2021 Ford F150 || Building the Ultimate Overland Setup
- Thread starter SherpaWill
- Start date
SherpaWill
Member
Yessir, we try and go once a month and take everyone out for a paid day wheeling. It's a time for people to get more hands-on with products, connect with each other, and remember why do what we do. My business is Sherpa Equipment Company.
With the truck set up the way it is I get roughly 12-13mpg with the camper. Without it I am getting around 16 or so.
SherpaWill
Member
Trip Report: Exploring Central Utah
Got the chance to go out with our marketing team and shoot some content for our full-size truck racks. My fiance and I took it as an opportunity to test out our setup on our first trip with two dogs. We have some teaching to do with the little puppy, but the truck and gear is getting close to where we want it. One thing we left this trip with was knowing we need to swap the shocks out. The stock FX4 shocks have always been too soft and we need a bit more dampening capacity. Other than that we are looking pretty good.
On this trip, our group did 200 miles off-road exploring from Green River towards Swingarm City. A good portion of it was muddy which kept us all on the edge of our seats. We didn't have anyone get stuck in the mud, which is always a win. We were super impressed with the Nitto Ridge Grapplers and Alex's Kenda Klevar RT's on the RAM 3500 (check out his build if you're into RAM stuff). We also put the new Dometic fridge to work on this trip. Easily held food for a group of 6 out in the desert for 5 days. Had a blast cooking for everyone. Should have some video content soon of the trip for those interested.
Got the chance to go out with our marketing team and shoot some content for our full-size truck racks. My fiance and I took it as an opportunity to test out our setup on our first trip with two dogs. We have some teaching to do with the little puppy, but the truck and gear is getting close to where we want it. One thing we left this trip with was knowing we need to swap the shocks out. The stock FX4 shocks have always been too soft and we need a bit more dampening capacity. Other than that we are looking pretty good.
On this trip, our group did 200 miles off-road exploring from Green River towards Swingarm City. A good portion of it was muddy which kept us all on the edge of our seats. We didn't have anyone get stuck in the mud, which is always a win. We were super impressed with the Nitto Ridge Grapplers and Alex's Kenda Klevar RT's on the RAM 3500 (check out his build if you're into RAM stuff). We also put the new Dometic fridge to work on this trip. Easily held food for a group of 6 out in the desert for 5 days. Had a blast cooking for everyone. Should have some video content soon of the trip for those interested.
Kingsize24
Well-known member
Absolutely LOVE that OEV slide in. I sure wish they would make an 8ft version. I'd have one RN.
GREAT BUILD!
GREAT BUILD!
Been wondering that too. Been pretty popular for people to put racks under their cabover.....seems like in a crossup you could have some conflict.
UpperLeft86
Member
Loving everything about this. @SherpaWill how are you feeling about payload with the slide-in? I'm trying to talk myself out of (or into, ha) getting rid of my F150 and moving to a Super Duty for a slide-in camper. Worried that I'm going to hit my 2000lb payload in a big hurry.
I'd echo the other questions about the camper hitting the rack, that looks mighty close.
I'd echo the other questions about the camper hitting the rack, that looks mighty close.
Ford makes a F-150 with a higher payload option. I'm wondering what is upgraded besides the springs they perform for that option from the factory. Transmission, trans cooler, brakes, axle, rear gearing, other? It seems that duplicating whatever Ford is doing would mitigate the argument on "putting your life and family in danger" so to speak. Legally, you still may be over GVWR, but mechanically the GVWR would go up if meeting the same mechanical specifications or exceeding them.
Either way, nice looking setup for sure.
Either way, nice looking setup for sure.
SherpaWill
Member
I put it on the list the other day. We are gonna see if we can find someone locally and go from there. It’s certainly not a massive market.
For the most part the rack does not touch the roof and hasn’t over several trips. We did run into a little bit of an issue on this last trip with the feet on the bottom of the OEV. They are individual pads, and on one of the roads (while going fairly quick) the camper feet dented the truck bed on one corner. This left the front passenger corner lower than the driver and when hitting dips the camper would ********** the rack. I eventually realized what was going on and we fixed it at camp that night by sliding a small section of old plywood from the trail in under the foot to level the camper. I need to find a way to better distribute the camper load so that it isn’t sitting on the edge of the bed ridges. I think a stall mat or plywood should do the trick.
Beyond that, when the camper sits left it doesn’t not impact the rack and it fills the gap nicely. It has roughly 3/4” between the camper and the rack.
When I looked into this it really came down to gearing and springs for the higher payload options. There is no change to the brakes or anything that would make a vehicle ”safer” in any way. You can solve the springs by running airbags and higher spring rate rear springs that are paired with stiffer shocks. This helps improve vehicle stability. As for the gearing etc. I imagine it becomes a wear and tear issue on the drivetrain components of the truck when you are over capacity. But as with anything engineering related there are safety factors built into these trucks like crazy due to the warranty requirements. In all the digging and asking around that I have done over the last couple of years, being 300lbs over payload is not going to kill everyone on the highway or you family. I think there’s a big difference in 300lbs and 2000lbs over payload.
I can also tell you from first hand experience that this truck with the slide in is much less of a danger on the road (if any at all) when compared to towing the travel trailer that was well within towing and payload capacities of the truck.
Todd780
OverCamper
The frame is thicker on F150's with the Heavy Duty Payload package. That might be a tough mod to pull off on a non HDPP truck, lol.
Basically the HDPP gives you:
1. Wheels
2. The 3 leaf rear spring is beefier (Comb Rating of 4800 vs 4050/4150) due to higher deflection rate
3. Front Coil springs are beefier with higher deflection rate
4. Frame Side Rails are thicker
5. Rear Brake Rotor is bigger, diameter and thickness (resulting in bigger swept area)
6. Real Axle Ring Gear is 9.75HD, which holds more lube than 9.75
I have a hunch they will. If you go onto their page under the "shell" campers they list a slide-in 8' option. My guess is that they will announce all their new models including an 8' Back Country at this years Overland Expo's.
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