Suspension mods

OK Marine, time to hunker down and bite the bullet. At 1800 lbs DRY and no options all you need to think about is not putting anything in the TC or any other people in the truck. Not much of a camping trip.

Do you want to haul your family into a unsafe situation? I think not.

You could put the TC on a trailer and tow it behind you until you can upgrade the truck. I'd also put a sign on it stating not to believe a salesman.

Advise: skip the F250 which only has a few hundred more pounds of payload than your 1/2 ton and buy an F350 or bigger.

Your semi-floating rear axle is not meant to support a camper and nothing you can do to the suspension will change the fact that the axle shafts in your rear axle are supporting the weight rather than the housings like those of us with heavy duty rear axles.

Most of the modifications you mention will be virtually unnoticable. If you want to do anything, you need to install much stiffer rear springs before you waste your time and money doing anything else.

mike326 wrote:
1. Already insured :-)
2. Tires for sure (something else I did not know when buying the truck ...)
3. Probably agree about an F250 - but too far in the hole w/ both truck & TC (longish story).

tkx everyone ...

If you like TC's go with a F350 or bigger next time!

1. Already insured :-)
2. Tires for sure (something else I did not know when buying the truck ...)
3. Probably agree about an F250 - but too far in the hole w/ both truck & TC (longish story).

tkx everyone ...

Well...I'll tone it down a little. You will be overweight...way overweight...but understand you have to work with what you have!

#1 Insurance on the TC and truck (obvious...but I don't see how this will help you haul better?!)
#2 Tires/wheels...E rated
#3 Airbags or supersprings. I have both. Skip the bags...go right to SS.
#4 Sway Bar if necessary after doing #3.

BTW; you will not be the only one overweight here. One rule you should NOT violate is the tires/wheels.

Good luck, others are doing what you are...be smart and you will be OK.

Don't be surprised if you are shopping HD trucks in a couple of months...

Bill

mike326 wrote:
I could use some wise advice. F150 SRW 4WD w/ trailer package. Mated with NorthStar Adventurer 8.5. Despite assurances from both car & TC dealers - fair amount of sag & sway. While many may say I should upgrade to an F250 - probably not an option at the moment. So looking at suspension mods. I'm thinking of RoadMaster Advanced System (RAS), Bilstein HD shocks, E-series tires - possibly Helwig sway bars. At the risk of being scrushed by criticisms & pinions - what would the TC community recommend or agree w/ the above mods?

Semper Fi - mike 326

Assuming you need to stick with that truck, I think the order of upgrades should be:

#1 Insurance on the TC for total loss
#2 Tires (!)
#3 Airbags or supersprings. I think you meant "Roadmaster Active System", which I admit I've never heard of or seen before. Looks a bit crazy to me. Airbags will be more versatile so you can use the truck unloaded without affecting the ride, but springs are better to avoid sway.
#4 Sway Bar if necessary after doing #3.

I think the biggest concern I would have is the axle rating for that truck, but then again I see 1/2 ton trucks going down the highway totally overloaded with cardboard or whatnot all the time and they seem to survive.

I can add some input here- we used to have the pop-up version of the Adventurer on a 3/4 ton truck and there was no way that I could forget what was in the bed. (BTW, we are currently using our 4th TC, so I do speak from experience)

The TC you are contemplating weighs just under 2000# dry and without any options. I cannot imagine that you will be under 2500# even if you keep personal items to a very bare minimum.

I think that you are going to be unpleasantly surprised at how much that weight is going to affect your truck. You are looking to increase the suspension on a truck that wasn't intended to carry that weight- relatively lightweight rear axle, brakes, and frame.

Take a look under a 3/4 or 1 ton truck and compare it to yours. The difference is very evident.

Best of luck with your decisions.

Not sure about the actual weight but Northstar suggest that camper is made for a 1/2 ton truck. http://www.northstarcampers.com/online-catalog.php?view=item&parentId=15&catId=16&numId=37

All of those mods should help, but might not be enough. I'd go to a scale and see how heavy it really is before you move along too far with mods to your truck. It may be cheaper to trade.

If it is 2000 lbs, you are marginally over. If it is 3000 lbs, I wouldn't even start down the path.

Holy Moly Mike. I have an F250 (diesel) and I couldn't and wouldn't even try to carry that TC on my truck regardless of the upgrades (even though it is possible for me to do it with some serious upgrades).

I suspect with your F150, you are way over your weight limits.

IMO, if the transaction(s)/ discussion(s) were recent, I would contact both the RV dealer and the Ford dealer (write to the Dealer Principals), outline the situation and tell them it is their problem so solve, give them 5 business days to work something out between them, and state if you haven't heard from them with a solution that is satisfactory to you, then YOU are going to go to your local DOT people and get them involved.

You got very bad, misleading advice (probably just to make a sale) and you should not be the one taking the risks or paying the proce for this bad advice.

I'm sorry my friend but you are completely out of options with that heavy of a camper and your Ford 150. You have been given some very bad information as to the capabilities of your Ford. You need at least a Ford 250 and then it will require several suspension mods to make hauling your Northstar comfortably.