Question for the guy's with duallies and big campers

[husky390]

This is purely subjective but eventually I want to upgrade from an F250 with a pop up camper to a hard sided camper. Something similar to an Arctic Fox 1150.

For you guy's with campers that size and duallies, how much body sway do you feel when driving down the road?

Do any of you haul that size camper with a gas engine?

Do any of you tow?

[RobertRyan]

sleepy wrote:
A tall sail on a sail boat is empty until the force of the wind fills it (measured in foot pounds maybe...)

(narrow) Sail boats turn over

and their heavy Keel puts much of their weight below the surface of the water...

It appears that there is a lot of effort to ignore high school physics... and I'm sure that everyone had that class as a requirement.

Noone is ignoring high school physics but as marshfly said, these have a much lower COG Than a traditional TC Very very hard to tip over, unlike a heavy TC on a F550.
The configuration is used for Off Road Emergency vehicles globally. Ever seen a Unimog? They look like you can push them over with one hand but almost impossible to tip over Off Road.

[sleepy]

A tall sail on a sail boat is empty until the force of the wind fills it (measured in foot pounds maybe...)

(narrow) Sail boats turn over

and their heavy Keel puts much of their weight below the surface of the water...

It's pretty obvious that I don't think much of these rigs for hauling truck campers in the wind... or on roads that have high crowns.

Just because a couple of people that defend them haven't turned them over doesn't mean they can't.

It appears that very few people want to haul their truck campers with them.

It appears that there is a lot of effort to ignore high school physics... and I'm sure that everyone had that class as a requirement.

[Marshfly]

Check out this truck. Scroll down the page a little to see pictures.
It looks really top heavy but with that heavy 5500 frame and running gear I bet it's considerably more stable than a normal 3500 DRW with a camper even with the 37" super singles.

Link

[Marshfly]

Sleepy,
These things are stable because most of the box you see is air. The same reason an empty box truck is stable. These campers have the engine, transmission, heavy frame, tanks, batteries, everything heavy, down low. All that is up high is food in cabinets and air. Just because it looks top heavy, doesn't mean it is. The frames on these commercial trucks weigh considerably more than your everyday 1 ton as does the running gear. That helps out a lot.

If you've never driven a Fuso or equivalent with a load, you can't understand how much better suited they are to this than a normal 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

[RobertRyan]

sleepy wrote:
I think the thread has been hyjacked!

I took a course in physics a long time ago.

Center of gravity was explained in great detail.

That is what makes any Truck Camper stable, no matter what the base it rides on, Some of the larger TC's used in NA have too high a COG, making them less than effective Off Road. Question of body sway would relate to COG

[sleepy]

I think the thread has been hyjacked!

I took a course in physics a long time ago.

Center of gravity was explained in great detail.

When I see these vehicles with tall campers I think about physics.

Starting with a unicycle... as long as the cernter of gravity is directly over the wheel it is stable... no matter how tall.

A fork truck is stable as long as its wheels are on a near level surface and the center of gravity is aligned properly between the wheels... and a huge amount of weight is built in to keep the COG centered and low.

I would be very uncomfortable if one side of the fork truck was much higher than the other.

Each 100 ponds of weight reduces the mpg by about 1%... something else to consider.

This narrow, short little vehicle may be suited for street sweepers (WalMart parking lot zambonis) and things like that

Tractor trailers are flipped over on their sides by the wind or the terrain... and they have a much wider foot print. There seems to be a tractor trailer over on their sides every few weeks on I-40, Rockwood Mountain here in Tennessee... not from the wind but from 70 MPH and the bank of the road in the curves.

Just because a few people might challenge physics by raising the COG with a very tall camper on a short, narrow vehicle doesn't make it a good way to do it.

I won't be putting my camper on the back of a vacuum cleaner hauler... I don't like the thrill of that tipping feeling.

Now, what was that question that the OP originally asked?

"Question for the guy's with duallies and big campers"

This is purely subjective but eventually I want to upgrade from an F250 with a pop up camper to a hard sided camper. Something similar to an Arctic Fox 1150.

For you guy's with campers that size and duallies, how much body sway do you feel when driving down the road?

Do any of you haul that size camper with a gas engine?

Do any of you tow?

[RobertRyan]

HMS Beagle wrote:
Any idea what they do to modify the suspension? I rented an Isuzu once with a van box on the back. With a pretty good load in it the ride was bad. With very little load in it the ride was comical, perhaps even dangerous to your health. Do they have to replace everything and start from scratch?

The pop ups seem to be the only way to get the height down to reasonable. On a Benz Sprinter or the new (to the USA) Ford and Fiat vans, the top could be hacked off and still have plenty of head room - but it would be a project for sure.

Basically yes. A Parabolic suspension, different springs etc. Otherwise the ride would be unbearable Off Road. F250-F450 are not that pleasant either. IVECO Daily 4 X4 is a revelation, very level and comfortable ride whilst towing a 6000-7000lb trailer at 60mph over corrugations and pot hole roads.

[HMS_Beagle]

Any idea what they do to modify the suspension? I rented an Isuzu once with a van box on the back. With a pretty good load in it the ride was bad. With very little load in it the ride was comical, perhaps even dangerous to your health. Do they have to replace everything and start from scratch?

The pop ups seem to be the only way to get the height down to reasonable. On a Benz Sprinter or the new (to the USA) Ford and Fiat vans, the top could be hacked off and still have plenty of head room - but it would be a project for sure.

[RobertRyan]

HMS Beagle wrote:
I thought about trying to do this with either the Fuso (or its competitors) or a Benz Sprinter chassis cab. I found the Fuso's ride quality to be - let's leave it at "undesirable" - and in either case you end up with something that is quite tall. The cabover cab is considerably higher than a pickup, and the sleeper part of the camper has to clear that. The advantage is that the overall length will be considerably shorter, with or without the camper.

That is why you are geting these here. Still has a 1500lb payload Off Road, separate from the weight of the Camper

Truck Camper with Modified suspension giving SUV ride.

[RobertRyan]

burningman wrote:
To the guy saying that cabover isn't "practicle"… nonsense!! These trucks are reliable as anvils.
Take a look around and notice how many are in commercial service with all kinds of companies.

At work we use trucks of all sizes from pickups to semis. I frequently drive a similar cabover. It will carry a LOT more than an F-350 or even an F-450, and it doesn't have any stability issues when loaded tall and heavy.
It's turning radius is just ridiculous, it'll make a U-turn in a phone booth.
The idea of using a dump bed so that you can tilt the camper out of the way to tilt the cab is a stroke of brilliance!

They usually aren't quite as powerful as some of the new diesel American trucks, but the Isuzu NQR I use has a 6-cylinder turbo diesel and 6-speed automatic and it runs just fine, even at it's 18,000 max GVW - which by the way doesn't even seem to strain it.

The biggest drawback I can think of is that cabovers really don't ride as nice.

I'm surprised more guys aren't using them. They flat out-perform a 3/4 or 1-ton pickup. You can even get them in 4-door models.
They aren't as cool though…

See my comment about modified suspensions on these , makes the ride on these small cheap light trucks quite very acceptable.

[RobertRyan]

bjbear wrote:

sleepy wrote:
Looking at the unit above:

With the short and narrow wheel base and the height how stable is the unit in windy conditions.

Kind-of reminds me of wrestling... If you don't want flipped you get as low as possible and spread out your arms and legs.

The dually will contribute to a higher maximum load but by being narrow the duallys won't help stability.

It is my opinion that this is a cute novality... much like the RV's that we see built in garbage trucks or a hollowed out log.... not practicle.

Flame away... but think about my comment a bit.

Wrestle with it!

Sleepy

Drove a similar rig in Australia on a 4000 mile trip across the country. It was a motor home but on the same type of chassis and cabover. Never had a problem with sway or feeling top heavy although looking at the rig, you would think that it would be top heavy (my rig not the OP).

Should also add that I really liked the cabover setup.....although I know what they say....you are always the first guy at the accident!!! But I used to drive VW vans when I was younger and that did not bother me either.

All Terrain Warriors has modified that rather primitive suspension you find on light Japanese Trucks and they give a SUVt type ride.Agree with the lack of sway or lack of top heaviness. Cab overs are everywhere here for light up to heavy trucks.

[HMS_Beagle]

I thought about trying to do this with either the Fuso (or its competitors) or a Benz Sprinter chassis cab. I found the Fuso's ride quality to be - let's leave it at "undesirable" - and in either case you end up with something that is quite tall. The cabover cab is considerably higher than a pickup, and the sleeper part of the camper has to clear that. The advantage is that the overall length will be considerably shorter, with or without the camper.

[Marshfly]

I think the reason that you don't see more of them used as camper platforms is that Mitsubishi decided that the US market wasn't cool enough for a 4wd version of the Crew cab. Id have one in a second if they did. Short wheelbase 4wd crew able to carry an 11 foot camper with slides. Sign me up.

[burningman]

To the guy saying that cabover isn't "practicle"… nonsense!! These trucks are reliable as anvils.
Take a look around and notice how many are in commercial service with all kinds of companies.

At work we use trucks of all sizes from pickups to semis. I frequently drive a similar cabover. It will carry a LOT more than an F-350 or even an F-450, and it doesn't have any stability issues when loaded tall and heavy.
It's turning radius is just ridiculous, it'll make a U-turn in a phone booth.
The idea of using a dump bed so that you can tilt the camper out of the way to tilt the cab is a stroke of brilliance!

They usually aren't quite as powerful as some of the new diesel American trucks, but the Isuzu NQR I use has a 6-cylinder turbo diesel and 6-speed automatic and it runs just fine, even at it's 18,000 max GVW - which by the way doesn't even seem to strain it.

The biggest drawback I can think of is that cabovers really don't ride as nice.

I'm surprised more guys aren't using them. They flat out-perform a 3/4 or 1-ton pickup. You can even get them in 4-door models.
They aren't as cool though…

[AKSuperDually]

Where do I get one! Also...do they make them in 4x4 with locking differentials?