2005 F250 with slide in camper Overloaded?

[triumph406]

Hi, I'm new hear and ahave a question.

I'm looking at 2 PSD's. One is a 2005 F250 102k miles, and the second is a 2006 F350 with 130k miles.

In looking at some of the forums, it would seem that the F250 would be overloaded with a slide in camper. I don't have a slide in camper yet, I've been looking for a slide in pop up camper.

I was more interested in the F250 as it has a better interior and less miles. On the other hand the F350 has a better exterior and maybe I was thinking the 06 PSD was more reliable thatn the 05 PSD.

Does anybody have an experiance with the F250/F350 with a pop up slide in camper, and can provide an opinion. BTW both trucks are 4X4 SRW (not interested in a DRW)

TIA Dave

[Loubell]

I have a 2003 F250 Crew cab 4x4
I have a hardside Lance camper that is 9'6"
According to the owners manual, you will be overloaded no matter what camper you run.
I also towed a car trailer loaded with an off roader toyota.
I put some airbags on the rear leafs, went to rancho addjustable shocks, and run a trans temp, boost, and EGT gages
A dually would be better for towing this set up, but like you, I didn't want one either.
Check out this site for a well of info RV.Net Open Roads Forum: Truck Campers

[triumph406]

Originally Posted by Loubell

I have a 2003 F250 Crew cab 4x4
I have a hardside Lance camper that is 9'6"
According to the owners manual, you will be overloaded no matter what camper you run.
I also towed a car trailer loaded with an off roader toyota.
I put some airbags on the rear leafs, went to rancho addjustable shocks, and run a trans temp, boost, and EGT gages
A dually would be better for towing this set up, but like you, I didn't want one either.
Check out this site for a well of info RV.Net Open Roads Forum: Truck Campers

Thanks Loubell, that's what I suspected, my concern is that I understand that if you have an accident while over the GVW the insurance is invalid. I think I probably need to look at F350's.

If you add airbags, does that increase your allowable GVW?

Thanks again Dave

[85F250Diesel]

air bags do not increase your GVWR.

[Loubell]

air bags do not increase your GVWR.

This is correct. But the bags do act as an adjustable spring. This allows you to maintain your good ride while empty, and still keep the truck level when fully loaded (or overloaded)

How my set up looks:



I was in an accident last year fully loaded and they did not invalidate my insurance. The CHP, the other parties involved, and my insurance company never asked me one question about my weight.

[03-blue-Powerstroke]

I would check the spring codes on the trucks. Just because the one truck is a 350 doesn't mean that it has bigger springs. The trucks could have the same springs. If you were to build a truck you could get the same springs as a 350 in a 250. The only difference is a taller lift block in the 350. To check the spring code it is on the sticker in the door jam.

[JSchuricht]

I'm not condoneing it, but my 250 has seen a 11.5' Fleetwood camper w/ generator and a 8,000 lb boat hanging off a 2.5" x 3.5' receiver extension.

[camperpaul]

I have a 05 250 extended cab with an 8ft. box. I carry a Norther Lite 9'6'' with no problems. With the camper fully loaded the overload springs are not touching. I did install air bags for stability in corners.

[DavidPhillips]

Pick the camper first.

It going to depend on what you want in the camper. A modest size camper will overload an SRW F350. Many of the large campers are too heavy for an F450.

The only thing that makes sense is to pick the camper first. Get the dry weight of the camper and add the weight of it's water capacity plus the weight of it's holding tank capacity. Add the weight of options like A/C, generator, fuel, etc. Add reasonable weights for groceries, cooking utensils, clothes, propane, sporting supplies, people and pets, tools, bathroom supplies, linens, etc.

Now that you have the weight which depends on your idea of a camper will be from 3000lb on up over 7000lb. Then look at the actual payload sticker and / or slide in camper certification on a truck to determine what you need. Without slide in camper certification your not really going to be able to use the entire payload because the weight is too far back on most large campers. Unless you follow the COG recommendations when calculating for the camper which may not be possible depending on the camper your going to not get it right. I would only go with a certified vehicle.


A 250 is not usually certified for slide in camper and the payload is only 2500lb. This is not safe for even a small camper without a slide out.

Don't rely on any sales pitch from the camper dealer or the truck dealer. Most of them lie about what is right. I had a camper dealer try to sell me one that was 1900lb empty. Loaded minimum weight is going to be 3000lb. 3000lbs would actually be empty. people, fuel and water weighs 1000lbs alone. This was a very small camper. He said it was perfect for my c1500 which I already know has a payload of 1200lbs. A salesman at a Ford dealer told me an F150 can haul 3000lbs. I looked at all of the payload stickers and the most I found on the lot of F150's was 1280lbs.

I would love to have a camper but I went with the 5th wheel because it works for what I need and takes way less truck for hauling it.

There were a lot of truck campers turning over in Colorado last winter when I was there. Anything can be done but if you want to be legal and safe make sure you know what your getting.

[DavidPhillips]

On another note if you decide on a pop up some of them are around 1000lbs. Also the low profile makes them safer to haul with a lighter truck.

Campers do get smaller pretty fast so you might factor that in.