Still overweight! Plus some camping pictures from Oregon

This last week I went to visit my kids in Oregon. My daughter had a couple of home volleyball games and I thought it would be fun to bring the TC, boats and motorcycles and go do some camping, fishing and riding over the weekend after the games.

I stopped at the scales on my way out of town to see how much my new NL camper weighed compared to my previous TC the AF 1150.

Truck specs:

FAWR 5200
RAWR 9350
GVWR 12,200

Weights loaded with me, full water, full diesel fuel tank, 10 gal propane, food and camping supplies for the weekend. Plus 2 motorcycles (one on the trailer and one in the back seat of the truck, Honda generator (in back seat of truck) and 12 ft raft (60 lbs on camper floor)

Ft axle 5000
Rr axle 7350
Total 12350

Trailer axle weight is 850 with my Honda 250L

I use to weigh in the mid 13,000 lb range with just my Arctic Fox and no trailer or motorcycles so it’s significantly less with the new NL. If I leave the bikes at home I’ll be well under my 12,200 lb GVW but what fun would that be? I’m happy to be within 150 lbs instead of 1200 lbs or more above GVW like I was with the AF.

Here are some pictures of our camping fun.

My son helping to unload their bike at a OHV area just outside of town.

We made it to Delintment Lake set-up camp and went fishing. We were one of three camps at the whole lake. It was free as they stopped collecting fees because the collection box was locked closed. Not sure if that was due to the government shutdown or just past the camping season. Oh well it saved me $20 what ever it was.

They were cleaning up the dead trees in the campground so the kids wore their hardhats while setting up the boats.

The weather was nice but a bit windy. My next toy will be a small electric motor for my raft so I can spend some time fishing rather than rowing all the time to keep from ending up on the shore.

My daughter caught the most fish, excuse me, all the fish. This one gave her a bit of trouble getting the hook out and she freaked out when she felt the teeth and thought it tried to bite her. Otherwise she did great catching and releasing all the fish she caught.

The kids had a great time riding their motorcycle. Now I need to get one more for my daughter so they don't have to trade off riding while the other rides with me. I wasn’t sure how well she’d like dirt biking but I think she enjoys it more than my son and perhaps even my girlfriend. That’s awesome except for this is going to be an expensive sport as they grow and I have to replace them every few years until they are adults. Oh well I can’t put a price on the fun and enjoyment I have with my kids.

Truck Campers

13 Replies

serpa4
Explorer
Oct 16, 2013
I can attest to the weight of the 1150. I was at 13200 ready to roll in my 2007 GMC dually.
I'm now in a 9.5 host, but want a new host cascade 10.5 with DS. It should be about 1000 less than my 5200lb 1150.
diver110
Explorer
Oct 16, 2013
Does you son sleep with his helmet on? :) Happy with your Northern Lite?
racerguy
Explorer
Oct 16, 2013
OK, I live in Oregon and never heard of that lake?

I have the same truck and hauled an AF 990 from 2008 until last September. Usually around 13,600 on the scales.
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Oct 16, 2013
insp1505 wrote:
No, it was more a tongue-in-cheek statement as my last camper was overweight by more than 10 times this amount and I didn't even own motorcycles then. I am happy to be 150 lbs over GVW but I was hoping to join the 1% crowd of TC's that are actually under GVW. Guess I still have to keep checking the rear view for the weight police

Great pics. My kids were that small in the '60s/early '70s. We did lots of camping/fishing then but I sure wish we had a 'good' camera back then for some pics. Take lots of pics of the kids as it not long before their grown up and out on their own.

I know your joking about the weight cops.
FYI.
The company I sub through has a Idaho run. The company posts internal letters with state weight regs for company and contract drivers they operate in.
This is a partial from Idaho;
TITLE 49
MOTOR VEHICLES
CHAPTER 10
WEIGHT, SPEED AND TIRE REGULATIONS
(snip)

49-1001. Allowable gross loads.

(3) In determining the gross weight of a vehicle or the gross weight of any two (2) or more consecutive axles under subsection (1) or (2) or (9) of this section, the total gross weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles or the gross weight of any two (2) or more consecutive axles shall be the sum of the axle weights.
For the purposes of this chapter the gross weight of a vehicle or the gross weight of any two (2) or more consecutive axles may be determined by accumulatively adding the separate weights of individual axles and tandem axles or groups of axles to determine gross weight.
(snipped for length)

Your well under what the real weight cops look for.
tankgod82
Explorer
Oct 16, 2013
Looks like an awesome trip. Thanks for sharing
insp1505
Explorer
Oct 16, 2013
Mote wrote:

The truck looks pretty good for 240,000 miles. You put all those on it ?

No I've only owned it for about 2.5 years.

mkirsch wrote:
I hope you're not picking nits about a measly 150lbs...

No, it was more a tongue-in-cheek statement as my last camper was overweight by more than 10 times this amount and I didn't even own motorcycles then. I am happy to be 150 lbs over GVW but I was hoping to join the 1% crowd of TC's that are actually under GVW. Guess I still have to keep checking the rear view for the weight police :)

mkirsch wrote:

Only thing I might consider is shifting some of that weight towards the rear. You're getting close to the front axle rating, which is a suspension thing on that truck, not a tire thing. Overloading the steer axle can cause expensive problems.

Even with the truck empty the front axle is close to it's weight rating. The front weighs about 4700 unloaded so there isn't much room to add to that anyway. Most of the weight of my set-up is added to the rear axle (all but 150 lbs anyway). I already have my camper moved towards the rear about 5-6" anyway otherwise it would hit the taillights on the truck.

I've already replaced several components that were worn on the front but I don't think it is the TC fault. More so that Dodge didn't make a strong enough front end to stand up to the empty weight of the truck nearly maxing out the weight rating of the front axle to start with.
mkirsch
Nomad II
Oct 16, 2013
I hope you're not picking nits about a measly 150lbs...

Only thing I might consider is shifting some of that weight towards the rear. You're getting close to the front axle rating, which is a suspension thing on that truck, not a tire thing. Overloading the steer axle can cause expensive problems.
Mote
Explorer
Oct 16, 2013
insp1505 wrote:
pjay9 wrote:
Great time was had by all! Nice outing. BTW, the loads are what you need to take...if you increased your tire capacity you would be better off...go to 19.5 wheels and tires! Really makes a differance.

Tire capacities are fine, it's a DRW, I hardly even notice the camper is back there. I could go for a new set of shocks though, with almost 240,000 miles I have no idea how old the ones are that are on it. I ran the same tires with my AF camper and I was running almost 14,000 lbs a few times. It's well under tire capacity all around (nearly 6000 lb front & 12,000 lb rear tire capacity). I'd rather spend the money on more toys :B

The truck looks pretty good for 240,000 miles. You put all those on it ?
1mtnman
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2013
Great pictures. The children look like they are having a great time and hope you did also. This is a brave thing you do for your family getting all the right gear and toys on board.
Nice rig also. Happy travels.
TucsonJim
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2013
The picture of the young lady with the trout made me smile and think of last summer with my grand-daughter. Thanks!