Need Some Quick Advice - F150 Long Bed Limitations

[Alpine]

I have to have my new camper order finalized by Friday 12/15 to get the old pricing. I had settled on a Hawk and was pretty set on an F250 6.9 ft bed but I am having second thoughts and might prefer the Heavy Payload F150 which is only available with an 8 ft bed. I have until Friday to change my camper order to a Grandby for the long bed. What off-road limitations would the 8 ft bed result in? I figure that most of my camping would be in reasonably tame country but I would like the ability to get off road a bit. I can live with some limitations but I'd like to be able to get into some more remote areas as I gain experience and I don't want to be totally shut out of the backcountry due to the truck.
In addition, I won't know the exact payload until I see the yellow door sticker. I have found some web info to calculate it and I'd like to get close to 2500 lb payload. I hate getting forced into making decisions like this quickly so I may eat the price increase and wait until I have more info.

Thanks, Elliott

 

[SeatoSea]

I don't believe I've every heard anyone mention a F150 payload greater than 2150. My truck is 19.1' long, Some parks put a maximum length at 19', adding anything to the rear draws attention to my length when choosing a smaller site. I also noted that at 19' my turning radius on tight switch backs is impeded , and have to admit I've needed backup once in a while to make the turn(Shaffer, Moki Dugway,) etc.. But I've seen better drivers handle their longer vehicles very effectively.
It's hard to give up room and weight for the reasons I just mentioned.

 

[longhorn1]

First, I've not heard that the F-150 can carry more than the F-250. We have a 2013 F-250, crewcab with 8' bed with 10,000 GRVW. The Grandby rides great and the times I have weighed the truck, fully loaded + 2 people and our dog, we have been under. In my opinion the Grandy is too much camper for the F-150.

There are limitations on turning on on those switch backs. We have been able to get to most place without problems. jd

 

[longhorn1]

Stick with the Hawk

 

[Machinebuilder]

My 2011 F150 extended cab 4x4 8 ft bed heavy payload is rated at 2300 lbs as per the sticker on the door.

It’s a big long truck, as long as you are aware of it’s size it will take you where you want to go. Parking lots are where I have trouble, they are not made for a big vehicle

I should get my granby shell soon.

 

[Riverrunner]

If you're just running around on most state and federal lands I don't see where the longest wheelbase truck would be an issue. Most loggers drive crewcab long boxes and log trucks are even bigger. I've never had an issue in any Forest Service, BLM, or state forests. Sure, some times you need to make 8 point turn to turn around but it's not really that hard or a big deal. My truck is my daily driver and take it everywhere from the woods to big city downtowns.

 

[Missing Link]

"Iowahiker" is a regular WTW contributor. They have a standard cab, 8' bed F150 with a HD payload package that I believe is 2,900 lbs. Look at some of his posts. They have a Granby with no additional springs, air bags, etc. and have made many trips around the US with great success. If you can live with a standard cab. as they are doing you get a relatively short wheelbase and a relatively tight turning radius, both of which will serve you well in the back country. Again check out some of his posts to see if that might be a way for you to get the larger Granby. Best of luck with your decision.

 

[TGK]

Per the 2017 Ford Pickup/Camper Combination Selector it shows that the F150 Heavy-Duty Payload Pkg (code 627) yields a GVWR of 7,850 lbs for XLT & Lariat trim levels. It requires the 5.0L V8 or 3.5L V6 EcoBoost.

Hvy pkg comes with 18" wheels, Upgraded springs & auxiliary transmission oil cooler. 9.75" gear set with 3.73 electronic-locking rear axle.
36 gallon fuel tank. Trailer tow pkg required with V8 and max trailer tow pkg with V6 EcoBoost.

 

[iowahiker]

My regular cab F-150 "payload package" does door sticker almost 3,000 pounds of payload while the newer F-150 can go a little over 3,000 pounds of payload. The OP did not state cab configuration requirements and giving advice on a Granby versus a Hawk with so little passenger and preference (cargo space...) information seems dangerous.

We travel on good dirt and gravel roads without difficulty but avoid rocks and deep ruts because we do not have skid plates. We would switch to a F-250 FX4 for rougher roads. As many have said, four wheel drive is for getting us out not in.

We give thanks frequently for our 19 foot total length though many folks take 22+ foot trucks where we would not go. When we dream of a new fancy rig (Bigfoot 1500) we always go back to the 19 foot truck for back roads, regular cab long bed or supercab short bed. We would only go with an extended cab long bed for going to Alaska and other extended distance/duration trips because of lots of cargo space in the cab and lots of living space in the Granby. The regular cab does have larger blind spots versus the supercab and so we prefer having the second person as a spotter in turning oblique corners.

 

[longhorn1]

Alpine, apparently the F-150 has higher payloads than when I purchased our F-250 and Grandby. Sounds like others are running the F-150/Grandby with great success. Back then everything we read was a 3/4 - 1 ton was needed for the Grandby. Good luck with your choice. Happy Camping, jd

 

[moveinon]

It is very difficult to give good feedback without knowing where you would like to go with the truck and camper. On the West Coast with logging roads the issue you run into is overgrown limbs. The wider your camper and truck the more trimming or scraping you will experience. They were made for long wider logging trucks at the time built but most are not maintained much so things like limbs and washed out creeks can be a problem for a longer wheel base and wider camper. Just a few inches in width or length can make a big difference. You would clearly not be totally cut out of the off road areas at all. Logging roads are not usually a problem with the turning radius. I go to a couple of lakes in the Cascade Mountains where I need to go off road and a short turning radius is critical. A longer turning radius could not go there. If you drive in a city like I do the turning radius and length makes a big difference in parking, especially in parking structures -you flat can not get into a lot of parking structure spaces without a shorter turning radius than a longer truck has. It is a big investment. I believe that the better you can define exactly what you want in a camper and where you might like to go the better you can get a truck that is capable of going there. My current truck is not built to be as off road capable as my last one was so I avoid some places that are more technical or difficult now but that is OK.

 

[CougarCouple]

Hi Iowahiker
Would you snap a pic of the data you see.
My 2016 f250 extend cab has a gvrw of 10,000.
Weighing truck with wife, myself full tank of fuel nothing else. 7,300
That leaves 2,700 lbs for payload.

Just trying to understand.

Thanks Russ

 

[Alpine]

Thanks for all of the replies and choices like this are always hard. It's hard to know what you want when you haven't really done any of this stuff. I ordered the Grandby today because I like the extra room and a majority of our use will most likely be in fairly tame places. I'll either go with the F150 Supercab 8 ft Heavy Payload or the F250 Supercab 6.9 ft and have the camper on the tailgate. I have time for this decision and I'm leaning toward the F 150 realizing that I can't do tight off road trips with the 22 ft long rig. The long box would be sweet for much of my use and the better gas mileage could be important with all of the highway use that it will get. I still have time to make the decision as I won't be getting the camper for a few months. I also have to nail down the payload of the F150 heavy payload in the Superacb XL configuration with the FX4 off road package and trailering package. Thanks again for your help.
Elliott

 

[klahanie]

Congrats on the Granby order. These are small campers and I think you'll like having the extra space.

You're right it is tough for a newbie. Especially figuring how much payload you might use. A lot will depend on how much stuff you have now, might acquire later and what all of it you may want to carry. The temptation can be great to bring items along once you have a nice new truck and camper.

My .02 on length vs offroad, and speaking only from my own experience, is the SCLB wheelbase of 164" is going to limit where you go. A SCSB wb of 145" would be better for water bars, cross ditches, side hills and plain just turning around on older roads in the PNW and mountain areas.

At 162" wb my truck is pretty much limited to "off highway" rather than off road. So yes to forest service roads (FSRs) and yes to remote areas if the road is maintained or recently maintained. But no to a lot of the interesting, old stick roads or old mine roads in the mountains. And that means no to the roads to quiet places that may be closer to home but are tougher so fewer people travel them - except four wheelers.

 

[Helmut]

Don`t worry about offroad-capability, more about total weight. Our`s comes up to 8400 pounds. Everything fully loaded incl. jacks and us two.

 

[longhorn1]

Elliott, congrats. Over the years others have post that they thought it was a bit harder getting in the camper where the tailgate was left on. Also, you have no protection for the camper in a rear end crash. With the camper flush with the end of the tailgate you have the protection of the bumper and a cargo carrier if one is used

I, as many do, remove the jacks once the camper is loaded. If someone backs into the jack the chances are great for damage to be done to the camper frame. jd

 

[Stokeme]

Alpine ... you are making the exact same choice I am, right now, in real time.
I ordered a Grandby Shell Friday, 12/15, with some extras. See my build on FWC Discussions posted in WTW yesterday. The weight is really starting to add up from every angle. I research, a lot, but I did not itemize seriously enough. My desire is a F-150 8’ bed heavy duty pkg with 18” wheels. Payload is 2700 lbs, GVWR is 7850 lbs. I “hope” to not top 2500 lbs payload. It is making me a little nervous.
I am curious why you would not follow an 8’ bed into a F-250. I want to order my truck ASAP. You can not find HD F-150 on lots. You must order (at least in NorCal) with an 8-12 week lead time. This puts me very close to my Camper install time I am told.
I really do not want a 3/4 ton p/u for similar reasoning but I am wondering if I am too close to max. I wish FWC provided more exacting weight info. I am leaning both ways equally now & this is after being confident I was covered by a HD 1/2 ton.
Any further real life experiences with Grandby’s & 8’ bed pickups in WTW Nation? Thoughts & opinions welcome.

 

[Alpine]

Stokeme, Coincidence in our thinking!. Yes, I'll also have to order the truck as they are not usually found on the lot. I believe that I'll be fine if I can get at least 2500 lb of payload. I'm not sure what my preferred optioned truck will weigh so I'm trying to figure out how to calculate that. The camper should weigh around 1500 lb dry and that gives me 1000 lb worth of water, food and stuff. I am comfortable coming in right at the payload limit but I'd like not to exceed it. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Machinebuilder]

I am not familiar with where y’all are driving. The only time I was in the north west it was with a rental car.
Everybody seems to be extremely concerned with wheelbase. That will affect turning radius, but in my experience I have had more issues with the rear overhang/departure angle. I have had my trailer hitch drag so many times I can’t count but have only had very few places where I had the frame hit.
I am not going to trail ride a long truck but I do go to some pretty remote places on forest service roads that end as 2 track.
I would not chose a 6’ bed f250 over a 8’ bed f150 to get a shorter wheelbase.
In 2011 when I bought my f150 I had to look for about 4 months to find any truck with an 8’ bed. I wanted it because they haul a load better, with more weight in front of the rear axle. I do use my truck as a truck pretty often.

 

[rruff]

I don't believe I've every heard anyone mention a F150 payload greater than 2150. My truck is 19.1' long, Some parks put a maximum length at 19', adding anything to the rear draws attention to my length when choosing a smaller site.

I've not heard of the 19' restriction. Can you steer me to more info on that? My rig is going to be ~24' long.