AF 811 or Lance 855S for 2013 Dodge 3500 SB 4x4

Thanks Btggraphix
Good to be back.

FireGuard wrote:
Thanks for all the input. Bottom line is even these SB campers are HEAVY.
Ironically, shortly after I posted this last night I was perusing Craigs List.
I had a wonderful set up with an 03 Dodge 4x4 DRW CTD that I put a ton of mods into and a nice Lance 981. I sold it to buy another house (smart idea) but coming back into the TC market, it would have cost me a fortune to replace what I had.
Long story short, the guy who bought my rig is now selling it so he can buy a house.
So, if things go smoothly, I will pick it up next week.
BTW, I bought the house so the GF would be closer to work but she has since moved on and the house will be rented next week and I'm back on the mountain where I belong. Looks like I'll have much more time to camp now.

That's awesome......and how rare is that to end up getting right back where you left off? Welcome back to the mountain where you belong!

Thanks for all the input. Bottom line is even these SB campers are HEAVY.
Ironically, shortly after I posted this last night I was perusing Craigs List.
I had a wonderful set up with an 03 Dodge 4x4 DRW CTD that I put a ton of mods into and a nice Lance 981. I sold it to buy another house (smart idea) but coming back into the TC market, it would have cost me a fortune to replace what I had.
Long story short, the guy who bought my rig is now selling it so he can buy a house.
So, if things go smoothly, I will pick it up next week.
BTW, I bought the house so the GF would be closer to work but she has since moved on and the house will be rented next week and I'm back on the mountain where I belong. Looks like I'll have much more time to camp now.

Campingken
Yes they have significantly improved the suspension, frame and GVW for 13.
A SRW 3500 has a 11,700 gvw, my 03 DRW was only 12,200.
The 13 DRW is 14k gvw. Plus 850 ft/lbs of torque with the Aisin transmission.

Here is a new 2012 Mega Cab short bed with a Lance 881 max. Its 3200lbs dry. ......Sadly they stopped making this model in 06.


Ram 3500 Lance 881 by MooringProduct, on Flickr

We have a 2003 Dodge 3500 diesel quad cab 4x4 S/B and unless the suspension has really improved in the past 10 years I would not want a 3000+ pound camper behind me. We recently bought a Northstar TC650 pop up and the sticker says that it weighs 1725 pounds with 30 gallons of water and a full propane tank.

With the camper on there is between 1-2 inches of space between the overloads and springs. When we drive there is no doubt that we have a load in the truck's bed.

Per the local dump's scale our truck weighs 7300 pounds empty with 34 gallons of diesel. The GVW is 9900 so the CC is 2600 pounds. Subtract the camper and we have 900 pounds left. Add people, gear, food, and, if you tow, the trailer's tongue weight, and it would be very easy to exceed this.

Personally I would not want to start with a camper that would put me over my GVW as soon as I put it on my truck.

I have the 2013 855s. I have all the options except for the solar panels. Mine with gear weighs in at 4000lbs according to the CAT scales I went to. The dealer also took and it got the same weight.

Do NOT believe Lance at all. The 855s is HEAVY and should go on a 1 ton truck...my 3/4 needed a lot of suspension upgrades to hold it.

David

sky_free wrote:

billtex wrote:


We all know the dry weights are a fantasy...but Lance list the 855S at 2650#...where are you getting 3300#?
Is that optioned out?
If so, are all of your weights listed above w/options?
Please list so we have accurate comparison.

Tx, B

I took the base dry weight and added 650 lbs for options (including solar + A/C + gen). I got this number by searching the forums for actual scale weights reported by other people. I couldn't always find the exact model of TC, so it's sometimes a guess based on delta for other models. This is not going to be 100% accurate of course, but it should provide a ballpark comfort level. My purpose is to get an idea of what truck / TC combo to get that puts me comfortably within the weight limits, which seems what the OP was looking for. A new truck + TC is going to cost about $75K so I want to do it right the first time.

OK...it was a bit confusing when you stated "dry weights"...most Folks here think of that meaning "no options".

You are correct to add in all the features you will want when specing out your combo.
"Measure twice...cut once"!

Good luck, Bill

billtex wrote:


We all know the dry weights are a fantasy...but Lance list the 855S at 2650#...where are you getting 3300#?
Is that optioned out?
If so, are all of your weights listed above w/options?
Please list so we have accurate comparison.

Tx, B

I took the base dry weight and added 650 lbs for options (including solar + A/C + gen). I got this number by searching the forums for actual scale weights reported by other people. I couldn't always find the exact model of TC, so it's sometimes a guess based on delta for other models. This is not going to be 100% accurate of course, but it should provide a ballpark comfort level. My purpose is to get an idea of what truck / TC combo to get that puts me comfortably within the weight limits, which seems what the OP was looking for. A new truck + TC is going to cost about $75K so I want to do it right the first time.

Northernford wrote:
Dry weight is 2873 according to northwoods website

Northwood shows a dry weight of 2873 but they dont include the "Fox Value Package" which is 590 lbs. The Fox Value Package is a mandated option on all their TCs. so you have to add that extra weight to the total dry weight number.