camper not level

[duckcarvr]

I just got an artic fox 11' camper it weighs 3701 dry. 41 to 4200 wet and another 300 more for food and clothing. i had air bags installed and they are at 85 and 95 lbs on slide out side. my head lights are in the air because the truck sags in the rear. will this hurt my springs over time? when i bought he truck its rear was way up in the air so i took out the 5 1/2" spacer and put in a 2" to level it out to tow my 5er. if i put back in a thicker spacer will this level my truck while camper is on? or? any other solutions? robert

 

[PJay9]

I have a Lance and have no problem with my stock doolee springs, just put some better shocks on, not load levelers or anything special, just better than DC shocks! Of course, it doesan't cross the scales near what yours does. With all that you have done, it seems time to get to a professional spring guy to get this solved... it seems you put alot into it time and effort and bucks... go see a pro! I'd like to know the outcome. If there isn't a good spring guy in MT V. I have one here in Tacoma, let me know if you need his info.



BTW, is anyone out there using the new bushing from Torq lift to get the helpers in action sooner?



Good luck!

 

[jelag]

I own several 3500 dually's... the 04 has 250K miles and has run air bags from the start... . we add air to level the truck when pulling a goose neck or 5th wheel... . we have added spacers between the overloads and the bumpers so the overloads come in sooner...

Our big trailer weighs 20K lbs and we can level it, or I should say the truck with a combination of the spacers mentioned above and air bags at 105 psi... We are using the HD bags from pacbrake... and all we do is level the truck...

Hope this helps. .

 

[Grizzly]

I'm surprised you have any issues at all. I had an 11' 3" Lance cab-over, no slide out. It's wet weight ready for camping was 4500 lbs. I first had it on my 95 DRW, Club Cab with overloads and sway bars, no air bags. I then had it on my 05 DRW, Quad Cab. No sway bars, no air bags. Both trucks squatted, but were not unlevel. The 95 did squat a little more then the 05, but not too bad. The 05 handled the camper better then the 95. I never had an issue with either one and I never felt like I needed air bags.

 

[duckcarvr]

Thanks to all who responded i appreciated it greatly. I called les schwab who installed the air bags and they said the air bags were limited to #100 so thats no help. i called harris off road, they were the people who lowered my truck and they wanted to look at it but thought it would have to be raised back up some. Jelag you mentioned some spacers to bring the overloads into play quicker. i know that would able me to carry the load better but would it raise the rear? our head lights are bad enough with out this. People are hiting me with their high beams they are so high. if i lower them for the camper then when i have it off they will hit the ground in front of the truck... ... now if someone wanted to make a million dollars, invent headlights that can be adjusted from the cab. if they can do it for mirrors!! all the little cars today need it. as soon as you put a #100 of lugage in the back their headlights are in the trees. i will let you know as soon as i find out. thanks again robert

 

[azpete]

My slide in weighs in at just over 4000lbs and I only need around 50psi in the bags to raise the rear higher than the front. Hope you can get the problem figured out.

 

[rwitt]

That camper is more like 5,000 + when loaded and ready to go. See my signature, I've got one. On a CAT scale my truck and camper weighs 13,200 with me and GF in the truck. They're heavy. What you may need to do is reinstall those spacers you took out, and then get some overload bump stop spacers installed(I made my own)so that your overload spring engages sooner. It will help with the rear sag and will really help with the side to side sway.

Rich

 

[Grizzly]

That camper is more like 5,000 + when loaded and ready to go. See my signature, I've got one. On a CAT scale my truck and camper weighs 13,200 with me and GF in the truck. They're heavy. What you may need to do is reinstall those spacers you took out, and then get some overload bump stop spacers installed(I made my own)so that your overload spring engages sooner. It will help with the rear sag and will really help with the side to side sway.

Rich

You know that's more than our DRW's are design to carry. The recommended truck for the Lance I had is a class 4, which is a 4500 or F450. That's according to RV Consumer Guide.



By the way, Arctic Fox and Lance campers are 4 star rated.

 

[duckcarvr]

my camper is the silver fox all aluminum frame. dont know if it weighs less then the older ones or not. i will get it on the scale as soon as i get this ironed out. my truck at a gravel quarry weighed 8060 lbs. dont know how accurate that was but i went home and took out all hobbie stuff, truck tool box, tools ,fluids and gear. took off tail gate, trailer bar and 5er hitch. and a wheel barrow full of fire wood, i hope i droped it to #7000. with a 4500 lb load wouldnt that out me at max gvcw? monday i will get this checked out and tell the results. robert

 

[JSawtelle]

I own several 3500 dually's... the 04 has 250K miles and has run air bags from the start... . we add air to level the truck when pulling a goose neck or 5th wheel... . we have added spacers between the overloads and the bumpers so the overloads come in sooner. . .



Our big trailer weighs 20K lbs and we can level it, or I should say the truck with a combination of the spacers mentioned above and air bags at 105 psi... We are using the HD bags from pacbrake... and all we do is level the truck...



Hope this helps. .

Here is what a group of us hauing heavy campers have found to work

we have added spacers between the overloads and the bumpers so the overloads come in sooner. . .

Have Fun good luck

 

[TAbbott]

What happens if you raise the pressure on the slide out side to 100 psi and drop the other side to say, 75 psi? Seems like it would level out a bit... . Point is that there has to be some pressure differential where that will happen.



Another suggestion might be to change over to Hellwig bags. They claim to be bigger, operate at higher pressures and provide more lift. Might be worth checking into.

 

[PJay9]

Tork LIFT makes a new product called StableLoad you should look into it! 800-246-8132

 

[SnoKing]

Seems, pretty simple to me. You lowered the rear of the truck and you need to put it back the way it was, add the bump stops and put on Rancho RS9000 adjustable shocks.



Then adjust the head lights with the camper on and live with them lower when the camper is off.



SNOKING

 

[MoparDave]

Put your 5 1/2'' spacers back in before you do anything else this alone my fix your problem. As for the adjustable headlights Toyota already has them, work nice

now if someone wanted to make a million dollars, invent headlights that can be adjusted from the cab

 

[duckcarvr]

Thanks to all it was a great help. I went to Harris off road and they concur it needs to go back up. how far is the question. i'm going to get it on a very level place and measure it to see what i can get away with and then a little more. i dont want to go up to the 5 1/2" spacer, it looked sasy but very high to load camper and too tall to pull 5er. My 5' 3" wife could not look over the tail gate to see into the bed. I will put on those spacers to bring over loads in quicker, especially if they help with sway. I'm stuck with the air bags as i just paid $505 for them but if I raise it up they should be fine. I will lower the head lights a little but i will up grade those also to the clear ones. Did i miss any thing. Snoking how much are those shocks? thanks again robert

 

[SnoKing]

It has been a few years since I purchased mine. Search the web for a good deal. I know that on the RV.net truck camper forum they big on them. SNOKING

 

[SnoKing]

I think you need to give the truck back to stock height to order shocks. As lowering it will effect the lenght of the shock required. If you still have the stock block, why not put them back in and load the camper and check it out. SNOKING