Toyhauler Boondocking

[TheLexx]

Speaking of truck campers, check out Morton on the Move "Go North". 20 episode adventure in some amazing spots.

Their videos are what got me interested in truck campers. Only issue is the weight. For our family of 5, the smallest one we could use is a Lance 1172, which has a wet weight almost 1k lbs over the payload sticker on our truck. Folks with the even Host Mammoth and Eagle Caps say however, that they're just fine carrying these monsters with their F450s.

[Chuck.N]

I guess I'm kind of late to the party here, but one thing we did to help relieve the stress was to buy a drone. We'll be using it to scope the roads before committing. Another investment is a Campendium membership. They have a large boondocking group that shares information pretty freely. It's nice to know in advance that others have gone down the same path you're considering.

[Ggluck3]

We have a Momentum 349m and recently added longer u bolts and 1.5” blocks to raise it slightly. It now also sits perfectly level while being towed by my 2020 3500 dually. Also we now have the added clearance on the trailer for the off-roading in the California desert and Utah that we do.

[BubbaChris]

A camper next to us a few weeks ago was towing their Airstream with a flatbed truck. There was a nasty dent in the front of the Airstream that seemed to match the back corner of the flatbed. So if the your bed matches or exceeds the width of the tires, you'll want to test your turning radius as carefully as the short-bed guys do for cab clearance.

I hope you have many years of enjoying your big MO and all the creature comforts that come with it.

Best regards,
Chris

[jjbbrewer]

We have a Momentum 349m and recently added longer u bolts and 1.5” blocks to raise it slightly.

Picking back up here, this sounds very interesting. Can you post a photo of your 349M to show the lift?

I did my longest boondock last week at Elk Basin, MT (south of Bridger) for 8 days with 3 guys on a trail inventory work trip. My 349M worked great even taking it down some kind of eroded 2 track with waterbars. I haven't installed the rear rollers yet, but clearance was ok for this time.

Maybe in addition to shimming the suspension, lifting the jacks, flying drones, and installing rollers - are there "best known methods" listed somewhere for getting our toy haulers to places were we can use our toys? If not, maybe we should start such a list.

[Overtaxed]

Picking back up here, this sounds very interesting. Can you post a photo of your 349M to show the lift?

I did my longest boondock last week at Elk Basin, MT (south of Bridger) for 8 days with 3 guys on a trail inventory work trip. My 349M worked great even taking it down some kind of eroded 2 track with waterbars. I haven't installed the rear rollers yet, but clearance was ok for this time.

Maybe in addition to shimming the suspension, lifting the jacks, flying drones, and installing rollers - are there "best known methods" listed somewhere for getting our toy haulers to places were we can use our toys? If not, maybe we should start such a list.

I'd like to see that too (the lifted 349)! I have clearance issues on my 351M and F450 (the truck is too high), and have considered lifting the trailer a bit. Also, I'd like to know if you've run into clearance issues, you're probably 13'6" or over now, right?

[alkbch]

New to the toyhauler club and have some boondocking questions. We have 2019 f450 flatbed towing a GD Momentum that is 43'8'. Towed our 30' ORV and had very few problems with boondocking, now this big one scares the hell out of me.

I am concerned about the articulation while boondocking, our primary type of camping. Hopefully the ability to remove the bed rails of the truck will help, but how do you guage when trying to get off road? Do any of you travel with chainsaws or pole saws for height clearance issues? Any issues with grabbing the tail or hydraulic jacks?

I switched out the 5th wheel hitch for a Reese goosebox, worked agriculture growing up and have seen the benefits of a goose neck, but will this be enough?

FYI the pin weight of a loaded 44ft GD Toy Hauler will likely exceed the Resse Goosebox's tongue weight capacity (4000 lbs)

[jjbbrewer]

FYI the pin weight of a loaded 44ft GD Toy Hauler will likely exceed the Resse Goosebox's tongue weight capacity (4000 lbs)

Just for reference, my 349M full of water (150 gals), fuel (60 gals), with 2 roadrace bikes, a roll around tool cabinet, riding gear, food, and personal items puts 3220 lbs. on the hitch.

Not carrying water makes a huge difference. I haven't weighed it like that minus the water, but it's noticeable on the truck.

[stimpee]

Our 2021 395MS loaded with TONs of household stuff, about 23 gals of water (since I misread and put 85 LITERS in the tanks instead of GALLONS), 30 gals of fuel, heavily optioned trailer, 3 sport/race bikes and a ton of tools/cabinet, weighed in at 19,840lbs total weight (have 21k lb GVW) and 3400 lbs on the pin.

On a normal track weekend I will have 80-85 gals of water in it, so add in another 500ish lbs for that, not sure how much that will add to the pin but will still be well under 4000.

That said, there is not a goosebox rated for 21k lb total weight, so I am strongly considering a Gen Y hitch for ours in the near future to free up the bed of the truck.

[A.Texas.Yankee]

Our 2021 395MS loaded with TONs of household stuff, about 23 gals of water (since I misread and put 85 LITERS in the tanks instead of GALLONS), 30 gals of fuel, heavily optioned trailer, 3 sport/race bikes and a ton of tools/cabinet, weighed in at 19,840lbs total weight (have 21k lb GVW) and 3400 lbs on the pin.

On a normal track weekend I will have 80-85 gals of water in it, so add in another 500ish lbs for that, not sure how much that will add to the pin but will still be well under 4000.

That said, there is not a goosebox rated for 21k lb total weight, so I am strongly considering a Gen Y hitch for ours in the near future to free up the bed of the truck.

Only thing about the Gen Y is it still is not approved by Lippert/GD and voids warranty. If that changes I'll be in the Gen Y category really quickly. I just switched over to a MorRyde rubber pin box and it's now chewing up my plastic guards on my F-450 and I have clearance issues between truck bed and underside of the front cap I didn't have before. Can't adjust pinbox and B&W is as high as it goes...

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