Small Cabover camper too heavy??

[bigjerm]

I just bought a cabover camper shell for my 4x4 4.0 Ranger, but I pretty much assumed I could haul it without hurting anything, because the owner had it on a smaller ranger himself. It weighs just over 900#. Is this thing going to tear up my truck hauling it around? Heres a pic of the same model camper...

 

[srteach]

I would bag or strengthen the support for the rear axle to stabilize it. Crosswinds will be a pain.
Weight wise, the truck is a 1/4 ton unless you modded it, so that is almost double GVWR. Shouldn't hurt the truck except for added wear on bearings and such.

 

[Captain Ledd]

I did 1200 before (I know because that's what weighed in at the scrap yard) and I'd have to agree, it's a little bit on the high side of things.

The 4.0L has plenty of power to pull it.

Invest is a super heavy duty transmission cooler (automatic transmission) if it doesn't already have one. The manual will be fine.

Otherwise, I'd say either get helper airbags to keep the rear end up a little higher, and also find some factory rear sway bars (because you will definitely encounter wind and sway) at the local junkyard. To my knowledge they never changed the rear sway bar setups on any of them (double check though).

 

[94 lngbd]

rear sway bar set up from a 7.5 rearend wont fit onto a ranger with the 8.8 rearend

 

[Ranger4657]

when i swapped my 7.5 for the 8.8 the swaybar needed no modification and bolted right up

 

[Andres629]

Don't know where you're located, but I just pulled the sway bar off my tuck if you need one...

 

[bigjerm]

Thanks for all the input. I had a bad feeling about it on the way home with it last night, the way it was bouncing side to side. Back to the camper shell,lol........hopefully i can get me 4 hund bucks back on craigslist. thanks again.

 

[Will]

You can make that work. 1/2, 1/2, 3/4, 1-ton--those aren't translatable into actual specifications. A Ranger has a 1,200# payload and can just about handle that camper. The wieght isn't the problem, it's the upward shift in the Center of Gravity. You've moved the CG up there a few feet and it's working on you with a lever-arm. Airbags are what you need--I would just build a whopper of a spring pack for it, but it wouldn't ride nice when the camper was off. You can inflate the bags to 30psi to haul it, then let them out when it's off. It will be night and day.

 

[bigjerm]

Thanks Will, but I think I'm going back to the basic cap. I've got a ton of calls on the camper already, almost all from other small truck owners with RV aspirations. lol

 

[bigjerm]

Thanks for the offer Andres, Im a bit from BC, im down in Orange County, Ca....thanks anyways though. .

 

[Downey]

dude 900 lbs that nothing i easy put 2k in the bed of my truck all the time.

 

[bigjerm]

Sold the thing to a guy with a little v6 dodge dakota. I hope his doesn't flip. Just as he was pulling out I could see the camper and truck just swerving to the side. One good blast of wind.....

 

[Will]

He's probably on The Dakota Station right now.

 

[MountainMike]

He's probably on The Dakota Station right now...

...asking the same thing only to sell it to some guy with a Comanchee

 

[94 lngbd]

they need to be anchored down & alot of people dont know that