Looking for exterior height

[Yellowstone Randy]

Hi Folks-- I am new here, and have a new 8.5 CO, insulated floor, with AC on order. I have been able to find the collapsed exterior height of my yet to be delivered camper. What I am hoping one of you can help me with is that actual "net" height once mounted on the truck. Surely there is some "squat" of the truck from its empty height? Because of my garage door height I am looking for every inch I can find. I have a 2016 F350 (steel bed) with a empty bed height of 38 inches, the camper is 62" with AC. this adds up to 9.16 feet. My garage door in 9'. Hoping there is 2-3 inches of squat, allowing entrance into the garage. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[kimosawboy]

Cant help with the measurement as mine is on a flat deck but you might be able to air down to loose some height.

 

[Steve Seitel]

If you only need two inches, you may be able to modify or slightly raise the garage door header. Worth having one of your contractor buddies take a look.

I wouldn't want to rely on "squat" for clearance. Sounds risky.

Steve

 

[Leviticus907]

I actually just took this measurement, I have a 2008 GMC sierra 2500hd with a 7' cab over and my truck, had a 2 inch squat in the rear.

 

[Leviticus907]

I see you're getting AC, that unit sits on top of the camper and is anywhere from 6-8 inches tall. Unless you have an oversized garage door there is no way you're getting it in there. And when these are installed into the bed, they add 2-4 inches of wood to raise it off the deck and allow for water flow.

 

[klahanie]

You won't know 'til you try. But If the camper is 2,000lbs per the AK site, I think 2-3 inches is very likely (at least). Gonna depend on your spring pack. Short box might drop more than on a long box. If you have an upper overload leaf look at the gap between it and the rear contact pad. I'd expect the load will close that gap.

If you're still too tall some other options to consider might be having the leaf packs reworked and/or replace the lift block with a smaller one (if you have the nominal 4" you might go 2". Ford used both for different models).

 

[klahanie]

I see you're getting AC, that unit sits on top of the camper and is anywhere from 6-8 inches tall. Unless you have an oversized garage door there is no way you're getting it in there. And when these are installed into the bed, they add 2-4 inches of wood to raise it off the deck and allow for water flow.

Yeah, I wonder ... I just checked my notes from a few years back when we almost bought a 8.5. Says outside closed OAH 58" for standard floor. IDK about air con.

The OP might want to confirm the numbers, by my math there's 10" floating around. (38+62=100 not 110, or 9'2"). 72" for the camper height inclusive makes more sense.

 

[PackRat]

1) an F350 won't "squat" much with an 8.5' Alaskan in there.
2) depending on the bed to bed rail height and the height of the camper lower section to where it overhangs the bed rails, it may be necessary to RAISE the camper enough to clear them
3) Call Bryan and ask how much they suggest raising the camper in the truck bed with regard to that truck configuration
4) every millimeter counts to clear the door so having FULL fuel tanks and water tank and airing down all four tires MIGHT work or not
5) Unless your driveway is pretty FLAT, the rear will sit up a bit higher when backing into the garage and all of this may be a waste of time if it hits the paintwork
6) you should also open the garage door and measure the floor-to-opening height and then check to see how high the door and its lifting mechanism are as they may very well be a bit lower

 

[Yellowstone Randy]

Thanks to all for the tips and comments-- I see I entered flawed data-- The collapsed camper is 62" without AC and 72" with AC-- My gross height of 9.16' was correct, just how I got there was not-- Looking forward to learning the personality of this iconic camper - Like many, over the years I have owned many forms of RV's- I used to think i was following greener grass, but now see it is just the evolution of our lifestyle and priority changes.

 

[Leviticus907]

For what it's worth, I can take the camper off my truck in less than 30 minutes and put it on in less than an hour and that's only having done it a few times. Install is definitely a two person job because its such a tight fit in my truck bed. If it was a flatbed it would be no issue.

But what I'm getting at is it's not hard to take off if you want to keep your truck a truck and store it in the garage if they both will not fit.

 

[klahanie]

FWIW when we were looking, Bryan said they were flexible with the thickness of the insulated floor construction. At that time, IIRC, the standard was 2x4 spacing, 1 1/2" insulation in the cavities and a new 3/4 ply bottom. Call it a 2 1/4" addition. I was interested in an insulated floor for cold weather and added floor strength but I think just adding a second 3/4" ply layer would help for both.

If you could put 2,000 lbs or so in the truck box now you'd have a better idea on the spring deflection.