Short Bed to Long Bed

[SALTYDOG5435S-T]

I have a F-250 and Lance 845 at this time. Due to rust issues I need a New truck. It looks as if I am going to get a F-350 long bed with a 7.3 diesel. It is an older truck but I could not find a V10 I liked. I am and have always been a ford man. Noting against the others but I am who I am.

I am going to build a frame of 2x6 or 8 or 10 (not sure of the best size just yet) for the camper to butt up against. I am using the Happyjack tie down system just now. I have been thinking of going to the torque lift system. Of course I will be doing the same things as I did to the 250. New shocks, stable loads, and tires. Also looking at new sway bars. Also we are considering a new camper in a few years.

Now the questions. I know I am not the first to do this but I was unable to find any threads that discussed this. If you did this what tie down system did you use. How did it work? How long did you run like this? How did you like it?

Any comments are welcome. And thanks for looking.
SALTYDOG

[wnjj]

Check out a couple setups and discussion about COG here.

[Golden_HVAC]

Are you planning on getting a dually? The single rear wheel truck 2004 and earlier only has a 9,900 GVWR, and that is not enough to have the 400 pound diesel option and still have enough cargo rating to carry a camper. If you also plan on having a crewcab and 4 wheel drive, you will be really overloading the truck even before loading it with camping supplies. The dually will have plenty of cargo rating for the light camper that you have selected.

So your plan is to build a platform between the cab and camper about 2' long to prevent the camper from going to far forward in your bed? I have heard of people building such a thing, and using the space to hold their generator, firewood and such. THey also added doors, so there would not be a "gap".

However that might put the camper center of gravity further back over the rear axle, farther back than designed. With a dually, it will not matter, however with 16" rims and 3,042 pound rated tires (235/85R16E is standard with that truck) you might overload them. Moving the load forward even 12" will put much more of the weight on the front axle, and not also be taking weight off the front axle by having more hanging off the back of the truck.

If it is a single rear wheel truck, then be sure to check the weight of the truck before buying it. If the GVWR is only about 2,000 pounds more than the truck, it might be as overloaded as a F-250 with a gas engine.

Fred.