Truck Camper for F-250

Since you haven't bought a truck yet, I would go for the 350 instead. Very little price difference, but you get the upper springs and the higher cargo rating. Lances are great campers. I like the 825 and 865 a lot. You may need stableloads with the trailer in tow. The gas engine is a good one and should handle your needs fine.

I agree skip the 250 and jet a 350 with the camper package of anti sway bars and overload leafs. It will make carrying a camper much easier on you when going down the road

I did the 865 on my 2013 gas F250 crew cab with the extra load capacity set up back in 2014 for a trip to AK. It was maxed out on weight pretty bad and the 865 turned out to be a bit heavier than I anticipated as we bought it with every bell and whistle made. So I took the back seat out of the crew cab and ran her with 1/2 to 1/3 tank of water (not to smart on Alaska Hiway)

I put stabil loads on which only took a few minutes but made a big difference. I kept a close eye on weights at the CAT Scales and made sure I had as much load carrying capacity in the tires as I could get -- and always watched inflation.

It was nice for a quick jaunt to go see relatives and stay in their driveway or for a quick weekend at the lake.

We had a great time and it did the job for the Alaska trip. But after 7 weeks in it on the way to AK and back the DW and I said "enough" as we were ready to kick the walls out of it. It just got a little too tight But man that mattress slept good though!

I have an Artic Fox 865 on a 2011 F-250. With heavy duty suspension and camper package(both options)it is an F-350 in underneath. You may as well buy an F-350 it is only about 300 bucks more. Off-Road package will get you sway bars and slightly better shocks. Torklift makes upper Stableloads and I'd get airbags as well. While you may be able to get away without airbags, they are well worth the $400 bucks for the kit.

I looked at a lot of campers and quality of the Palamino was lacking when compared to Arctic Fox, Lance or Adventurer. I'm pretty sure all campers are heavier than the sticker. I see plenty of campers on 3//4 ton series trucks with zero problems. That being said, The tiny expense of buying a one ton makes it a no brainer.

So what is the real advantage of an F-350 badge? It nets you almost a ton more GVWR over the F-250 with only a different wheel and tire combination (maybe). This is important if you are planning on driving over the scales constantly. Ford actually markets a 10,000LB GVWR F-350 for people who live in states where anything over 10K is a commercial truck or some such weirdness. The only thing they change is the door sticker.

Whatever truck you decide to buy needs "camper package", this is a factory option that includes the heaviest spring package and a heavy duty alternator and extra cooling for the trans and some other minor tweaks for people who plan on carrying a truck camper or hauling a camper.

Heavy Duty suspension, rear sway bar and more engine are choices you will never regret. Diesel adds a far stouter front end and more weight. Adding my TC to my truck added absolutely no weight to the front end when I weighed everything after it was all loaded up.

Get the F350 as it is usually less then $1K extra to do so. NO one ever comes in here complaining about how they bought TOO much truck.

If you are going to be carrying the camper a lot and towing then the diesel would work better if you want to avoid hitting every gas station.

I have a 2500HD GMC and while I love it and the Northern Lite that I carry on it it does limit me on upgrading the camper. Even a newer Northern Lite is too heavy for me.

Truck Payload 1077kg

Current camper 600kg

Looking at a newer Northern Lite that comes in at 1002kg

If I had a 3500 it would be no problem, with the 2500 not going to work once I put water, gear and people in and like others are saying the cost is not that much more. In fact around here the 3500/F-350's are even cheaper right now as many dealers over ordered.

I have a 2001 F250 v10 with a lance 865. It drives that camper without any issues. Would a 350 be better, sure... Do I feel under powered or overloaded with my truck? Not one bit! I do have the camper package which may make a difference on my year truck...

Lance 825 or 865 gets my vote.

Get the F350, not the F250. Lance makes good campers. Palamino are not good (yes, I owned one). I wouldn't buy another Palamino.
All campers are heavy, most heavier than what they claim. I'm over my GVWR by 1,700 pounds on my Chevy dually. I'm under on tire weights and axle manufacturer's weights. If you try to go by the GVWR you'll likely need a dually for sure. Which, by the way, isn't a bad idea.

cgav34 wrote:
... I really like the versatility of a truck camper over a tow-behind camper...especially for some of the mountain campsites I go to...

If you want even more versatility in the mountains, consider looking at the NorthStar brand. Their campers are narrower than others making it easier to get into backwoods areas.

NorthStar campers

As far as the truck... go for the F-350.

F-350, don't even consider the F-250, when you are behind the wheel they are the same truck...