Very Helpful Info

Hi,

Ford offers a very good "Towing Guide" and it used to have great information about truck camper loading. Reading this booklet gave me a lot of knowledge about weight distribution, loading, and the importance of having the right truck for the job.

So do you understand a camper's center of gravity, and how it can effect truck handling, by putting more weight forward of the rear axle to make it more stable, or if you get the wrong camper, it can move weight behind the rear axle, taking away some weight from the front axle? Perhaps not a dangerous amount of weight (especially for a already front heavy diesel truck).

Before 2005, the dually trucks typically had a 10,000 to 12,000 GVWR, or slightly more. Now they can carry upwards of 5,700 pounds in a dually! While you used to need a F-450 for some of the heavier campers, now you can use a F-350 dually and carry nearly the same amount of weight - that required a F-450 back in the 90's.

By the way, with your 2004 F-450, have you installed a water coolant filter already? They will take out minerals from the water, and this can prevent the oil cooler front getting clogged, leading to lack of coolant flow across the exhaust cooler, and cracks that can lead to water into the engine, and engine failure.

Napa sells the water filter #FIL 4070 and filter installation kit FIL 4019.

http://www.fleet.ford.com/towing-guides/

Fred.

As I am sure you are aware, there are several Forums on RV.NET that are not RV type specific. I encourage everyone to see what they have to offer.

Wayne