Hi all,Me and my lady are looking to add a ruck camper to our lives. We have been looking around and found one we both really like. It’s a 2000 lance 1121. We have a quad cab Dodge Ram 2500. I’m going to add airbags regardless of what camper we add. And I’m wondering if this camper will safely load into the standard 6’4” bed. I’ve heard rumors about leaving the tailgate down and strapping it to the bed. Can you folks help point me in the right direction?Thanks. Sam

Sometimes you can get by with an 8 or 9 foot camper in a shortbed, but that campers an 11.5 footer with a slide out. Unfortunately you'll need an 8 foot bed with that one.

Doubt if you will find much support on here for that setup. Some things not working in your favor would be the center of gravity(COG) of the TC, which is probably going to be a ways past your rear axle; the weight of the TC-the brochure says a little over 2900lbs-but that is before options. I had a lance 1130 that the brochure said weighed the same as the one you are looking at but the actual weight was right around 4000lbs be fore I put water, clothes, food etc in it. The rear hangover including the bumper was over 3' and I had an 8' bed. Consider that with your shortbed. The single wheels on the rear of your truck are also something to consider. There is probably no way that I would even consider doing this. If you really like the TC possibly consider sitting it on a trailer and pulling it with your truck. But this probably defeats the purpose of having a TC. Gary

Thank you for responding so fast. That is really unfortunate. What is the largest we could fit. The slide out seemed nice since we also really would like to bring our dog.

I know you want the largest that will work,I think the more important factor is the Center of gravity, which is the balance point of the TC-where the weight of the TC is the same on the front of the TC as the rear. In a TC made for an 8' truck bed the COG of the TC is going to be farther to the rear of the truck putting more weight on the rear of the truck and taking weight off of the front(steering) of the truck. Then you get into handling problems.Believe me this is not enjoyable(nor even remotely safe)to drive. Each TC manufacturer lists the COG of each model in a brochure. You want it to be over the rear axle or possibly a little forward rather than behind(although with a dually you could get away with some behind, depending on the weight of it). Slideouts are great, but add a lot of weight. You might want to look into a popup TC.

Lance 1121 compatibility | Good Sam Community

Grit_dog
Navigator
Nov 10, 2019
Sglloyd wrote:
Thank you for responding so fast. That is really unfortunate. What is the largest we could fit. The slide out seemed nice since we also really would like to bring our dog.

Weight wise, you'll be limited by what you're willing to do for upgrades on the truck and what you're comfortable with. I've got a 4klb + shortbed camper riding in a shortbed Ram 2500 with airbags, sway bar and good tires. I'm fine with it. Some aren't.
Some won't go past the rated payload sticker on the truck which limits to mostly pop up campers and very light hard side campers. Certainly not slide outs.
Length wise, you're limited to a max of 8-9', or campers that are designed to be on short bed trucks.
Several mfgs make short bed capable campers with slide outs.
mountainkowboy
Explorer
Nov 10, 2019
We don't have a slide and it weighs 4,500lbs ready to camp, 11 footer.
Lwiddis
Explorer II
Nov 10, 2019
As route pointed out, the COG will be the problem along with the truck’s payload number.

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