lonegunman
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Re: Shocks... KYB Monomax versus Rancho 9000, equivalent?
I started with Rancho 9000's, they are garbage, the warranty is garbage and the company is not worth doing business with. Their warranty service stated they require the shocks be shipped back in the original cartons. Seriously? Ended up with Monomaxes because of the previously stated reasons, Les Schwab is all over the areas I like to roam and they are very decent at warranty work. I'm willing to tolerate a little overpriced work for good work and a great warranty. If you want garbage with no warranty,Rancho is the way to go.1.9KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Airbags.
Depends on the camper. A giant long bed two or three slide camper probably needs a dually. A 901SB should work fine. Adventurer is very good about giving the actual weight from the scales on the builders tag, not some **** estimate like most companies. Adventurer also gives the correct center of mass. As long as you keep the red arrows at the axel or forward of it, your weight is where it is supposed to be. So it is not really cut and dry in some respects. Yes, airbags are cheap, easy to install and worth every penny. I'd have them even if I did not have a truck camper. Skip all the dribble from the 19.5" wheel crowd and just put them on. Do not air them up so high your helper spring does not make contact with the bump stop and they will be great for stopping the sag. Your truck will safely carry most Adventurer models in spite of what the weight NAZIs here will tell you. Better E-rated tires, aired up properly to 80lbs and a nice set-up with decent shocks (KYB Monomax/anything but Rancho shocks, most Rancho stuff is garbage), maybe a set of Stableloads to bring the helper springs in early and you are good to go. If your truck did not come with a rear sway bar, standard on Camper Package trucks, you might want to consider buying one. Spending $500 bucks on air bags is cheap and makes the truck ride better, do it and be happy. Just remember to run air lines to each bag separately. https://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=54261 https://www.torklift.com/rv/stableload#appguide813Views0likes0CommentsRe: Finally made it to the Cat scales
Most people do not travel with full black and grey tanks, they are usually rearward and screw up the balance and ride. If I'm driving longer distance, I only load about 50% water for overnighting until my destination. I water up before heading off to boondock. 60 gallons of black/grey is nearly 500 pounds of rearward weight. If you reweighed with 30 gallons of fresh you axel weights would come out better. For tools, I carry a couple of screwdriver, pliers, minimum wrenches and a small ratchet driver set, shovel, axe and hammer. Small chainsaw if I think I need it. No 250 pounds of tools. When I load out gear I use the back of the crew cab and side hamper storage to keep weight in between the axels. I installed a front hitch to mount a bike carrier or the spare tire for ease of use. E rated tires are 10 ply rated and at 80 lbs of air a decent tire will be rated for around 3600 pounds. That is 3600 pounds under the harshest conditions possible so they are unlikely to fail at 3605 pounds except if you ask people here. They will simply wear out a tad faster than if you rode around with an empty truck and 55psi in them.302Views0likes0CommentsRe: Mattress
https://www.macys.com/shop/product/serta-sleep-true-dunesbury-ii-5-firm-mattress-queen?ID=11522411&CategoryID=25931 I cannot swear this is the exact one but instead of wasting tons on a mattress at Camping World we stopped at Macy's on one of their sales. Serta makes a camper queen foam that is awesome. We added an additional 1" pad my wife liked and it is the most comfortable thing I've slept on in ages. The sales person said, "you have to ask for it" but her and her husband bought it for their camper and loved it. They had it displayed on a trundle bed frame. It was special ordered and shipped to the house.630Views0likes0CommentsRe: Question: too much camper - too little truck
Hey Ken, Dont buy a new truck just get better advice. The dually crowd here is always pitching the same ****. I arrived in 2015 and was told to promptly buy a dually and get 19.5 inch tires and a plethora of other useless ****. I haul my Arctic Fox 865 on my short box Ford and have for six years with few problems. Other than bad advice on shocks from here. Does your truck have a rear sway bar, yes or no? A camper package F350 usually does. If not, Big wig sway bar is the thing. Airbags from Firestone will stop the sagging. Keep the airlines separate or they will shift air from one side to the other and rock will get worse. I measure the height to my rear bumper and set the air bags for my truck to ride evenly across the back. I check the air every 4 or 5 days on the road and almost never have to add air. The dealer was a turd for not helping you set up the truck correctly and sending you off. Most salesmen are scumbags, sorry for that. Factory shocks are not up to the task, use KYB or Bilstein shocks. I use KYB Monomax, they do stiffen up the ride considerably when you have no camper on the truck. Anything Rancho is garbage, especially 9000XL's. I added Torklift Stableloads to my upper overload spring, they bring it in a lot earlier. Good for sagging, rocking and weight but when the camper is off the truck it rides like a truck. Keep your tires at 80psi when fully loaded. It will still rock occasionally but you will enjoy the ride a lot more. I'm heading out on my annual two week TC adventure and I am going thru three mountain ranges and down the coast. I'm not worried in the least. When loaded up for an extended trip my truck rides nice, sways a little in the wind but nothing like your experience. My headlights point correctly and everything works great. Just remember you are fully loaded, so those 35mph curve signs are real. Avoid potholes, curbage and serious bumps to save tire damage.464Views0likes0CommentsRe: Arctic fox 990 rocking back and forth
Rancho 9000 shocks are garbage. Mine were completely useless in about 15,000 miles, if they have been on the truck more than a few miles they are probably bad. It sounds like a joke but I promise you it is not. The first thing you should do is switch to a shock from KYB or Bilstein for your safety and to protect your truck from damage. You will see plenty of 990's on SRW F-350'sall over the place, a well made tire will not fail with a 990 on the truck it will simply wear faster and should be inflated to 80 proper pounds. Wheel ratings do not cause your truck to rock back and forth. 19.5 inch wheels will not stop rocking back and forth. Your truck is plenty strong enough to handle that camper with airbags and since it is a 350 it should have come with a helper spring and sway bar if it had "camper package". Torklift stableloads will help but when you remove the camper your truck will ride like a truck. If it is your only transportation you might want to consider that in the decision. I have a 2011 Ford and a 2015 Arctic Fox 865, the rocking problems I had were caused by extremely poor quality shocks, namely Rancho 9000XLs. Buying them was terrible advice from this web site and the 19.5 inch wheel crowd. As far as airbags, they need to be lined separately or air will simply move from one bag to the other, I figured that out after installing them for the trip home from the dealer, haha. Yes your truck is heavy. I've seen plenty of F-350s with 990's pulling a boat or 4-wheeler on a trailer out west and no one is crapping their pants or buying 19.5 inch tires. That is garbage advice only seen on this site.711Views0likes0CommentsRe: Advice on truck and camper purchase
Most of the advice you get here is bad. You do not need a dually to buy a truck camper and it is possible to drive down a dirt road with a non-pop up camper. Air bags are always a plus, they do get that right. I've been hauling my Arctic Fox on my SRW truck since 2015, between 5 and 10K miles a year, including plenty of trips into the national forests for hunting seasons with zero issues. Zero issues on three, cross country, three week road trips. I 4-seasons camp, so a pop-up is not ideal. Occasionally I wish my camper wasn't so tall, but I never wish is was less comfortable. If I had listened to the weight wonks here, I'd still be in the driveway with them. This is a web site ran by a company that sells **** for campers, if you bought everything recommended you would go broke and never see actual camping.209Views0likes0CommentsRe: Short bed truck and camper combos
I have an 2015 Arctic Fox 865 with a "Fox Landing" bumper, it has a good 24" of overhang on my 2011 F-250. One of my coworkers just bought a Lance 865 with folding stairs and he is pleased. He tows a fishing boat on his adventures. His Lance is an easy 1000lbs lighter than my Arctic Fox. He has less water, less gray and black,one 20lb propane, no oven and no hampers or cabinets around the bed and a two burner stove. But it is four seasons, it has a TV for football season and the bed is comfortable. He can tow with no or little extension, I cannot.562Views0likes0Comments
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