truck camper and towing a flat trailer advice

I've been hauling 2 Bobcats at the same time with 7.3 in F450, so engine might be lower power than new models, but will get job done.
Now camper + trailer? I hope you have dually as with SRW forget about stinger, so max camper can be like 8-9'
Still will not give you much of tongue weight to play with.

If you don't have a dually I wouldn't try the "biggest one". Even a dually of 2001 vintage would be grossly overloaded by the largest truck campers. Some of the large triple slide units weigh around 5,000 pounds EMPTY. You can expect between 6,000 and 7,000 pounds when fully loaded with water, propane, batteries, food, clothing, etc. Many people that get these large campers use a 4500 or 5500 series truck with a custom flatbed to haul them.
As for length, you will need a Super Hitch and Super Truss extension, both made by Torklift. The 48" extension should be long enough to tow behind most any length camper out there. I used one behind my 11' camper to tow my 4,500 pound boat or utility trailer. The hitch extension is rated for 12,000 pounds of trailer weight but you have to use a weigh distributing hitch above 6,000 pounds which you would likely be with a 4 runner on a flatbed.
Lance, Eagle Cap, Host, and Arctic Fox are likely the brands you want to be looking at if you want a big camper. If you've got a SRW truck and want to tow a 4runner I would advise not going larger than a 9' or 10' camper. But really, weight is the question. You need to weigh your truck empty and pay attention to your rear axle weight. Subtract that from your RAWR on the door sticker and that's how much camper and tongue weight you can add to the truck. I think you'll be disappointed. If you're one of those people that things you can't go over the GVWR on the truck then your plan probably won't work unless you get a pop-up type camper. I'm not one of those people.

Suggest you do a bunch of reading and study before you make any purchases. Most 350s are close to max with big TCs wet and loaded. Lance estimates its 1172 is 4628 pounds ready to go.

Kayteg1 wrote:
I've been hauling 2 Bobcats at the same time with 7.3 in F450, so engine might be lower power than new models, but will get job done.
Now camper + trailer? I hope you have dually as with SRW forget about stinger, so max camper can be like 8-9'
Still will not give you much of tongue weight to play with.

thanks! it is a SRW. guess i was overly optimistic

KD4UPL wrote:
If you don't have a dually I wouldn't try the "biggest one". Even a dually of 2001 vintage would be grossly overloaded by the largest truck campers. Some of the large triple slide units weigh around 5,000 pounds EMPTY. You can expect between 6,000 and 7,000 pounds when fully loaded with water, propane, batteries, food, clothing, etc. Many people that get these large campers use a 4500 or 5500 series truck with a custom flatbed to haul them.
As for length, you will need a Super Hitch and Super Truss extension, both made by Torklift. The 48" extension should be long enough to tow behind most any length camper out there. I used one behind my 11' camper to tow my 4,500 pound boat or utility trailer. The hitch extension is rated for 12,000 pounds of trailer weight but you have to use a weigh distributing hitch above 6,000 pounds which you would likely be with a 4 runner on a flatbed.
Lance, Eagle Cap, Host, and Arctic Fox are likely the brands you want to be looking at if you want a big camper. If you've got a SRW truck and want to tow a 4runner I would advise not going larger than a 9' or 10' camper. But really, weight is the question. You need to weigh your truck empty and pay attention to your rear axle weight. Subtract that from your RAWR on the door sticker and that's how much camper and tongue weight you can add to the truck. I think you'll be disappointed. If you're one of those people that things you can't go over the GVWR on the truck then your plan probably won't work unless you get a pop-up type camper. I'm not one of those people.

thanks,, that is good info,,, i dont' like to exceed ratings that is for sure. what is sad is a few years ago i had a dually truck but sold it cause at the time i was hunting a lot and the roads didn't really like the dually.

rockwind1 wrote:
... the roads didn't really like the dually.

Funny you said it in Las Vegas.
I moved here from San Francisco Area 4 years ago and still admire how good and wide streets Las Vegas has.
Most of neighborhoods in Bay Area have cars parked solid on both sides of the street, so passing dually between them could be a challenge, while having a car coming from opposite direction was a disaster.
Coming back to your question - read what ratings your rear axle has and drive the axle on scales to have starting weight number.

If you’re a stick to the “ratings” guy, do the math before proceeding any further.
Even still the big TCs are too much for a srw without major mods and throwing out the ratings.

Your older F350 SRW may have a 6830 rawr and is good for around 3300-3500 lbs in the bed.
Ne F350/F450 DRW pickups have the same 9900 rawr and good for a little over 6000 lbs in the bed. Maybe less with a crew cab long bed 4wd. Now add a trailers 800-1000 lb hitch weight.

A F450/4500 cab and chassis with 12k RAWR is good for over 8k+ rear axle payloads. All numbers depends on axle weights.

JIMNLIN wrote:
Your older F350 SRW may have a 6830 rawr and is good for around 3300-3500 lbs in the bed.
Ne F350/F450 DRW pickups have the same 9900 rawr and good for a little over 6000 lbs in the bed. Maybe less with a crew cab long bed 4wd. Now add a trailers 800-1000 lb hitch weight.

A F450/4500 cab and chassis with 12k RAWR is good for over 8k+ rear axle payloads. All numbers depends on axle weights.

do airbags help at all?

IMO not with severe overloading issues as your looking at.
A fawr/rawr is the lessor of a wheel....tire....spring pack....or the axle assy itself....especially the trucks rear axle.

There has been a picture posted a few times of a F350 ??/TC with air bags with a broken main frame rails over the axle where the shock attaches. I believe the owner was using 100 ?? psi in the bags to level his severally over loaded truck.

I'm not sure what the '01 Fords SD rear axle mfg rating is on your older truck. Using that number as a max then up rated rear spring packs, from a spring shop, for that load ....19.5" wheel and tires might be a way to go. Other TC owners have done that so maybe they can tune you in on what your real world issues will be for your '01 F350 SRW.