Anticipating upgrades for camper

Hey all. Been building a camper for my RCLB truck (V8, 4wd). With the process approaching an end, I'm beginning to think about suspension 'upgrades' (anything will be an upgrade—i'm running old Monroe quick-struts from PO). Unless someone convinces me otherwise, I don't plan on reusing the coils, so I'm looking at assembled options for convenience. I will be replacing rear shocks too.

I don't need a lift, i just want stability and ride quality, so i lean towards the 4600s. Best estimate is that the camper will come in around 500lbs dry. I am anticipating add-a-leaf or airbags in the future, if the rear needs more support as the camper will be on there full-time.

Looking for insight. I don't offroad, but do like blm camping—however I've never felt limited with my current setup. Any reasons why I would regret NOT buying the 5100s? Is there a case for future adjustability via different clip locations?

Here's my old setup for reference, and a peek of the new camper. It was pretty level with my old topper + drawer setup—just the right amount of rake. Definitely don't want to be squatted.

 

Just don’t buy preassembled from SuspensionLifts/BilsteinLifts. Hit up @memario1214, he’s at Hotshot Off-road and can probably help you out. Board vendor, good prices, all around good dude.

And yes to airbags kit. Make sure you’re not at risk, and you don’t have aftermarket LBJ. Make sure you’ve installed new OEM LBJ with fresh bolts within the last 100k-125k miles. Timing belt and radiator every 100k, with water pump, pulleys and tensioner. You’re gonna be hauling weight, so you want all that to be dealt with, and a drain/fill of the trans (no need to replace filter or drop pan) and increased diff fluid service is advised.

And don’t be ignorant: Plumb your airbags separately. They shouldn’t be able to pass air between one another. Kinda defeats half the purpose.

 

Thanks for the heads up, didn't realize they were not a reputable source for parts (but for the price i'm not surprised it's too good to be true). What's the reason for this, not quality parts? I will reach out to Memario, or Josh from 1stGen.

I replaced TB, WP, LBJ, & Diff fluid so all covered there. Trans fluid drain is a good item to add to the list.

 

There’s a thread on here. A couple of us had a pretty rough time with them. That said, they could be another company with the way they have things shelled. The “support” person who helped me with my problem, which was warehouse related, ultimately, I got clearly used and some damaged-box equipment and one item had missing parts, they wouldn’t give me a phone number, wouldn’t share their name, I had no idea who they were; it was like they were hiding. Very weird behavior. I need to go back thru my posts on here and remove them from any recommendations I’ve made:

 

There isn't much difference between the 4600s and 5100s, aside from the 5100s being a little longer, which is why they're recommended if you have a small lift.

It's really up to you. I have 4600s. But because I ran a 800+lb camper on my truck last fall, I think I blew out my rears, along with my leaf springs. So now I'm going to install new HD leaf springs and new shocks. I'm keeping the 4600s on the front since they're still pretty new and didn't have the camper weight on them. But since the HD leaf springs will give me ~1.5" lift, I ordered 5100s for the back.

Even though they're practically the same shock, some people think the 4600 rides smoother.

I think you're on the right track. You really don't need anything specialized for typical off road use. A bone stock truck will do it just fine. But...

My only concern with 500lbs in the back constantly is if you don't upgrade your leaf springs or get air bags now, you might blow out the rear shocks and wear out the leaf springs. I wouldn't run that much weight for too long before making those upgrades, or you'll be replacing the entire leaf pack and the shocks soon.

If you eventually go add-a-leaf or new HD leaf springs, you'll likely end up with a lift in the back. The weight of the camper may or may not level out that lift. So if you don't want to be way higher in the back than the front...yeah, now you're going to start wanting to lift the front. That's not a bad argument for just buying the 5100s now to give yourself that flexibility, like you mentioned.

Keep in mind, some people complain about the ride quality once they go above the first clip on the 5100. There's another current thread with shifty` mentioning this. Lifted coils are the better approach. And if you only go maybe 1-2" higher in the front, the 4600s still work fine. I'm about to put OME 2883 coils on my 4600s. Results seem mixed, as far as how much lift people get out of 2883s. I'm hoping 1" max, but we'll see.

 

I'd be more concerned about carrying that weight on the bedsides than I would about suspension upgrades, especially if you are gonna be rockin it back and forth on rough trails.
I can tell you with all confidence NOT to get sumo springs though, they were absolutely worthless.

 

Sumo Springs worked great for me when I just had a topper, some gear, and the ~300lb tongue weight of my camper trailer. But the blue ones at least were not up to the 800lb of direct weight in the bed from my slide-in camper.

 

And the yellow couldn't handle the 1300lb of mine. To be fair I might be asking too much of them because I wasn't all that impressed with the Roadmaster system either.

 

You've got some really good points here. My approach was gonna be wait to make upgrades based on how things look and feel, but maybe I'll try to avoid a headache and beef up the rear proactively.

I should be able to do a dry fit in the next few weeks and will try to get some good before & after pics of how she sits. Right now, with the bed totally empty, the rake is significant—one of the reasons i've been holding off on doing anything to the rear just yet.

 

Also a really good point. Its likely that i will be making some bed stiffeners to help mitigate this

 

Probably not much help since it's a different set up altogether, but when I drop my 1400 lb camper in my 2018 it squats about 3-4 inches.

 

Air bags are a great option. I went back & forth for a while between replacing my leaf springs with stock replacements, or HD. I really don't want a lift. But I carry an 800+lb camper in the back. New, stock leaf springs plus air bags would have likely been ok for me, and I'd get no lift.

But I eventually decided that my situation really does call for the HD leaf springs. That means my back end will be another 1+" higher, so now I need to lift the front to keep my truck from looking silly. You knock down the right domino, and all sorts of other things become "necessary", and expenses add up.

I'm a big fan of air bags. Even with the HD leaf springs, I might still get air bags before long. If you find a good deal, they're pretty much the same price as Sumo Springs, and far superior.

 

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I've narrowed it down to 4600 shocks because I don't feel the adjustable clip locations benefits my situation. Most likely will pair with 2883 springs in the front and add-a-leaf in the rear (still researching AAL options). Air bags will likely be added down the road, because the value of leveling the camper alone would be nice. I'm hoping that between an extra leaf and airbags the rear end will be happy and I can avoid going down the aforementioned lift rabbit-hole.

 

Solid plan.

 

AAL you choose will vary based on a couple of factors. Whether you want to keep the overload spring, how much lift you're looking to achieve, etc.

 

Yeah sounds like a good plan. With the add-a-leaf, as long as you aren't pushing the weight too much higher than the 500lb dry weight, you should be safe holding out a little longer on airbags.

I'm actually hoping that by getting my camper in my truck for just a little while without air bags inflated it'll help settle the new leaf springs and cut down on the lift a bit. But with the weight I'm carrying I'll still want the airbags after the initial settling.

 

A little off topic, but one thing to factor into your camper design is flex. Frames flex a lot and pickup beds flex with them. A topper that doesn't flex with them is going to rub the bed rails like crazy.
Almost all pickups ever made had beds separate from cab for a reason, so the frame could snake over the terrain.
this why on fiberglass toppers the rubber oozes out of the windows as they age, the fiberglass flexes more than window glass.

 

Doesn't archive garage sell a cross tube kit to help stiffen the bed? Or maybe I'm thinking of somebody else

 

Agreed that frame flex should be accounted for in the mounting of the camper. I used thin gauge steel in for the topper frame and it definitely has some ability to flex. Current plan is to bolt it the bedsides with oversized holes or slots and some rubber isolators (and plenty of butyl tape around the perimeter). I'm getting closer to the mounting stage, I just finished sewing the canvas for the pop-up this week.

Going back down the suspension rabbit hole... My plan for AAL + Air Bags seems like a good route, but the price still adds up to around $600 for the two systems. For that price, I could get a new leaf pack from ATS and call it a day. I like the idea of replacing the shackles and bushings—seems like a simple, future-proof solution. Still want to install the camper and see where I'm at, but odds are I will get the HD ATS pack.

Also found a used HD RAS system on fb nearby for $350—which i've read good things about, but seems like a less robust solution.

 

I'm interested in what you decide. I've got my ATS HD leafs sitting on the kitchen floor. Was going to install them soon, then someone posted about installing these in another thread. Lowering shackles. Not cheap, but...I care a lot about aesthetics, and I don't love the jacked-up look. Assuming the HD springs gave me 1.5" lift, and these lower 3/4", that's a lift I'd actually be really happy with.

I agree, freshening up the bushings seems like a good call while you're in there, regardless of which route you go.