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Posted by: travelerduo 74 Jul 24 2017, 11:11 AM

I have a 2016 F350 superduty GVWR is 11,000 lbs, I have added air bags and Helwig rear swaybar, not quite fully loaded without water and full gas tank weighted 11,340 lbs figure that fully loaded will be around 11,800 lbs should I be concerned truck seems to handle the weight ok, but do I have enough truck for this Lance 995 or is an upgrade needed.

Posted by: Chief 2 Jul 25 2017, 05:37 AM

Officially you are overweight, but so are the majority of bigger TC owners. Your weak link will be your tires. Make sure you have E rated tires and inflate to 80 psi and you should be fine. You have already done the "standard" suspension upgrades that improve the handing of the truck. The Big Wig really made a difference for my truck.

Posted by: SidecarFlip Jul 25 2017, 10:50 AM

Unofficially, I'd split weigh it on a CAT scale and see how much is on each axle first. You need to be more concerned about where the weight is.

Most outfits are overweight to some extent (not mine) and the issue is where the weight is at in trlationship to the axles, not so much being overgross.

Posted by: travelerduo 74 Jul 27 2017, 02:48 PM

Thanks for the suggestions, we are gong camping the next two weekends, and will have the TC and truck weighed by each axle to see how we fair

Posted by: SidecarFlip Jul 27 2017, 10:05 PM

Knowing what each axle weighs will determine where you put your 'stuff' in the camper.

I like to carry my heavier 'stuff' as far forward as I can. That keeps the horizontal Cg as far as possinle ahead of the front axle. My truck is as long as was ever built, a 1997 F350 4 door long bed so I want to get as much weight as possible on the front axle. I've never weighed mine but I know I'n nowhere close to being overloaded on an axle or overgross. My outfit completely loaded (full of water, propane and all my 'stuff') should be around 2300 pounds. Lightweight on my camper is 1950.

My springs (helper leaf is over 3" from the rub block camper on, with 5 pounds of air in the bags). I find it interesting that new trucks need a sway bar. Mine came factory with large diameter sway bars, front and rear. In fact, I had to build disconnects for the rear sway bar as I was breaking control arms running off road.

I tend to run maybe 15 pounds in the bags, just enough to remove any sway in curves.

Posted by: deminimis Aug 23 2017, 08:34 AM

Nothing really to add, but I'll add anyway. As stated above, knowing your rear axle rating and weight on your rear axle is key, as well as tires.

Sigh, to be under 12k again.....

Posted by: RV_Tech Aug 23 2017, 02:56 PM

What you will find on the CAT scales is that almost no weight transfers to the front axle, so essentially you put nearly the entire weight of the camper on the rear axle. Getting weights is super simple at any truck stop.

At 80 PSI inflated your tires will be good for in the area of 3,500 hundred pounds per tire if you have 18" wheels and depending on the tire brand as they vary slightly so it is not easy to be over tire capacity.

The thing folks seem to forget is braking is a significant factor with truck campers as unlike all other kinds of RV they contribute nothing to braking ability. How much sway you have makes very little difference if you can't stop and I find that even staying within all my numbers, the difference in stopping distance is noticeable when the slide-in is on board.

Just a thought,

Steve

Posted by: RV_Tech Aug 23 2017, 03:02 PM

Rule of thumb to guesstimate weight is to add 1,000 pounds to the manufacturer's stated dry weight, per Truck Camper Magazine. That came out to be on target for my Hallmark Ute XL.

Steve

Posted by: AllenTC2 Aug 23 2017, 03:25 PM

That's good to know. I was using a worst-case scenario of 6K# for a Host Mammoth (mfg dry weight listed as 3.9K#) to do my truck 'computations'. LOL

Posted by: RV_Tech Aug 23 2017, 03:42 PM

Allen,

I am sure there are exceptions, and you can go to Truck Camper Magazine and take a look at a review of a Host to see what the actual weights were for their product. That might give you a better idea. Man, an additional 2,000 pounds over the manufacturer's listing would be some serious weight.

Steve

Posted by: skyhammer Aug 23 2017, 04:04 PM

I have never seen TCM ever mention anything about Host, much less a review.
Maybe some day, but I doubt it.

Posted by: RV_Tech Aug 23 2017, 04:13 PM

You're right. I went through the entire list and no Host. Sorry about that. But, since you have one (I think) what were your findings regarding weight? How close were the manufacturer's weights to your finding, provided you have your actual weights?

Steve

Posted by: skyhammer Aug 26 2017, 03:44 PM

My sticker says 4318lbs as equipped, which is right on.The weight is empty tanks and 2 full 30lb propane tanks.
I weigh my camper on every trip.My weight varies a lot. Most of the time I have a 20' jet boat in tow, 4350lbs.
My camper weight varies by 1000lbs or more, depends upon how much stuff I take
and how much water is in the tank.
I also put 400lbs on the front hitch. With such a long camper and the boat in tow, the front end was getting light, 400lbs on the front hitch solved that problem.

Posted by: RV_Tech Aug 26 2017, 04:32 PM

Thanks for replying. Man, that is serious weight!!

Steve

Posted by: travelerduo 74 Nov 27 2017, 04:06 PM

Well the results are I upgraded my truck to a F350 dully crew cab, from the F350 SW best decision every made. After the first couple of times camping the F350 SW just had to much sway and roll for my taste. The last camping trip for the year was done with the dully hugh difference, even with the strong winds we got on the trip not to mention the stabiliby of the rig when camping is worth the upgrade. Im still considered a neebie, but wish I would of asked for opinions before buying.

Posted by: SidecarFlip Dec 2 2017, 11:15 AM

That entirely depends on what TC you have in the bed. RV Tech and I have pop up TC's. Might lighter and much lower vertical Cg so eoll is much less of a factor.

A Hardsided camper with heavier appliances (Microwave, Fridge and roof air and solar) mounted high up, all contribute to roll.

With our units. lowering the roof also lowers the roll issues. One reason I like a pop up camper.

All about the lowest Cg I can get and I store all my heavier items as low as possible in the camper and forward of the rear axle as well.

I have no need for or want a dually.