1997 Fleetwood Caribou 12 ft

[Mimisdad]

Does anyone have the specs for a 1997 Fleetwood Caribou 12 ft TC? I am most interested in the weight and if a F250 super duty could handle the weight safely. I know a F350 or so would be ideal but will a F250 be safe?
Thanks.

[Groover]

mellow wrote:
Family of 6 in a supercab f250!

I tried that with my 1191 on an F250 and quickly found out I needed a dually after many upgrades to that truck, and I only have 2 kids and no boat!

Try having a rear tire blow out going down the highway with that much weight on the back.

The kids mostly road in the back. That was before the current paranoia about seat belts. I know that is going to offend some here but I drive carefully and have never had an accident on the road. Keeping them in the cab would have made he trips impossible or much more dangerous. It was a risk I took and don't regret. Sort of like sleeping in the back window of the family sedan when I was a kid myself.

I actually had three blowouts on the rear axle. One was an older Michelin that still looked good and was before I learned to watch the age on the tires, the other two were fairly new Kumho tires. The biggest surprise was how stable the rig stayed with the blowouts. The first was while towing the boat, the next two were not towing. A friend had convinced me that Kumho tires were a great value and I put them on several vehicles. Had the worst tire experiences of my life. Won't do that again. Firestone and Bridgestone tires had no issues.

[mellow]

Family of 6 in a supercab f250!

I tried that with my 1191 on an F250 and quickly found out I needed a dually after many upgrades to that truck, and I only have 2 kids and no boat!

Try having a rear tire blow out going down the highway with that much weight on the back.

[Kayteg1]

I agree that Mimisdad interpretation what Groover said is wrong.
Just becouse you got away with it, as pointed not necessary is convenient.
Was it safe?

[jimh406]

Mimisdad wrote:
Interesting. Thanks, Groover. Goes against what others have said but if you did it for 12 years it must have worked fine. Food for thought.

Just depends on whether you feel lucky or not. At the end of the day, we are just here to tell you what the variables are. You get to choose what to do.

[Mimisdad]

Interesting. Thanks, Groover. Goes against what others have said but if you did it for 12 years it must have worked fine. Food for thought.

[Groover]

I hauled a 12ft Caribou on a 1991 F250 with my family of 6 for about 12 years. The truck was loaded and a dually would have been more comfortable in turns. We drove a little slower and it did fine. My truck had the gas engine, 2wd, factory extra overload springs, the slide in camper package and was a supercab, not crew cab. I did frequently tow a 4,000lb boat behind it and kept up to 4 bicycles on a front carrier. We always started with a full tank of fresh water. I do not recommend travelling with the grey water tank over half full if yours is like mine at the very back of the camper floor.

If you put on air bags keep them on separate channels for stability and leveling.

[jimh406]

Going by memory, it worked on long beds as well. I could be wrong since that was over 14 years ago when I was shopping.

[NRALIFR]

Wasn’t the Host Bachelor made for short bed trucks?

:):)

[jimh406]

A Host Bachelor is 8 1/2 and a single slide with not a lot of extra cabinetry. I think that would be ok as long as the tires aren’t overloaded. You will need to concern yourself with how much extra weight you carry and how much water you carry. It will handle quite a bit different with full black/grey tanks, so dump before you travel.

Btw, I carried my 9 1/2 Double Slide on a 2006 F350 for 8 1/2 years. It is quite a bit heavier. I just got in the habit of carrying less water since it has 60 gallons of water when full.

Obviously, most DRWs have a lot more stability, but that model was made for SRWs.

[Mimisdad]

Thank you for all the responses. I'm a newbie and I can use all the advice I can get.
What's your opinion about a 2008 2500 HD LTZ crew cab with airlift compressor with bags and a 2006 Host Bachelor SS with a slide out? Same story, needs a DRW, or is this slide-in much lighter?
Thanks again.

[Kayteg1]

specta wrote:

Trucks are way more capable that what the stickers say.

Only when you look at tax sticker.
Actual axles ratings come with safety factor and I did not hesitate to overload axle by 20%, but than you have to check tires rating.
Putting 19.5 wheels can help only to certain point.

[specta]

Mimisdad wrote:
The F250 has extended cab, 8 ft bed, 6.2L V8. I find contradictory information about payload capacity but it seems to be under 4000 pds. Some say 3000, others 3600. We will have only twee people on board.
I am asking this question because the truck and TC are for sale as a package. I wanted to make a bid but it sounds like I should pass.

I wonder how many miles they've traveled with that combo.
Trucks are way more capable that what the stickers say.

[Kayteg1]

Payload capacity is taxable number and even if you get real number, it plays no role with TC, when most of the weight go on rear axle.
My Caribou actually shows COG behind rear axle and shaves about 300 lb from front axle.
Meaning 4300lb empty camper puts 4600lb on rear axle.
If the camper in question has no generator, it might be lighter empty, but you are not buying the size for carrying peanuts? Big camper calls for comfort and the only option would be getting dually for it.

[Mimisdad]

The F250 has extended cab, 8 ft bed, 6.2L V8. I find contradictory information about payload capacity but it seems to be under 4000 pds. Some say 3000, others 3600. We will have only twee people on board.
I am asking this question because the truck and TC are for sale as a package. I wanted to make a bid but it sounds like I should pass.