Does a truck need anti sway bars carry a camper?

[sdbackout]

I own a 1998 Ford F250 Light Duty 4x4. I am interested in purchasing a Six-Pac D650 camper that will fit on the bed. I have a couple of concerns. One is the truck does not have rear anti sway bars. I'm not concerned with the weight but I am in the handling. Hoe did folks carry campers back in the 90's with no rear anti sway bars?

The second concern is what is the best way to attach the camper? The Ford F150 of the time has a weird shaped bed especially in the front. My pumper is very light duty when comparing it to the dodge 2500 that the camper sits on now, and is the way it attaches in the rear.

Would love any feedback, very new at this.

[sdbackout]

AnEv942 wrote:
Ya the droopy body-

the '98 F250 was a transitional truck as mentioned, F150 body, though if I understand correctly it was sold for couple of years (with new body, lighter components) along with the new F250-SD in commercial/fleet truck lines.
98 is when I decided going in the direction of a TC- I was dreading that new SD trucks would have the droopy body. Fortunately not, though not the OBS which imo last good looking truck.

As noted Hellwig does offer a S/B, Both H/J and T/L list tiedowns (H/J thouhg shows the front body button not ear mounts?). Air lift and firestone list air bags, (though 2/3000lbs assist).

Sway bar not required but most will see improved on road handling, especially with a tall load. I don't know the weight of the SixPac hardside but that would be 1st consideration. S/B would minimize sway if noted but not compensate if over capacity.

As far as the H/J bumper bracket a brace tying to frame can easily be fabbed to help with bumper twist, or possibly the one they sell might be modified to work.

Thanks for the info. Just looked at the Hellwig sway bar. Looks like a simple install. Maybe I should see how the the truck does with the load and no sway bar.

I am interested on the TorkLift frame fount.

The Six-Pac D650 weighs 1,640Lb standart.

[AnEv942]

Ya the droopy body-

the '98 F250 was a transitional truck as mentioned, F150 body, though if I understand correctly it was sold for couple of years (with new body, lighter components) along with the new F250-SD in commercial/fleet truck lines.
98 is when I decided going in the direction of a TC- I was dreading that new SD trucks would have the droopy body. Fortunately not, though not the OBS which imo last good looking truck.

As noted Hellwig does offer a S/B, Both H/J and T/L list tiedowns (H/J thouhg shows the front body button not ear mounts?). Air lift and firestone list air bags, (though 2/3000lbs assist).

Sway bar not required but most will see improved on road handling, especially with a tall load. I don't know the weight of the SixPac hardside but that would be 1st consideration. S/B would minimize sway if noted but not compensate if over capacity.

As far as the H/J bumper bracket a brace tying to frame can easily be fabbed to help with bumper twist, or possibly the one they sell might be modified to work.

[jaycocreek]

I have never had sway bars on any of my trucks except my current one and it came that way..I also have never added anything except more springs/overloads etc..Nothing else...

I ran many with those inexpensive coil springs that mount on the axle..Coupled with healthy leaf springs,they did the job and on a couple 1/2 tons packing a TC.

[d3500ram]

...1998 was an oddball that looks just like an F150. ...

Are those the body styles that look like they were a normal Ford but left in the sun too long and they started to look "droopy" ...almost as if Salvadore Dali was the designer?

[Grit_dog]

You can also reduce sway greatly with added springs or stiffer springs. Sway bar is a great addition and maybe more "versatile" (doesn't increase spring rate unloaded but links the rear end together for effective greater spring rate when the body rolls.
Truck has a semi floating rear axle, I think, been a while. It is not as stout as any true HD truck, but I don't recall any issues with them. And I "think" they are the same truck essentially from the 98s that got a 250 badge and the later F150 7700s.
I had a 98 "250" company rig and another 1 or 2 7 lug 150s. Never an issue and I used them as hard as any truck, loaded down heavy and or towing. I wouldn't have issue putting 2500-3000 lbs on a healthy one.

[burningman]

The ‘97 was last of the old body style Ford and ‘99 was the first of the 2000s-style.
1998 was an oddball that looks just like an F150.

You may be just fine without a bar. One of my trucks is a GMC 4x4 dually that has no sway bar and doesn’t need one, handles great with a big 2-ton-plus 11-footer.

[sdbackout]

KD4UPL wrote:
I'm not sure why you think an anti sway bar is so vital. I carried an 8' pop-up camper on a '96 Dodge 1500, an 11' 4,000 pound Fleetwood camper on an '07 Chevy 3500, and the same camper on an '05 Chevy dually. None of these trucks had anti sway bars. I don't remember any truck I've ever owned in the last 25 years having one. I never felt that one was needed, never crossed my mind. I did have air bags on all 3 trucks.

Thank you KDUUPL,
To be honest I'm new at this. I have no idea how trucks handle with a camper. Never thought of the sway bar until I noticed I did not have one. I've looked at some after market addons that stiffen the springs if sway is an issue. But that is an option if it did become a issue.
I don't know if I would need airbags until I have the load on the trucks.

[SidecarFlip]

97 was the last year for the OBS (Old Body Style forward mounted easy to access diesel engine), 98 began the shorter hood truck. I have a 97 (will forever) OBS 7.3 and it has factory sway bars front and back (4x4).

[mbloof]

For many years I had a 1997 F250HD which came with a factory sway bar. It was replaced with a 2017 F250 that does not have a sway bar. (I carry the same 4000lbs of camper+gear with the new truck)

Sway bar not required.


- Mark0.

[KD4UPL]

I'm not sure why you think an anti sway bar is so vital. I carried an 8' pop-up camper on a '96 Dodge 1500, an 11' 4,000 pound Fleetwood camper on an '07 Chevy 3500, and the same camper on an '05 Chevy dually. None of these trucks had anti sway bars. I don't remember any truck I've ever owned in the last 25 years having one. I never felt that one was needed, never crossed my mind. I did have air bags on all 3 trucks.

[Optimistic_Para]

sdbackout wrote:

Regarding the anti sway bar, I have looked online and was not able to find an aftermarket kit. I called my local auto parts and nothing came up on their system.

Hellwig has a model that fits the 97-04 F150 and the 97-03 F250 Light Duty. Alas, it is not particularly inexpensive.

I was (briefly) a Chrysler Parts Guy back in the day. There are companies out there that specialize in buying up and reselling new old parts. I used to hear from them occasionally.

Do a Google search on "Ford Parts New Old Stock" and several such sources come up.

BTW, Timbren claims that their rubber springs reduce a lot of side to side sway.

Good luck.

[sdbackout]

d3500ram wrote:
Welcome!

A sway bar will help a lot and it should be highly considered. Perhaps some good aftermarket shocks as well. Six-Pacs I believe are relatively a lighter weight camper compared to most of the members here. A 250 has at least some good components of which might need some basic modifications... but conventional wisdom says to put the camper on the truck and then decide if suspension upgrades are necessary.

There are two popular ways to attach the camper. The bumper to which you allude is part of a brand called Happi-Jac. This method of using the bumper as well as hardware that includes a tab that sticks out between the front of the bed and rear of the cab allows fasteners to attach from camper to truck. If the bumber is not that stout, I believe that HJ has stiffeners that can be added to the stock bumper. I do not own this brand and am not as versed in it specifics.

Another brand is Tork-Lift. This style utilizes steel brackets under the bed that are fastened directly to the truck frame. There are inserts into these tube-brackets that stick out under the "rockers" of the bed to which fasteners connect the camper to truck.

In either style, it is better to use spring loaded fasteners over the old style of just chains and turnbuckles.

Thank you for the response.
The Ford bumper compared to the Dodge was very weak. With one hand I can deform it. I will have to do some research regarding the Tork-Lift.

Regarding the anti sway bar, I have looked online and was not able to find an aftermarket kit. I called my local auto parts and nothing came up on their system. On Wikipedia it mentioned self leveling rear, but I can't confirm that on my truck. I don't see any lines coming out of the shocks. And, there are no air bags.

Brakes are larger, I believe, and it has rear disk brakes.

How about the price of one of these Six-Pac D650? It is in fair condition. The one piece fiberglass roof looks good but it needs the edges re-sealed. It has no AC.

[sdbackout]

hornet28 wrote:

burningman wrote:
There were sway bars in the ‘90s and way before then.
The ‘98 F250 is an odd one-year truck with the whole F150 body and F250 running gear

How is the body supposed to be different between the 1/2 and 3/4 T?

The F250 light duty was a F150 with a F250 badge, 10.5 rear end and F250 suspension. The transmission was the 4R100. Later the truck was called F150 7700. It also came with the ODD 7 lug wheels.

[hornet28]

burningman wrote:
There were sway bars in the ‘90s and way before then.
The ‘98 F250 is an odd one-year truck with the whole F150 body and F250 running gear

How is the body supposed to be different between the 1/2 and 3/4 T?

[burningman]

There were sway bars in the ‘90s and way before then.
The ‘98 F250 is an odd one-year truck with the whole F150 body and F250 running gear... just so everyone else knows.
If I were you I’d set the camper on the truck and drive it. Then bolt a sway bar on if you feel it needs to be tightened up.