How much truck for a shortbed TC with a slide?

Just to let you know that even if you take the dry weight from the AF web site that is not the true dry weight. All AF campers have to have a mandatory value package added to it which adds 595# to the dry weight without any additional options.

Truck camper Magazine list an AF 811 as 4,589 lbs loaded. I have found them pretty accurate. You can see their weight estimate (scroll down for the 811) here:

Truck Camper Magazine buyers Guide

DRW!

I believe you defintely can haul that camper with a short bed truck.

You can overload a drw, but if you don't need a srw, you'll probably be better off with a long bed drw. Btw, I drove a '06 Ford sc srw with my current camper about 7 1/2 years both with 19.5s and without. I no longer required a srw, so I found a good used drw. My F450 drw has all of the limitations I thought it would along with all of the pluses. See the many srw vs drw threads for more info.

Generally, a long bed gives you many more options and puts more weight in front of the wheels all else being equal.

The Lance 855s is made for a short bed truck. Although it has been done, placed on a long bed truck there would likely be a space of a foot or more between the camper and the front of the truck bed. Not sure the center of gravity would be as good on a long bed as on a short bed? Ford and Chevy/GMC don't offer DRW short bed trucks, only Dodge with the mega cab.

Thank you for the input. I'm guessing it means moving to a Lance 955S (2820 pounds dry) or an AF 990 (3010 pounds dry per AF's site), and choosing a long bed with a high axle ratio (4:1 or more.) With a dually, that puts me at 5740-6890, which is twice the camper's dry weight.

I still have a lot to learn.

If you want a short bed truck, the 855S will work fine on a SRW. Truck camper magazine ran a nice article on keeping their 855S under GVWR with a SRW crew cab gasser. No way you will be able to do that with the AF811. My AF 990 is right at about 4,600 lbs wet. I wouldn't feel comfortable with the AF 990 on a SRW, but the Arctic Fox people told me that about 1/2 of the people who buy them run a SRW truck, so it just depends on your comfort level. I think the 811 is only a couple hundred lbs less, so pretty much the same thing, and again many people do it.

By the way, I am running a 3.73 axle ratio on my 2012 F350 6.2 DRW gasser and am very happy with it. There seems to be a common feeling that hauling a 5,000 load requires a higher axle ratio. I did the research and went looking specifically for a 3.73 in order to maximize my gas mileage. I'm really happy I went with the 3.73. With a 6 speed trans, there are plenty of gears for the truck to choose if it needs them. 90+ % of the time it runs in 6th, which is about 1550 rpm at 65 MPH. It of course shifts down on hills, but that's what the gears are for. I wasn't aware that final drive ratio affects payload on the SRW though. Are you sure about that? I thought it just affects towing capacity, not payload.

Definately a dually, and then you have many options for what TC to get. We have the 1050s on a chevy 3500 DRW and it handles it with ease. Very safe and solid ride. You'll never regret having too much truck and IMHO if you are buying a TC for a dually, you might just as well go with at least a 10 ft model. The 1052 is beautiful and an easy fit (weight wise) on a DRW truck... Good luck!

gregchambers wrote:
The Lance 855s is made for a short bed truck. Although it has been done, placed on a long bed truck there would likely be a space of a foot or more between the camper and the front of the truck bed. Not sure the center of gravity would be as good on a long bed as on a short bed? Ford and Chevy/GMC don't offer DRW short bed trucks, only Dodge with the mega cab.

The added length in a LB truck is added in front of the rear axle.
GM and I think Ford allows the use of larger fuel tanks in a LB. I was told that Dodge uses the same size regardless.
A tc with a rear overhang will sit in the same spot LB or SB because it can't slide any more forward in either bed.

TC/COG CHARTS

Dually.