Here's yet another weighty question!

[philippo]

We're seriously considering a new Arctic Fox 1150 Dry Bath Camper but to do so we'll need to upgrade our truck.

Today we looked at & drove a nice 2018 Silverado 3500 HD Crew Cab Long Box 4WD SRW.
It's a bit of a find (after searching long and hard), the price seems good and it has only 12,501 miles on it.

Could this truck be made to be able to handle this camper? If so, how? I know the 1150 is heavy and might be pushing the edge but that doesn't bother me as long as it is safe...

The weight specs are :
GVWR 11000 lbs
GAWR FRONT. 4800 lbs
GAWR REAR. 7050 lbs

The truck itself has a GWV of 4994 lbs

I also know while the 1150 has a dry weight of about 3500 lbs, the "wet weight" could quite easily end up pushing 5150 lbs.

I thought I might just tap into the collective knowledge of these who have already played with beefing up shocks & springs, installing air bags, heavier rated tires, and any other tricks that might make this work...

Thanks for any input,
Philip

[Woo10-210]

What does the yellow sticker in the door jamb state for the actual available payload for that particular truck as optioned? Add the wet (loaded) weight of the camper plus your passengers and anything else in the cab and it shouldn't exceed the payload on the sticker.
I once had large slide-in camper that I used on two separate F350's of the same model year; one was SRW and the other a DRW. It was night and day regarding stability, especially with side winds.

[laj]

the dry weight of the 1150 is closer to 4200lbs. that does not include: batteries, water, propane, a/c, solar, gen, tv, any personal items, or other opts. from a/f. your ready to camp weight will be closer to 6000lbs. now i’m not of the brotherhood of weight police, but that camper will put you over the two weight limits i do watch; raw, and tire. now if you will be towing anything it just goes farther south.
is the p/u gas or diesel? nice camper, just huge. good luck with your endeavor.

[philippo]

Thanks for the quick replies!

Here are pics of the two stickers

[450Donn]

There is absolute nothing you can do to alter the MFG weight sticker. That was placed on the vehicle by the mfg as a certification to the feds that the vehicle will perforn safely up to the weight as posted on the sricker. Can you alter the vehicle? Sure, 19 inch wheels, new springs, load the camper and go. There are however a few places in North America that if you travel there and IF you get stopped and weight checked besides a ticket you will be parked umtil you can get under the MFG weight sticker.

[philippo]

So I take it the MFG weight sticker is the white one, with the numbers (GVWR, GAWR, etc) that will also be indelibly printed on the registration for all these who might "ask" to see same...and the yellow sticker refers to the maximum weight that the tires currently installed on that vehicle can handle?

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by 450Donn

There is absolute nothing you can do to alter the MFG weight sticker. That was placed on the vehicle by the mfg as a certification to the feds that the vehicle will perforn safely up to the weight as posted on the sricker. Can you alter the vehicle? Sure, 19 inch wheels, new springs, load the camper and go. There are however a few places in North America that if you travel there and IF you get stopped and weight checked besides a ticket you will be parked umtil you can get under the MFG weight sticker.

Got a link...any link to which states?




OP
Axle weight is gonna be the real issue

[Mr_Fixit]

Since discussions of "legal weight" and enforcement come up across the Internet, has anyone ever bothered to call the agency in their own state which governs the issue of noncommercial weight limitations and enforcement? Something from the horse's mouth so to speak seems like it may be helpful.

[Electrojake]

Originally Posted by 450Donn

There is absolute nothing you can do to alter the MFG weight sticker. That was placed on the vehicle by the mfg as a certification to the feds that the vehicle will perform safely up to the weight as posted on the sticker.

Can you alter the vehicle? Sure, 19 inch wheels, new springs, load the camper and go.
There are however a few places in North America that if you travel there and IF you get stopped and weight checked besides a ticket you will be parked until you can get under the MFG weight sticker.

Thank you 450Donn for wading into controversial waters here.
Suggesting that its unwise to blow past a vehicle's posted weight ratings on a RV forum is always a dangerous place to put yourself in.

And to jump into this myself I'll answer the question that was posed to you...

The place these posted weight ratings would be enforced is in a court of law.
Be involved in a catastrophic MVA involving loss of life or limb and you'd be surprised what 'facts' will be brought to bear by insurance investigators and attorneys.

My truck's GVWR is 11,700# and I hit the scales at 12,200# when loaded with full gear & water. I know it's wrong, and I know that I risk losing everything I've ever attained in my life if fate goes against me...
But at least I'll admit its wrong.

IMHO if you can stay under your posted GVWR with food & gear (but without water) you have a workable situation.
*RV payload threads are wonderful!
-Ej-

[Persistent]

I apologize for high jacking the thread, but I have a related question.
I expected to see a combined weight spec for both TV and TT on the tow vehicle sticker. I don't see it.
Is 11000# the combined maximum for both vehicles? Or, is the 11000# weight of TV and TV cargo?

[Persistent]

My bad! the Arctic Fox 1150 is a truck camper, not a TT. Please disregard.

[Mr_Fixit]

Originally Posted by Electrojake

Thank you 450Donn for wading into controversial waters here.
Suggesting that its unwise to blow past a vehicle's posted weight ratings on a RV forum is always a dangerous place to put yourself in.

And to jump into this myself I'll answer the question that was posed to you...

The place these posted weight ratings would be enforced is in a court of law.
Be involved in a catastrophic MVA involving loss of life or limb and you'd be surprised what 'facts' will be brought to bear by insurance investigators and attorneys.

My truck's GVWR is 11,700# and I hit the scales at 12,200# when loaded with full gear & water. I know it's wrong, and I know that I risk losing everything I've ever attained in my life if fate goes against me...
But at least I'll admit its wrong.

IMHO if you can stay under your posted GVWR with food & gear (but without water) you have a workable situation.
*RV payload threads are wonderful!
-Ej-

Enforced provided there is a law on the books right?

And you are right, in a civil suit all factors will be brought to bear. :(

[Electrojake]

To philippo, the OP: We're Off topic 'yes' but this payload stuff is irresistible.

I have a RAM 3500 with a payload of 3705, (I wish my SRW truck had your Chevy's impressive 3950 Lb GVWR).

Anyhow...
I haul a Northstar Arrow-U camper with a dry weight of 2910#
It hits the scales at 3800# when loaded to the max. Typically I can get that number down to 3600# without much fuss.

My SRW 3500 truck is registered at 12,300 Lb and I hit the CAT Scales at 12,280 Lb. when fully loaded. (legal right?)

My OEM alloy rims (wheels) are rated at 3500# each which gives me a max rear axle capacity of 7000 Lb. Fully loaded I run the rear axle at 7160 Lb.
(not good, but I seldom run maxed out anyhow)

So philippo,
Check out this link. . .
Arctic Fox 1150 dry bath weights

It would seem that with a suggested wet weight of 5129 pounds I'd say it would be a bit much for any SRW truck.

Regards,
-Jake-

[Electrojake]

Originally Posted by Mr_Fixit

Enforced provided there is a law on the books right?
And you are right, in a civil suit all factors will be brought to bear. :(

I have an idea Mr_Fixit,

I should install an emergency 'dump-valve' so if there is an air-bag deployment all my holding tanks instantly dump!

That would certainly put me under GVWR at the moment of impact.
Happy Camping,
-Jake-