Utility bed on a 1 ton ?

[Mickey Bitsko]

Howdy folks, first poster here.
I have a 92' f-350 cc lb with overload springs and air bags with a Travelite 860, about 1800 lbs dry. I really like the utility bed idea except for two concerns.
1) the weight , what my research has found, they can weigh from 1100-1300 lbs. 2) They sit about 3-5 " higher than a stock bed thus making it more top heavy.
I have seen many hard and soft sided campers on this forum that have utility beds and flat beds I have also considered. My question is , with the added weight of the utility bed would it hurt anything besides my gas mileage and being that much more top heavy ? Now, I sit at 11' 6".

ANY opinions would be helpful.

 

[topofpalomar]

Mickey,

Welcome to the Forum. I'm one of those guys that has a popup camper mounted on a utility bed. You are certainly correct about the weight. It really boils down to what you want from your rig and what you are willing to put up with. Our setup weighs about 400 lbs below gross weight without being fully loaded with supplies. I checked it once with partial water, no food or other stuff, and just me in the cab. When my wife and I are heading out on a long trip we're certainly a few hundred pounds over until we start using up the food and water, etc.

As far as height, I think it's more of an issue with a flat bed than a utility bed. The distance between the top of our truck cab and the bottom of the camper over-cab portion is about the same as it was when the camper was mounted on the regular truck bed.

In my opinion the camper kills the fuel economy worse than the utility bed but I've never checked it before or after so just conjecture on my part.

We've found that the utility bed is a pretty neat way to go for our style of camping off-road. I certainly wouldn't attempt the Rubicon with it but it does very well.

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[Mickey Bitsko]

Thank you for your reply, I don't know that my mileage could get any worse. The Ford 7.5 gasser is real thirsty anyway. I'm thinking the weight is the deal breaker on the utility bed for me. Of course my thinking was the extra storage, maybe I can find a flat bed and put storage on it and not have the weight.
I have thought of going to the "pop up "but my Mountain Star is paid for and kinda like an "old slipper". I appreciate your opinion...

Happy Trails

 

[Garbinator]

oops saw my error. deleted.