
The big dually isn’t overkill for camper carrying. It’s perfect. I’ve had many truck/camper combos over the last 30 years and once I drove a dually truck/camper combo I never went back to single rear wheels for campers again. Again, you have a fantastic truck!
I think if I were you I’d be looking at about a 9 or 9 1//2 footer. The rear overhang is insignificant but the space for everything is so much better.
When shopping for an older camper I don’t think brand is as important, condition of the particular one you’re looking at is the main thing, but I agree that a Bigfoot or Northern Lite are particularly great. Those are the molded-fiberglass ones that are built a little like a boat.
They aren’t the cheapest though.
That truck will handle any camper you want. I carry an 11.5-footer (hangs four feet off the back of the truck including bumper) and tow a 10,000 trailer (carrying a cabin cruiser boat) with zero problems on either my similar-year Dodge dually or my ‘80s model GMC Dually - and the old GMC does it with zero modifications.
You can easily carry a camper that hangs off the back a bit and still tow that boat.
Camper sizes are expressed in floor length, the front overhang isn’t included.
You can buy a hitch extension but if your camper only overhangs the rear a foot or so, chances are you might not even need it.
I stretched my trailer tongue instead of using an extension on the hitch, that eliminates the extra step of installing and removing the extension when I load or unload the camper.
You sound very well qualified to do that!
If you go look at a set of dually swing-out brackets for a camper you’d be able to fab up your own, so could I, but I didn’t think it was worth the trouble I just bought a set.
It’s rare to find 8-foot campers with a bathroom or shower, which most consider one of the big reasons to carry a camper but that’s your call.
The big dually isn’t overkill for camper carrying. It’s perfect. I’ve had many truck/camper combos over the last 30 years and once I drove a dually truck/camper combo I never went back to single rear wheels for campers again. Again, you have a fantastic truck!
I think if I were you I’d be looking at about a 9 or 9 1//2 footer. The rear overhang is insignificant but the space for everything is so much better.
When shopping for an older camper I don’t think brand is as important, condition of the particular one you’re looking at is the main thing, but I agree that a Bigfoot or Northern Lite are particularly great. Those are the molded-fiberglass ones that are built a little like a boat.
They aren’t the cheapest though.
