Camper weight and 4WD

[1handyhubby]

I really wish I had thought about this earlier concidering I'm supposed to look at the truck today. I have the opportunity to buy a 1999 F350 dually v10 5 speed 4x4. I was excited about the 4x4 until after some late night reading that I would have to subtract the weight of the 4x4 from my max cargo weight. The reason for the dually was to be able to get a heavier camper (1-2 slides). Looks like the 4x4 defeats that purpose. Anyone out there care to weigh in. Pun intended. ??

[mkirsch]

In short, the 4x4 won't affect the truck's real-world ability to carry a camper in the bed. No reason to worry unless you are viewing staying under ALL the ratings as a challenge.

Reality is, the 4x4 weight is on the front axle, the camper weight is on the rear axle. The only thing affected is GVWR, which many truck camper owners ignore anyway.

Besides 400-500lbs over on an F350 DRW is not like 400-500lbs over on an F150.

[JIMNLIN]

op wrote:
Looks like the 4x4 defeats that purpose. Anyone out there care to weigh in. Pun intended. ??

Not really.. as most of the 4wd system sits on the trucks front axle which shows to be 4400 FAWR for your truck or 5200 with the heavy service package as many 4x4/manual tranny trucks came in.

Trucks don't carry weight determined by the truck makers GVWR number. AS others have said your interested in the F350 DRW 8250 RAWR as its going to carry just about all of a long TC weight.

The '99 DRW trucks are lite compared to todays DRW trucks. Fords '00 body service specs shows these trucks can have 54xx + lb payloads depending. Keep in mind the truck makers payload is a GVWR based number and can over load some trucks RAWR numbers.
However I would pay attention to the 8250 RAWR which empty weight can be in the 3000-3200 lb range. That leaves around 5050-5250 lbs for a payload.

[Steve_in_29]

1handyhubby wrote:
A little follow up for anyone interested, I found specs online for a 2001 F350. It should be the same as a 1999. There is a difference of 495 lbs. The max payload of a 2x4 is 5,700 and 4x4 is 5,285. I let last nights research sway my decision and cancel the appointment to look at the truck because I thought ther was a difference of over 1,000. My current camper is 3,300 lbs empty so I should be fine. The truck is 2 hours away and the owner has plans for the day so we'll have to see if he still has it next weekend. In the mean time I guess I'll look for some swingout brackets for my jacks and hope I'm a quick study on getting a dually threw the jacks with less clearance and driveing a stick after 30 years of automatics. ??

If you are looking for the max payload them look for an 05/6/7 F350 as Ford upped the capacities in 05. The GVWR stayed the same in 08 but the trucks weighed more so the load capacity shrank a bit.

[bighatnohorse]

It doesn't make any difference whether the GVWR is limited by the tires or the axle. The additional metal weight of the extra drive axle will reduce your payload.

You are right in your assessment in that respect.
Live with it or find another truck. (sorry)

[Kayteg1]

I can't count how many time it was said on this forum, that the GVWR stamped on vehicle is establish for tax purposes and has nothing to do with actual truck capacity.
Check your tire rating, check what rear differential manufacturer allows on it and then weight the truck.
I can bet $100 you will be at least 20% bellow rear axle rating and with gas engine probably the same on front.
The heavier front will actually help if you'd like to add 10,000lb trailer on 3 foot stinger.

[1handyhubby]

A little follow up for anyone interested, I found specs online for a 2001 F350. It should be the same as a 1999. There is a difference of 495 lbs. The max payload of a 2x4 is 5,700 and 4x4 is 5,285. I let last nights research sway my decision and cancel the appointment to look at the truck because I thought ther was a difference of over 1,000. My current camper is 3,300 lbs empty so I should be fine. The truck is 2 hours away and the owner has plans for the day so we'll have to see if he still has it next weekend. In the mean time I guess I'll look for some swingout brackets for my jacks and hope I'm a quick study on getting a dually threw the jacks with less clearance and driveing a stick after 30 years of automatics. ??

[jimh406]

jmtandem wrote:
A tank of fresh water in your new truck camper will weigh more than the 4x4 components.

That settles it. I'm never bringing water again. 🙂 Seriously though, I did pay very close attention to how much water I carried with my SRW.

[jmtandem]

Researching on the forums can be a challenge. I've read several posts giving the weight of the 4x4 at 1,100 and one said 1,400. Having never owned one I was going by others experiences and comments but it dd sound a little high. I thank everyone for your comments. I've found there are always contradicting opinions which adds to my dilemma. I hate to miss out on this truck because I haven't found many duallies with the v10 but I can't afford to get it and end up having it not work out. Thanks and I will keep reading.

Go to the Ford towing webpages or Ford truck brochures for the trucks. It should be fairly easy to ascertain the approximate weight of the 4x4 components by comparing two similar trucks with the exception of the 4x4 option. A tank of fresh water in your new truck camper will weigh more than the 4x4 components.

The 4x4 components on a Ford are probably for planning purposes very similar in weight to that of a Ram. For a 3500 (one ton dually Ram) the difference in weight between a 4x4 and a 2x4 is 340 pounds.

[1handyhubby]

Researching on the forums can be a challenge. I've read several posts giving the weight of the 4x4 at 1,100 and one said 1,400. Having never owned one I was going by others experiences and comments but it dd sound a little high. I thank everyone for your comments. I've found there are always contradicting opinions which adds to my dilemma. I hate to miss out on this truck because I haven't found many duallies with the v10 but I can't afford to get it and end up having it not work out. Thanks and I will keep reading.

[jmtandem]

I really wish I had thought about this earlier concidering I'm supposed to look at the truck today. I have the opportunity to buy a 1999 F350 dually v10 5 speed 4x4. I was excited about the 4x4 until after some late night reading that I would have to subtract the weight of the 4x4 from my max cargo weight. The reason for the dually was to be able to get a heavier camper (1-2 slides). Looks like the 4x4 defeats that purpose. Anyone out there care to weigh in. Pun intended. ??

If approximately 400+/- pounds is going to make or break your truck's ability to carry the camper you want you need to re-evaluate either the truck to buy or the camper. The dually should be adequate for most campers in the 4000+/- pound range. Check into the GVWR of the truck and what it's base weight is and that is what is left for everything else including the camper and people, etc. Look at the door post for that information. The gas engine is much lighter than the diesel so you have that going for you with this truck.

[jimh406]

4x4 does reduce your capacity slightly because it subtracts from your GVWR. I don't think it will significantly impact a SRW since the rear tires tend to be what limits the ability to carry more. BTW, you could also go with a standard cab and gasoline engine to gain GVWR, also.

But, it also provides 4L to go low speed as necessary, and the ability to potentially have traction when the rear wheels are in less than great surface. This is potentially helpful turning around. Furthermore, 4x4 helps keep the vehicle straight in a low traction condition at higher speeds.

Obviously, if Class As and Cs can work, a 2 wheel drive TC can, too.

[donn0128]

In those years all mfg GVWR ratings were a lot lower than newer trucks. I would guess 9900 or 10,000 pounds for late 90s trucks. With the weight of the truck that really does not leave a lot of room for load.

[Buzzcut1]

just my .02

the Axels are more that up to par for what you are thinking. Most of the 4x4 additional weigh is up front, most of the camper weight is on the rear dual axle. Note that the 99s have a much lower tag rating than todays trucks. Alot of that was to keep the purchaser from having to pay more in tag fees and not need a commercial lic which increased the availabe purchaser market for the MFG