F250 - Hauling a Camper and Towing a Boat?

[jjdavis2222]

Hey all,

     I am in the market for a truck camper. I have a F250 and tow a 19' aluminium boat. (guessing around 3000lbs) I'm a little worried about adding camper to the mix. Some people I talk to say it'll be fine and others say I would be pushing it. Just curious if anyone else on here currently has a camper on an F250 and also tows a boat. If so what model camper, boat weight and how does it handle? Any pics of your set up? Thanks for any input!

Also looking for a camper if you got one to sell. Light weight for a 6.5 short bed. Something like a Lance 825.

[Mudman]

Should be fine.  I had 8ft camper on my f350 and towed and it was fine.  Depending on weight of camper and tongue airbags may be needed.

[Miles]

The 350 can handle a larger pay load then a 250.  You need to research hitch weight, axle weight ratings, and gvwr for the truck.  Your fine on the towing weight.  It's the weight being put "on" the truck that I would be worried about.

[White Pass Outfitters]

I have a 10' 11" lance camper and a 18' alumaweld and I pull it with a dodge 2500 I did put air bags on it. 80 mph over the pass no problem.

[birddogdad]

it is a ford.. just sayin...     

you can shore up your suspension if needed, airbags ect. Any 250 can hack towing unless it tired and old. Trailers are not that bad, boats are not either, till you get to a seagoing home and a 3 axle trailer~!

[jpharcher]

What powertrain are we talking?
I agree that you will want to invest in some air bags and possibly refreshing the rear springs if they are sagging at all.
I had a place in Tacoma replace my spring packs on the rear and added a 6th leaf for my 350 with 7.3 and my Arctic fox 992 barely squats the truck.
Add the wife's horse trailer with animals around 5500 lbs and had no problems.

[jackelope]

What year is the truck and what engine/powertrain?
How much does the camper weigh? You could be pushing 4k pounds with a camper pretty easy.
How much does the boat weigh?
There's not really an accurate way to answer the questions without having the specifics.

[Miles]

What year is the truck and what engine/powertrain?
There's not really an accurate way to answer the questions without having the specifics.

 

2wd/4wd, quad cab vs extended cab or single cab,  long bed/short bed all come into play when figuring the numbers.  When we bought our fifth wheel, I spent quite a while researching numbers.  One thing I learned is there are people out there who are severely overloaded.  Lol.  Air bags aren't necessarily the best thing..

[gottabite]

I got a 06 Dodge 2500 w/ 5.9 Cummins, 6 speed manual, short bed w/ airbags, Lance 861 camper, w/ all Torklift tie down and superhitch, towing a 21 ft. hard top Thunder jet Luxor offshore. Truck handles it well just fine remember that the truck may be able to pull it just fine but you still need to stop so don't over look that too. Be careful towing or hauling with a Ford, just saying... I may be interested in selling our truck camper PM me if interested, its a sweet setup and in great shape. Was going to post on here soon as the snow is gone at my house.

[syoungs]

year is important in this equation as well. the newer trucks, 05+ started seeing a pretty substantial increase in payload vs the older ones.

and f250 and f350 use the same components, with different spring packs, and sometimes rear springs, I always tried to adhere to the listed limits of a f350 when I had mine, and always felt safe. it really depends on how big of a camper you go with, and how heavy it is. the newer hard sides are awfully heavy, and Id venture 50% of the trucks I see going down the road are way over the listed capacity, (8800 gvw for a f250 pre 05)

[jjdavis2222]

 Unfortunately I have the 5.4L gas engine. Which according to Ford Specs can haul more cargo weight compared to the diesel 6.4L. (heavy engine)

If I am understanding my numbers correctly I would be over the total suggested cargo weight.

Heres what I got... I think. This is all fairly new to me.

2009 F250 5.4L. (only 44,000 miles)

GVWR = 9400
Cargo Weight = 2021

Lets say the boat weighs around 3000lbs. (I need to get it weighed) 19' aluminium with 150 outboard and 9hp kicker.

So lets take the lower end of tongue weight of 10% = 300lbs

Take that away from the cargo weight and that only leaves me 1721 for all cargo.

One of the lightest campers I can find is a lance 825 and the dry weight is 1832. (2150 Wet)

So that alone would put me at 2132lbs. Now add fuel, water, gear, a wife and two toddlers. I think they say add 1000lbs for this stuff. So we are looking at 3132 ish.

So even if I didn't have the boat I would be over. The funny thing about the lance 825 (and other camper brands lightweights)  is they advertise it for 1/2 ton trucks like the F150/1500. And the ford specs don't support that weight. So it appears to me that the camper brands don't really go off of the truck specs.

I am starting to ramble...

Anyways, am I understanding all of this correctly? And is it acceptable or regularly done to go above the vehicles cargo weight with in reason?

I also know I will be crawling over the pass with the 5.4L.

[jackelope]

https://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/towingguides/09RVTTguide.pdf

[jjdavis2222]

https://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/towingguides/09RVTTguide.pdf

Yep. That's where I got my numbers. Am I understanding it all?

Thanks

[Miles]

You are understanding it...  it's amazing how easy it is to go over, huh?    Now think about this the next time you see a 2500 hauling a 3 axle 21,000 lb toy hauler.  If you get a chance to speak to someone doing this you'll hear about air bags within the first five minutes.  Like that's the magical cure all for being extremely overweight.

We had to rule out multiple fifth wheel rv's because of weight alone.  Most of the time it was the hitch/pin weight that got us. 

[Skillet]

Technically, I'd say you are spot on.  Practically, however, I would have absolutely no problem hauling the weight of that 825 and towing your boat if I were you.  Unless things changed between when I bought my 06 and your 09, you have exactly the same brakes, chsssis and suspension (minus a 4" block) as an SRW diesel F350.  As mentioned before, there are thousands of examples on the road doing exactly what you are looking to do.

Put 3000# of weight in the bed and go tow your boat. See how it feels.  Imagine more windage, and a higher center of gravity.  If comfortable, pull the trigger. If you feel like you need more stability, you really should be looking for a dually.

I think you'll be just fine, tho.