t/c on single rear wheel truck?

[jeremy33]

anyone have a truck camper on a single rear wheel truck? my camper on my f350 barly moves the rear suspension but seems to sway alot driving down the road. not dangerious or anything just a wierd feeling driving the truck now. Is this normal? anyway of stoping this swaying motion? any help or sugestions would really help

 

[Guest]

Hi Jeremy,<br />I have a FourWheel camper on a B4000 Mazda truck...We found that by using a tire with a heavier sidewall like BFGs eliminated a lot off our sway.<br /><br />Bri<br /><br /><br />

 

[blkjak]

my opinion; i found that adding air bags to rear axle helped wind load .... blkjak<br /><br />

 

[Bucket Boy]

Airbags!

 

[jeremy33]

ok thxs guys i was also thinking airbags. i thought for sure that a 1 ton truck would handle even the largest campers but i guess i was wrong. oh well time to order airbags i guess

 

[blkjak]

sounds like your tires are flexing&nbsp;a dually would help for two reason, 4 tires instead of 2, and the increase in track width gives a more stable base to the rig, you may want to trade up to a daully&nbsp;....&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;blkjak&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

 

[blkjak]

<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.wellsdesigned.natcoa.net/TruckCampersInformation.htm">http://www.wellsdesigned.natcoa.net/TruckCampersInformation.htm</a><br /><br />Truck Campers- Suspension Upgrades</span></strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"><br />O.K., you&rsquo;re human. You want more camper than your truck&rsquo;s GVWR says it can handle, and you can&rsquo;t afford to replace your truck with a new one. What have other owners done? What they have done is like the tire example; they have taken steps to modify their trucks to handle the extra weight better. I am not advocating you overload your truck. I am simply relaying the same information available in countless threads on this forum.<br /><br />After making sure you have tires that can handle the load, you need to help the factory-equipped springs. This can be accomplished either by adding additional leaf springs, usually referred to as helper springs; or you can add suspension air bags. Do NOT confuse suspension air bags with air shocks. Suspension air bags are connected between the truck frame and the truck axle directly. Air shocks are connected between the frame and the axle by a small pin that cannot carry the additional weight of a camper. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"><br />The advantage of helper springs is that they require no maintenance. Air bags adjust to the load by the amount of air pressure inside. This air pressure can be adjusted depending on your load conditions, and when the camper is off the truck, all of the air can be emptied to restore your ride to a softer condition. With either the helper springs or the air bags, you need to buy a product that is rated for the weight of your loaded axle (see Truck Campers- Axle Weights). <br /><br />The shocks that came with your truck will undoubtedly not be up to the task of carrying a camper, overloaded or not. You will want to upgrade. There are two main approaches for shock absorber upgrades. Self-adjusting shocks change their dampening effect based on how much force is asserted every time they&rsquo;re depressed. The other option is manually adjusted shock absorber where you change the shocks setting depending on the weight you put in your truck. The advantages of self-adjusting shocks are obvious, but the disadvantage is you cannot change them if you find they are not quite working well in the driving condition you experience. The advantage of the adjustable shock is that you can find the setting that works best for you; the disadvantage is that they are either adjusted at the shock itself, or require the installation of an expensive in cab adjusting system.<br /><br />You may find that your truck sways from side to side too much with a camper on. All campers will make most trucks sway more than the truck does unloaded, but if the sway is excessive, you probably do not have an anti sway bar. This is a bar that connects to the axle near each tire and connects to the frame. When an extra load is applied to one tire, the twisting force in the anti sway bar pulls that load up and puts some force on the opposite tire. Aftermarket sway bars are available for most makes and models of trucks that did not come with them.<br /><br />blkjak ....</span></p>

 

[Willy]

My '90 F-250 (regular cab) 4x4 has the rear end and leafs from an F-250 XLT extended cab.. along with the front&amp; rear sway bars. The stiffer suspension&nbsp; makes a big difference and the sway bars seem to really keep the truck upright when going 'round corners.

 

[jeremy33]

well&nbsp; the camper isnt a big camper in fact it dosent even squat the truck down enough to even hit the helper springs. and theres no chance im upgrading to a dually lol. i paid cash for this truck and im not gettting into another payment. it dosent sway that bad now that im getting used to driving it. tho air springs would make it drive like it dose unloaded. the camper is old like 70's or early 80's and very tall so i think thats the main draw back. im thinking ill make a smaller camper maybe without a cab over. im only 35 and in good shape i dont need much room anyways just a place to sleep mainly. But thank you everyone for all your awnsers and possable solutions it helps alot to have a group like this to bounce ideas off

 

[Telcobilly]

I have used SuperSprings on my last two Tacoma's a 2004 and 2008 with my cabover utility shell. Both trucks were riding low in the back until the springs went in. They ride well with weight and are affordable. Depending on the application they vary in price from $250-$400. Very simple, nothing to break or leak.

www.supersprings.com

 

[Telcobilly]

DUPLICATE POST

 

[Seraphim]

I'm thinking the OP is talking about sway, which I'm not sure air bags or springs will help. Sway bar? Haven't put one on my truck, but it helped my Camaro lol.

Got pictures of you rig?

 

[Willy]

&nbsp;Like I said earlier, a sway bar will tend to keep ya upright. Rather than use the bolt-on leafs, I've used bolt-on coils. Common as hen's teeth up here in Canada, but I've managed to find some at Princess Auto in the surplus section. nice thing about them is that they don't stress your main springs and, if you DO snap a main, they'll still work. ..Willy.

 

[Kevin H]

I agree that the OP appears to be talking about sway. &nbsp;I put air bags on my truck and they did nothing for sway. &nbsp;They do help level. &nbsp;I am looking into a Hellwig Anti-sway bay.<br><br>If you do put air bags on, I strongly suggest you put in separate lines for each bag. &nbsp;A single line will transfer air from one side to the other during sway episodes and perhaps actually contribute to the swaying rather than help mitigate it.<br><br>Also, consider new shocks.<br><br>Good Luck and Happy Trails!!<br><br>-- &nbsp;Kevin

 

[highdesertranger]

what load range are your tires.&nbsp; should be e rated.&nbsp; highdesertranger

 

[Guest]

I used to have a slide in for my f250 . My truck has no box just a flat deck so it sits higher. When I loaded the camper in there was a noticeable sway as the vehicle is top heavy with the camper in. Never had any problems with it. Just takes a little getting used to. I would put a good set of shocks to dampen the sway a bit. I used to take it off road when I used to take my quad in the foot hills. I would not worry about it you will get the fell of it. Enjoy it. I did.