Practical Slide in Camper Weight

[brillmtb1]

Ok, I have a nice AF 27-5L totally decked out for dry camping but camping sites getting increasingly difficult to plan for since I work and cant plan far enough out to snag one or just go dry completely. Kids in college now so thought is a nice slide in for my fly fishing weekends and trips with the wife.

I realize that the dry weight of slide ins is very deceptive and it is smart to add 1000lbs to them to decide what to go with. Since I have a 2017 3500 crew cab, 4wd, short bed I am thinking that the max dry wt I should consider and perhaps this is pushing it is 2500lbs for a total wt of 3500 if it is correct to plan on adding 1000lbs.

I have air bags and realize that doesn't increase carrying capacity. I also realize many are driving overloaded but I don't want to get a dually or long bed so I guess I am stuck. The AF 811SB is nice but it has a slide and loaded wt likely to be 4000lbs which seems to be too much for a SRW.

I was looking at the wolfcreek 850/890, the Lance 850, the northern lite 8-11 all seem to be in the dry wt range of 2300-2500.

Thoughts

 

[lpennock]

Truck camper magazine has buyers guides with calculations of loaded weights. Get your truck weighted and see how much rear axle weight you actually have to play with. Almost all the truck camper weight is on the rear axle. GVW rating is a marketing tool but GAWR is based on tires and is a number you need to stay under.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Take 25% of the RV's advertised GVWR and if you can't carry that without exceeding your RAWR then it's a no-go.

Edit, that's for a 5er.

 

[lpennock]

Truck camper magazine has buyers guides with calculations of loaded weights. Get your truck weighted and see how much rear axle weight you actually have to play with. Almost all the truck camper weight is on the rear axle. GVW rating is a marketing tool but GAWR is based on tires and is a number you need to stay under.

The link to buyers guide. https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/truck-campers-buyers-guide/

You may also want to look at Bigfoot 1500 series.

 

[Turbo Terry]

Northern Light I would look at

 

[Regcabguy]

Airbags simply elevate the load. That same magazine offers suggestions for sway and handling control.

 

[bcbender]

Almost all the truck camper weight is on the rear axle.

Especially on a short bed truck.

Older campers are heavier, my buddy has a 8' Lance that weight in at about 3500# I think, no slides, he said the newer ones are lighter.

I saw this SB 3500 in St Louis a few months back, it was squatting the truck pretty good.... I sent it to my buddie that has a Lance with the simple caption " I bet its a treat to drive " as it appeared to be very light on the front end..

 

[NonFord]

View attachment 130999 I have a Lance 855s on my rig and it doesnt even know its back there, seriously. I had it on a 2500 and yea, you could feel it, but my 3500 hauls this with ease. I have the auto level bags and aisin transmission and couldnt be happier with this setup.....

 

[lpennock]

Especially on a short bed truck.

Older campers are heavier, my buddy has a 8' Lance that weight in at about 3500# I think, no slides, he said the newer ones are lighter.

I saw this SB 3500 in St Louis a few months back, it was squatting the truck pretty good.... I sent it to my buddie that has a Lance with the simple caption " I bet its a treat to drive " as it appeared to be very light on the front end..

Depending on the year of the truck the overloads on a 3500 don't even engage until the truck is squatting pretty good. So without airbags it is normal for the butt to be down.

 

[brillmtb1]

Thanks everyone. My current short list includes the following

Lance 850 (855s above makes me want to consider given I have the same truck), Wolfcreek 850 and 890, Northern Lite 8-11, Cirrus 820 (2022 model), like the AF 811sb but that is with a slide and I think est loaded is 4300 if you use 500lbs gear as a lot of folks recommended throwing on the total wt. I wonder if an antisway bar with my airbags would also help ride.

 

[mwilson]

Did you check out the Arctic Fox 865?

Clever use of space without a heavy slide..

 

[lpennock]

Thanks everyone. My current short list includes the following

Lance 850 (855s above makes me want to consider given I have the same truck), Wolfcreek 850 and 890, Northern Lite 8-11, Cirrus 820 (2022 model), like the AF 811sb but that is with a slide and I think est loaded is 4300 if you use 500lbs gear as a lot of folks recommended throwing on the total wt. I wonder if an antisway bar with my airbags would also help ride.

A rear sway bar from Hellwig or Roadmaster will not do anything for the ride but will make a big difference in the sway you see when you are on winding roads. I have the Roadmaster #1129-144 on my 18 as I preferred the way it mounted over the Hellwig but either would be an improvement.

BTW: TCM puts the lance 850 at 3406 and the AF811 at 4569 loaded for camping.

 

[brillmtb1]

Lpennock you are correct on the big difference you see with dry vs wet, I looked at the AF865 thinking I would drop 600lbs but look at this.

Arctic Fox 865: dry weight, 3,236 pounds + 34 gallons fresh, 283.5 pounds + 6 gallon full hot water heater, 50 pounds + 2x 30-pound full propane tanks, 54 pounds + 2 batteries, 130 pounds + stuff, 500 pounds = 4,253.5 pounds

Cirrus 820: dry weight, 2,916 pounds + 33 gallons fresh, 275.2 pounds + 2.2 gallon full hot water heater, 18.3 pounds + 2x 20-pound full propane tank, 40 pounds + 2 batteries, 130 pounds + stuff, 500 pounds = 3,879.5 pounds

Northern Lite 8-11 EX Special Edition Dry Bath: dry weight, 2,650 pounds + 33 gallons fresh, 275.2 pounds + 6 gallon full hot water heater, 50 pounds + 2x 20-pound propane tanks, 40 pounds + 2 batteries, 130 pounds + stuff, 500 pounds = 3,645.2 pounds



From the site you posted which is really nice to compare. So my revised question is getting to if I add a sway bar, I have a one ton, I have air bags, I will put on that more secure mounting system, forget the name, and I drive sanely (that's the tall order here ), where should I stop with weight if I dont want to feel like I am going to tip over on a dirt road (not hard core dirt but dry camping, reasonable road)

Also, how much wt drop is actually noticeable or significant as in the two above. The Cirrus is approx. 550lbs lighter, will I notice a difference in the real world or am I kidding myself that giving up a camper I would prefer for 500lbs savings in the end is not worth thinking about. Then the Northern Lite drops it another 250 or so or approx 700lbs less or 15% lighter. Then comes COG, etc.

Overthinking this or thinking correctly?

https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/truck-campers-buyers-guide/

 

[Tuesdak]

2017 3500 crew cab, 4wd, short bed

In 10-20 years the Fiberglass Northern Lite (or Bigfoot) will command a higher price of new vs. the others. Try and find a used one (!) and that was before the RV pandemic demand...

Fill the fuel tank and weigh your truck. Any passengers you normally take figure that weight as well. I don't know what trans you have but the short bed would be lighter than my long bed 2018 Tradesman:

12,300 is the GVW
8660 on the scales
Leaving me 3640 for a camper

(5280/3380 ft rear actual weight with sticker: 6000/7000)

IMO you shouldn't have a problem with the Northern Lite 8-11 unless you pack heavy - then keep the 5th wheel or look for a motorhome.

The Arctic Fox plays a "weight game" by leaving off a required heavy option package. Non-optional option package, eh? The links to the weight guide figure it in though.

 

[brillmtb1]

Tuesdak, thanks

Thank goodness I married a "light" Korean hottie and I kicked my kids out to college, son at West Point so he is trapped for 4 years My daughter however in local university and likes to fly fish so will need to add her 130lbs.

I have the HO Aisin 2017 3500. Keep the 5th wheel is interesting comment....you think I will regret getting rid of it?

 

[lpennock]

From the site you posted which is really nice to compare. So my revised question is getting to if I add a sway bar, I have a one ton, I have air bags, I will put on that more secure mounting system, forget the name, and I drive sanely (that's the tall order here ), where should I stop with weight if I dont want to feel like I am going to tip over on a dirt road (not hard core dirt but dry camping, reasonable road)

Also, how much wt drop is actually noticeable or significant as in the two above. The Cirrus is approx. 550lbs lighter, will I notice a difference in the real world or am I kidding myself that giving up a camper I would prefer for 500lbs savings in the end is not worth thinking about. Then the Northern Lite drops it another 250 or so or approx 700lbs less or 15% lighter. Then comes COG, etc.

Overthinking this or thinking correctly?

https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/truck-campers-buyers-guide/

Can you tell the difference the 500lb makes? Yes you can but it usually isn't a wow that is a major difference. I it more the smoothness of the ride. The extra 500 pounds makes the suspension work harder so the ride gets rougher. My 06 SRW had about the same ride between 2K and 3K in the bed but once you got above 3k you could feel the difference between full load of 40 gallon of water and food on the way to the camp site vs after dumping all the tanks and having ate all the food. Wasn't a major difference but you could feel when you were heavy.

As Tuesdak and I have both said. Take your truck to the CAT scale and get real weight numbers. Then you will know if you can get the camper you want or have to go down. The chart I have says your rear unloaded 3040 and GAWR is 7000 leaving you just under 4K to play with fully loaded so I would shoot for around 3700 for extra stuff like firewood. It is possible to go over the 7K GAWR by going up in tire size and getting better rims but you open yourself to some liability issues in case there is an accident. Out of the 4k part of it will be used by your passenger but the chart does include 300lb for all passengers combined.

As far as feeling the weight difference "off road" it really is more determined by the height of the camper than the difference in 500lb. Rail height basement models are taller and feel more tippy than well well height basement models because there overall height is higher and you have things like the AC on top. I never really noticed much difference in tippy between my Western Wilderness 12', Eagle Cap 950 and Northern Lite 10-2. The WW and EC were used on the 06 SRW and the EC and NL were used on the 18 DRW.

BTW: The reason I push the GAWR so hard is if you run over your tire rating for any length of time things like below happen. On the 06 I had run all the numbers so I was under tire rating then got a new trailer for my jeep. I didn't check the tongue weight with the new trailer so I didn't realize it had pushed me about 500lb over weight on the 4 year old BFG so I destroy two tires and fenders that weekend.

 

[Turbo Terry]

A rear sway bar from Hellwig or Roadmaster will not do anything for the ride but will make a big difference in the sway you see when you are on winding roads. I have the Roadmaster #1129-144 on my 18 as I preferred the way it mounted over the Hellwig but either would be an improvement.

BTW: TCM puts the lance 850 at 3406 and the AF811 at 4569 loaded for camping.

 

[Turbo Terry]

Northern Light have a pretty much no seam water leak problem. No leaks is pretty important in any camper. And remember less is more. Dry warm place to sleep and eat etc. keep it simple

 

[brillmtb1]

So my Bfg tires are rated at just over 4000lbs so I assume that means 8k on the rear axle and so if I know my rear axle weight then I know how much more my tires can take although I hate to be pushy no the max. I see people going to 19.5 but do they have tires that exceed 4K. I don’t see any so my 20in may be just fine

 

[lpennock]

So my Bfg tires are rated at just over 4000lbs so I assume that means 8k on the rear axle and so if I know my rear axle weight then I know how much more my tires can take although I hate to be pushy no the max. I see people going to 19.5 but do they have tires that exceed 4K. I don’t see any so my 20in may be just fine

Need to also check your rim ratings. Stock rims are not rated for 4k, most are 3500-3600. 19.5 can get rims and tires rated at 4500. Technically the door jam GAWR is all the truck is rated for even if you upgrade the tires and wheels but the only place I've heard it enforced is British Columbia.