coryjones

I have a 29' camper and the frame has collapsed on it. We were looking at upgrading to a toy hauler to haul our Rzr 900 trail. The insurance totaled the camper we like it and I was able to buy it back for $500 and get a $8,000 check. It needs a few things like painted and a awning replaced but has everything we need. So my question is has anyone attempted something like this? I am thinking about building a new frame about 10' longer moving the axles back and adding a third axle. This way we get to keep our camper and add room for the Rzr. The last time I had the camper weighed stocked it was 5,100# Rzr is 1,200# that's 6,300# add another 1,000# for the new axle and some added frame weight and I am at 7,300# still below wat the truck can handle. My concern is toung weight and dragging the *** end on everything. It sits low now and I would lift it at least 6".




Option two is new 29' 2 axle camper frame and build a Idaho tote of sorts for the back of the camper. My concern there is tail swing.

mike243

Wheel base of your truck will probably be way to short to pull 40' ,unsafe with out at least a dual wheel ton truck.if it falls apart and DOT cks records and see that it was totaled legal problems may crop up.

Velosprout

What you are talking about would certainly be a big and expensive time-consuming task, and you may end up with a trailer that is not useable. The calculation of exactly where to place the axles to result in proper tongue weight would be difficult. As Mike234 observed above, the trailer would be too long; anything above 30 feet long is too long for a 1/2 ton truck. If there is ever an accident the home-rebuilt trailer would likely put you at a higher level of responsibility.
7300 pounds would result in a tongue weight of 950 to 1095 pounds. You didn't state what your payload figures were, but judging by the sag on your photo above, it is likely already near over-payload and the additional payload would require a bigger truck.
Scrap out the trailer to get back more than your $500, and buy a new toy hauler. Spend your time and money camping instead of modifying.

smokeywren

Depends on your definition of "handle". You're already overloaded over the payload capacity of your F-150, and adding weight to the trailer will increase the amount of overloading. Your F-150 can PULL the weight, but it cannot carry the hitch weight without being overloaded.



Much better idea. The tote adds weight to pull, but not tongue weight on the back of the truck. So it doesn't add to your overloaded condition.I've towed a trailer behind my 5er for thousands of miles. All I can say about your concern is "learn to drive".

coryjones

It is a 4dr longbed it's not totaled according to the state and still insurable. If it is under the weight the truck can tow and a weight distribution hitch is used why would I need a dually?

coryjones

You say I am overloaded already What do you mean? In the pic I was probably overloaded I had to unexpectedly pick up 800# of satellite dishes from a guy that was involved in a car wreck that he broke both arms and legs in.

I have decided to do the tote idea so it can be disconnected and pulled with out the camper or pulled by its self. Tomorrow I am going to price the steel and hunt a steering axle for the tote. I will probably end up building a steering axle but I thought I might hit the junk yard and see if I can find one out of something for the hell of it.

Velosprout

What caused the frame to collapse? Why would insurance pay for it? Was it a collision? Insurance usually doesn't pay for just worn out, rusted, or defective (like the first generation Tundra's with their rusting frames).


This makes me wonder about the structural integrity of the camper and whether you should be extending or adding to it at all.

coryjones

**** poor design Norco frame with not enough crossmembers right between the axles it bowed in after driving through 60mpg wind gusts. If u google norco travel trailer frame failure some pics will come up. Aperently there was some what of a fix for it by adding 3 crossmembers. Basicly one company builds the camper another for the frame and another for the axles. The axles and camper are fine.



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Ricktwuhk

What is the Payload on your sticker?

smokeywren

What does the CAT scale say? My F-150 with a similar camper shell exceeds the GVWR of the F-150 when tied onto my small 21' TT that grosses less than 5,000 pounds when wet and loaded on the road.. Your TT is a lot longer and heavier than mine, so your F-150 is obviously overloaded too.


Weigh the rig on a CAT scale. Add the weights on the front and rear axles and compare to the GVWR of your pickup. You'll see that you're overloaded.



You may not need a dually, but you need a truck with a lot more GVWR (and payload capacity) than your F-150. Again, the CAT scale doesn't lie. Weigh the rig and see for yourself. The tow rating is not your limiter. GVWR (and payload capacity) is the limiter. Your F-150 can PULL a lot heavier trailer than it can CARRY the hitch weight of that trailer without being overloaded.


The WD hitch distributes some of the hitch weight off the rear axle and onto the trailer axles and the front axle of the tow vehicle. But the most it distributes off the truck axles is about 20%. So if that trailer has 1,000 pounds hitch weight, when the WD spring bars are tight you will still have about 800 pounds of hitch weight on the truck axles. And looking at your trailer, I would guess that the actual gross wet and loaded hitch weight is more than 1,000 pounds.