Truck Equipment Requirements

[thorpgang]

I was shopping for an Eagle Cap 1165. Was told by dealer that my 2012 F350 Dually would need air bags to support the weight of an1165.
Is this correct? Had air bags on last truck and am not interested in having them on my new one.
I currently carry a Citation Supreme 1080 with every available option with no problems.

[thorpgang]

Thanks for the response. And thanks for sharing your prior posts. These are expensive campers, it's nice to hear you are happy with yours.

[sam]

not sure what kind of answers you may have gotten, but you're probably aware that airbags really just level your load....they don't increase your payload.  I just installed some firestones with a wireless compressor and it's pretty slick how the system works.  No air lines coming into the cab at all and very easy to air up/down via the digital wireless controller.

I'm picking up our new 1165 tomorrow and already know that the wet weight will pretty much max out the payload of my F450 DRW (which is a bit over 6000 lbs).

Sam

[Kendawson]

The 1165 really psuhes the envelope on weight.  I am looking at a Ford350, Diesel CC with DRW.  Does anyone know what the weight is of the tail gate on the truck which needs to be removed to put the camper on?  Also, is the payload weight that the Ford intenet site quotes, does it include full fuel or not?

[sam]

My tailgate is a beast!  It has that step thing built into it which I think is why it weighs so much.  I'd guess around 80 lbs, maybe even more.  I don't know if Ford calculates payload with or without a full load of fuel, but payload seems to differ by year.

We just picked our 1165 up today and with 55 psi in the airbags, the overload springs (or whatever they're called....they're the topmost ones), they were just barely touching the rubber bumpers.  The truck handled the weight no problem although the COG marker is well behind the rear axle.  There was ZERO impact to the drivability of the vehicle and I only noticed an increase of 1 litre per 100 km with the 1000+ pounds weight difference between the 1165 and our previous camper (Adventurer 106DBS).

If you can do it, the weight is definitely worth it as the 1165 is simply unbelievable!

Sam

[Kendawson]

I am considering  a Ford F350 diesel CC with DRW.  The stated payload for that vehicle is 6,340 lbs.  If I add in two adults at 300 lbs, the payload reduces to 6,040 lbs.  Add back 80 lbs for the tail gate and we have 6120 lbs of payload.  The 1165 camper I have in mind has a wet weight of 5,802 lbs and if we add in the standard 500 lbs of incidentals that comes to 6,302 lbs.  I am over weight by 182 lbs.  So I need to unload 22 gal of water leaving 53 gals instead of the 75  gal the tank holds.  I had better go on a diet so that my wife and I are under the 300 lbs assumption.  But what happens when we want to take our 4 grandchildren on a vacation with us?

[eaglecapownerone]

The published GVWR includes one 150-pound passenger in each seating location AND a full tank of fuel.
The new models (i think it's the 2013 models) have a whopping 14,000 GVWR

Here's a primer that is worth a read:
http://www.eaglecapowners.com/campfire/t...IC_ID=1321

[Kendawson]

Reviewing your primer at the location provided indicates the following:
F350 CC 6.0 diesel dually: and a full tank of fuel: 8360 lbs, and the GVWR is 14,000lbs.  This leaves a payload of 5,640 lbs.  A properly equipped EC 1160 wet is 5,565 and an EC 1165 wet is 5,767 lbs.  With consideration for 500 lbs for incidentals, the 1160 is overweight by 425 lbs and the 1165 is overweight by 627 lbs.  Both of these campers are too heavy for the F350.  One would have to drop the diesel and drop the crew cab to meet weight ratings. 

[eaglecapownerone]

Reviewing your primer at the location provided indicates the following:
F350 CC 6.0 diesel dually: and a full tank of fuel: 8360 lbs, and the GVWR is 14,000lbs.  This leaves a payload of 5,640 lbs.  A properly equipped EC 1160 wet is 5,565 and an EC 1165 wet is 5,767 lbs.  With consideration for 500 lbs for incidentals, the 1160 is overweight by 425 lbs and the 1165 is overweight by 627 lbs.  Both of these campers are too heavy for the F350.  One would have to drop the diesel and drop the crew cab to meet weight ratings. 

You are correct, with one exception.
The F350 6.0 diesel came in the old 13,000 lb GVWR models built prior to 2013
If you own one of the older F350 models, it would be over weight by a whopping 1627 pounds!
So. . . we see how knowing the GVWR and camper weights is important.

I would venture that the "incidentals" weight will grow over time and a realistic number might be closer to 800 or 900 pounds.
Where does that leave us?

Unhappily, to be in strict accordance with the GVWR (NEW F350/GVWR:14,000lbs) it means no diesel engine or crew cab.

In my personal opinion, being 1-percent overweight isn't going to make a difference.
But being 10-percent over weight would be concerning and I'd never be able to drive in a fully confident manner.
And being over 10-percent may be downright dangerous.

That being said, there are truck camper owners with rigs at or over the 10-percent mark.
And I've never read of an axle failure with these rigs.
And I've also read that the factory tests run as much as 45 to 50-percent over the GVWR before axle failure occurs.  These test are run on a flat track - not over railroad crossings, bridge crossings or potholes.

Carrying this post a little further. . .
Having been down this GVWR road before, I looked at upgrading to an F550
My current conclusion is that the different transmission in the F550 is geared too low for sustained interstate highway speeds.

The one TC owner that I personally know who has an F550 with an aftermarket gear kit installed  has experienced several failures with the kit over a period of several years.  The gear kit allows for greater highway speed.

At the moment, I've ruled the F550 out and believe that the newer truck models with a 14,000 GVWR will be the most suitable for many campers.
But I still have not made a personal decision on which camper would be my choice.

[Kendawson]

What we need is to have ALP make serious effort at reducing weight and have ALP and other industry leaders approach Ford to encourage them to institute a ?Super Camper? option that would add a minimum of 10%, (1,400 lbs), to the GVWR rating of their F350 truck.  If you are right about incidentals adding up to 800 to 900 lbs and we want to have our grandkids be able to accompany us on vacations, then we need an additional 1250 lbs of capacity.  This is 9% more than the vehicle rating and, as you point out, is really pushing the envelope.  Also let?s keep in mind, if you are overweight and you have an accident.  It won?t matter who?s at fault, you are because you were overweight and could not maneuver sufficiently.  And insurance companies, will they cover you if you are knowingly overweight?