My first slide in camper any advice on it, or good campgrounds around philly area?

[rsh]

I recently won this 1980 hornet camper on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...em=230122806009[/url]
I have a 2004 ford f250 2wd extended cab with a v10 and 4.30 rear with 32,000 miles. It has a 8800 lb grvw and weighs around 6000lb with two passengers and 1/2 tank of gas. I am not sure of the weight of the camper. i figure it is at least 2000lb. What would you reccomend to upgrade to make it a safer ride. Tires, shocks, suspension? I can legally haul 2960 lbs according to ford specs. I ordered the torklift camper hold downs and fastgun turnbuckle system to attach the camper to the frame. I have never owned a camper before. I will problably use 10 to 15 times a year hauling it no more than two hundred miles from home. Any suggestions or advice would be great! Also do you think it would be advisable to make a long haul with the camper say 2000 miles from philly to glacier national park in montanna? Any good campgrounds advice for rv camping would be nice! I don't know why but the link above is not working properly ill post pictures when i go to pay for it on tuesday and make sure i have the proper connections and cab heigth to drop it in and roll without any problems. its item number 230122806009 on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIte...=230122806009&rd=1,1

[rsh]

I recently won this 1980 hornet camper on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...em=230122806009[/url]
I have a 2004 ford f250 2wd extended cab with a v10 and 4.30 rear with 32,000 miles. It has a 8800 lb grvw and weighs around 6000lb with two passengers and 1/2 tank of gas. I am not sure of the weight of the camper. i figure it is at least 2000lb. What would you reccomend to upgrade to make it a safer ride. Tires, shocks, suspension? I can legally haul 2960 lbs according to ford specs. I ordered the torklift camper hold downs and fastgun turnbuckle system to attach the camper to the frame. I have never owned a camper before. I will problably use 10 to 15 times a year hauling it no more than two hundred miles from home. Any suggestions or advice would be great! Also do you think it would be advisable to make a long haul with the camper say 2000 miles from philly to glacier national park in montanna? Any good campgrounds advice for rv camping would be nice! I don't know why but the link above is not working properly ill post pictures when i go to pay for it on tuesday and make sure i have the proper connections and cab heigth to drop it in and roll without any problems. its item number 230122806009 on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIte...=230122806009&rd=1,1

[CD]

rsh
In my opinion that is a lot of camper for a single wheel PU. On a trip we made to Az. I had chance to drive onto a DOT scales in Or. on the way home. I was shocked. I was 1000lbs overloaded. I admit I had extra weight on but I didn't think it was that much. I have 1ton dually and an 8 1/2' camper that has a tag on it that says it weighs 2100 empty. I'm sure a 11' would weigh more. I know a lot of people do it but I question how well.
Also, check your state requirements about a title. Wash. requires a title and the camper is licensed.

[Hemi]

Rsh, make sure that the camper fits your bed...in other words if the camper is designed for a long bed your truck needs to be a long bed. I am guessing that these older campers were designed for long bed because then most trucks were long bed.

Make sure that you have very strong eye bolts on your camper. The eye bolts need to tied to the frame of your camper. The torklift connects to these eye bolts.

You are wise to make many short trips before you make a long trip (to MT).....

I agree with Cliff that single rear wheel might not be adequate; I have a truck camper which I use on f350 dually....

Good luck, Hemi

[Don and Sarah]

I would suggest you find a scale either a moving van company, DOT, or gravel yard and weight the truck and camper together. This will tell you just what you are dealing with and can help you decide on or if you need any upgrades. My guess would be tires for sure, good shocks, and sway bar. With the known weight you can pick the tires out to carry what you weigh. The rest is for handling. Some like air bags some don't, some like timbrens some don't, extra springs, or upgraded springs. You will have to drive the truck and see how things feel and try different options untill your are comfortable with it. Then once you have it figured out go enjoy it.

[rsh]

Thanks for the advice, I just ordered firestone ride rite air bags to help level out the load. I already have "e" tires. I am going to wait to buy shocks and a sway bar till i see how the truck reacts to the camper. At this point i am going to spend more on the parts to safely carry the camper then I did on the camper itself. In retrospect I problably should have purchased a slide in based on the weight. That is something I did not even give any consideration to before I purchased the camper. It was more about the interior setup of the camper that influenced my decision to buy and one too many mosiquito bites and rainy days while tent camping. I am starting to think I may have to sell this camper due to weight restrictions of my truck. I just hope this camper dosen't weigh more than a 2200 lbs or I will definately be overloaded with supplies and equipment. I will let you all know how things turn out with the camper. Hey at least I got an 8ft bed in the truck and if worse comes to worse I will just have to cut my losses sell it for what I can and buy a camper to fit the limitations of my truck. At this point with $950 invested to put a slide in camper in my truck there is no turning back!
Man, I should have bought a boat
Live and learn thats what its all about anyhow!