Short box dually?

[_DJ_1]

I know my sig is out of date. I bought a 2019 Arctic Fox 811 for short box. I've come to the conclusion it really needs a dually. Been looking at 2016 Rams. They have the Megacab and short box. They look just wrong!! Looks like the weight is too far back possibly causing handling problems? Any real world experience on here? Thanks.

[Grit_dog]

DJ, Mega dually is pretty much the ultimate vehicle for a heavy short bed only camper. (Unless you count the guys that stick a short bed camper in a log bed with a big gap in front of the camper. Doesn’t hurt anything, but, well, it looks really silly)
FWIW, been carrying basically the same camper as yours on a srw Mega cab 2500 for years. Works great. Dually would work even better.

[Grit_dog]

Kayteg1 wrote:

Coming to loading TC on short bed, I had my heavy camper on short bed pickup.
If you measure it, you will find that rear overhang on SB is shorter than on LB, so COG moves forward comparing to axle. That is good thing.

If you measure it, you’ll find that Kayteg is 110% wrong about the distance from the axle to the back of the truck. Any truck, short and long bed are the same length behind the axle. At least any truck save for them special old Ford camper specials with the rear axle further back
Kayteg do you actually believe all the c rap you post or do you just lob random obvious false statements into your posts for fun?

[Grit_dog]

It was a 3rd gen 2500 with leafs not the 2016 in my sig. 

[Grit_dog]

ppine wrote:
Bad idea. the world is full of 5 foot truck beds.

Try again chief. Not a 5’ bed on the truck the OP is talking about. And apparently he has a short bed model camper already in his possession, so.......

[kohldad]

The difference between a 6-6 bed and the 6-4 bed of the Ram is only 2". Compared this to the 148.9" wheel base means you will only loose about 50# more off the front axle by moving the camper back 2" (assuming a 4000# camper). If that is going to through off the handling, you have more things to worry about.

If you are worried about it, go long bed and mad extra storage in front of the camper.

FWIW, I have heard of some handling problems associated with the 2014+ 2500 Megacab with the rear coil suspension (coils are located too inboard aggravating sway). Heard of no issues with the 3500 megacab SRW or DRW. Both use leaf-springs on the rear axle.

This is true and caused by two main factors. One is the coils provide no resistance to movement so tends to lean and bounce a bit more. Other is leaf springs are located outside the frame while the coils are located inboard of the frame meaning the leaf springs have a wide stance for improved stability.

On a side note, the 2014 and newer SRW trucks only have a main spring pack. The DRW trucks have the a main spring back and a helper spring pack.

[otrfun]

~DJ~ wrote:
I know my sig is out of date. I bought a 2019 Arctic Fox 811 for short box. I've come to the conclusion it really needs a dually. Been looking at 2016 Rams. They have the Megacab and short box. They look just wrong!! Looks like the weight is too far back possibly causing handling problems? Any real world experience on here? Thanks.

We've given some off and on thought about purchasing a Megacab DRW for our SB camper. Done a little research. Both the Ram 2500/3500 SB CC SRW and Megacab DRW have a 6'4" bed with the rear axle positioned in the same fore/aft position. This means your overall COG (fore/aft to the rear axle) will remain the same with the Megacab DRW and Ram SB CC SRW. In addition to the extra stability (and added payload) the outboard tires on the Megacab DRW provide, you should also gain additional stability based on the longer wheelbase (approx. 10-11" longer than a Ram SB CC SRW). From everything I've gathered, a Megacab DRW should be a win-win (mechanically) vs. a Ram SB CC SRW. As for the way it looks with the front of the cabover about 10" farther back (vs. a CC), well, that might take some getting used to.

FWIW, I have heard of some handling problems associated with the 2014+ 2500 Megacab with the rear coil suspension (coils are located too inboard aggravating sway). Heard of no issues with the 3500 Megacab SRW or DRW. Both use leaf-springs on the rear axle.

[jimh406]

There was a guy here that had a Ram Megacab. I believe in his case, he needed the extra cab room. I have no doubt that the Ram Megacab DRW will do a good job for you. I remember him saying he liked his setup. The only question is whether you should upgrade the camper as well or not.

Not my cup of tea, but others here have carried short bed campers on long beds. That could be an option as well. Search the archive for examples.

[_DJ_1]

ppine wrote:
Bad idea. the world is full of 5 foot truck beds.

5 foot box would definitely be a deal breaker. I called the dealer and assured me it was a 6'4". Just looks really short. Guess I'll have to drive out the 30 miles with my tape!!~

[noteven]

I haul a Cirrus 820 s/b camper on long bed trucks. Camper c of g is ahead of the rear axle. Provides a nice storage area, you can see ahead & above and the rig doesn’t look like a dog an a football...

[ppine]

Bad idea. the world is full of 5 foot truck beds.

[Kayteg1]

I agree that they don't look right, but I understand that with long hood and crew cab, Dodge did not want to make 25' long pickup.
Coming to loading TC on short bed, I had my heavy camper on short bed pickup.
If you measure it, you will find that rear overhang on SB is shorter than on LB, so COG moves forward comparing to axle. That is good thing.
Coming to pickup shopping, I did it 3 years ago and 3 years old pickups with +- 40k miles were listed for about the same what I paid for my custom-assembled dually.
Than I lucked that my 2017 F350 come with break-in technology and it is good step above previous year.