Help with Weight of Truck Camper

I will get on the Lance website and check that out. I will put a lot of hear in my boat, easier to tow than hauling it. The Lance 850 is their smallest rig for a long bed. There are many campers out there but I want quality and hopefully my budget will allow for it. A pop up would be okay as well but like we've heard, happy wife, happy life. She wants a hard top so I am going to do my best. The all aluminum ones are pretty slick - might look at those. No rot and much lighter - super basic.

Sounds like your tires are very similar to mine. So you sold your camper?

To give you an idea of that weight :
If I'm correct the 850 is the LB model and the 855 is the SB model .
I have a non-slde SB 845, my dry was 2400# . At that time Lance had a 'get-a-quote' link on their website that allowed people to add specific options (like genny, a/c, awning, etc to that posted dry wt. ) . Maybe they still have a 'build your own ' link somewhere on the site.
My option list put me at approx. 2900# w/o a/c or a genny but I did add a 2nd grp 29 battery . Rolling down the road as per various CAT scales , my 845 is approx. 3900# depending how much stuff I jam into it. My rear axle weight was 6400# , I upgraded my GMC 2500HD 245 75 16 stock tires to 265 75 16 at 3415# plus each . Tires (rear) being the weak link in carrying a camper, I have 6830# rear support now. ( Adding a H.D. hitch is going to add some weight as well )
This might sound silly, but I put my stuff into a milk crate and stepped on a bathroom scale as I loaded my camper. It added up real fast and allowed me to tell my DW, "your not bring this and that " . We downsized from a fiver, so it took a few attempts at loading up to convince her.

My truck is a gasser 300 HP 6.0 with 4.10 gears , I tow a 2000# utility trailer . Your Hemi has more HP than my 6.0 and probably a little more Torque. I do ok on the east coast baby mountains ( hills to you) that's why I said earlier you might feel it a bit going up the long steep mountains in your neck of the woods but I think you will be ok.


Bob

3200# tires does not get you 12800# of total weight. The rear axle will be carrying substantially more than the front so you'll have check out what it actually puts onto that one axle and divide that by two to see if your tires are adequate.

Guys, this is great, thank you so much for the advice. We like the Lance 850. To get 19.5 wheels and tires, that is some serious cash. The "weight" on the Lance 850 is 2300 - but after reading this, who really knows. I'm all for bigger wheels, what kind of modifications do I need to do that? I know many fellow campers that dont have that kind of set up...not saying thats correct though. After all this, just makes me want to buy a diesel, fifth wheel and triple tow - after I pick money from my tree. So the brand new Hankooks I just bought are too small?

I stand corrected.

You seem to be worried more about the engine than the suspension. That Hemi will have plenty of power. I wouldn't worry about that. This isn't racing after all.
I'd leave the engine alone and concentrate on carrying the weight.
You'll likely need new shocks, maybe a sway bar, and possibly 19.5" wheels and tires. A 2,500 pound dry weight camper will quickly turn into a 4,000 pound load. My camper says 3,1xx on the sticker. Loaded and ready to camp it's about 4,140.
My boat and tandem axle trailer weight about 4,200 pounds. It's a 20' so likely heavier than yours. I only have about 200 pounds of tongue weight (less than 5%). You just can't get much tongue weight on a boat since all the heavy parts are in the back. The trailer tows great. The 4' hitch extension probably weighs about 80 pounds by itself.
My dually is rated for 11,400 GVWR but with the camper, family, and boat it scales at almost 13,500.
If I were you I'd be looking at nothing larger than a 9' camper and keep the option list short.

campn4walleye wrote:
I'll chime here too, just to give a little more food for thought.

It's great to see the weight listed in the brochures for all of the TCs, but they are NEVER accurate. You have add the weight for each and every piece of optional items added to the TC. They are usually considerably heavier than portrayed.

You really shouldn't state ALL TC are NEVER accurate in weights in their brochures. Northern Lite weighs every truck camper before it leaves the factory. I have one and it stated it weighed 3010# and guess what the camper weighed. It was on the money. It also was a 10' one and it was loaded with all the options as it was the CDSE model which comes with almost every option that they offer. Besides having all LED lighting the only other option it had was a 7' rear awning in place ot the 4' wide one but that was included in the weight in the closet. The brochure stated that my model weighed 2980# with standard options. The additional weight was the rear awning that added the additional 30#.

I'll chime here too, just to give a little more food for thought.

It's great to see the weight listed in the brochures for all of the TCs, but they are NEVER accurate. You have add the weight for each and every piece of optional items added to the TC. They are usually considerably heavier than portrayed.

We proved it to the Arctic Fox dealer. He kept telling us the weight on the TC door was correct as a WET weight. We argued so vehemently that he loaded it (a 990) and had it weighed. It was over 1000 lbs heavier than the label stated, that was still not the wet wt.

We had a 3500 SRW at the time and all he was going to do was add air bags and send us on our way. By doing our due diligence with the help of this forum, we found that we would have been 1200 lbs over the GVWR (including the boat wt). In our opinion it was not a safe combo. We opted to go with a DRW and chose a different TC more suited to our needs. We couldn't be happier.

Do not trust the weights you find on the cabinet door. Use the basic wt and then add everything up, then decide.

It sounds like you're doing your research and this forum is truly the most helpful group of folks. Good luck.

op asks wrote:
If I get a camper around that weight and with the boat, will that hemi head have enough balls?

Before the mod/adm jumps you, Don't forget this a is a family forum.

The '05 2500 Hemi has a 9xxx to 12xxx tow rating depending on gears and cab selection. Many 5th wheel owner are towing 10k-11k 5th wheel trailer with 2200-2500 lb on the rear axle. Most say they wouldn't want any more too pull in the mountains. A 3500 lb TC plus a 4000 lb boat = 7.5K or so. The Hemi should have no issues in the mountains. As others say its not a diesel so don't expect to keep up with that crowd.

Yup, long bed truck with the tork lift to the frame. Had the happi jack set up and I wanted this as I heard it's a better set up - better be, tall cash. I don't winter camp - yet anyway. Never thought about it. In the past, I take my camper off and cover it up for winter. I try to get it aligned with the camper if I can find racks big enough.

My rims are 17" as my tire size is 285/70/R17. Rims are rated for 80-90 PSI. Each tire can hold 3,200 pounds so we're at 12,800. From my past experience with my old Ford F-250 6.0L, I had the same tires and my S&S hard top camper dry weight was around 2500. You're correct; adding in the "extras" will add weight. With my airbags, hope to stay with a hard top but might consider a pop up style.

I just bought this truck, don't want a diesel again. Maybe the 6.0L put a sour taste in my mouth but this truck has enough balls to do what I want. Do you think that would be a good choice for a hard top camper? I know it won't fly up hills like my diesel did. Who knows, after this summer, I might sell and get a Cummings, want to see how this does - just throwing out what I am thinking.

Question - is the muffler work and cold air intake worth the $$ and is a Lance 850 (smallest for a long bed, dry weight at 2,360) OK?

Mike