Tundras with campers question

[brandonhedberg]

Lifted Tundra with Flip PAC

I have a first gen Tundra Doublecab with what I would call an overlanders lift. With this I added load capacity to the rear with custom Alcan springs. Since my goal was to add capacity for the Flip PAC and gear I had these built for +500 lbs and 2" lift. To compliment this the front is lifted 2" with Bilstein 5100's. The ride is like stock with the rear loaded to 450 lbs (weighed at scale).

This gives the Tundra plenty of ground clearance. Local trails like Broken Arrow are now fun without grinding my teeth.

I'm also running a rear arb locker and 265/70/17 Bfg At on stock wheels. Just in case the OP decides to build a first gen Tundra. Oh, I'm in Flag, if you'd like to see my truck.

Lastly, I get 14 mpg highway doing 80 loaded. 16 mpg loaded at 65 mph.

 

[tnt]

We had a 2000 Tundra TRD with a FWC Hawk on it full time for almost seven years. Camper has optional extension, fridge, heater, awning, two batteries, etc, so was probably running closer to 1100 lbs dry. mileage averaged about 12 mpg. We started with just overload springs but the rear end began to drag so we went the airbag route. That worked fine for us. However, the wear of a constant load wore the rear axle bearings faster than normal. We replaced them twice in that seven years - not cheap! They have to pull the axles to do that.
Now the camper rides on a 2011 Tundra with the 5.7 L engine. Again we are running airbags but had them installed before the camper was mounted so don't know if they were necessary. We get about 14 mpg now even with the bigger engine. My guess is because it doesn't have to work as hard to move the load. No idea yet if the new truck will have the axle bearing problems, but the 2nd generation Tundras are definitely larger and hopefully built more like a heavy duty truck.
So the camper works on the first gen truck but mods are a must. They work well on the 2nd gen trucks but mods will still help. I just wish Toyota hadn't shelved the plans to release a heavy duty Tundra. Oh well, hopefully that will be out in 10 years when I go to replace this truck. But then i want to put an XP Camper on it!