Hi guys, I'm new here and I'm new to truck campers too so I was hoping for some advise from someone with some experience.

I have a 1997 F150 (flare side) and I just bought a 2004 Lance 820 (dry weight 2930) before I realized that it exceeded the weight limit of my truck. I bought some Firestone Sport Rite air springs (the 3,000 lb set is all that would fit on my truck) to compensate and am hoping that will do the trick. I have to drive 1,400 miles to go pickup the camper and would like to be prepared before I get there if I can.

My question is: Has anyone here tried to put a camper of that size on a light duty truck? Did it work? Did you do anything besides air springs?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated (please tell me I don't have to buy another truck (


Truck: 1997 F150 Flare Side (6,100 GVWR, I think, the decal is missing)
Camper: 2004 Lance 820 (2930 lb dry weight)
Tires are rated for 2,270 lbs each with a max of 44 psi (not good, I know)
Firestone Sport Rite 3,000 lb (combined) air springs & Torklift front and rear tie downs

Thanks

I would say you are asking for big time trouble if you put that camper on your truck. When you add fluids & all your gear & food and what not, you could add another 800 to 1000 pounds. My Lance 920 has a similar dry weight as the 820 & I figured I needed a 1 ton dually to safely carry it. No way is a mere half ton truck meant to carry even close what your camper weighs.
If I were you, I would try to either back out of the deal or go shopping for a good used truck with the proper carrying capacity. Good Luck.

Big Rig

Well I think all of us hate to say it, but you will need another truck.

The 820 needs a minimum of a HD 3/4-ton to haul it. I went threw this same dilemma with my old 845 and the Jeep/trailer I tow. We were always about 700# over weight when we were loaded.

The long and short of it is if you have an accident, REGARDLESS of who is at fault you can be placed at blame for knowingly overloading your truck.

Not knowing your exact specifications of your truck, a quick Google search gave an unladen weight of 4709# for a 1997 F-150, now add the camper dry 2930#, yourself, a passenger, water, food, camping gear, and full tanks of fuel (800# to 1000# easy) and your going to tip the scales at over 8600#... 2500# over weight!

While air bags will help hold the load up they cannot help the axle limit of a 1/2 (usually in the 3200# range)!

Again, I'm sorry to poop on your excitement of a truck camper but if you try to do this you are not only risking you and your families safety but the other people traveling in cars around you!

On positive note, you will love your camper once you get set up for it! Lance owners are great, helpful people. Welcome to the group!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cyberous,

Thanks a lot for all the input. I have a dual axle dump trailer that holds up to 7,000 pounds. I think I'm going to use that to go get it and that will give me time to shop around for another truck.

Thanks.

I just bought another truck. Here's the specs:

2001 F-350 XLT, extended cab, short bed
PowerStroke 7.3L Turbo Diesel
4x4 w/ Rancho Shocks, added positraction
automatic
201,000 miles (ouch!)
has a few dents and dings, needs some new tires & some A/C work
Purchase Price: $7,900

I think I got a good deal. Thanks again to everybody for the input.

Congratulations on the F350. You won't be sorry you got a truck that can haul your camper. Now you can get down to think about all the mods you want to do to customize your truck & camper to fit your camping style.

Big Rig

Glad to see Willy's question about the 820. I have an 820 and have used it on a '99 GMC Sierra 2500 6.0L Vortec, w/airbags installed. Have only gone on short trips, and no problems, but the GMC is now at 200K miles and we're going to Montana Pheasant hunting. So decided to look for a new truck, but are finding it impossible to match up one that will accomodate the camper's weight. We LOVE the 820 and don't want to get rid of it, but what a hassle on the weight. It has air, cold-weather pkg, on-board generator. I took it to a scales and it weighs 3,250 w/out gear, water, etc. The only thing that comes close to meeting weight reqs is a 1-Ton Dually, and GM doesn't make it in a short-box truck. Like Willy, I found a Ford F350 1T diesel, SRW, w/100K miles on it that I may seriously buy. Only use the Lance occasionally -- retirement will change that!!! So, don't want to spend a fortune on a truck that is oversized for day-to-day general use. Does this truck sound ok? Any other suggestions?

Does GM not offer a 3500 in a short bed?

We have a Lance 825 (basically the same as your 820 but with a wall slide out). We're driving a Dodge quad cab 3500 shortbed. It's a 4x4 with the Cummins engine so there is some wasted GVWR for those goodies. (A gasser' with 2WD would have more hauling capacity but it wouldn't look as cool!) With a 10,100 GVWR and an unladen weight of about 6,300# it's got plenty of room though to legally haul your 820. I think Dodge started offering the shortbed as a 3500 as early as 2003, 2004 for sure. The only thing I dislike about my Dodge is the short bed is 6 feet, not 6.5. It works fine however the length of the 825 /820's sort of messes with your CG so you have to watch how you load your camping gear.
I looked at Ford's several times, but for minor reasons kept coming back to a Dodge. (just a personal choice) I do think the F-350 is an excellent Lance hauler though. I'm sure whatever you pick you'll be happy with it!

Here is my setup. I have made several trips this summer (Interstate, mountains, off road, wind and etc.),and have had no problems. The truck and camper handle great.

1996 K1500 Chevy, 5.7L Vortec, Automatic Transmission (4160e), 4X4, 14 bolt rear differential (3.73 axle gear ratio), short box, Lance Cabover Struts, Firestone Ride-Rite Air Bags, KYB Monomax Shocks, Torklift Stable-Loads, Happijac truck camper tiedowns and turnbuckles, and E Rated tires.

I don't know about the Ford.

Happy camping,
Cap'n Bob

Very good decision to get the F-350. However, even with that, you need to be careful about overloading your rear tires. When you have the camper fully loaded, weigh it on a commercial scale and make sure your tire capacity is adequate. Also, even with a F-350, air bags are a really good idea.