Truck camper and towing

[Hemisport]

Good morning,
I have a 2012 ram 3500 mega cab srw. I am looking at either a northern lite 8.11 or an arctic fox 865 both units 2023. I’m looking for advice on tow setups. Manufacturers don’t seem to list the overhang the campers have and I want to to my Nautique behind me. Tongue weight is about 350 boat and trailer probably 6200 lbs. anyone have any advice as to a good setup.

[Grit_dog]

jimh406 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
What the OP or you proposed is literally not any significant or meaningful geometric upgrade from his current truck.

Maybe autocorrect changed your word to geometric. ;). Maybe you had a different spellchecker mistake with the $33,000 per inch comment.

Anyway, I didn't tell him to upgrade to a different SRW or keep it. However, unless someone really needs a SRW, I'd suggest something different. And, if that different vehicle is a choice, then hopefully pick the replacement before purchasing the TC.

Nothing radical, but kind of funny that my first post in this thread seems to have been on the right track .... it's still up to the person spending the money to decide.

It’s ok if you don’t understand, Jim.

[3_tons]

Hemisport wrote:

3 tons wrote:
Well, FWIW with camper aboard, I just towed our trailer using a new 2.5”, 41” - 48” Reese (Draw-Tite) extension which weighs a whopping 56# even without the ball hitch…I’d previously added a Curt commercial direct bolt on 2800# hitch which mounts just below the less robust 1800# OEM hitch…Before leaving, I measured the enclosed trailer’s tongue weight at about 525# (using a tongue scale) and used the 41” pin-to-pin length…I’d estimate the V nose off-road machine trailer weight to be at about 4500# and with added V nose cabinetry and such is admittedly a bit nose heavy…Our 200mi one way trip to the higher desert went smoothly..

3 tons

What’s the rest of your setup ?

16 Ram 3500, 6.7, CC, DRW, 4x4, 4.10, 14k GVWR, 2009 Eagle Cap 995 (5,150k# est), 14’ V nose enclosed RZR trailer, RZR 1000, 660w rooftop solar, 360w ground deployable solar, two 200 a/h Lithium…

Upgrading next week to a 2023 5500 Ram 4x4, 6.7, 4.44, CC Laramie, 19.5 alloy wheels, CM flatbed 19.5k GVWR…

3 tons

[jimh406]

Grit dog wrote:
What the OP or you proposed is literally not any significant or meaningful geometric upgrade from his current truck.

Maybe autocorrect changed your word to geometric. ;). Maybe you had a different spellchecker mistake with the $33,000 per inch comment.

Anyway, I didn't tell him to upgrade to a different SRW or keep it. However, unless someone really needs a SRW, I'd suggest something different. And, if that different vehicle is a choice, then hopefully pick the replacement before purchasing the TC.

Nothing radical, but kind of funny that my first post in this thread seems to have been on the right track .... it's still up to the person spending the money to decide.

[Grit_dog]

jimh406 wrote:

Hemisport wrote:
Well, I’m going run it for now and if I find it bad I will get a new 1 ton Chevy short box which gives you the 6’8” box as opposed to 6’4”
And the payload is apparently close to 6 k on the srw Chevy

Keep in mind that the max payload is usually for a stripped down 2 door, gasoline, and 2 WD truck. Maybe you know that.

However, the biggest advantage is the Chevy has probably all of those inches in front of the rear axle which will effectively move the COG forward. Similarly, if you can go with a Supercab/Extended cab, it will also move the weight forward relative to the front axle. If you need a crew, that won't work of course.

Correct, the additional bed length is forward of the axle, but…
The additional cab to axle minus the additional wheelbase works out to around $33,000 per inch of effective camper center of gravity relocation when there’s no problem with that now.
And a shorter cab with a short bed as the OP has said won’t move more weight forward, it’ll be just slightly less stable due to a shorter wheelbase. And I guess save a few lbs off the empty rear axle weight.
What the OP or you proposed is literally not any significant or meaningful geometric upgrade from his current truck.

[Grit_dog]

Hemisport wrote:
Well, I’m going run it for now and if I find it bad I will get a new 1 ton Chevy short box which gives you the 6’8” box as opposed to 6’4”
And the payload is apparently close to 6 k on the srw Chevy

You would gain about 5” of camper cog moving forward but it literally won’t matter, as your camper will still be 98-100% riding over the rear axle but the rear xtra wheelbase length of the Mega will partially counteract that as is and you have no issue now with too much weight unloading on the front axle. With no other discern-able advantages for your hauling purposes other than having a fresh new truck that is more refined.
And you won’t have 6klbs payload or anywhere near that (by the sticker or real world) with any OE srw truck, even if it was a stripped down single cab gasser.
Keep that in mind before spending $100k cdn plus fitting up another truck.

[jimh406]

Hemisport wrote:
Well, I’m going run it for now and if I find it bad I will get a new 1 ton Chevy short box which gives you the 6’8” box as opposed to 6’4”
And the payload is apparently close to 6 k on the srw Chevy

Keep in mind that the max payload is usually for a stripped down 2 door, gasoline, and 2 WD truck. Maybe you know that.

However, the biggest advantage is the Chevy has probably all of those inches in front of the rear axle which will effectively move the COG forward. Similarly, if you can go with a Supercab/Extended cab, it will also move the weight forward relative to the front axle. If you need a crew, that won't work of course.

[Hemisport]

3 tons wrote:
Well, FWIW with camper aboard, I just towed our trailer using a new 2.5”, 41” - 48” Reese (Draw-Tite) extension which weighs a whopping 56# even without the ball hitch…I’d previously added a Curt commercial direct bolt on 2800# hitch which mounts just below the less robust 1800# OEM hitch…Before leaving, I measured the enclosed trailer’s tongue weight at about 525# (using a tongue scale) and used the 41” pin-to-pin length…I’d estimate the V nose off-road machine trailer weight to be at about 4500# and with added V nose cabinetry and such is admittedly a bit nose heavy…Our 200mi one way trip to the higher desert went smoothly..

3 tons

What’s the rest of your setup ?

[3_tons]

Well, FWIW with camper aboard, I just towed our trailer using a new 2.5”, 41” - 48” Reese (Draw-Tite) extension which weighs a whopping 56# even without the ball hitch…I’d previously added a Curt commercial direct bolt on 2800# hitch which mounts just below the less robust 1800# OEM hitch…Before leaving, I measured the enclosed trailer’s tongue weight at about 525# (using a tongue scale) and used the 41” pin-to-pin length…I’d estimate the V nose off-road machine trailer weight to be at about 4500# and with added V nose cabinetry and such is admittedly a bit nose heavy…Our 200mi one way trip to the higher desert went smoothly..

3 tons

[Hemisport]

Well, I’m going run it for now and if I find it bad I will get a new 1 ton Chevy short box which gives you the 6’8” box as opposed to 6’4”
And the payload is apparently close to 6 k on the srw Chevy

[Grit_dog]

mkirsch wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Anyone can do the math if they are reasonably capable of solving simple moment equations

Most people forgot the simple moments lessons they had in 5th grade, which is why there is so much misinformation and just plain wrong information on these forums.

True, although google will do calculus and diff eq for you if you want it to. That’s how I had to cheat a couple years ago to pretend I remembered it to help our boy with his calc homework…
But you’re totally right.
What I sometimes fail to consider is my livelihood and liability often revolve around not screwing up a moment calculation. Although it comes in handy more than just at work!



Cantilevering 1000s of tons of steel is very similar to a trailer hitch extension just bigger numbers.

[mkirsch]

Grit dog wrote:
Anyone can do the math if they are reasonably capable of solving simple moment equations

Most people forgot the simple moments lessons they had in 5th grade, which is why there is so much misinformation and just plain wrong information on these forums.

[Grit_dog]

stevenal wrote:
Is that 5" to the COG of the camper alone? If so, your actual COG will move aft when you put weight on the tongue. Where does your truck's camper certification say your COG should be?

You’re getting a little out over your skis here…too many episodes of Matlock for some folks maybe….(funny as I just took a break from reviewing deposition documents and it clicked that there’s a lot of wanna be lawyers out there! Lol)
What is important is whether the chassis will handle the weight (which it will just fine, including the added load of the super truss and trailer (although personally I’d shorten up the extension as much as possible)), whether the tires and wheels will handle the weight and whether any weight behind the rear axle will reduce the front axle load enough to cause any danger or ill handling.
The camper placement alone won’t even get close to unloading the front axle to anywhere near even the as built gasser trucks. That tank of an engine that is also great ballast. And even with camper and boat, body measurements will confirm that it’s definitely pulling weight off the front axle, but the front end is so heavy with the diesel, the truck can give up 6-700lbs of FA weight and the only thing that changes is the bad roads are a little easier on the ball joints.

Anyone can do the math if they are reasonably capable of solving simple moment equations and prove the same thing on paper as real world, that the OPs setup isn’t going to reduce the FA weight enough to cause an issue.
So now we’re back to rear wheel assemblies and rear suspension. And that’s it.

[stevenal]

Is that 5" to the COG of the camper alone? If so, your actual COG will move aft when you put weight on the tongue. Where does your truck's camper certification say your COG should be?

[Hemisport]

So I went to another dealer today as I was concerned on fitment. The gm at the dealer sent the pics to the rep at the Kelowna manufacture. The rep set it looks ok and that guys are doing the same set up. He then forwarded the pics to the owner and the owner said it would be ok and I should add airbags, which I have. The cog is behind the axle about 5 inches.




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