Upgrades for a Slide-In Camper

I got the camper today. Handling isn't as bad as I worried. In fact it's not bad at all. I already installed the Archive HD springs, and the rear suspension only settled an inch with the camper, so there's room to add some more weight (empty I was at almost 4 inches of lift in the rear which was obviously excessive). It's very stable with these stiff springs. The only issue is some bouncing when concrete expansion joints line up with the resonant frequency of the truck. The rear shocks I have are presumably not tuned for stiffer springs.

So far I'm averaging 16mpg at slow highway speeds (60-70). I drive back to Colorado tomorrow, so I'll see how it does at higher speed. I-80 is probably a worst case scenario with 80mph speed limit, lots of trucks, crosswinds, and a long gradual climb over the Continental divide.

Wind noise is pretty bad from behind the cab. I might need to come up with some kind of fairing. Or just cover the back window with sound deadening material since I can't see out it anyway.

 

Interesting. Do you have any photos of the interior and how is it attached to the rig? Looks like you could put camper jacks on it for quick on and off. Suggest you re-aim your lights if not already done. I would get the rig modded as you want and load up like you were going to use it as intended for camping (to see what total weight is) and then take it to a suspension shop that specializes in such work.

 

A roof rack will help tremendously with the wind noise. And I also experienced the bouncing on the concrete highways until I got nice adjustable rear shocks (Ride 2.5s). I crank the compression up and it goes away almost completely.

 

It, like all things, likely involves a trade off. For better overall handling it's probably worth it. But you'll definitely be a little less capable on the trail.

 

I can get some photos tomorrow. It bolts onto the bed using the bed bolts. The front has two big L brackets since those bed bolts are too far outward, and the rear bolts on directly with a plastic spacer to fill in the space between the bed ribs. I got camper jacks with it, so it's removable. That was the goal. I doubt I'll remove it often, but it's nice to have the option.

Having driven with it for 600 miles now, I don't think I need air bags or a sway bar. If I did a sway bar I was envisioning making it disconnectable. I didn't get as far as figuring out the details of whether that's possible/practical.

I do need to adjust the headlights. They were pretty bad empty, and it didn't drop as much as I expected, so they are still aimed down a bit. I'll also get the truck weighed when I'm nearing the final configuration to see where I am with respect to payload and axle ratings.

On the drive from Salt Lake to Denver I got 16mpg for the first fill up and 15mpg for the second fill up. I haven't filled up a third time yet, but I think the computer was indicating 14.5. I was going up to 75mph, but there were plenty of sections with construction or lower speed limits that helped lower the average speed and raise gas mileage. I also followed semi trucks for a while, when I found one that was going the speed I wanted to go. If I can average around 15mpg overall, that will be great.

The truck spent plenty of time in 4th gear, and a good amount in 5th. I probably only hit 6th a few times when coasting. And it dropped down to 3rd for the steeper hills. I had no problem maintaining 75 mph up any of the hills if I wanted to. I need to figure out how to watch transmission temperature with my ODB reader.

I survived the crosswind gauntlet on I-80. From Rawlings to Laramie the electronic signs said it was closed to campers (I am interpreting that as trailers) under 20,000 pounds due to extreme crosswinds over 40mph. I didn't feel much wind, and in fact it was one of the easiest drives I've done through that section of I-80. Maybe it was less windy than they predicted, or maybe it's really well balanced?

Bouncing on expansion joints and wind noise continue to be the annoyances. I will experiment with blocking off different parts of the space between the truck and the camper to see what helps with wind noise.

The bouncing wasn't just an isolated incident on one bad section of road. It does it on almost any concrete road, and it is worst between 60-65mph. I definitely need different rear shocks. Maybe front shocks too since the truck seems to rock back to front when it's bouncing. The rear springs are very stiff and the front are regular, so when the rear hits a bump I think it's going up and making the front dive down.

The impulse response / step response seems good. If I hit a single bump or step it's well controlled and fairly comfortable. There's a little shuddering, but less than an empty truck. I haven't installed the Archive crossbar yet, so that should help a bit with the shuddering.

I'm still getting a little driveline vibration between 10-20mph. Is it safe to ignore that, or do I need to keep chasing it? It doesn't bother me at this point, but I don't want to break anything. I'm hoping that as I add weight the angles will get better. I don't want to do pinion angle shims because I already have more lift than I want. But I could fine tune the carrier bearing position if needed.

 

Interesting video on sway bars and front/rear balance.
https://youtu.be/gcgKbUTQJy8

 

I like it, simple and clean -both the camper and tie downs. I lke that you have windows that open. Many of the newer ones are just closed boxes. Hope it keeps you warm, dry and comfortable on your travels