Reality Check - Camper Weight

[shabr66]

So I have a 2006 Bigfoot 25c9.4 that I carry on a 2005 ford f350 srw truck. The tag on the bigfoot says that it weighs 2400lbs (or there about) and I figure I've got about 1000lbs in the camper. The truck is equipped with firestone air bags and an aftermarket sway bar and seems to handle the weight just fine. However, I have toyo 35x12.5x20 mt's mounted on my stock 20" wheels, and they are only rated at 3200lbs (the tires, not sure about the wheels which are the stock ford harley wheels). I knew the camper caused me to exceed the truck's gvwr and the rear gawr, but I wasn't too concerned because I figured I was only exceeding the rating by a marginal amount; however, I finally scaled the truck this past weekend and the total weight was 13,400lbs and the rear axle weighed 8,400lbs. I was shocked to see that I had my rear tires overloaded by 1 ton. Obviously this is not acceptable so I am now looking to replace my wheels and tires. I really like the Toyo Mt's and noticed that if I go to a 285/75r18 in the same tire, the weight rating goes up to 4,080lb per tire. I would still be over, but I would be much closer. I am however having trouble finding an 18" wheel that is rated for a similar capacity. I know that I could also go the 19.5" route, but I'd really like a tire that is capable off road as I do like to go off the beaten path at times. So, any opinions on the 18" wheels with toyo mt tires vs 19.5's? Are there any decent looking 19.5 wheels out there? Sorry for the long post!

[bka0721]

Once you make the change, you might be amazed how much better your truck handles in side winds and driving down the road. I suspect you feel that truck move, where my truck and camper has no sway what so ever.

I have high regards for the hub centric rims and concur with the earlier post, go Rickson on the rims.


One thing that is positive about your situation; I bet you don't have to air down your present tires, to drive on the sand of those beaches! I bet those sidewalls are bulging effectively now.

b

[skanj0]

shabr66 wrote:
I may be underestimating how much weight I've added to the bigfoot. I have 5 group 31 agm batteries, solar, and I added the A/C unit as well.

I think I may continue looking for an 18" wheel that is rated at least as high as the toyo mt 285/75r18's (4080lbs) and just go that route. I don't want to have a second set of wheels and tires that I have to switch out when I go on certain trips.

Why not keep your existing rims and switch to Toyo MT 295/65/20s, with a load rating of 4,080 each? Then ditch some weight off that camper.

This is precisely why I did not go with flotation sized Toyos. I scale at 12,600, with each tire rated at 3,750.

[Bedlam]

Weight adds up fast (especially if towing with full waste tanks when heading home). I was originally looking at 225/70R19.5's and found most did not have a rating over 4000 lbs. By going the 245/70R19.5's, I have over 4800 lbs per tire capacity and the Vision rim hold me back at 4500 lbs each. This is still bellow the 10.5" Sterling axle rating of 9750 lbs.

[elkhornsun]

Hard to believe that your rear axle load is 8400 pounds. I would expect that without the camper the weight of the truck alone would be 3100-3300 lbs. and that would mean that the camper has a weight with its contents of more than 5,000 lbs.

At that camper weight I would want a DRW truck so the load is carried by 4 tires instead of two. Even two 19.5 tires are going to be at 100% their rated capacity with your current rear axle load.

I would either change the camper or the truck as they are not a safe match.

[abslayer]

shabr66 wrote:
I may be underestimating how much weight I've added to the bigfoot. I have 5 group 31 agm batteries, solar, and I added the A/C unit as well.

I think I may continue looking for an 18" wheel that is rated at least as high as the toyo mt 285/75r18's (4080lbs) and just go that route. I don't want to have a second set of wheels and tires that I have to switch out when I go on certain trips.

I have the 18" wheel E rate tire and max load on tires I can get is 3,640 lbs each

[Dirtpig]

Im running those toyo mt's on the stock ford 18" rims with zero problems and my camper has maxed out these tires im just over 8200lbs on the rear when my water tank is full. No idea what tge wheel is rated for but its shown no signs of stress cracking or warping. Some might say a wheel will just grenade one day but im sceptical of that until I see some type of visible damage to the rim.
Oh and those toyo mt's are excellent, well worth there high cost.

[jimh406]

The pic you posted is similar to what we see in WA for a beach. As long as you are careful, 19.5s should be fine. My signature picture is from a beach as well.

The problem with not going 19.5s is that the non-19.5 rims aren't rated high enough even though the tires might be. As far as decent looking goes, rims are pretty personal, but I like my Visions ok. The best are probably from Rickson.

To get by, you could reduce what you carry and or pull a small trailer when you feel like you need lots of stuff and get buy with E tires/wheels.

[mkirsch]

But you're STILL overloading the wheels and tires with the 18's... I personally wouldn't want to spend all that time and money and not have the problem 100% completely fixed...

Unless you can dump about 300lbs of weight...

[shabr66]

I may be underestimating how much weight I've added to the bigfoot. I have 5 group 31 agm batteries, solar, and I added the A/C unit as well.

I think I may continue looking for an 18" wheel that is rated at least as high as the toyo mt 285/75r18's (4080lbs) and just go that route. I don't want to have a second set of wheels and tires that I have to switch out when I go on certain trips.

[Bedlam]

The bead on a 19.5 will not hold under 50 PSI due to the stiff sidewall. I have aired mine down to 50 PSI to cross soft sand/ash mix but kept speeds bellow 25 mph.

[Butch50]

shabr66 wrote:
I've looked at both the Rickson website and the Vision website and it doesn't appear that I have a lot of options - and the few that I do have are not very appealing.

So why should you not air down a 19.5? Swapping out wheels & tires to drive on the beach does not sound very appealing to me.

The 19.5 commericals do not have a bead like a lt tire. Air it down and it could pop off the rim. When the poster stated about another set of wheels what they do is when going to the beach they install that set of tires at home and go to the beach. When they are traveling elsewhere and not the beach they leave on the 19.5.

Wow that Bigfoot is really heavy. My 10 2 CDSE Northern Lite is 3000# dry and that is the weight it was when it left the factory (the factory weighs every camper before it leaves and put a tag inside telling what the weight is). So when I'm loaded I'm right at 3700 to 4000# depending where we are going as to how heavy we are loaded. So I'm over my F350 GVWR by about max of 600#. I do run the 19.5 even though I could probably run my standard 18" on mine and be fine.

[shabr66]

I've looked at both the Rickson website and the Vision website and it doesn't appear that I have a lot of options - and the few that I do have are not very appealing.

So why should you not air down a 19.5? Swapping out wheels & tires to drive on the beach does not sound very appealing to me.

[bobndot]

RE : OEM hub centric steel wheels vs. aftermarket wheels. Talk to commercial truck tire professionals before you spend your money.

People that i know that run 19.5's have a second set of wheels/tires to run short term on the beach. Shouldn't air down a 19.5.

[SugarHillCTD]

So much for the camper weighing 2400#, huh?

In my opinion, the one area where it is BAD to exceed capacity is tires.

One thing to keep in mind is that when you go around curves you are temporarily transferring more weight to the outside tire. And if that tire is already overloaded........

Have you gone to the Rickson website?