I have a 2014 Ram 3500 crew 4wd SRW short bed being delivered in a couple of days. The truck will have a payload of between 4300-4400# based on equivalent trucks. We had about decided on a new 855s due to the bunk availability and full size dinette bed. Well, an extremely clean 881 popped up a few hours away. Truck campers aren't exactly easy to come by on the gulf coast and short bed campers even more so. The nearest lance dealer is 7 hours away. I could save about $15000 by going with the 881 at the expense of a few hundred pounds. The dealer told me that the "as equipped" dry weight sticker on the 881 is 3600 pounds. I'll be very quickly junking the stock street tires for some A/Ts rated 400# per tire more than stock. The two questions that I have are, will I be fine with the 881 on this truck and what are the dimensions of the dinette in the 881?

Marshfly wrote:I have a 2014 Ram 3500 crew 4wd SRW short bed being delivered in a couple of days. The truck will have a payload of between 4300-4400# based on equivalent trucks. We had about decided on a new 855s due to the bunk availability and full size dinette bed. Well, an extremely clean 881 popped up a few hours away. Truck campers aren't exactly easy to come by on the gulf coast and short bed campers even more so. The nearest lance dealer is 7 hours away. I could save about $15000 by going with the 881 at the expense of a few hundred pounds. The dealer told me that the "as equipped" dry weight sticker on the 881 is 3600 pounds. I'll be very quickly junking the stock street tires for some A/Ts rated 400# per tire more than stock. The two questions that I have are, will I be fine with the 881 on this truck and what are the dimensions of the dinette in the 881?What engine are you getting for your 3500? If it's a Cummins 6.7L TD your payload will be around 3800 lbs because that's what my truck has. The GVWR for my truck is 11,700 lbs. The front GAWR is 6,000 lbs, while the rear GAWR is 7,000 lbs. As for that 881, I'd be leery buying something 8 years old in the Gulf Coast area with all the rain there. Not everyone keeps up with their roof caulking. If you do decide to go that route, make sure you inspect it very well for rot and mold. If I recall, the 855s has a dry weight of around 2,800 lbs. That will put you around 3,800 lbs fully loaded. I'd feel comfortable with those weights with a Ram 3500. Just my two cents. Mike

I'm getting the CTD. That is considerably lower than all of my research led me to believe. Maybe something changed in 2014. I'm pretty sure the trucks are exactly the same. I guess I'll see when it is delivered in a few days.

For the 881 I would budget for a set of 19.5 rims and tires at around $3500. Thes will provide 8800 lbs. max load capacity at the rear axle. Payload with heavy duty trucks is mostly a function of the load capacity of all the tires at the rear axle. 6400 lbs (minus weight of the truck on the rear wheels) for the pair with factory tires, 7500 with Nitto or Toyo tires, and 8800 with 19.5 tires with a SRW truck. With the Nitto or Toyo tires the approximate max payload is going to be 7500 - 3200 = 4300 lbs. and if you want a safer margin, a maximum load of 4000 lbs. camper and contents (best to add 1000 lbs. to camper sticker weight). That works out to a camper weight of 3,000 lbs. if you do not want to go to 19.5 rims and tires. You will not however find 19.5 tires with a A/T tread, only with highway treads that are designed to maximize tread life and fuel economy on commercial vehicles. At least you are getting accurate information on the weight of the camper from the dealer. The Lance published weight for an 881 is 3280 lbs. so the 3600 lb reflects what was added, like an AC or roof rack to the camper. The 3600 lb. 881 will likely be at 4400 lbs when you leave on a trip and if you have fresh, grey, or black water fluids in the holding tanks it is easy to be carrying around an additional 160-200 lbs. and then if you decide to travel with a generator and fuel there is another 100 plus pounds to add to the truck's rear tire load. Unfortunately you bought the truck before deciding on a camper. Lot easier to find sleeping for 4 adults with a camper built for a long bed truck. The extra 18" adds to the dinette area which becomes the secondary sleeping area. Another used camper to consider for your new truck is the 830 with its fold out sleeping area. There are advantages to the 855s with its slide and the metal frame construction and wiring in place for a rear camera and better insulation and dual pane windows on the 4-seasons model. The lighter the camper the more flexibility in terms of carrying gear inside or outside the camper and in being able to accommodate the tongue weight of a trailer. Good idea to have the Lance wiring installation work done along with tie-downs installed ahead of time. Then you can travel a distance to look at a used camper and if it is what you want you can take it home with you the same day.

I test drove a long bed truck and that just wasn't happening as a daily driver in town. The Toyo 295/65r20 at tires planned for the stock wheels are rated at 4080 each for an axle total of 8160 for the axle. The stock 285/60r20s are rated at about 3750 each. 19.5s are not an option I'm willing to explore due to terrible empty ride and not being able to air them down if necessary. It looks like I'll just need to wait until I get the truck in to see what the door sticker actually says. If it really is ~3800 as Mello Mike's is, the 881 is just more camper than I'm comfortable with.And all I need is room for my wife and I and two small kids, one of which is a baby on the way. The slide is almost a necessity if you get caught on a rainy day in the camper.

It might be in the 4,000 range for payload?http://www.rambodybuilder.com/iph/iph2014/ph2014/phdocs/phram/phrammlup3500.pdf

2006 Lance 881 vs New 855s | Good Sam Community

Marshfly
Explorer
Mar 23, 2014
AISURFFISH wrote:
I was referring to a debt free truck because I cant afford a new long bed truck and camper..
So for now if I want a new camper it will again have to be a short bed model.

Got it. :C

On the other hand, I specifically ordered a shortbed truck because I know I'd end up high centered on a trail with a long bed.
6pac
Explorer
Mar 23, 2014
Different strokes for different folks ! That's what makes this forum so interesting!
Happy traveling
AISURFFISH
Explorer
Mar 23, 2014
I was referring to a debt free truck because I cant afford a new long bed truck and camper..
So for now if I want a new camper it will again have to be a short bed model.
Marshfly
Explorer
Mar 23, 2014
AISURFFISH wrote:

I love my lance. And I love my debt free truck..

I love my brand new debt free truck too, but thanks for the judgement. ;)

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about the non slide. I have a tendency to end up way in the backcountry of Colorado and Wyoming chasing trout with a fly rod and I think it'll end up being the best choice.
AISURFFISH
Explorer
Mar 23, 2014
We have an 881 as well..
We shopped a new 855s today and let's just say I will gladly keep my 2005 881 over that new 855s.
The fridge is WAYYYY to small.
The 855s lacks storage. Wasted space.
The battery area for the 855s is an engineering embarrassment.
There was no wow factor with this camper.
Just my opinion..
Unless lance makes a new model for a short bed that has s full wall slide my next camper may be an ARCTIC FOX 811s

I love my lance. And I love my debt free truck..
SugarHillCTD
Explorer
Mar 22, 2014
We are VERY comfortable traveling with our 855s on a 2012 Chevy 2500.

Handles well on back roads and interstates- Timbrens and a BigWig bar, plus 4- 3970# cap. tires.

Weight police- take the day off.
Marshfly
Explorer
Mar 21, 2014
So, I ended up seeing a 2013 Lance 855 non slide pop up on the same dealer's website that had the 845. Come to find out, it's 3 months old and as expected, like new. I was able to make what I think is a decent deal. The deposit is down and I'll go pick it up whenever my truck decides to arrive. We are crazy excited. Plan to take the maiden voyage for my kid's spring break at the end of April.
Marshfly
Explorer
Mar 19, 2014
Butch,
That's the plan for sure. I know there's some leeway in the GVW, especially with upgraded tires, but I at least want to know where I stand.
Butch50
Explorer
Mar 19, 2014
Just a suggestion, when you get your new truck don't go by the tag on the door for weights. Take it to a scale with a full tank of fuel and all the people that are going to be in the truck and anything else you plan on carrying in the truck. Then pay the $10 to get an actual weight and then you know where you are starting from.

OH also welcome to the forum.
mooring_product
Explorer
Mar 19, 2014
Marshfly wrote:
After chatting with my wife last night, we decided to try to make a deal on an extremely lightly used Lance 845 at a dealer. It will be a huge step up from the ATC Cougar that we currently have . It only has 4 hours on the genset and still has the manufacturers sticker in the kitchen sink. We figure that this will give us an idea of whether or not we really "need" a slide without the depreciation of a brand new camper. Not to mention that the truck will carry it without breaking a sweat.

Worst case, it's too small and we might loose a grand or two selling it. Not that big of a deal in the grand scheme.

I was looking for an 845 before we found the 881, I even put down a deposit on it.. I ended up getting the 881 for less then the 845 even after I lost my deposit.

The seller couldn't find anyone to buy it...I got lucky.

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