[T and C]

I have a 96 Ford F-150 with a 5.8 motor. I bought it with towing a light travel trailer in mind. Then when looking for a used trailer I happened on an add for an overhead camper right along my route home from work. I stopped and looked at it and it was in excellent
condition. The price was great! So I bought it. Took up a lot less room in the driveway for sure.

Many of you have already thought something like, "hey, an F-150 is too light a truck for carrying an overhead camper". You are correct in most cases. Overheads tend to start at about 2000 lbs and go up from there.

In this case the camper was a SixPac and weighed 1440 empty. The GVW is 6250 and the truck weight (empty) is 4000. So I figured that with the camper, (1440), two tanks of gas, (about 250 ), and both of us, (320) added up to 2010 lbs. Add in 4000 lbs of truck and you get 6010, leaving 240 for some clothes and groceries before you exceed the GVW. I am sure that I exceeded it by 1 or 200 pounds on occasion.

I did not check the weight on the rear axle, rated at 3800, but since the fore and aft weight center of the camper was slightly ahead of the rear axle, I don't think I exceeded it by too much if at all.

Anyhow, the point of all this is that I put air bags on it in order to do two things: 1. keep it level. 2. Eliminate sway, which is a real problem with truck campers.

I drove that rig across the USA and back twice, and from south to north, southern California or Texas to Missouri, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, or Canada several times. Never a bit of trouble with tires, springs, axle, rear end, or transmission. It is sitting in my driveway right now with 135,000 miles on it. I sold the camper for $300 more than I paid for it after 8 years of use.

The point is that many folks are talking as if a couple of pounds over the line will make your TV fall apart. I think it is safe to figure on a little wiggle room. Big wiggles, maybe not so smart.

A question. Anyone ever see or experience an overloaded hitch breaking off?

You know that some folks are oblivious to weights, so there have been some egregious offenders out there.

Tom M.