Upgrades to my truck for hauling a camper.

orangeTJ

Explorer
Here's a quick video I did showing the upgrades I did to haul my Arctic Fox 911 truck camper on my 2009 Silverado 3500HD Dually.

I wish I would have done the Torklift Stableloads BEFORE doing airbags, they help more than airbags.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8d-0Eugrw4

Mods include:

PacBrake airbags
Airlift compressor and wireless controller
Rancho RX9000X shocks

I always tow a trailer, so I added a Torklift SuperHitch and their Supertruss extension. The extension is needed because the camper hangs out the back of the truck bed.
 
You can drop some serious coin on your truck to haul a T/C. Looks like you should be under GVWR, whereas I was way over, which I think is typical in T/C land. I think the stableloads increase stiffness by getting that overload engaged, but the bags seemed to help my height.

I did (In order) Prodigy Brake Controller, Super springs, Hellwig sway bar, Rancho 9000 shocks, Torklift Superhitch (use a 48" extension), Torklift stableloads, and lastly airbags! But I am running a single rr wheel instead of a dually. The sway bar made quite a difference, but you may not need it with the dually. I am just shy of 200k on the truck and it tows something about everyday. I have always gone with the 3,100# Michelin tires and have never had a tire problem. No performance chip, etc. so I am on transmission #1, but we change the fluid every 30K and have a temp gauge to keep it cool. My next upgrade should be a PacBrake. I have gone through 5 or 6 sets of brakes (running slotted rotors), so I probably could have paid for one by now. Those spendy new trucks come with a brake controller and the engine brake standard.
 

orangeTJ

Explorer
Those spendy new trucks come with a brake controller and the engine brake standard.

Mine has the ITBC and it's far superior to an add-on controller. It operates the trailer brakes in complete unison with the truck brakes. No herky-jerky action like with some add-on controllers.

I also forgot to mention that I replaced the OEM trans cooler with a bigger cooler from Inglewood Transmissions, back when that shop what the only place you could get an HD trans cooler for the Allison transmission in a GM truck, which was a drop in replacement.
 
Built in trailer brakes

I have a built in with my company truck, a 2013 F150 2wd. I agree with you on those on how smooth they are. I really like the brake controller, but the truck is a bit scary (it sways a bit over 60 mph) with a reasonable heavily loaded (5-7 k) trailer. The dash computer tracks how many towing miles the truck has, and I have about 16k towing on the 90K miles, so when I am due for a new truck, I am going to try to convince my VP to allow me an exemption for a 3/4 ton. They lease the trucks for 125k miles, so I should get a new 2019?

You can have any color you want (as long as it is white) and there is no such thing as a 4 wheel drive... The little 150 gets a workout now and then. This past week, I had to get two pallets of heavy concrete chemicals and when they forked them on, she went waaay down, so I just took side streets and with Portland's continuous gridlock, you can't go very fast on I-5 anyway, so that made it much safer when I crossed the Columbia...

Before we got the lease rigs, you could run your personal, so my Dodge did all that. Trailer? What trailer?:smiley_drive:
 

Regcabguy

Oil eater.
SRW's and cabovers are sketchy in emergency collision avoidance situations.
We were heading south I-15 with a super stiff sidewind. The srw trucks with cabovers were in the right lane at 45 mpg or so with flashers on.
I had a deathgrip with my popup but was able to go the speed limit.
I looked in the mirrors and a dually ripped past me carrying a huge cabover. Rock solid.
 
RegCab, are you running a swaybar? The big Hellwig made a large difference in stability and minimized the 'rocking ocean' effect. "SRW's and cabovers are sketchy in emergency collision avoidance situations." Yes, those of us with Truck campers always have to be in 'loaded truck mode; keeping an eye out for idiots that may require us to hit the brakes, or avoid their sorry butts.
.
 

Regcabguy

Oil eater.
RegCab, are you running a swaybar? The big Hellwig made a large difference in stability and minimized the 'rocking ocean' effect. "SRW's and cabovers are sketchy in emergency collision avoidance situations." Yes, those of us with Truck campers always have to be in 'loaded truck mode; keeping an eye out for idiots that may require us to hit the brakes, or avoid their sorry butts.
.

Yes,I have the standard one. Also Thuren's custom valved King 2.5's and Carli's long travel airbags.
 

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