Picked up Bigfoot Camper

[Mike Ellis]

Last week my son and I drove up to Colorado and picked up a used Bigfoot camper, it is a 2500 10. 6 model and in very good shape. We stopped off in Colorado Springs and had Torklifts put on the truck first, also picked up some Rancho 9000X shocks at Tanner 4x4 there but had some difficulties with that part of the equation due to dueling part numbers



The Torklifts and camper worked out great, even with my ancient stock shocks on the truck there were no handling difficulties. The truck had the stock camper package (sway bar in rear) so in corners etc there is very little sway or lean, with the worn shocks there was a bit of porpoising on some of the stiffer bumps but in general very smooth ride. I had no problems with handling really, other than the gale force winds from the south while crossing the plains requiring a constant steering correction that left me with arms like a gorilla by the time we got home.



We camped out the first night in the Rio Grande National Forest at Clear Creek campground, it was very pretty up there and the camper worked out great, had to fire up the furnace as it got down to 28 that night but the Bigfoot kept us nice and toasty. On the second night I had planned to keep driving but was pretty tired, so we whipped into a Wal-Mart in Amarillo for an unscheduled stop and bunked down. Kind of nice being able to stop somewhere like that on a moment's notice.



On the way back, we stopped and weighed the setup. My truck is a stock club cab dually 2wd, only addition is a gooseneck hitch weighing about 50 pounds or less. With heavy rubber mats in the bed over the LineX and hitch cover, 1/2 tank of diesel, black / gray holding tanks about 1/2 full and fresh tank 3/4 full, very little gear in the camper, and my son and I in the truck, we weighed in at 10,580 pounds. I was surprised at the weight split - 3740 on front axle, 6840 on rear. Guess in order to keep weights reasonable it is best to travel with black / gray tanks empty (they are in the rear) and the fresh tank at 1/2 full or less - the tanks in this rascal are pretty big so there is a lot of weight there.



That is 80 pounds over the trucks GVWR, so with the wife and kids and camper fully loaded I would be a good bit over the GVWR it seems. Truck handled very well with the camper aboard, brakes handled the load with ease - in fact, hard to notice much difference braking with the camper on (I am admittedly a pretty conservative driver though). It should handle even better with the Ranchos installed, I may put them on this weekend if I get the gumption.



All in all, I was pretty pleased with the truck's performance in stock trim.

 

[VicR]

Congratulations on the rig - sounds like you have a great set up and that truck is probably one of the best choices to haul that around. I've always liked the Bigfoot line - hope you get many years of happy camping out of it.



-Vic

 

[Boomer II]

Sounds like what we did a couple of months ago, went to Colorado Springs and bought a new 10. 6 Bigfoot at camping world. Fought the gale force winds back to Texas, spent the nite just North of Amarillo. We really like our rig, too bad the nearest dealer is so far away.

 

[dresslered]

Congratulations on the purchase, Mike. You'll find the extra weight is the only downside of the quality construction. The truck seems to handle it well and if you don't already have one, consider an exhaust brake for that little extra help with the slowing of the load.



P. S. My truck with a full tank of gas and completely empty camper came to 6700-lbs on the rear and 4560-lbs on the front (11,260 total).

 

[Mike Ellis]

dresslered,



I expected to see more like 4200 pounds on the front of my truck, based on posts I have seen in the past. Not sure why mine was down to 3700, although the windshield washer bottle was getting pretty low I was wondering if I was on the verge of a wheelie or something, might have to put a couple of rollers on the back of the Bigfoot.



My rig is in great shape except for all the decals having been removed, looks kind of funny with no markings. I am trying to get the decals from Bigfoot dealer but they are stonewalling me, may end up either having a vinyl sign company make me some from photos, or else redecorating with stickers of my own design. It looks like there is room for a LOT of TDR stickers on that rascal... .

 

[dresslered]

Mike-

Keep in mind that my weights that I gave were with an empty camper (I test drove it before I bought it). I was deeply concerned about being over the GVWR of 11,000-lbs when completely empty (what truck did Bigfoot have in mind to carry these things???). However, the way the truck handled it (using Tork-Lifts as well), I became a little less concerned. I figure that when I fill the tanks with water, the 'fridge with beer, and a few groceries, I'm doing wheelies as well (headlights point upward)!



Funny you should mention the decals. They don't seem to hold up very well as they all have developed wrinkles from sitting in the sun. I was actually wondering if the fiberglass siding could be painted with stripes or a mural or something. That "3000" decal that I have is yelling out, "Hey, this guy is overweight!"



P. S. The Rancho's do make a big difference. With the incab controller I have moved them from softest to firmest setting and notice a huge difference in bounce.