part three of the broken frame saga.

srschang wrote:
And here's the next broken Ram frame in the making! at least it has a Supertruss!

Looks like a perfect fit.

And here's the next broken Ram frame in the making! at least it has a Supertruss!


Click For Full-Size Image.

Our Northstar 12STC is 3330# dry weight with options (weighed at CAT scale). 4700# fully loaded to go camping, water, diesel, hot water tank, fridge, everything but waste tanks full (weighed at CAT scale).

^Pump the brakes there a bit chief….
Over 6klbs loaded with that camper would take some next level hoarding or large rock collections or something out of the norm.
But thanks for sensationalizing this thread.
Next stop, “class 5 needed for a Adventure 910”
Lol

StirCrazy wrote:


ya it's a SWD right now. the one we are looking at, which will be close to maxing me out when I am loaded up, the 3rd heaviest one I am looking at is the Adventure 910DB the slide gives just that extra bit of floor space so when the Golden Lab is with me he has space to lay down with ut being in the way, and the storage under the dinette that is accessible from outside will fit 4 lawn chairs easy along with axes and other things. Plus give us a north south bed and a bunk bed that can be raised out of the way for when the grand kids come with us.

that's a season or two off yet, so hopefully prices come back down to reasonable levels by then. I noticed they are already starting to drop up here.

You plans show how easy it is to be grossly overweight. That Adventure 910b has a dry weight of 3450, wet takes that to about 3850#. That does not include common accessories such as A/C, awnings, generator, solar panels, microwave, etc. Those could easily take you to 4500#. Then there are those chairs, kitchen stuff, food, tools, etc, etc. Plus don't forget any tiedowns, tiedown frame mounts, truck bed mats, suspension upgrades or similar. Then there is the weight of passengers and the dog. You can easily end up over 6000# and still have the impression that you are traveling light.

Bedlam wrote:
If your F350 is a DRW, converting to a flatbed will give you more storage with the current camper. I looked at doing this with my SRW but did not have the weight capacity to carry more. Host, Eagle Cap and Chalet have tall basements which also add to your storage space.

For us, the truck camper very versatile which encourages us to bring so many different things. About half our trips are with a trailer in tow to bring along more toys, but it is not always.

ya it's a SWD right now. the one we are looking at, which will be close to maxing me out when I am loaded up, the 3rd heaviest one I am looking at is the Adventure 910DB the slide gives just that extra bit of floor space so when the Golden Lab is with me he has space to lay down with ut being in the way, and the storage under the dinette that is accessible from outside will fit 4 lawn chairs easy along with axes and other things. Plus give us a north south bed and a bunk bed that can be raised out of the way for when the grand kids come with us.

that's a season or two off yet, so hopefully prices come back down to reasonable levels by then. I noticed they are already starting to drop up here.

If your F350 is a DRW, converting to a flatbed will give you more storage with the current camper. I looked at doing this with my SRW but did not have the weight capacity to carry more. Host, Eagle Cap and Chalet have tall basements which also add to your storage space.

For us, the truck camper very versatile which encourages us to bring so many different things. About half our trips are with a trailer in tow to bring along more toys, but it is not always.

Bedlam wrote:

StirCrazy wrote:
thats twice I have seen air compressor what are you using that for? I have a little tiny one that weighs about 5 lbs to top up tires if I have to.

how many AH does that 600lbs of AGM give you. I imagin you could save a ton of weight just switching to LFP batteries. water weight is a little over estimated but only by about 60 lbs

so canopy chairs and tables, I am getting the impression you set up in a place and stay there for a while to make the hassel of seting all that up worth it. I only have a old hand crank awning on the once side of my camper so thats what I work with.. I have no storage for anything else haha my two lawn chairs go on the floor under the table and my paddel boards go on the dinet seat when I am traveling.

My tires require over 100 psi, so better quality compressor is required. I use it to seat tires and run air tools for my off-road toys and blow up inflatable rafts. Even the 100% duty cycle 12vdc cannot perform these tasks well due to lack of volume.

The AGM's come used from a server room after 5 years of use, I get another 5 out of them but start seeing degradation and failures after 8 years of service. If they were not free, I would consider alternate batteries but these sit in lower boxes under the flatbed of the truck and connect to the truck, camper and enclosed trailer with heavy gauge wire.

We carry sufficient seating and tables for guests. Rarely do we use park picnic benches. There is some redundancy to what I carry because trips are squeezed in between full time work and wasting time looking for replacements during a trip or canceling a trip is what I try to avoid.

ya free batteries are hard to beat.

Ya I guess because I camped with tents and a tent trailer for so many years and even as a kid when camping we always used the picnic tables so I'm used to it. I wash it off as soon as I get the rv set up whether it is the 5th wheel or the camper. I have tablecloths for the top and usually I will spin it so we can use the one bench facing the fire for overflow seating. If we know we are going to have guests when we are out in the camper, I will throw a couple more chairs in the back seat of the truck.

I guess it's just a difference in how we use the camper verses how other people use it. it isn't my only unit as I have the big 5th wheel also, so if I am planning something where generally there is going to be lots of friends I take that, if we have company in the camper its usually people in other units that are on a trip with us so they have their own chairs and we camp in a group, or I also use the camper for solo traveling now where I am planing on visiting a lot of different people on my trip as I don't want to impose, so I can park my camper in a driveway here for a couple days then move to see another friend for a couple days and so on..

There is the issue of us starting to like the camper increasingly. it over the last two seasons has become our primary unit, and the 5th has only been used for a couple trips since then. I don't think we can get rid of the 5th as when I retire it will be for the longer trips to the US and such, but when we do upgrade the camper, I am going to be looking for one that has actual storage outside that you can fit chairs in and such. My camper has nothing useful for outside storage. I have a small compartment that used to be for a single battery, that I can fit a hose and my leveling blocks in. and there is a space under the wet bath that I had two 6V batteries in before I went LFP so that is open again but not much for storage, more of a maintenance access that you can put some stuff in but nothing like an axe or a chair.

StirCrazy wrote:
thats twice I have seen air compressor what are you using that for? I have a little tiny one that weighs about 5 lbs to top up tires if I have to.

how many AH does that 600lbs of AGM give you. I imagin you could save a ton of weight just switching to LFP batteries. water weight is a little over estimated but only by about 60 lbs

so canopy chairs and tables, I am getting the impression you set up in a place and stay there for a while to make the hassel of seting all that up worth it. I only have a old hand crank awning on the once side of my camper so thats what I work with.. I have no storage for anything else haha my two lawn chairs go on the floor under the table and my paddel boards go on the dinet seat when I am traveling.

My tires require over 100 psi, so better quality compressor is required. I use it to seat tires and run air tools for my off-road toys and blow up inflatable rafts. Even the 100% duty cycle 12vdc cannot perform these tasks well due to lack of volume.

The AGM's come used from a server room after 5 years of use, I get another 5 out of them but start seeing degradation and failures after 8 years of service. If they were not free, I would consider alternate batteries but these sit in lower boxes under the flatbed of the truck and connect to the truck, camper and enclosed trailer with heavy gauge wire.

We carry sufficient seating and tables for guests. Rarely do we use park picnic benches. There is some redundancy to what I carry because trips are squeezed in between full time work and wasting time looking for replacements during a trip or canceling a trip is what I try to avoid.

jimh406 wrote:
Link to the article... https://www.truckcamperadventure.com/is-the-eagle-cap-1165-too-big-and-heavy-for-a-one-ton-dually/

Fwiw, my 2010 F450 has a 14,500 GVWR from the factory and licensed for 16000 lbs. The newer trucks are not rated higher, so this paragraph is off a bit. I'm under my GVWR, but mine is only 9 1/2 ft double slide. Relative to the larger ones, it's light. :D

Boatycall had a triple slide Eagle Cap on his 2011 F450, or did. I wonder how it's holding up. He was also towing behind it.

But as one Ford F450 owner discovered, a class 4 truck is no panacea when it comes to hauling a heavy camper. Immediately after the rally, this particular owner took his rig, consisting of a 2013 Ford F450 and a 2015 Eagle Cap 1165, to a local CAT Scale to get weighed. He was horrified to learn that his truck was overweight by whopping 2,400 pounds. With a GVWR of only 14,000 pounds and a payload rating of only 5,443 pounds, his truck was woefully overmatched by the 1165. The CAT Scale printout showed 5,160 pounds on the steer axle and 11,280 pounds on the drive axle for a total of 16,440 pounds. [COLOR=]Before buying the truck, he was told his F450 could carry “anything” that he wanted and “not to worry.” Obviously, this wasn’t the case with the 1165. When it comes to payload, this illustrates how far today’s trucks have come from trucks that are 10 to 20 year older. Always research before you buy.

I haven't checked lately but the last time I did the F450 pickup was optimized for trailer pulling, not hauling. The F350 pickup was actually rated to carry more than the F450 pickup.

This just goes to show that you shouldn't take the dealer at his word. Make sure that you find the critical information in writing from the factory.