Arctic fox 990 rocking back and forth

[Wingit1971]

Hey everyone,
I'm new to the truck camping world and have a few questions

I have an 2017 arctic fox slide in on a 2015 f350 SRW with airbags and rancho 9000xl shocks. I upgraded the the rims from 18's to 20's and put on bf goodrich ko2 265/70r20.When I bought this whole package it didn't rock back and forth at all, now it will rock side to side 2-3 times when until it smooths out . I have it loaded fine and the tiedowns are snug. Trying to figure out what's wrong. You would think the upgrades would've helped it. going around curves isn't a treat either. I have 55psi in the airbags and it leveled just fine and have a very slight bulge in the tire but nothing to write home about. I want to use this as a beach buggy in NJ but there's no way I can do that with this sway/ rocking. Any feedback would be helpful. This is dry weight... 4k Hate to see adding an extra 1k loaded would do.

Thanks.

[specta]

jimh425 wrote:
Yet, they show a TC on a SRW on the landing page for their website. 😉https://northwoodmfg.com/truck-campers/arctic-fox-camper/

:B

[JimK-NY]

jimh425 wrote:
I don’t think there is any reason to assume 1000 for personal items. You can carry the same amount of stuff that you backpack … if you want. .....

Most of us with campers want to carry more than we would if backpacking.

Personal items might include:
generator and gas. I guess you could give up electricity and just use a flashlight.
outdoor chairs
compressor
tools
extension cord
clothing
bedding
towels
food....heavy, heavy
cooking gear, plates, utensils
toiletries, cosmetics
hobby gear, cameras, binocs
books, guides, maps
BBQ grill
Paper goods, including TP
RV toilet chemicals
bug spray
cleaning products

That is all I could think of in a couple of minutes. I am sure there is lots more. Food/drinks are one of the heaviest and can easily hit several hundred pounds.

Sure, you could leave it all at home. Or you could really cut back on the weight and leave the camper at home and just backpack.

[towpro]

first, if it does not have a sway bar at all, or maybe it does have a factory sway bar, I would get a BigWig HD sway bar.

I don't know what the ford spring pack looks like, but I am betting IF it has upper overloads, you have the air bags inflated to high and the upper overload is not hitting the spring perch that stick out from the frame.
also if you have 1 air input, as you sway the air transfers from one side airbag to the other which does not help.

One way to fix this is to (lower air bag pressure) and to replace the rubber bumpers on those spring perches with something wider (like a hockey puck), or torklift upper stableloads.
But the problem with this is it can stiffen up the ride even empty if the new stableloads are hitting the upper helper springs.
on my 2006 3500 ram SRW I was running Energy Suspension rubber blocks to replace the metal blocks for my helpersprings. this stopped the "bang" (both noise and shock vibration you felt in your back) from the suspension every time you hit a bump loaded and the overloads banged into the spring perch. Plus they were rubber with holes so they had some give under load.

I have also tried the Torklift lower stableloads on a 2018 Ram 3500 dually. I loved them. they added around 1" of additional lift (back to level) with the 990 loaded. They come in Stainless, and you can disable them when running empty.

I tried Rancho adjustable 9000 on the rear and rancho 5000's on the front of a brand new 2015 Ram 3500 dually 4x4 (after working on phone with Rancho). this was a mess. I could repeatably hit a bump in a road and the back would start with oscillation up and down (with camper on) and would not stop until you slowed down to around 35. We replaced the 9000's but it still did it. I ended up returning them all under the "try them out" warranty rancho offered and put the brand new Ram shocks back on.

I had a sway problem with a Mercedes motorhome. This is a perfect example of a vehicle that is running at its max weight! First keep in mind a MH is always loaded, you can't take the body off like you can unload a truck camper.
It already had the BigWig Sway bar. I ran timbren blocks both front and rear which helped with the sway some.
Than I put Fox 2.0 shocks on the motorhome that were revalved for this application by agile offroad: WOW what a difference. it solved my problems!
but I can picture how rough the fox shocks might be on a truck if you unloaded the camper and drove around empty.

[jimh406]

Yet, they show a TC on a SRW on the landing page for their website. 😉https://northwoodmfg.com/truck-campers/arctic-fox-camper/

For sure, shorter stronger sidewalls help handling. It’s why that’s a typical modification for sports cars. That’s a benefit of 19.5s in most sizes.

[Geo_Boy]

I just checked the 2021 AF truck camper literature and it still says, recommend a dually for ALL AF truck campers.

[EYEMLOST]

Very interesting point about tire wall stiffness and camper weight, and it's affect to handling. :C

[jimh406]

I don’t think there is any reason to assume 1000 for personal items. You can carry the same amount of stuff that you backpack … if you want. With my SRW, we limited what we carried. OP could, too.

On the other hand, it’s clear that you can see 990s on SRWs frequently in the NW. Yes, they are all overloaded. I’m sure OP knows that.

I added 19.5s because I didn’t want to be one of the people who had a blowout in the middle of nowhere in the NW. My Host is a similar weight, but I survived with my SRW for 8 1/2 years because a DRW wouldn’t work for my DD. Yes, I’ve seen SRWs with blowouts due to being overloaded. Some were pretty new rigs. Some stories have been told here. Overloading your tires is never a good idea.

For the record, my Rancho 9000s were still completely fine after 8 1/2 years. They do have a Limited Lifetime Warranty, so assuming you are the original owner, they can be replaced under warranty. That being said, I have Bilsteins on my F450. I didn’t think I needed Ranchos on 9 to control sway, but they definitely worked on my SRW. I have to assume Ranchos fail due to the posts that say it, but mine didn’t.

[JimK-NY]

Arctic Fox 990 specs:
dry weight 3605#
AF basic package (jacks, awnings, etc) 595#
Water, 2 batteries, 2 propane tanks 660#
Total: 4860
You need to add weight for personal items such as generator, clothing, cooking/eating gear, food, lawn chairs, BBQ, tools, etc, etc. You are very likely to exceed 1000# for these items.
TOTAL: 5860
Almost all of that weight will fall on the rear axle. For my truck the base rear axle weight is 3200#. If yours is the same the new total on the rear axle is 9060# or 4530# on each rear wheel and tire.

Don't fool around with this. Load up for camping and weigh your rig. Then decide if you are comfortable with a grossly overloaded rig including overloaded tires.

[mkirsch]

If it didn't rock with the old tires and wheels, then the solution seems obvious to me. Put the old tires and wheels back on. If it stops rocking, then your new tires and/or wheels are the problem.

What wheels did you use? There are wheels designed to carry loads, then there are "bling" wheels meant to just look good.

Your tires are rated for 3748lbs each (load index 126). With a ~4K camper you're already at 7000lbs+ on the rear axle.

[lonegunman]

Rancho 9000 shocks are garbage. Mine were completely useless in about 15,000 miles, if they have been on the truck more than a few miles they are probably bad.

It sounds like a joke but I promise you it is not. The first thing you should do is switch to a shock from KYB or Bilstein for your safety and to protect your truck from damage.

You will see plenty of 990's on SRW F-350'sall over the place, a well made tire will not fail with a 990 on the truck it will simply wear faster and should be inflated to 80 proper pounds. Wheel ratings do not cause your truck to rock back and forth. 19.5 inch wheels will not stop rocking back and forth.

Your truck is plenty strong enough to handle that camper with airbags and since it is a 350 it should have come with a helper spring and sway bar if it had "camper package".

Torklift stableloads will help but when you remove the camper your truck will ride like a truck. If it is your only transportation you might want to consider that in the decision.

I have a 2011 Ford and a 2015 Arctic Fox 865, the rocking problems I had were caused by extremely poor quality shocks, namely Rancho 9000XLs. Buying them was terrible advice from this web site and the 19.5 inch wheel crowd.

As far as airbags, they need to be lined separately or air will simply move from one bag to the other, I figured that out after installing them for the trip home from the dealer, haha.

Yes your truck is heavy. I've seen plenty of F-350s with 990's pulling a boat or 4-wheeler on a trailer out west and no one is crapping their pants or buying 19.5 inch tires. That is garbage advice only seen on this site.

[byronlj]

Are you air bags on separate fill lines or a "t" for both? If not separate, the air will run back and forth making things much worse.

[sportzfann]

You will need to check your payload ratings, but that truck looks to have a payload of about 3500 pounds depending on options. The Arctic fox 990 is a heavy camper around 5000lbs loaded. On any single wheel truck, it will sway back and forth no matter what extras you put on it to control the sway. the weight of that camper is top heavy. Only way I was able to control the sway on my 990 was to upgrade to a Dually. I don’t even think about sway anymore, it does sway a little but not enough to worry about ,plus I don’t really worry about a blowout/tire failure while hauling that much weight. For me it’s a worry free trip, and that, is worth a lot to me and family!

[ticki2]

You stated that before you changed tires and wheels you didn’t have the problem . What tire brand and size were on then . Double check the actual tires on now , perhaps wrong tires were installed . What are the axle weights for the truck and camper loaded for camping ? Also check the weight rating of the new wheels , many aftermarket wheels are not known for high ratings . It seems the problem all started with the new wheels and tires .

[Grit_dog]

Wingit1971 wrote:
I know the truck can handle it, I just need some conformation from someone that rocking side to side two-three times is normal after a bump. I don't think its going to tip over or fall off. I don't remember it rocking like that. Anything i can add to help that? This camper is going on the beach in deep sand and it gets bumpy. Im going to need to air down a bit as well. Im sure a dually is the fix all but It's not in the cards at the moment

On a srw truck, with a heavy camper it’s normal.
However if you plan on keeping the setup then read my suggestions in the other thread.
Start with a sway bar and shimming the springs or buy stable loads. Then use the bags as sparingly as possible to just get er back up to level if it’s doing the Carolina squat at all.
The key is you want the springs all engaged early in the suspension travel to make it as stiff as possible with what you already have. This will help even before the sway bar.
Sway bar will help but not eliminate the rocking over low speed bumps and potholes.

Know that your tires are definitely a little overloaded. Also I ran the same size / load and 1 size lighter for many miles on a very similar weight rig. Apples to apples about 300lbs lighter. But a shortbed. Including a trip to AK pulling a heavy trailer.
Was our first road trip and if 1000+ miles of frost heaves didn’t break anything or pop a tire, “normal” driving should not either.

Like spectra said, drive it right and understand it ain’t going to tip over unless you do a stupid human trick. After a couple hours on the road you automatically anticipate the lean and the rocking just puts the passengers to sleep!

[jimh406]

I think it’s likely it’s the shocks or the overloads aren’t engaged or a combination. Make sure they are really on 9. I don’t think the Rancho warranties are transferrable. If not, buy some shocks, or simply take one end off each one and see if they are dead or not. They should be very very hard to move on 9. Good shocks can make a big difference. I ran Ranchos on my SRW and use Bilsteins on my F450.

If you’ve run the truck without the TC and it’s not completely bone jarring, the Ranchos are likely worn out.

Btw, you didn’t say if your overloads are engaged or not. It really does make a big difference. You can buy Energy Suspension bump stops for around 65 a pr. They are easy to bolt on. They come with a nut although you might want to add a washer at the top of the bump stop hanger. I ran them on my SRW and also run them on my F450 with air bags.

Energy Suspension 9.9109G 2-1/2" Heavy Duty Bump Stop - Pack of 2
by Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CN5GRC/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_8T1GDQCDSWK1AZ2JXM2G?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1