Open Source Pop up camper design/build

[adam88]

bahndo, sounds like you are on the right track by weighing the truck after the flatbed install to see what you are working with in reality, not the land of "manufacturer's payload estimate". adam88 makes a good point about the weight of the campers and gear and the importance of understanding how much it all weighs prior to construction.

adam88, have you weighed your truck to verify that you have all of the rated 4300lbs of payload on your Ford? The manufactures base their payloads on stripped down models. If you ordered anything but the basic XL model, you're working with less payload than you thought. Not trying to be rude, but it sounded like you are basing all of your calculations on the Ford's published numbers, rather than what the truck actually weighs. For both trucks I've owned, the published weight and payload have been verify different from the actual weight and payload.

Hi SChandler,

Yes, I definitely have (I've spent far too much time on this). I went through the guide a while ago and added up all the options. The ford specifications guide not only tells you the exact weight for each option, but even the # added to front/rear axles. The 4300# (it's actually 4100#, I misquoted) is for the diesel/manual, which is what my truck has. Beyond that, yes, my truck is an XL, with very few options, so the options only take off another hundred pounds or so. I was going to mention this in my original post but it was too long as it was, so thanks for bringing it up.

FYI, one example of an option that removes a lot of payload is the "RAMBOX" (the dodge pick-up box with the side storage containers). It takes off something like 200# in payload. So dodge owners be aware of that as well.

 

[bahndo]

As usual lots to digest. One thing I have looked at is the upfitters guide published by Dodge which details the CG location and weight limits for upfitters. Here all the options and bed/no bed/flatbed config's change things but it gives a good back of the envelope for CG location which I think is pretty important. I've been swamped at work so I have not had lots of time to work on camper design but I have ordered some material samples and will be doing some panel construction experiments. This will give me a a reasonable estimate of shell weight once the layup has been determined.