fitting 2001 Northern Lite on 2015 F350 Super Duty

[ntlost]

Probably old topic but looking for guidance. My 2001 Northlite 10.2 is coming off my '96 7.3 and on to a new to me 2015 Ford Super Duty. Basic measurement indicates the bed is going to have a lift? I would like any comments on this issue or some direction to info sources.
Thanks.

Ntlost

[Hgreen]

We have a 2008 NL on a 2015 F350 dually and use a horse stall mat from tractor supply, then a 2” condensed foam, topped with a 1/4-3/8” rubber mat to clear the duality lights. We keep the bottom horse stall mat in when not using and store the the foam board and other mat.

[SidecarFlip]

I know I was very surprised the first time I sat my old Lance in my friend's '15 F250 4 door, how much cab roof to camper clearance there was on just a single sheet of 3/4" plywood, so, yes, I also agree that every case will be different and your comfort zone will most likely be different than say mine.

One thing to keep on mind about having the cabin over roof close to the truck cab is when setting the camper in the bed. I might do it differently than other folks do but, I get my camper lined up and backed under and just touch the front bumpers against the front if the box and pull away just a tiny bit and then lower the camper into the bed with the nose LOWER than the backend if the camper until it's almost touching the bed then back the truck against the bumpers and lower the back and front all the way....

Key words for me is 'front is lower than the back when loading'. With limited cab to camper clearance that could become an issue. Especially an extended cab over and a 4 door (long cab) truck.

Food for thought...

[bcbigfoot]

ntlost wrote:
Though I really appreciate the responses to my original inquiry...I really don't care about air dams, wind noise, fuel mileage. I just want to hear from folks who have loaded an older camper on a newer FORD super duty and what are the challenges they have experienced.

The only person that can answer your question, is you, you have the truck camper, you know how much distance between cab of truck and camper cabover you want. You know what type of box liner you have. You know the type of roads the combination will see.

As stated earlier every truck/camper combination is unique with it's own set of issues. Likely you will not get the exact info you wish to be spoon feed. I suggest you get a tape measure out and figure it out for yourself.

[whizbang]

I have mounted two different older campers (1987 and 1994 campers) on two different late model Ford trucks (2003 and 2010).

Measuring the bed rail height is a piece of cake. Measuring the cab height is difficult. Cabs tend to have curves or rounded surfaces, and, the high point you want to clear is well forward of the bed surface that you measure from.

What worked for me was using "temporary" spacers: 2x4's on edge, old pallets, cinder blocks, whatever I happened to have on had at the time. Just load the "spacers" in the truck bed. Lower your camper onto the spacers. Then measure your cab clearance.

After you figure out how much cab clearance you want, add or subtract the difference between your actual, measured clearance and your desired clearance and add or subtract that difference to/from the height of the temporary spacers to calculate the height of permanent spacers.

[c_traveler2]

ntlost wrote:
Probably old topic but looking for guidance. My 2001 Northlite 10.2 is coming off my '96 7.3 and on to a new to me 2015 Ford Super Duty. Basic measurement indicates the bed is going to have a lift? I would like any comments on this issue or some direction to info sources.
Thanks.

Ntlost

Cab height will be an issue, my 2002 Lance 815 when on a 2007 Ford F250 I had to built a platform 4 inch thick in order to have enough cab clearance.

[Reddog1]

ntlost wrote:
Though I really appreciate the responses to my original inquiry...I really don't care about air dams, wind noise, fuel mileage. I just want to hear from folks who have loaded an older camper on a newer FORD super duty and what are the challenges they have experienced.

We did get off topic, please accept our apology. Further off topic post will be deleted.

I do suggest a thread on the air dams.

Wayne
Moderator

[HMS_Beagle]

I can't comment on the specific combination, but here are a couple of points: There isn't much difference in frame stiffness in a ford between '96 and '15. They changed it a little in '99, and the '15 is essentially identical to that. in '17, the frame got a lot stiffer torsionally.

They did change the cab height in '99, making it several inches taller than the prior years. This caused a lot of camper manufacturers grief. The '15 is again identical to the '99. However since the NL you are considering is a little newer than that, I assume NL has changed their molds to adapt (like Bigfoot did).

On an NL or Bigfoot, beyond clearance over the cab (which can always be solved by a simple spacer) there is clearance between the tailgate posts. These campers have molded bottoms, and widen behind the wheel wells to take advantage of the space. The clearance to the tailgate posts is low, like an inch or less. So measure that as well - if an issue it is not easily solved.

[ntlost]

Though I really appreciate the responses to my original inquiry...I really don't care about air dams, wind noise, fuel mileage. I just want to hear from folks who have loaded an older camper on a newer FORD super duty and what are the challenges they have experienced.

[bcbigfoot]

Reddog1 wrote:
Like bcbigfoot, I to have a 2nd generation Dodge/Bigfoot camper combination with a 5" to 6" gap between overhang and roof of truck. I had no noise issues in over 12 years of use. I is possible the difference in our rigs is why bcbigfoot had noise and I did not. My truck is a '96 Dodge 2500 Ext Cab long bed 2WD and my TC is a 11.5 foot 1500 Bigfoot. My TC is not as tall as the 2500 series which has a taller cab over and a basement. I can say, the 2nd gen Dodge trucks were notorious for air leaks at the top of the doors. Most of it, if not all, can be adjusted.

The main problems I have heard about is under the right circumstances, like entering or exiting exceptional steep driveways or similar conditions, the air dam will hit and damage the lights or roof of the cab. Not only is the initial mounting important, but over time the normal whipping action of the wind can break the dam loose from its mounting. The only damage I am aware of is to the mounting area of the TC and possibly scratches to the paint on the cab of the truck.

A thought to ponder. How close to the cab must you mount the air dam for it to be effective? The typical up and down movement on my TC cab over is probably 1" to 2". bcbigfoot appears happy with his, with no negative issues. I suggest you ask him for details on how he fabricated his, a new thread would be great. There is always members interested in "how tos".

Wayne

The length of the cabover may also be a factor, the air going up the windshield and being pinched between the truck and and cabover. My truck can get a little door wind noise but it requires a 40 mph side wind so this wasn't a factor in my noise issue.

I now have over 60000 miles with the deflector mounted, one trip to from British Columbia to Florida Keys via Texas, and another to Nova Scotia via Washington DC. Many of the miles have been secondary roads, not the best maintained but very few miles have been on rough gravel/dirt non-maintained roads. I have had 0 incidences of camper overhead to cab contact with the 1.5" clearance. The Dodge frames of this era were the stiffest and the Fords were the most flexible. I have placed 3/4 in plywood in the box and I removed the crappy 1/8". plastic bottom inspection panels and replace that with marine grade 5/8" plywood across the entire bottom of the camper. This has removed any beer canning effect in the truck box that the raised plastic inspection panels caused, the high points caused the camper to rock somewhat. The camper now feel solidly connected to the truck. This may be the reason why I can get away with only 1.5" clearance.

There is picture in my profile where the the air deflector can be seen.

[Reddog1]

Like bcbigfoot, I to have a 2nd generation Dodge/Bigfoot camper combination with a 5" to 6" gap between overhang and roof of truck. I had no noise issues in over 12 years of use. I is possible the difference in our rigs is why bcbigfoot had noise and I did not. My truck is a '96 Dodge 2500 Ext Cab long bed 2WD and my TC is a 11.5 foot 1500 Bigfoot. My TC is not as tall as the 2500 series which has a taller cab over and a basement. I can say, the 2nd gen Dodge trucks were notorious for air leaks at the top of the doors. Most of it, if not all, can be adjusted.

The main problems I have heard about is under the right circumstances, like entering or exiting exceptional steep driveways or similar conditions, the air dam will hit and damage the lights or roof of the cab. Not only is the initial mounting important, but over time the normal whipping action of the wind can break the dam loose from its mounting. The only damage I am aware of is to the mounting area of the TC and possibly scratches to the paint on the cab of the truck.

A thought to ponder. How close to the cab must you mount the air dam for it to be effective? The typical up and down movement on my TC cab over is probably 1" to 2". bcbigfoot appears happy with his, with no negative issues. I suggest you ask him for details on how he fabricated his, a new thread would be great. There is always members interested in "how tos".

Wayne

[deserteagle56]

Reddog1 wrote:
As I previously posted, my experience suggests the 8" makes no negative difference other than easier to clean the top of the truck and the cab wall of the TC.

The air dams can cause their own problems. Unfortunately they are never posted on the forum.

Wayne

An air dam is something I'm considering for my outfit so this statement is of great interest. The gap from the clearance lights to the camper on my rig is only ~ 3-1/2". What kind of problems have you heard about?

[bcbigfoot]

Reddog1 wrote:
As I previously posted, my experience suggests the 8" makes no negative difference other than easier to clean the top of the truck and the cab wall of the TC.

The air dams can cause their own problems. Unfortunately they are never posted on the forum.

Wayne

It has been my experience there is a huge difference with and without a air deflector (not speaking about sleepy's air foil/brake). On my 2nd generation Dodge/Bigfoot camper combination I had a 5 in. gap between overhang and roof of truck. The wind noise was deafening, and terrible barrel noise effect coming from the 2nd gen Dodge roof as well. I unfortunately didn't take before and after decibel readings but it went from having to yell at my passenger and typically getting what or huh, it was annoying and stressful driving, with the addition of the air deflector this all changed to a normal volume voice being heard and being able to listen to radio.

All I did was add a 3.5 in. air deflector to the underside of the camper overhang. Now there is no difference in wind noise between camper on or off.

A minor side benefit is fewer bugs hitting the camper wall just behind the truck cab, the windshield of truck has also reduced bug hits by 70%.

Most truck/camper combination's are unique and will have vastly different results, fortunately my results were positive.

[Reddog1]

As I previously posted, my experience suggests the 8" makes no negative difference other than easier to clean the top of the truck and the cab wall of the TC.

The air dams can cause their own problems. Unfortunately they are never posted on the forum.

Wayne

[SidecarFlip]

I've been told (don't know if it's factual or not) that the newer trucks don't articulate as much (cab to bed movement in off camber situations) then older trucks. I do know my '97 F350 moves alot. Again, been told the frames are stiffer so articulation is less, consequently, cab roof to camper cabin over clearance can be less as well.

My Palomino has a gob of cab to cabin over clearance. so much, I'm considering some type of air dam between the cab roof and the camper. I have about 8" and that is with the camper sitting flat on the bed with nothing in between, which, is how I run it anyway. The Rhino Lined bed provides plenty of frictional grip on the bottom rails of the camper. Has never moved at all.