My new..(to me) camper

[EricBu12]

Got this fully self contained 11. 5' Camper on the local Classifieds.



Got the Torklift Tiedowns bolted . . Ebay $300,. . . . filled up with fuel to weigh the truck empty. me only... was 7680#. 4700# front and 2980 rear. . This is with the tiedowns on.



Went down and loaded it on. This camper was like it was made for the dodge. 1" above the top rail, the thickness of my fingers from the taillights to the rear wall of the camper. Good clearance on the roof.



Went to flying J. . just over half fuel and 2 adults this time... . total is 10,500#. . funny thing is exactly 4700# front again. . but 5800# Rear... not even touching the overloads. now this is empty. . no water, LP, or food. truck handled the camper like it wasn't even there. . . reset the MPG reader, over 70 miles of hills, traffic, freeway, averaged 13-14. . . might be a tad lower actual...



Anyway. . got a lot of work to do on it... Painting it, fixing roof and window seals, replacing metal plumbing for plastic plumbing. . Everything works. was used just a couple months ago... . Got an aluminum ladder for the side of it (wont fit on rear). for $25... . not bad for $450 total.

 

[wcjp]

Awesome find. Congrats. You might be able to skip the airbags with the Torklift Stable Loads.

 

[EricBu12]

Heard about those. Are they a wedge for the lower springs?. This camper empty is around 2800# and does not engage the overloads like my 36' 5th does when hooked up. Rides real good.

 

[jeepit]

Sweet camper and a good deal too!!

 

[Regcabguy]

The 3500's must be a heck of a lot stronger than my 2500. When I mounted my 2,000# wet popup,the truck was all over the road and bottomed out on surface streets at low speed. Carli,Lorenz and Thuren to the rescue. My axle loads wet are front: 4400#,rear: 4000#. This truck is way softer sprung than my '98. 5. Nice camper!

 

[LRutigliano]

Went to flying J. . just over half fuel and 2 adults this time... . total is 10,500#. . funny thing is exactly 4700# front again. . but 5800# Rear... not even touching the overloads. now this is empty. . no water, LP, or food. truck handled the camper like it wasn't even there. . . reset the MPG reader, over 70 miles of hills, traffic, freeway, averaged 13-14. . . might be a tad lower actual...



With my 4100lb Eagle Cap camper loaded, it also didn't add any weight to the front axle... all on the rear...



My MPG's were just similar to yours, right around 14-15mpgs. Towing the boat dropped it to 13mpg.



Best wishes on your new toy/hobby !!

 

[AClayton]

What are you going to do with the Raptor now?



Alan

 

[EricBu12]

Keep the raptor too. The main thing I am doing with this camper is a trip to Ohio next year. Will be a lot easier on the wallet for milage. and anytime the missus and I want to go local camping and not haul the beast.



Got to work on the camper. . replaced the vents and the fridge and pipe vents. all were bad cept for the bathroom vent. only had to replace the lid. gonna caulk and do the elestomeric roof coating tomorrow.



Took about 30# off the roof today. the Coleman Arctic - Aire 12 volt swamp cooler. . never seen anything like this. cool design. . tossed it for a regular vent.