Recently sold my broken camper to someone (cheap), and found myself another. It's a 2000 Lance Lite, in amazing shape. The lady who sold it to me, said she had a second mattress that I could have. So I took out the thin one, and put this one in it's place. It's a lot heavier than the stock mattress, much thicker and with a sort of pillowtop on it. It's about 11" thick, as opposed to the 7" thick that you normally see in a truck camper. My question is this: Does anyone have a opinion of whether or not it's bad for my camper to haul the heavier mattress on the cabover camper? My previous camper had some damage, like someone had hauled something too heavy on the bed, and I want to make sure that I'm not going to trash the camper with a mattress that's too heavy for it.

The problem you may find is that you lose 4 inches of head room. Should be no prob with weight . I weight 170 and there are guys that weight 340 and makes no diff . No offense to 340 lb guys...lol

harley4275 wrote:The problem you may find is that you lose 4 inches of head room. Should be no prob with weight . I weight 170 and there are guys that weight 340 and makes no diff . No offense to 340 lb guys...lolThat I've already seen and can accept. My other option is the regular 7" mattress with a 3" memory foam on top, so either way it's about the same. I'm just worried about the extra weight of the mattress when bouncing down the highway at 70 mph, wondering if that's an issue?

Always a weight limit but you aren’t close IMO.

The brand new camper I bought had a Serta mattress with pillow top on it in the overhead. So, I would assume it would be OK. Mine was the north/south bed if that makes any difference.

I think Lance has had the design of the cabover perfect for many years now. I suspect there will be no problems.Rick

Is there a weight limit on cabover bed? | Good Sam Community

rickjo
Explorer
Aug 14, 2020
JimK-NY wrote:
If you have the camper off the truck, you should always maintain the front end higher than the rear or at least even. If so, weight in the cabover area should not be an issue. The COG is near the middle of the floor and you will never have enough leverage by weight in the cabover to tilt the camper.

Maintaining the front higher or level has NO effect on the COG within the limits of the jacks when off the truck and lowered near the ground as normally done. (Why would anyone leave the camper high on the jacks and try to live in it?) If the front is lower, it can't be by much and becomes annoying for sleeping, etc. It may even stress the brain much like that experienced by people with acrophobia who can't stand near the edge of a cliff and look down.

Rick
JimK-NY
Explorer II
Aug 14, 2020
If you have the camper off the truck, you should always maintain the front end higher than the rear or at least even. If so, weight in the cabover area should not be an issue. The COG is near the middle of the floor and you will never have enough leverage by weight in the cabover to tilt the camper.
JrStafford
Explorer
Aug 13, 2020
mkirsch wrote:

Should you decide to pack the cabover with large rocks, that's on you. A slightly heavier mattress isn't going to make any difference unless the camper was about ready to come apart in the first place.

:B

Nope, no rocks.
mkirsch
Nomad II
Aug 12, 2020
If the manufacturer thought the weight limit were critical, it would be published in the manual for the camper, and would be printed on a BIG RED STICKER pasted at the entrance to the cabover.

"DO NOT EXCEED XXXlbs IN CABOVER BED AREA."

It is a matter of CYA and liability mitigation on the part of the manufacturer.

It does not say that so they must feel that the cabover has adequate capacity for anything any reasonable camper owner may decide to put there.

Should you decide to pack the cabover with large rocks, that's on you. A slightly heavier mattress isn't going to make any difference unless the camper was about ready to come apart in the first place.
Buzzcut1
Nomad II
Aug 09, 2020
I have had a full sized queen Posturepedic mattress in the TC for 8 years with no issues. dont worry about it
Grit_dog
Navigator
Aug 09, 2020
And agreed, at speed, it seems the overhead portion sees more uplift than downforce.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Aug 09, 2020
Not to worry, if a few more lbs from a better mattress destroys it, it was coming apart soon, regardless.
Different brand, but we pack all kinds of _____ in the overhead. Family of 4 in a little camper means both side storages are PACKED. All clothing for 4 for a week or 2. Tent and sleeping bags. Extra food. And sometimes wakeboards and surfboards on the bed.
rjstractor
Nomad
Aug 09, 2020
JrStafford wrote:
Does anyone have a opinion of whether or not it's bad for my camper to haul the heavier mattress on the cabover camper?

Even if the new mattress outweighed the old one by 50 pounds, with that weight distributed evenly over the cabover the extra weight won't matter at all.
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Aug 09, 2020
'm just worried about the extra weight of the mattress when bouncing down the highway at 70 mph, wondering if that's an issue?

The overhead lifts like a airfoil at 70 mph as my silly brother in law found out. He just bought a brand new (late '70s) 10'6" 3300 lb dry weight TC and didn't use any type of attachment to the truck. I told him it needs tie downs of some type but didn't want to take the time. He would do it when he got home from his vacation trip. Long story short he made the evening news that day as his never used TC lifted out of the bed at 60 mph into a 25-28 mph head wind. The TC landed on its back end then did end over ends scattering itself over a couple of hundred feet down the expressway.

I'm sure the overhead on all TC's have a weight designed limit but only the TC mfg can tell you what their numbers are. Its not a not a generic number .
rickjo
Explorer
Aug 09, 2020
I think Lance has had the design of the cabover perfect for many years now. I suspect there will be no problems.

Rick