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Comments
It must be a trivent, because it slides in one direction only.
Mike L
I just added some 110V oulets this weekend to accommodate the new TV we added and let me tell you, it features some seriously sturdy construction. 2x2 upper frame, tubular steel underframe, 3/4" birch plywood on the cabinets and closets, with 1/4" birch paneling. It is completely self contained with propane heating and lighting as well as 110V and 12V lights.
I am actually going to the scales tonight to get a weight on it, but I have always estimated it at about 1300lbs. due to the amount that the truck would squat compared to the gravel I used to haul in it. The sticker on the truck says it can handle 1574lbs.
P.S. Call me Red.
Boise, ID.
Vince has a Lance (915?) on his 2500, and he has a sway bar and stock shocks with good success.
Good Luck,
Mike L
Vince, do you have a slider, & if so, do you have a boot between the camper & the cab?
Gary-
I like this window better than the factory one in my 99.
The factory window can be opened from the outside in 5 seconds with a coathanger. I know, I did it when I locked myself out in Colorado. The factory window has a flexible rubber gasket that you can push the coathanger through, the new one has a metal frame with a rubber gasket inside the metal frame. No way to put a wire through the metal frame.
Nice, clean installation.
Later,
Mike L
After you get your slider installed, be careful for the first 1-2 days. The 2 part adhesive they use to mount the window takes 48 hours to setup. Before that, you could drive down the freeway and have the window come out and land in the bed.
You also have to avoid pressure washes, slamming the door with the windows closed, etc.
But, I think you'll like the window.
Mike L
Truck (full tanks) - 4400
Truck and camper (dry but with gear)- 6320
Truck, camper, boat - 8380
By the time I add people, dogs, boat fuel, water, food and clothes, I am estimating GCVWR to be approx. 9500 lbs. obviously way more than my truck should be hauling. I just want to know how much over I am. As they say, "Ignorance is bliss". --Red
Make, Model, Year?
The places I'd look (besides here) are:
Dealer
Owner's manual
Shop Manual
Sales Literature
Library
Owner's of the same truck
Your weights don't look too bad. 6320 is about the rating of my 1/2 ton Silverado. And the boat trailer is only 2000 lbs. And you can carry some gear/supplies in the boat to reduce the weight on the truck.
Does your boat trailer have brakes?
Mike L
Unfortunately, due to the age, factory supplied figures are hard for me to find. The best I could do was to decipher the VIN to find that the GVWR is 6001-7000 lbs.
I do not have trailer brakes, but 2000lbs is the cutoff in Idaho so I am right on the edge. The decal in the glove box lists the weight capacity for a slide-in camper is 1506 lbs.
You don't sound like you are grossly overweight in any case. My 1500 has a 1350lb camper rating, 2000lb capacity, and I run right at those numbers and top out at 6500lbs. 4500lbs shipping weight.
You have upgraded the brakes and springs. The axles always have reserve capacity even when the truck is loaded to the Max GVWR. It sounds like you have been using the truck like this for awhile.
Don't worry about it, enjoy it! If you are worried about things failing because of the weight, worry more about them failing because of age.
Good Luck,
Mike L
Gary-
satch, you will never get rid of the rocking but you can reduce it. A rear stabilizer bar is absolutely the next thing you should do. In my opinion it is a mandatory item to have with a big camper. Unfortunately GM doesn't agree so we have to add our own. There has been plenty of discussion here about brands and installation tips. Mine is from Hellwig. If you are serious about adding one let me know and I'll say more. The Rancho shocks should help some since I assume they are stiffer than factory when set to the stiffest setting. But they are really to recover from a lean with less rocking whereas the bar is to prevent the lean in the first place. I'd recommend the bar first and live with it awhile before doing the shocks.
Gary, I do have the factory slider. So I'm in good shape if I lock my keys in (as long as I have a hanger). I don't have a boot but will likely buy one like Mike has. It's smaller than what I would like so I haven't ordered it yet. I mostly want to reduce the wind noise with the slider closed. The camper creates a lot of turbulence back there. Only Dusty dog rides in the back and she can't fit up on the step to hang her head out so I don't need my slider open much.
3/4 ton: 8,800 pounds
1 ton: 9,900 pounds
1 ton dually: 11,200 pounds
I think the Ford 1/2 ton GVWR is 7,800, but I'm not positive. The full weight of your boat (or any trailer you pull) doesn't count towards your GVWR. The GVWR only counts the weight of the truck, camper, gear, passengers, fuel and other things in or on the truck. The only weight you count from the boat is the tongue weight. The tongue weight for conventional towing is probably around 15% of the trailer weight, give or take a couple percent.
It looks like your boat weighs about 2,000 pounds, which probably gives it a tongue weight of about 300 pounds. If you back out the 2,000 pounds from your 9,500 total figure, that gives you 7,500. Now add back in the 300 tongue weight. That puts your gross weight around 7,800 pounds. That's pretty close to the GVWR of a 1/2 ton without modifications. It sounds to me like you're running in a good comfort zone for your rig.
By the way, for the many Chevy fans in this topic area, the latest Trailer Life Magazine has a first look at the 2001 Chevy heavy duty 1 ton with the 305hp, 525 torque Isuzu diesel and Allison tranny. The article reserves final comments until it can fully test pulling a big 5th wheel, but essentially, they said there is likely a new king of the hill, at least for now. The GVWR is also alleged to be 12,000 pounds, which is 800 pounds more than my Ford Superduty 1 ton dually, which is currently tops amongst pickups. The Chevy is sounding pretty impressive.
1. Access to/from camper to cab. Not often, but it is nice to have.
2. Ventilation when the camper is off. I really like to open that window and have the airflow through. Actually, I used to get that with the camper on until I added the boot.
The GVWR for a 1/2 ton is more like 6400lbs. Ford and Chevy used to make a 'Light' 3/4 ton or a 'Heavy' 1/2 ton that was rated at 76-7800lbs.
This weekend I will do my first fuel fill on the new 2500. I'll let you know the mileage. And on Sunday, the first oil change (at 500 miles). Then throw on the camper and leave on vacation the 3rd of June. Hmmmmm - last year on the 4th of June we entered Alaska, 7 days and 3500 miles after leaving Santa Clara.
Later,
Mike L
Thanks
Satch
Trailer boating also reviewed the 2001 Chevy HD this month and liked it. I will be test driving the 8.1L and 6.6L diesel as soon as they start hitting the lots. Thanks again.
--Red
The interesting part is that the 7,700 payload package includes bigger breaks, 4 wheel ABS, larger 7 lug 16 inch tires, beefier frame and suspension. It sounds to me like this is the former F-250 light duty they supposedly quit making last year after the first full year of the Superduty. You don't suppose Ford dressed down the F-250LD to make it look like a F-150, so they could say "most in class"? Ummmm.....
Heading down towards Homer tomorrow after work, so the truck and camper will get over 400 miles on it this weekend. The camper is locked and loaded. I've got it plugged in to insure a full charge on the battery. This is the third camping trip in the past four weekends. The plan is to get out of town every weekend through Labor Day.
The Hellwig bar is okay but the installation is a bit tight as they made the bar too small. You have to play around a bit to make it work. The important tips are to reverse the left shock lower mounting bolt and to twist the bar on the axle a little. Also make sure the end link mounts rotate front to rear. This will make more sense once you see the thing. This is probably the best bar for the money as it's only about $130. Hotchkiss (sp?) sells front/rear sets for like $400+. Here are a few sites
http://www.hellwigfirst.com
http://www.ipdusa.com
You can buy the Hellwig from
www.jcwhitney.com
http://www.heckethorn.com
If you really want to hear all about bars, open the archived Cabover Camper topic #891, select "see all responses," and use your browser's Edit Find function to search for "bar." That'll keep you busy for awhile. I'll send you the e-mail if you want.
Really appreciate the info.
Thanks
Ronnie
Hey, I'm jealous man! First weekend in June we leave on vacation. That is our first time out of town since out snow trip 2(with wife).
There always seems to be some reason we can't go.
Vince,
First tank - 13mpg or better. Depends on whether it was completely full or not. It went 100miles/quarter tank. Just like my 1500 with the camper on. But, it started at 'F' while the 1500 takes 100 miles to reach 'F'. I'll find out this weekend how long it takes to reach 'F'. Then change the oil, and next weekend we're gone for 3 weeks.
Later,
Mike L
HxLxW 5.8x7.05x6.7" 470CCA
$180
It fits under the fender brace easily. I had to make brackets for it. Sure it small, but our needs are limited, some lighting and the fan on the furnace.
I needed the space inside the camper. We are taking our old computer to my brother in Nebraska, so I wanted to get the battery out of there.
Mike L
I'm curious to hear what is so much different on your truck that they had to change the bar. Maybe they'll do a better job this time.
I'm amazed you found a battery that fits under the bracket. I'd like to snap a picture of it to add to my new web page. Someone sent me an e-mail asking for that old write up and since I have pictures now I used this topic to learn how to improve my web creation skills (still infantile). I'll add your battery findings.
If you look at that bracket you'll notice the firewall mount is to some rather flimsy sheetmetal. Since that doesn't offer much rigidity, maybe it's there for crash performance. In that case the battery may serve a similar function so the bracket is not necessary. What do you think?
Silverado Auxiliary Battery Installation Page:
http://members.home.net/vofm/battery.html
http://www.odysseybatteries.com/home.htm
I got the PC925 battery. It fits easily under the brace (5.0" tall at that point). I compared batteries at the auto parts store - 470cca is equal to a full size battery with a 24-36 month warranty. Typical 72 month warranty batttery was 600cca, but they are not deep cycle batteries and this on is rated for 400 deep cycles.
If I have the time I will take a couple of digital pictures and email them to you. OHHH---that might be difficult, I boxed up my computer already. Maybe I can use the camera at work at lunch time.
On the 2nd tank it looks like I'm getting 50 miles more to every mark on the gauge. I should fill it up later this week since we leave on Saturday and I like to leave with a full tank.
With the camper on, the truck lists slightly to the drivers side. Most of the weighty stuff (refrig, water heater, water pump, furnace) is on that side. I ordered the air lifts for it. I also want to use them to help level the truck at campsites. As long as the back is down, I can raise it a couple of inches with the air lifts.
The truck runs better with the camper on. The granny low that seemed too low seems perfect, the shocks that seemed almost too harsh seem great. Limited sway from the camper (less than the 1500 with the sway bar). Plus, I'm really starting to like the color.
Later,
Mike L
1/2 price - $65 + shipping (it is heavy, shipping will be a bunch; local is better)
Mike L
Make Offer.
Mike L
Did you order the heavy or light duty bags? Did you order them from Jegs?
My dad may be interested in the battery. I'm not sure since he needs two he may want both new. But if the price is right...
I have a small air compressor that I used with the other air lifts. Its noisy, but it works to level the camper.
I got the heavy duty bags from Camper World. With the 10% discount and $1 shipping it was about the same. I will probably add the in cab dual control system later.
The battery is sitting on my workbench now. It is one year old, and has had 1 deep cycle discharge when I left the refrig on 12V for too long. Make me an offer I would hate to have to throw it away.
Mike L
Mike L
No luck on the digital photo yet.
Mike L
http://members.home.net/vofm/bar.html
http://members.home.net/vofm/tv.jpg
As it turned out, there were actually multiple issues. First, some bozo didn't tighten down the terminals when installing the new battery. A couple of jaunts down three miles of rough dirt road back to the fishing hole further loosened the already loose cables to battery. Oh yeah, I guess I was that bozo. Anyway, that may have prevented a charge to the battery from the generator or the truck battery and it may have also been what caused the second problem.
The second problem was that I was able to crank my generator from the button inside the camper, but the generator did not get AC power to the camper. The frig didn't flip over to AC and the microwave and AC would not work.....AND, the generator would not charge the battery. I flipped all the breakers in the camper, but there was a separate breaker outside on the generator itself that flipped itself off, maybe because it got a power surge of some kind because of the loose wires on the battery. The third problem (the range fan and light) was a fuse.
So, the resolution to all problems cost less than $1.....and one rather cool night without a furnace. Fortunately, I have plenty of blankets and sleeping bags for just such a situation. Live and learn. It won't be the last time that a simple solution takes me awhile to figure out and it certainly won't be the last time that I am the cause the problem. This past weekend everything worked flawlessly again.
Heading south to Ninilchik to look for Kings this weekend. Went north to Willow last weekend, but the Kings still were not there. Went south Memorial weekend, but very few Kings were in the rivers, although some of the trollers in the saltwater were catching them.
First tank= 13.3mpg'
2nd tank = 15.1 mpg!
3rd tank = 14.3 mpg
4th tank = 14.1 mpg
5th tank = 14.8 mpg
Much better than I expected, only about 1mpg less than my 4.8L 5spd 99 Silverado with the same pop up camper.
I was expecting 12mpg so I am very happy with 14.5 average.
More to report when I get back to work and can use a real computer instead of this laptop.
Mike L.
Used tow/haul and 3rd gear and it went great. And 10 mpg. I'm happy.
Went to the parks boat launch, my choc.lab got out, saw a group of geese and took off at 120 mph after them! Problem was when they all went down the dock and they got to the end of it,they took off and he got a suprize bath. That was a Kodak moment.
Next trip is just the boat to Canada and then the camper to the inside of the Pocono race track. They even have shower's in there. Should be a great view from on top of the camper!
Gary-
We were passing through there on Sat the 3rd. Good eye!!
I have the Hellwig bar I took off my 1500, and Vince said it is the same bar for the 2500s. I don't need it on the 2500, so it is available for 1/2 price if you want it.
But, I won't be back until the weekend of the 24th/25th.
I don't know when I will get a phone hookup to log in again.
Mike L
I had a vibration and stopped at a local Iowa dealer and got all 4 wheels rebalanced. It seems ok now.
Mike L.
Mike your mileage is very good. I get about that with no load. By the way, I have a magazine article I want you to read for a possible trip idea. It's about a trip to the north edge of the Grand Canyon via dirt. Ask me about it when you return.
Brutus, oops. Things work better when correctly installed don't they?
rick63, is that a hardside or popup camper? Have you been reading here about air bags so you know all you need to know?
Its is a hard side, I looked at one or two soft sides but thought they were makeshift at best, beside they weighed in as much as or more than the hard side model I got. All that mechanical crap for raising and lowering weighs a fair amount I would imagine. I am encouraged by what I read here regarding air bags, although, one place I called said they did not have air bags that would fit the Dakota. Not sure if they were referring to clearance between the side of the frame and the tires or between the axle and the frame, I have around 6 or 7 inches between the frame and axle. The local Les Schwab dealer did not blink when I told him my truck type so I will be heading there in the next week or two.
Camping was successful and a lot of fun, we ended up going self contained by accident but everything worked per design so that was good.
Give my regards to Kuala Lumpur and be sure to check out the Petronas Towers, have you been to Malaysia before ???