First Timer: Lance 865 and F350 SRW

Should be a great setup!!

Be sure to hit the scales once you get it loaded up. My dads 850 is around 1400lbs heaver than "wet" loaded for a week of camping.

Yep Slackjaw. Ended up with 6 leaf springs on each side. We take the camper off all the time. The ride is stiffer than stock, but its my work truck too so it also helps at work. It has leaf springs all around so the ride was a little rough to begin with.

Slick Rick,
Did you get your new camper home? How was the drive and handling. We're all anxious to hear.

BruceandBarb wrote:
You will enjoy the 865. We've had one on a 2004 F250 for 2 years now. Had a spring shop add 2 leafs to each side in the rear, Hellwig sway bar, and Ranchos. Rides and handles great. 3rd truck camper and by far the best.

Did you add two leaves to the main spring pack? Seems like that would be quite stiff. Do you ever take your camper off?

Rick,

With that truck under that camper you will be fine! If you have never had a heavy load in the truck bed it can take some time to get used to how the handling changes.

Just relax, take your time and enjoy it.

Best of luck and hope you have many happy trips.

John

You will enjoy the 865. We've had one on a 2004 F250 for 2 years now. Had a spring shop add 2 leafs to each side in the rear, Hellwig sway bar, and Ranchos. Rides and handles great. 3rd truck camper and by far the best.

Our 04 Chevy Duramax 3500 DRW truck always had the headlights running too low even after adjusting them up. With the camper on, a 25 year old Shadow Cruiser 9.5 hard side, the truck is down to level and lights no problem. It's entirely stock and have hauled this set up over 8,000 miles with no handling issues. Enjoy your new camper and happy trails.

I have the 865 on a Ram 3500 and I ran stock suspension for about a year with an occasional high beam check from oncoming traffic. I could hardly tell it was on the back of my truck but I did end up putting a set of lower Stable Loads on the rear springs and that did stop the high beam checks. I would run it stock until you've got a couple trips on it and then evaluate if you need anything extra for the suspension. I weighed our 865 and it was in the 2,600-2,700 lb range loaded and wet, we have no a/c or microwave. We also had a 100 watt solar panel and AGM battery installed at the dealer. Our rear axle load was less than 6,000 lb so our stock tires, 3750 lb load rating, were more than adequate. We are very happy with our 865 and actually put our motorhome up for sale because we enjoy the camper so much that we rarely use the motorhome anymore. We also occasionally flat tow our jeep or pull a trailer with a SXS and ATV on it. It's all good with the 1 ton suspension and diesel power. You will love the convenience of the TC, I know we do!

slick,
An-ti-ci-pa-tion!
You have just about the best combo I can imagine. No matter what you are going to use it for, it will exceed your expectations. Congrats on choosing the good stuff the first time out. You are one savvy TC buyer.
jefe

Just drive it and see. I would however go to a scale with the TC on to see what the rig really weighs(prevents bad surprises later on)just to make sure the tires are up to the real world load.