Just for the heck of it, here is the only real one-ton single rear wheel pickup ever made that is NOT just a 3/4 ton with a different sticker on it. The 1973 to 1979 Ford F-350 Super Camper Special. Not just the common “Camper Special” but the Super Camper Special. These things had a 5355 pound payload. Way more than any new SRW pickup. Notice the set-back rear axle. They had a special bed to fit. They were made to haul big campers, and that set-back rear axle also let the front end take more of the weight. No camper center of gravity issues at all. They came with 12.00 x 16.5 rear tires. They came with frame tie down points, camper power connectors, trans coolers, and a spare tire under a big door on the passenger side of the bed. No crawling under. These were the best single rear wheel camper haulers ever, and the only single rear wheel one-ton pickup that wasn’t just an up-rated 3/4 ton.

Very nice automobile. But I doubt many modern campers will fit between those far aft wheel wells. The ones I had all were designed for the more common, forward position of the axle and got considerably wider in the back.

I remember those, and it was another VHS vs Beta challenge. The other manufacturers should have come out with the same design for choice. Instead they started pushing short beds!

burningman wrote:Just for the heck of it, here is the only real one-ton single rear wheel pickup ever made that is NOT just a 3/4 ton with a different sticker on it. The 1973 to 1979 Ford F-350 Super Camper Special. Not just the common “Camper Special” but the Super Camper Special. These things had a 5355 pound payload. Way more than any new SRW pickup. Notice the set-back rear axle. They had a special bed to fit. They were made to haul big campers, and that set-back rear axle also let the front end take more of the weight. No camper center of gravity issues at all. They came with 12.00 x 16.5 rear tires. They came with frame tie down points, camper power connectors, trans coolers, and a spare tire under a big door on the passenger side of the bed. No crawling under. These were the best single rear wheel camper haulers ever, and the only single rear wheel one-ton pickup that wasn’t just an up-rated 3/4 ton.but man were they ugly compared to the normal truck of that year, and they sucked on fuel like a pig at the slop trough. as much as I am a ford guy, I would just keep walking by that.

The only real SRW “One Ton” that isn’t really a 3/4 ton

gbopp
Explorer
Mar 02, 2022
:C :C
joerg68
Nomad III
Mar 02, 2022
Very nice automobile. But I doubt many modern campers will fit between those far aft wheel wells. The ones I had all were designed for the more common, forward position of the axle and got considerably wider in the back.
Geo_Boy
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2022
Don’t let Specta see this!:B
rhagfo
Explorer III
Mar 02, 2022
I remember those, and it was another VHS vs Beta challenge. The other manufacturers should have come out with the same design for choice. Instead they started pushing short beds!
StirCrazy
Moderator
Mar 02, 2022
burningman wrote:
Just for the heck of it, here is the only real one-ton single rear wheel pickup ever made that is NOT just a 3/4 ton with a different sticker on it.
The 1973 to 1979 Ford F-350 Super Camper Special. Not just the common “Camper Special” but the Super Camper Special.

These things had a 5355 pound payload. Way more than any new SRW pickup.
Notice the set-back rear axle. They had a special bed to fit. They were made to haul big campers, and that set-back rear axle also let the front end take more of the weight.
No camper center of gravity issues at all.
They came with 12.00 x 16.5 rear tires.
They came with frame tie down points, camper power connectors, trans coolers, and a spare tire under a big door on the passenger side of the bed.
No crawling under.

These were the best single rear wheel camper haulers ever, and the only single rear wheel one-ton pickup that wasn’t just an up-rated 3/4 ton.

but man were they ugly compared to the normal truck of that year, and they sucked on fuel like a pig at the slop trough. as much as I am a ford guy, I would just keep walking by that.
deserteagle56
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2022
StirCrazy wrote:

but man were they ugly compared to the normal truck of that year, and they sucked on fuel like a pig at the slop trough. as much as I am a ford guy, I would just keep walking by that.

On a scale of 1 to 10, in my book the importance of "looks" would rate about 15.

Stick a Cummins under the hood and fuel mileage improves dramatically. So does the ability to climb a hill without shifting.
jimh406
Explorer III
Mar 02, 2022
As most of us know, the payload rating system is artificial with stock tires almost always the limiting factor.

Given the choice between a 45-50 year old camper special and fairly modern SRW, I’d take any leaf spring modern SRW. Almost every aspect of the new truck is better in spite of what the sticker might say.
mellow
Explorer
Mar 02, 2022
I wish they would go back to the spare tire embedded into the side of the bed like that instead of underneath.
JRscooby
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2022
mellow wrote:
I wish they would go back to the spare tire embedded into the side of the bed like that instead of underneath.

I like that feature, but most would not like the rear axle set back far enough to do it.
Most pickups, the bed is pretty much centered over the rear axle. This 1, with more of the bed ahead of axle, a load centered in the bed will put more of the load on front axle. That will let you have a higher GVW without exceeding limit on rear.
JRscooby
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2022
joerg68 wrote:
Very nice automobile. But I doubt many modern campers will fit between those far aft wheel wells. The ones I had all were designed for the more common, forward position of the axle and got considerably wider in the back.

Might be right, but how much difference it there axle to bumper this bed and normal?