Artic Fox 865 wet wt 4200 or Nothern lite 8-11

[Travelin_Jim]

Hi, New to the site...I want to buy a truck camper...Artic Fox 865 is nice...but heavy. Have some in town. Trying to figure out if a F350 diesel is big enough. Don't want a dually if I can help it. Really like the Northern Lite 8-11 EX Dry Bath with a wet wt of 3800 but closest dealer is 400 miles. Getting a good deal on the 865. I don't own a Ford yet so my options are open. Artic Fox dealer won't sell to anyone without a diesel. Ford dealer thinks a 350 is big enough but Really need some help. Thank you

[PhilR]

I am presently driving a 2013 Chevy 2500 HD Ext. cab, sb, diesel, 4 wd and carrying a 2016 Northern Lite QC 8.11 SE. My truck is rated at 10,000 max. gross (has plow package) and the combination weighs in at 11,200 to 11,500 lbs. I have ordered a 2019 3500 HD srw w/ 11,500 Max Gross rating (should be in next week) in order to get within the max gross rating, although my 2500 HD does the job nicely with some rear suspension mods and proper tires. I'll breathe easier knowing that I am "insurance" legal.

[deltabravo]

Travelin Jim wrote:
Artic Fox dealer won't sell to anyone without a diesel.

I've been to that dealer multiple times and have never heard them say that before.

The only salesman I'd deal with is Vic or Dave.
The one whose name starts with an L has given me the hard sell tactic multiple times, so I look the other way and make a bee-line to the restroom if he's near the front door when I walk in the showroom.

[SideHillSoup]

I’m not overweight in my 2017 gmc 3500 SWD with a NL 8-11 drybath. Now I’m close, but not over. Also in the last 12 months we put on 42,000 kms on the camper, the truck, 55,000 km since new in April 2017, no issues.
Buy, and haul something over weight, your looking for trouble, no questions, something in time will occur.
You are taking a risk traveling with a under size truck, and a over size RV, your also putting the rest of the traveling public at risk, by your actions, Think of that.
Soup.

[deltabravo]

WyoBull wrote:
I know the AF's are very heavy, my buddy has one with the double slide out (can't remember the model) and sitting on his GMC Denali one ton dually crew cab diesel he is overweight.

I am overweight too...(rig is in my signature)

[trail-explorer]

jimh425 wrote:
I’m afraid that this thread is going to go off the rails to a Gasoline vs Diesel or SRW vs DRW battle.

It already has, with this post:

Manwithoutoptions wrote:
And diesel's extra 20% power is useless when moving something as light as 4k lb weight.

[WyoBull]

emcvay wrote:

WyoBull wrote:
I know the AF's are very heavy, my buddy has one with the double slide out (can't remember the model) and sitting on his GMC Denali one ton dually crew cab diesel he is overweight.

My current set up which is perfectly matched in my opinion is a 2017 F350 CCSB 4X4 XLT with the 6.2 gas engine and a 2017 Northern Lite QC 8.11 SE.
My payload is 4226 lbs and my camper fully wet is between 3600-3700 lbs. I am under the limits on my payload, tires and axles. I do have Airlift 5000 Ultimate airbags and Torklift upper Stableloads.

Would a dually be a better choice? Maybe, but this truck is my daily driver and I am not going to drive a dually every day. I also do a lot of hunting, fishing etc. and am off highway a lot so a dually is not a good set up for me.

My truck handles my camper extremely well and while there are lots of ways to skin the cat, for me, this combination is a great set up.

Are those weights from a CAT Scale? If not, they don't mean anything. My AF990 says it's 3600lbs WET on the sticker....it's not. It really weighs closer to 4600lbs wet.

Yes, those are CAT Scale weights.

[emcvay]

WyoBull wrote:
I know the AF's are very heavy, my buddy has one with the double slide out (can't remember the model) and sitting on his GMC Denali one ton dually crew cab diesel he is overweight.

My current set up which is perfectly matched in my opinion is a 2017 F350 CCSB 4X4 XLT with the 6.2 gas engine and a 2017 Northern Lite QC 8.11 SE.
My payload is 4226 lbs and my camper fully wet is between 3600-3700 lbs. I am under the limits on my payload, tires and axles. I do have Airlift 5000 Ultimate airbags and Torklift upper Stableloads.

Would a dually be a better choice? Maybe, but this truck is my daily driver and I am not going to drive a dually every day. I also do a lot of hunting, fishing etc. and am off highway a lot so a dually is not a good set up for me.

My truck handles my camper extremely well and while there are lots of ways to skin the cat, for me, this combination is a great set up.

Are those weights from a CAT Scale? If not, they don't mean anything. My AF990 says it's 3600lbs WET on the sticker....it's not. It really weighs closer to 4600lbs wet.

[WyoBull]

I know the AF's are very heavy, my buddy has one with the double slide out (can't remember the model) and sitting on his GMC Denali one ton dually crew cab diesel he is overweight.

My current set up which is perfectly matched in my opinion is a 2017 F350 CCSB 4X4 XLT with the 6.2 gas engine and a 2017 Northern Lite QC 8.11 SE.
My payload is 4226 lbs and my camper fully wet is between 3600-3700 lbs. I am under the limits on my payload, tires and axles. I do have Airlift 5000 Ultimate airbags and Torklift upper Stableloads.

Would a dually be a better choice? Maybe, but this truck is my daily driver and I am not going to drive a dually every day. I also do a lot of hunting, fishing etc. and am off highway a lot so a dually is not a good set up for me.

My truck handles my camper extremely well and while there are lots of ways to skin the cat, for me, this combination is a great set up.

[TxGearhead]

I had a 2012? F350 SRW Crew Cab 4x4 Longbed Lariat diesel with a payload of 3700#. Traded it for a 2016 Ram equipped exactly the same with 4016# payload. Traded that for a 2018 Ram exactly same equipped with a 5400? payload. What I saw on dealer lots was Ford had lowest payload, Chevy next up, and Ram highest. But I think Ford made the 350 SRW with different GVW packages.
If you will only haul a camper and maybe a light aluminum boat I would get a 1 ton SRW gasser.

[GeoBoy]

If you are going to have a AF865 plus tow that trailer and you are sold on the Ford, get a F450 diesel and never look back. If you don’t want the diesel or the dually, then you should look for a lighter, narrower camper.

[emcvay]

Kayteg1 wrote:
"Been there, done that" but on the long run you have 2 major things to consider:
1. is spending money to upgrade SRW really cheaper than getting dually?
2. how will the high COG combo react in tire blow-up?
Sometimes we are forced to deal with what we have, not what we want, but I've been fortunate enough to sell the house for good price and have money for new truck. All I needed were tie-downs.
Really love "set it and forget it" idea.

1. Cost me a lot less but I did get a very good deal on the truck
2. This is the one thing that actually worries me and has me considering a DRW in the future.

[Kayteg1]

"Been there, done that" but on the long run you have 2 major things to consider:
1. is spending money to upgrade SRW really cheaper than getting dually?
2. how will the high COG combo react in tire blow-up?
Sometimes we are forced to deal with what we have, not what we want, but I've been fortunate enough to sell the house for good price and have money for new truck. All I needed were tie-downs.
Really love "set it and forget it" idea.

[emcvay]

SidecarFlip wrote:


Looks to be squatting in the back end a bit.....

Nope. Sits perfectly level even with the bags aired down to 14psi though I had them at 20psi here. It's an optical illusion but I saw it too 😉

[tcguy]

Here is my experience. I had a 2005 F350 CC SB 4x4 single rear wheel diesel Lariat with a 2018 Northern Lite 811 SE QC camper and I was over my GVWR 0f 11,400 lbs. by 500+ lbs. and over my factory rear axle rating of 7,000 lbs. and this is with an empty camper with the exception of the 2 filled propane tanks, 2 batteries and a full fresh water tank. I did have the torklift super hitch and a 32 inch extension added in order to flat tow my Jeep. I did upgrade my tires to 4,080 lb. Toyo's. I had added the rear Sumo springs and the Torklift Upper Stableloads. Once I added our normal camping gear, food, clothes, beer lawn chairs, tools etc. I was up around 12,500+ lbs. I drove many miles loaded like this and the truck did OK but I was never comfortable driving it this heavy. I recently sold that truck and bought a 2018 F350 CC LB 4x4 dually diesel Lariat and I can tell you it is a completely different experience. I now have excess load capacity and we do not worry about what we might want to bring due to the weight. It is much more stable and much more enjoyable to drive. Hope this helps.