F450 vs F550 for Poor Man's Earthroamer

[brp]

I am in Minnesota. I saw a few on Craigslist though in the Keys I believe, and a few in Georgia. Try using allofcraigs.com. My closest guess, which has some science and some guess to it, is that fully loaded 21' would be 3500lb or less.

Jr Explorer...thanks for the tip. I do have the same concern about the power. My buddy with a 7.3 350 says he has all the power he needs pulling a big trailer at highway speed. I am thinking with the manual trans I will be alright, but time will tell. Maybe if an intercooled 7.3 turbo diesel is not powerful enough I should just slow down. I want to say I am about 2200-2300 RPM at 65, but I could be off a little.

Toymaster filled me in on what it takes suspension wise to fit a 42" Continental MPT 81 on this truck (5 inches of lift). Does anybody know about the 39" tire? If it needs a lot less suspension work, and the tires are cheaper and the mileage is better........42" is probably the most fun, 39" the most "sensible."

I am going to make some phone calls to local suspension shops to see what they could do.

If anyone gets a lead on a Sunrader, let me know, I'm looking at you Huffy!!!

 

[Carlyle]

I have the 37" Mpt's on with a leveling kit and some fender cutting.

 

[brp]

Is that on your Dodge that you have the 37's? Thanks

 

[Carlyle]

Yes

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Huffy]

BRP, Thanks for the tip, using allofcraigslist.com turned up a slew of 17&18' Sunraders. It also turned up some nice NIDA core in CA which might be usefull for someone on the Portal looking for a lightweight alternative to plywood. 3.5' X 10' X 3/4" sheets for $50ea and a bunch of it. Couldn't be any farther from S.FL. Oh well. I'm going to look at the first Sunrader close by, measure the thickness of the laminate in a few places and estimate the shell weight. Will report the findings. Any luck in your search? Your going to love the 7.3. The late ones like yours are particularly solid, the only real glitch being the cam sensor which should have been replaced by now under recall. You may want to verify this on your VIN with Ford. Otherwise it WILL leave you sitting at some point. Regards, Huffy

 

[Grasslakeron]

I would leave the flatbed and make a camper for the back custom to fit snug. You could sell it and start from bare rails.... do you want to access from the cab?

Ron

 

[brp]

I am going to remove the rear window and make a bellows for cab/camper access.

 

[Grasslakeron]

Then I would sell the back and buy the steel to start to build the camper.

Ron

 

[brp]

I appreciate the advice but I am pretty set on the Sunrader option. I feel it will give a great overall package (lightweight, strong, almost leak proof, low maintenance) all at a good price.

I have calls into a local suspension shop, Icon and Rickson. Hopefully I can get the project really going soon and I am continuing to look for a Sunrader.

The plan as of now is to try to get 42" Continental MPT81's on the truck.

Yesterday I power washed the chassis and I am going to be spraying it in an anti-corrosion product once it arrives. Its called Lanox Mx-4.

 

[Grasslakeron]

Something like this?http://rvs.oodle.com/detail/1985-to...ento-ca/?cm_mmc=OODLE_PREVIEW-_-www-_-NA-_-NA

 

[locrwln]

Don't forget Bushwacker "cutout" flares for the front. More tire, less lift. I believe the Turtle Expedition were the ones behind BW making them for the SD platform.

Jack

 

[redthies]

Check out Nitro Gears thread here in Domestic Fullsize (Just Differentials F450 motorhome on 42" tires). They just did all the mods to run 42s on a F450.

Your project is going to be cool! Can't wait to see the results!

 

[angler]

Bookmark!

 

[Huffy]

BRP:

Any luck on the SunRader? I have spent hours looking down here to no avail.

 

[magentawave]

Where can I buy that Nidacore in California please?

I guess some of you guys aren't following these comments very closely because I posted here that I will have a 21' Sunrader shell for sale a few months ago in Southern California but no one responded so I sold it last week the first day I put it on Craigslist.

BRP, Thanks for the tip, using allofcraigslist.com turned up a slew of 17&18' Sunraders. It also turned up some nice NIDA core in CA which might be usefull for someone on the Portal looking for a lightweight alternative to plywood. 3.5' X 10' X 3/4" sheets for $50ea and a bunch of it. Couldn't be any farther from S.FL. Oh well. I'm going to look at the first Sunrader close by, measure the thickness of the laminate in a few places and estimate the shell weight. Will report the findings. Any luck in your search? Your going to love the 7.3. The late ones like yours are particularly solid, the only real glitch being the cam sensor which should have been replaced by now under recall. You may want to verify this on your VIN with Ford. Otherwise it WILL leave you sitting at some point. Regards, Huffy