TC Options for My F250

Many people in different states and provinces are reading here, even from overseas like myself. Different places have different rules and regulations, and what is legal or not regulated in one place may make you unload the camper in another.

I am fully aware that the technical capabilities of most if not all trucks exceed the posted weights. Many modifications can be safely made. If your rear tires are not grossly overloaded and the whole thing handles decently enough, you are probably good to go.

I have been traveling with a legally overloaded truck myself for many years without issues.
A friend has done the same for some 20 years. Until he got weighed once. Had to unload and leave a lot of stuff behind in order to continue. Another friend picked it up with a trailer... That was here in Germany, our traffic rules are probably stricter than in most places in North America.

Just know what you are doing, and what you can get away with. I am positively not the weight police, but I will not publicly advocate overloading. Be safe, take care.

jaycocreek wrote:


The internet has changed truck camping horribly!

LOL

Strangely enough, when you are on the road, 99% of the truck campers you see are not on DRW trucks, do not have 19.5" tires and are not stopping at every weigh station to freak out if they are 12,000 lbs. They all manage to get to and from their camp sites and all around the country.

That's exactly the way it is around here...

My last TC was a Lance 815(Squire version) on a 3/4 Ford (7200 gvrw) and the only mod was Helwig helper springs that were put on for a 35 ft fifth wheel...I drove about the same as my currant DRW with a 9.6 foot TC yet it came with air bags/sway bar etc..Not much difference in sway/roll between the two TC setups.

If I drove freeways I might consider tire upgrades if necessary but I don't do freeways and if I do,I don't go 70-75 mph...Never had a blowout with a TC but I always have good tires,a habit learned from owning Semi's...

I had a 1/2 ton'57 GMC with a extremely heavy 8ft Sturdi built TC and hauled two horse and gear on Idaho's roughest roads with 6 ply tires..Never an issue..Ever..

The internet has changed truck camping horribly!

jimh425 wrote:
lonegunman, I don’t believe 99% of the TCs are on SRWs. They also don’t all make it. Tires do blow up when overloaded.

Fyi, I carried my TC 1000 miles without an issue bone stock, but thought it made sense to spend 2300 on wheels/tires to give a bigger safety margin. Then, I kept it 8 years. I also sold my takeoffs for 500 not a great sell, but brought the upgrade to under 2K. :) I also think you should start shopping somewhere else if tires/wheels/shocks cost $15K and your SRWs cost 80K. :D

Yup, I got my F250 for a steal with only 3k miles on it. So even upgrading to a used dually with less options and more miles would be a 10k upgrade for me. Lowest I could find a new Dually with stx package and sync 3 was 53k, alamost 20k more than what I paid for my truck. I think I'm better off stickin with what I got and get some wheels/tires if need be.

Hello I read your question and I can tell you what I have, 2005 Dodge 2500 heavy duty 4x4 5.9 D on top I bought a used Northern Lite 10.2 that rebuilt due to water damage of some sort. the over hanging part, (rear part) structural damage, if anyone is interested look up the rebuilt in YOUTUBE under Hello campers, but any way it is a little top heavy and rocks a little due to single rear wheel, nice camper. But that particular model and year 2004 rear end was not structural sound in that year, After complete tear down it is now ok. maybe the new ones are built structural better. But I would check out this problem before you spend such large amount,

lonegunman, I don’t believe 99% of the TCs are on SRWs. They also don’t all make it. Tires do blow up when overloaded.

Fyi, I carried my TC 1000 miles without an issue bone stock, but thought it made sense to spend 2300 on wheels/tires to give a bigger safety margin. Then, I kept it 8 years. I also sold my takeoffs for 500 not a great sell, but brought the upgrade to under 2K. :) I also think you should start shopping somewhere else if tires/wheels/shocks cost $15K and your SRWs cost 80K. :D

Even I could could carry my AF811 on a F250 as long as it had the camper package and 18" wheel option. It was when I hitched up an 8000 lb enclosed trailer behind it that I needed more than OEM or I had to pack items camper forward and trailer rearward to avoid overloading my Michelin 275/70R18 tires.





BTW: These pictures were taken with stock suspension and wheels before the camper was filled with water the trailer filled with toys.

Strangely enough, when you are on the road, 99% of the truck campers you see are not on DRW trucks, do not have 19.5" tires and are not stopping at every weigh station to freak out if they are 12,000 lbs. They all manage to get to and from their camp sites and all around the country.

So listen to all the good advice you get here from various keyboard commandos and then use your best judgement before buying a new $80,000 truck and doing $15,000 worth of modifications to haul the smallest truck camper on the lot so you will be as far under GVWR as possible.

Once I swapped shocks, added airbags and TorkLift Stableloads to my F-250 I went camping, drove 6,500 miles on a cross country trip, spent a couple of weeks boon docking for hunting season and made dozens of holiday trips. Never had an issue,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,EVER. I'm loading it up on Monday for a shakedown trip and then three weeks of adventuring in July. All without a hint of panic or a second set of rear tires.

I haul an Arctic Fox 865, is was heavier than expected and their factory weight sticker is not even right. I looked at an Adventurer 86FB and a Lance 865 too. Adventurer models have actual weight of the camper you buy and actual CG of the camper marked on their units, AF seems to do the minimum, estimate everything by weight of parts.

TCCamperNoob wrote:

Buzzcut1 wrote:
Cooper Roadmaster rm53s in the G rating are M+S and have a better ride than the H rated 19.5s yet are still rated at 4500 pounds.

Do you mean the RM253? Product sheet

yup

jimh425 wrote:
Just don’t expect 4x4 type traction if you put highway tires on. Truly though, unless you ride with the windows down I don’t think you are going to have a noise problem with any but the most wide block tires with a newer Ford. None of the 19.5s I’ve seen are anything like the more aggressive tires seen in the more typical LT tires. No, I haven’t done a sound test.

Thanks. That's what I was thinking but could not say because I never had these kinds of tires. I was happy with my falken at3 wheels on my tundra. I'm assuming the drive tires can't be any louder?