WC840 on my megacab..questions

[Vinsil]

Hi all. In the never ending quest to buying another RV we keep going back to a TC like we had before. Some background first.

We (wife and three boys, 10, 7 and 5) have been in many RV's over the years. Both before the kids and as they have grown...TT's, TC, and our last was a toy hauler. We have been looking to replace the toy hauler since our toys have got to large for the last toy hauler...a polaris xp4 1000 and kid quads with a few dirtbikes for us.

Problem we are having is the type of toy hauler to haul all this junk is HUGE. 38-40 foot fivers.

1. My truck is too small for those TH's.2007 2500 4x4 megacab cummins.

2. We like to go other places that make a huge fiver impossible to get into.

We loved our last older TC and even though it is REALLY tight for our large family...we are considering it again. This allows us to pull a flatbed (already have it) and also to boondock like we like to do without the toys sometimes.

We know the Northwood line and really like the Wolf Creek 840 layout.

My questions are....is this too much for my truck? I have e rated toyo mt's on it (285's), 5100 bilstiens, but no other suspension mods. What would I need to make this a possibility with this truck? A new truck is out of the question right now.

What tie down system? Our last truck was a 95 F350 and had stake pocket mounts and turnbuckles...but that truck had a solid thick bed. I don't trust this rams bed for that mount system..

and how about towing the flatbed? 4-5k pounds....

Just need some knowledge before the dealer tries to sell me subpar equipment!


Here is what I'm looking at.

Also what would be a good "deal"? In the past I have done 30 percent off on RV's...is the TC market similar? Any opinions on that?

thanks all willing to listen to advice and opinions!

[smooth1]

You should check the weight capacity of your aftermarket wheels. Most of the aftermarket aluminum ones I saw were in the 2800 to 3200lbs range per wheel. There are not too many aftermarket wheel options with over 3600lbs capacity per wheel. Maybe some newer ram take-offs since the trucks have huge payload numbers the wheels must be rated higher too.

Your 2500 truck doesn't have the upper overloads and you don't want airbags, then I would look at Timbrens. However, if you have a leveling lift then you may need airbags to get level.

[Vinsil]

Yeah the mega room has us spoiled. I know Lucas was thinking of going that route after kiddo #2. The power is fun, huge step up from the old 7.3 but i will say, I miss my Ford and it never left me anywhere....the ram has been good so far....


Jeep is looking good! Speed is addicting and going fast is my favorite. I've wanted to start a Ranger build, but the kids keep me broke!


Love the Lance seems like a great size and matches up with the truck great. I'll add the upper stables, thanks for the advice!

[pcoplin]

Nice rig! Love the quad cab. I don't know what I'd do with tha much power. My 7 3 barely makes 350 probably. The supercab is enough for us now, but will need some more room in a couple years.

The Jeep is a little different. Built it for Modified class Ultra4. Don't go to TSF much, we usually end up in the desert for go fast and big rocks.



Here's my Lance. The upper Stableloads helped quite a bit for sway actually. I don't have a sway bar and it does fine. I do also have a small add a leaf to stiffen the rear pack up.

[Vinsil]

Hey man!

Been a while for sure.

Got the lower stableloads and torquelift frame brackets coming. I've decided to move forward with this. Think the upper stableloads too? I'm not going with bags, but want stability so I'll add the stabilizer bar too.

We miss getting farther in the hills. Toy changed a bit from the crawler..nice to see you still have the Jeep!

Old pic but just got the aluminum top and 30" light bar finished up tonight. These things are fun!



Amd one of the hauler. Darn diesels are fun but money pits. This hit 475 horse/950 torque on the rollers. It will need a revmax trans to keep that pace up, keep it on the tow tune to stay alive.




Thanks for the feedback, need to go camping together again. Haven't been to TSF forever...still go? We are hitting Moab next summer.

[pcoplin]

Vinsil, I would see if you can load it up and take it to the scales. I bet that camper is 3500 lbs loaded up.

I personally think it'll carry fine, but will lose a couple hundred lbs off the front end but your wheelbase is longer than my Ford. Your trailer will be a light load comparatively. make sure you have the upper overloads, sway bar, and maybe some 3500 springs if they are different? I have upper and lower Stableloads. Air bags get pretty tippy with TCs.

I have a 9.5 ft Lance (4k) and my Jeep, 12,000 truck and camper waight, plus 6500 lb trailer. 6600 lbs on the rear axle with tongue weight.

Good to see your name around, BTW.

[Grit_dog]

None of the loads discussed so far will take enough weight off the front axle of a diesel and for sure a cummins to make one but of difference in handling.
Taking 5-600 lbs off the front is about like putting 500lb in the bed. Doesn't even smooth out the ride.

[whizbang]

For what it's worth, you put on the wrong shocks as well. The Bilstein 5100's are an off road shock. For payload hauling, you want the 4600's.

Sorry. Good luck.

[mkirsch]

Yes, because that 500lbs of tongue weight will pull another 200-300-ish off the front axle and plant it square on the rear axle.

200 may not sound like much but you're adding another 700-800lbs to the rear axle overall.

Back to your assertion that it "has" to be better than the F350, well yes, it very well might be. It also might be worse.

The reason there is so much argument over the numbers is, you never know. You never know how the truck will react to being overloaded. You never know how tolerant the potential driver of the rig will be of the driving qualities of the rig. You never know the skill level of the potential driver (Aren't we all the best drivers in the world, regular Mario Andrettis?).

Sure, things can go belly-up no matter what you do, but your best chance of success and satisfaction is to stick with the manufacturers' numbers if nothing else is known. After that it is up to you to determine how much extra weight you want to carry.

[Vinsil]

Quick question.

Due to the short bed and it was mentioned that all the weight will be on the rear axle...would it be a good idea to use weight distribution bars for the trailer to transfer some to the front? My rzr and trailer combined is 2800 pounds and might go up to 3500 with some other toys and gear. So factoring in a 12% tongue weight...should I even bother?

[twodownzero]

Jfresh wrote:

twodownzero wrote:
A SRW Megacab is too heavy to carry even the smallest of truck campers.

This a false statement. A megacab is not significantly heavier than a standard cc pickup.

And your point being? A standard quad cab pickup that is a 3/4 ton, 4wd, diesel, has about 1600 pounds of payload. All but the smallest popups will overload it.

JIMNLIN wrote:

Yeah. A whoppin' 173 lbs heavier than other same wheel base configured 2500 Cummins 4x4 trucks.

1600 pounds - 173 extra pounds doesn't leave enough payload for any meaningful truck camper.

The OP just as anyone that wants to carry a heavy payload in the bed of any truck needs to weigh his trucks front and rear axles separately and pay attention to the trucks RAWR/tire capacities as it will carry just about all the weight on a short bed truck. In some cases a TC can unload the trucks front axle on a short bed.

Probably not necessary. The truck is so heavy already that GVWR - curb weight will determine payload; highly unlikely that he'll be able to bust either axle weight rating before the GVWR.

I've seen a lot of 2500/3500 SRW Mega cab rear axle weights which most are in the 3000-3200 lb range. That leaves 2800-3000 lbs for a payload.

Again, ignores GVWR. 8800 lb gvwr - ~74-7500 lb curb weight = payload, and in case you can't do the math, it's nowhere near 3000 pounds.

A 1 ton adds 1100 more pounds of GVWR, which is left totally unacounted for in your post. In other words, you're dead wrong.

Now the OP can mod the trucks small 6000 lb rear suspension with aftermarket products we all use. And he can upgrade wheels and tires to a higher capacity.

Or just use what he has and keep front and rear axle/tire weights under those numbers.

And those things will do nothing to raise his GVWR, which will be overloaded by a significant margin with even the smallest of hard side truck campers.

I reiterate my point: a SRW 3/4 ton megacab does not have sufficient payload to carry any meaningful type of truck camper. At the risk of choosing an arbitrary line, 2500 pounds of payload are the minimum I would look for. 3000 would be safer. Putting a truck camper on a truck with 1600 pounds of payload is ridiculous. The truck will be overloaded by thousands of pounds if you carry any passengers or pack any gear. That is not safe no matter what kind of aftermarket equipment you install.

If you want the longest wheelbase, the biggest cab, 4wd, the heaviest engine, and all the options, you will have to buy a heavier duty truck. This is not a situation where you can "have it all."

[Vinsil]

Wow thanks for all the replies and input. Especially to those who have given me some solid numbers.

Now it seems pretty split on whether the truck can do this or not. Safety is number one to me. I'm also a realist and realize what I'm trying to do. With my last truck...1995 F350 crewcab longbed, 4x4 and powerstroke, my camper loaded for the weekend and full of family crossed the scales at 11,200.

Overloaded by sticker of course but the truck stopped and handled fine. That truck was 7700 lbs with fuel. I never felt unsafe in it.

This truck is 7900 with fuel. Now of course...different suspension in the front but larger brakes. So in theory as long as the COG doesn't unload my front axle...it should be fine with a 3300 lbs of camper. Now adding the trailer it won't have a 1000 lbs of tongue, my toy hauler was barely that! I will assume it hits 500 though.

So better tires without going to a set of 19.5's and some aids for the suspension would be needed. It still bothers me after reading all the threads on weight but this truck HAS to work better than my old Ford, brakes are huge compared the the Ford!

Sorry to ramble I'm just trying to work through it. Thanks again all!

[JIMNLIN]

Jfresh wrote:

twodownzero wrote:
A SRW Megacab is too heavy to carry even the smallest of truck campers.

This a false statement. A megacab is not significantly heavier than a standard cc pickup.

Yeah. A whoppin' 173 lbs heavier than other same wheel base configured 2500 Cummins 4x4 trucks.
The OP just as anyone that wants to carry a heavy payload in the bed of any truck needs to weigh his trucks front and rear axles separately and pay attention to the trucks RAWR/tire capacities as it will carry just about all the weight on a short bed truck. In some cases a TC can unload the trucks front axle on a short bed.

I've seen a lot of 2500/3500 SRW Mega cab rear axle weights which most are in the 3000-3200 lb range. That leaves 2800-3000 lbs for a payload.

Now the OP can mod the trucks small 6000 lb rear suspension with aftermarket products we all use. And he can upgrade wheels and tires to a higher capacity.

Or just use what he has and keep front and rear axle/tire weights under those numbers.

[Jfresh]

Megacab reduces the payload by 264 lbs. I just went looked at my trucks.

I would assume most of the weight is in the different seat configuration.

How much weight is saved going from a 8' bed to a 6.5' would also be a good number to know.

[Grit_dog]

mkirsch wrote:
Dodge Ram 1500 Mega Cab. Count the lugs for yourself:



Every one I've seen in person looks just like this. I dunno what else to say on that subject.

We've had several on here reporting their Mega Cab Cummins's at 7800-8100 tare on the scales. Maybe they're not "significantly" heavier than a regular crew cab, but they are still HEAVY, and leave very little between curb weight and GVWR for payload and passengers.

I agree with you. The 3rd gen mega gassers were badged as 1500s since Dodge didn't offer a crew cab in any config. They are essentially re badged 2500 gassers.
And yes megas are heavy but no heavier than other cc diesel configurations. How much weight can 1 foot or less of cab add? Couple few hundo is all.