Air suspension needed?

[stewartjwnls]

Looking to see if someone has some experience with my situation.

We just bought a '19 F250, 4WD, crew cab with the 6.75' bed and the 10,000# GVWR.

Our plan is to order a 7' Alaskan camper, but won't receive it soon enough for some trips this summer.

We've been contemplating putting an 8' used Alaskan on this truck for now.

I'm not sure if the weight of either camper will have much effect on this truck, but am wondering if the longer camper and the weight then being back past the axle further, will necessitate putting air suspension on this.

Anyone have insight?

Thanks.

Jim

 

[klahanie]

Welcome aboard Jim !

Your truck's current rear spring pack is key to the answer. Do you know how many leafs are in the spring pack, and if there is an auxiliary (overload) leaf above the min pack ? Looks from the specs it might be between 3 + 0 to 4+ 1 per side.

Might be helpful for comparison with any replies.

Enjoy your truck and camper !

 

[kmcintyre]

I agree with the other poster and if the camper is going to be on fulltime, I'd add a leaf and forget air suspension. Air bags can fail.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

I’m a fan of airbags, I’ve had good luck with them. As stated by kmcintyre, if the camper will largely remain on the truck then appropriate spring packs are the way to go. But if you’re planning on dismounting the camper fairly frequently and “using the truck as a truck” then I believe that airbags are a good solution to help with sag.

 

[EM4]

I have a 2007 Tundra ( 1/2 ton) and added a leaf to carry my 8ft 1200 lb 89 Sunlite. Its been on the truck for a year no problems. I think you would be fine with your F 250.

 

[CougarCouple]

Hello stewartjwnls
Welcome to WtW. We have a 2016 F250 Super duty extended cab 8 ft. bed and 6.2 gas motor. you might want to consider weighing your truck empty and with a full fuel tank. Our 10,000 GVWR less truck 2 people full tank was 7300 lbs. things add up quickly. I am not over loaded at 9330 lbs. With the addition of air bags we noticed nicer ride and leveling, which stopped folks flashing their high beams. Have the Hellwig bags and fought a small leak in one bag (each has its own line) a phone call resulted in them sending out a replacement no questions asked. Hope this helps.

Russ

 

[stewartjwnls]

It has the 3 leaf spring pack. One short one on the bottom, and one clamped front and rear to the top spring mounted to the frame. There is no auxiliary. I'm guessing the the 10,000# rating means one or more of those springs are heavier than they would have been. Not sure if the lighter config would have come with just 2 leafs.

So, I've had a lot of experience with trucks from 1/2 ton to 1 ton. Short bed to 8', and extra leafs and air bags, so am mostly looking to see how closely someone might have come to my truck configurations.

The camper will be off the truck more than it's on.... for now. Down the road, that may change.

I'm fairly certain that the stock setup will handle the 7' camper we plan to order, and I'm fairly confident that if we put an 8' on temporarily, it will be "OK".

I'm guessing the air bags aren't essential, but I've had great luck with other rigs where having that extra support has really helped level it out if/when needed and has seemed to help the ride/handling.

I'm concerned that having an 8' camper on a 6.75' bed will put enough weight further back of the axle, that it will affect both ride and handling. Was hoping maybe someone had tried that configuration. That's something I've never had experience with.

Thanks for the welcome and all the feedback so far.

Jim

 

[CougarCouple]

Hello stewartjwnls
I apologize for not picking up on the fact you were looking for someone who has the same truck and wanted info on a similar camper with which to compare. If your confident a 7 foot will be fine, a temporary use of 8 might not be that different. Can you ascertain the weight of each.
That might help, if no one else can post there findings.

Russ

 

[stewartjwnls]

Russ, no need for an apology.

To better clarify, the exact config is really not needed. I was mostly hoping that someone had put an 8' camper on a shorter bed. 6.5 or so.

That might give me some insight to what the extra weight behind the axle might do.

Thanks

Jim