artic fox 811 on 2005 dodge ram 2500 diesel short bed??

[lizwood71]

Hi, we need some advice as we can not get a straight answer. We just bought an 811 Artic fox camper for our 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 quad cab diesel short bed truck. The artic fox dealer says it is a fine truck for this camper. But upon further research it seems to grossly exceed the GVWR weight capacity. Even if we upgraded to a 3500 Ram it seems to exceed this. How can this be possible? What part of the equation are we missing? What truck is capable of hauling this or do we listen to the dealer that our truck is fine? Just wanting to be safe. Thanks for the advice.

[d3500ram]

IIRC, I believe now that the OP is putting the TC on a Dodge 3500 Mega.
The original post indicated 2500, but I had to re-read the thread to remind myself of the new truck upgrade.

trail-explorer wrote:

lizwood71 wrote:
... The artic fox dealer says it is a fine truck for this camper. ..

That's what any dealer will likely say.

The AF is an awesome camper, but to make a short bed version, so it fits 2500 series trucks is kind of misleading since they overload most 2500 trucks even with their dry weight.

[Grit_dog]

lizwood71 wrote:
Also , another artic fox question. We have noticed a little fan that switches on periodically down by the base of the front door. Does anyone know what that is ?

Along with the heat?
There's a fan that circulates heat into the "basement" to warm the tanks to prevent freezing.
Betting your problem is the tiedowns. Gotta have 2 of them, at least, angled forward.
My camper "wants" to slide forward. It will squish the rubber bumpers and get right up on the front of the bed if I let it. I put a solid block across the front of the bed full width for the camper to bear on and keep a small gap between the bed and the camper.

[lizwood71]

Also , another artic fox question. We have noticed a little fan that switches on periodically down by the base of the front door. Does anyone know what that is ?

[lizwood71]

GPNAZ,The factory install airbag suspension works great ! It automatically adjusts to what's needed to level when ignition turns on. My husband loves them and it rides really smoothly like a dream! The drw really is great. So as for the sliding problem we did mess around with the angle of tiedowns yesterday and it does seem to be working a little better. The back tiedowns we adjusted straight up-and-down in the first and the front ones are angled towards the rear I'm posting on my phone so when I get to a normal computer maybe I can post some pictures Thanks again for the input ! We are going to have to have the paint on the truck touched up which is a bummer but overall need to work out the glitches so we at safe ! Just finished 5 nights camping in Oregon. Good trip !

[trail-explorer]

lizwood71 wrote:
... The artic fox dealer says it is a fine truck for this camper. ..

That's what any dealer will likely say.

The AF is an awesome camper, but to make a short bed version, so it fits 2500 series trucks is kind of misleading since they overload most 2500 trucks even with their dry weight.

[Grit_dog]

Yeah, post a pic if you can, but that makes no sense. I've run some pretty ugly roads and the camper never wants to slide back, but it will push forward any chance it gets.
Same setup. Rubber mat on painted bed.
2 of your tiedowns need to be pulling forward just a bit. That is probably the issue.
Mine run 2 forward, 2 about straight down.
Now if you were pulling rough trails at a significant uphill incline that may be a different situation than most of us with big campers.

[GeoBoy]

Glad you got the dually. Your camper should not move with a rubber mat on the metal bed. Do you have the front Torklift mounts pointed in the right direction and the FastGuns in the front hole of the mount? Need to see a picture of your set up.

[Bedlam]

With just 3/4" horse stall mats on diamond plate steel flat bed, the AF811 does not move with the four FastGuns attached. Like others have posted, check the geometry of your tiedowns on the truck to the camper and verify you are properly and evenly tensioning the turnbuckles.

[GpnAZ]

Hi lizwood - I have a similar setup but srw instead of dually. Besides the rubber mat my bed has the sprayed bedliner on it and it has moved 1-2" but never 3-5" which is excessive. Check the angle on your tiedowns also, maybe moving them to a different hole on the frame tiedown will give you a better angle. I am also looking at possibly a dually for my AF811 and was wondering how your factory air suspension is working for you when it is loaded and unloaded, sure would like a little feedback on your setup.

[jimh406]

Yes, 3 to 5 inches is a lot. Maybe your tie downs aren't tight enough.

[d3500ram]

3 to 5 inches of movement seems excessive. Mine might move an inch maybe and that is taking it off-road.

As far as the swing out bracket (I am not a dually owner so I may be wrong) but are not the brackets to be at the closets inward position when traveling? That is, they swing out for loading and unloading but are inward for going down the road? Otherwise, why have a hinge on them in the first place? If I am correct in this assumption, then SO brackets won't help- you will need to solve the problem of movement.

As far as posting phottos: Go to THIS LINK. Browse to your file and upload it then copy the resulting stgring into your post body.

[lizwood71]

Hi guys , back for a little more advice from the pros ! We have enjoyed several camping trip now but still have a few kinks we need to work out ( I still haven't figured out how to post pictures but anyhow ...). We have the camper on the truck with torque lift tiedowns that are made especially for the 2016 dodge ram drw. Dealer installed. We have already scuffed up the paint on the driver side front from the camper slipping 3 to 5 inches back-and-forth in the bed of the truck while traveling . We now have the easy swing out brackets bolted into the out position so that won't happen again ! but even with frequent tightening of the tiedowns it still seems to be slipping front to back some We have a rubber mat in the truck as recommended and even that when I look under the camper seems to have slipped out a couple inches . Any suggestions? Thanks !

[Grit_dog]

Ha, awesome! Glad to hear it and I'm sure it drives like a dream! Not to mention having what I consider to be the ultimate shortbed combo. Mega dually Cummins and a AF sitting on the back!
You'll be duly impressed with the comfort, power and capability of that truck.
So, did someone from here snag your old cream puff?
Trucks like that don't come along every day either.
Go do some campin!

[NVR2L82AV8]

Congrats!!! A new world awaits....

Try this:

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