eye opener about gvwr

This is where the Ranger super duty would come into play.
Or, if your cheep like me you look for an old F-150 7700 Series. ( 7700lbs. / 3492kg. GVWR. ) I weighed it with the bed off at about 4600lbs. This give me over 3,000lbs. for the camper build, passenger, & cargo. ( Shown with Sunrader T/C flatbed attached to Ford Frame. ) No sag, handles great at high speeds...

You also get the benefit of not dealing with today's issues with price and quality! ( Does anyone remember when Ford ad's stated that quality was Job One? ) Not even 2 or 3 today. IMO...


If your staying in the USA / Canada it may be easier to build on a 3/4 or 1 ton truck, however if you plan to drive south of the border or outside of N. America staying at 3500kg or less GVWR will allow you drive on lesser roads and avoid higher tolls. ( Read up on T/C being turned away from entering Mexico driving 3/4 ton pickups... )

Items like hd springs, air bags, anti sway bars, E range tires, etc. may help, but you have to weigh the finished project to know what you are dealing with.

Test it before loading your family in. Take it out to a deserted road and drive it hard. Sharp turns, breaking, off camber. Better to find out before your on the interstate and a deer crosses your path...

It's time to travel. Be safe, not scared.
 

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LRNAD90

Adventurer
Or, if your cheep like me you look for an old F-150 7700 Series. ( 7700lbs. / 3492kg. GVWR. ) I weighed it with the bed off at about 4600lbs. This give me over 3,000lbs. for the camper build, passenger, & cargo. ( Shown with Sunrader T/C flatbed attached to Ford Frame. ) No sag, handles great at high speeds...

You also get the benefit of not dealing with today's issues with price and quality! ( Does anyone remember when Ford ad's stated that quality was Job One? ) Not even 2 or 3 today. IMO...

Just be careful you don't have an accident in one of those old Ford Pickups, cause safety was like Job 4,987 back then. Can only imagine what adding 3,000lbs to that momentum would do..

22.jpg

 

NevadaLover

Forking Icehole
Just be careful you don't have an accident in one of those old Ford Pickups, cause safety was like Job 4,987 back then. Can only imagine what adding 3,000lbs to that momentum would do..

View attachment 897024


I guess I just do not have the gene that worries about such things, it would never even cross my mind to be afraid of "old" vehicles with no airbags, crumple zones or crash ratings.
 
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jadmt

ignore button user
buddy just stopped by with his new 2025 Ram 3500 cummins....holy cowabunga did that thing ride nice....I checked the door sticker for payload and just under 3900lbs...
 

NevadaLover

Forking Icehole
In our local news, famous picker Mike Wolfe wrecked his vintage Porsche, resulting in serious injuries to his girl friend who hit the windshield.

That sucks, I hope she pulls thru with no lasting problems.

Must be proof that newer vehicles are much better and safer than "vintage" vehicles, because we all know that NO one gets injured or dies in a "modern" vehicle.... :rolleyes:
 

TwinStick

Explorer
Not only all that, many States are assigning blame now. I worked with someone who was doing nothing wrong, was stationary when rear ended, at a red light and he still got assigned 20% blame, because of a stupid technicality. He had a trailer hitch in the receiver and wasn't towing at the time of accident.

Different States have different rules. Our truck has a 1250 # capacity. So, if you put 4 big people in it, you are already at max load. Also, some states will assign blame, based if you are 1 # over weight of CGVWR.

Unfortunately, many people find these things out after it's too late. Especially RV'ers. Money money money, others try to get your money anyway they can. Lol
 

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
4 pages of comments and i didn't see the word "insurance" once. Having spent time in that industry, they employ their own engineers and experts who do look at accidents where big claims or fatalities occur. If they can think an accident was caused by an over weight/overloaded vehicle, they'll deny the claim and it would be pretty tough to get them to pay.

Several states, including California, are starting to use portable scales on pickups with truck campers if they appear to have the rear sag. I went thru a checkpoint with mine last year and fortunately, mine was within the limits. If it's over, you have to fix it before you can drive it. The trooper told me if it was really over weight, they'd call a tow truck and take it off the road then and there.
I’ve read that B.C. Traffic cops also may do this (was a warning in a Good Sam pub IIRC)
 

LRNAD90

Adventurer
That sucks, I hope she pulls thru with no lasting problems.

Must be proof that newer vehicles are much better and safer than "vintage" vehicles, because we all know that NO one gets injured or dies in a "modern" vehicle.... :rolleyes:

I'm no fan of modern vehicles for a multitude of reasons. But I won't kid myself that they are not far safer in an accident. I occasionally drive around in a classic Defender, I know that it is just slightly more structural sound than a beer can. I'm no fan of the new Defender, but also have no illusions that my classic Defender offers any where near the safety in a crash that the new one does.

We can choose to accept the risk for various reasons, but don't do yourself the disservice of trying to convince yourself that vintage vehicles aren't less safe, they just are...


It may do poorly in the tests where they slam into concrete things, but it will still "win" if it's colliding with smaller vehicles.

That is actually a collapsible barrier, designed to simulate the give of another automobile, concrete would be a whole different story.

"The moderate overlap barrier represents another vehicle’s front end. It’s got some elements that crush like the front end of a vehicle would crush. It is made out of an aluminum honeycomb and we tune it so that the width and the strength of that honeycomb would represent the front end of another vehicle. For this test, the vehicle interacting with this barrier represents a vehicle-to-vehicle crash of two vehicles of the same size and shape."

And to think that just because something is bigger and heavier it will do better, well, to some degree, but not necessarily as much as you may think.


Sorry this has gone off topic, it is my fault, my apologies..
 

NevadaLover

Forking Icehole
I'm no fan of modern vehicles for a multitude of reasons. But I won't kid myself that they are not far safer in an accident. I occasionally drive around in a classic Defender, I know that it is just slightly more structural sound than a beer can. I'm no fan of the new Defender, but also have no illusions that my classic Defender offers any where near the safety in a crash that the new one does.

We can choose to accept the risk for various reasons, but don't do yourself the disservice of trying to convince yourself that vintage vehicles aren't less safe, they just aren't.

I was replying to the post about "vintage" porsche and a wreck, I never said "vintage" vehicles are just as safe as newer vehicles, I was being sarcastic about the post implying that the girl was injured because of the "vintage" porsche, as though she wouldn't have been injured in a new one.
 
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rruff

Explorer
That is actually a collapsible barrier, designed to simulate the give of another automobile, concrete would be a whole different story.
Another vehicle of similar weight and design, maybe... definitely not a bigger one.

Just for fun, let's take that old F150 and put a high clearance steel bumper, lift, and big tires on it, and go head on a car with a low hood and see what happens...
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
And?? Then it wouldn't have been a fun ride in a vintage sports car, to some people that is what makes the ride, some people choose to enjoy life and not live in fear.

;)


54816896055_aecb665162_c.jpg
 

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