Forum Discussion

Weekendwarrior2's avatar
Weekendwarrior2
Explorer
Aug 07, 2020

Lance 830 with Ram 3500 Mega Cab

I know this has been discussed before and I'm probably going to get the same answers from the same 2 camps, but I thought I'd try anyways.

I have a Lance 830 and love the camper, but it is a bit too much for my '04 F250 so I'm looking for a new truck to haul it and the Ram 3500 Mega Cab looks pretty appealing. Here's the dilemma;

Ram Short beds are about 76" long and the rear axle appears to be 34.5" from the front of the cab (mega cab and crew cab). The Lance 830 lists COG as 36" from front and 42" from rear (I believe where the wings almost contact the tail lights). Since this bed is shorter, we can probably just focus on the 36" measurement. This puts me 1.5"-2" behind the rear axle. Not ideal right?

But then I found this from Ram in 2016.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/bbg/pdf/2016/docs/ram/hdramcg.pdf

I don't think any of these measurements have changed since 2016. According to this I'm within the recommended "zone" for COG.

The Truck I'm looking at is a 2020 Big Horn 3500 6.7 HO cummins Mega Cab 4x4 SRW. GVWR should be 12,300. Payload should be around 4K lbs.

I always have gear on the floor of the camper up front so I know this shifts the true COG forward a bit, but if I'm dropping the money on a new Diesel I might as well get it right. Do I need to go the Ford route?

Thanks,

Chris
Truck Campers
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Aug 07, 2020
    I think I know good explanation for short bed married to Mega Cab.
    The 350/3500 series trucks are still used mostly as grocery getters, where small turning radius is crucial.
    Mega Cab with long bed would make what? 22-24 feet long?
    Not much chance to find good parking spot at your local milk place.
    But one more time, having rigs with COG way behind rear axle, but having good safety margin before axle overloading never was a trouble for me.
    On long stretches in TX, I was having fun getting into air drags behind semitrailers doing 75 -80 mph. Lot of turbulence in such driving, yet I was always having good control
  • Weekendwarrior2's avatar
    Weekendwarrior2
    Explorer
    Aug 07, 2020
    I belive they are steel through 2020. 2021 details havent been released.

    I dont have it in front of me, but I believe the GAWR for the rear is 7000 lbs with a base rear weight near 3200 lbs. I think Im good when purely looking at weights. COG has me worried as an old timer told me you'd rather be way over weight with proper COG than under weight with a COG too far back. I have no experience with this. I think its kind of crazy that Ram would put such a short bed on these things.
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Aug 07, 2020
    I am not devoted Ford owner and fact that my top-end beast develop oil pan leak at 20k miles did not make me feel good at all, but each brand offers unique features that might help one, when make no sense to other.
    Coming to your main question, I don't see you ever research Dodge actual rear axle weight v/s its rating?
    If Dodge is still making steel beds, the aluminium Ford is having huge advantage.
  • Weekendwarrior2's avatar
    Weekendwarrior2
    Explorer
    Aug 07, 2020
    Kayteg1, thanks for the input. TC is a little of 3000 lbs wet with gear, and I'm hauling it on a 04 F250 SRW, so I'm already overweight, but the COG is well forward of the axle with the current truck.

    I'm thinking it'll be fine with the considerably higher payload on 3500 SRW even with COG slightly behind the rear axle, but then I also have 4-6" less of the camper being supported by the bed of the truck.

    I've always been a Ford guy, but the simplicity of the Cummins and the Mega Cab have me sold on the Ram at the moment. But then this bed is tiny. Should I just stick with the Blue Oval?
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Aug 07, 2020
    My last 2 pickups had the camper with COG behind rear axle and I never had a problem with it.
    But duallies had +- 7000 lb "payload" for rear axles, so even my TC scaled above 6000 lb on occasions, that alone did not create any problems and I drove both pickups with no suspension modifications.
    The only slight issue was when I had ca 300 lb of gray water in rear tank, where the weigh placed about 7 feet behind the axle created slight purposing
    Very common on this forum that members start calculation with GVW printed on the door frame.
    Not only this is taxable number, who has loose connection with technical capabilities, but TC won't let you use front axle for load carrying, so 95% of calculations should oscillate at rear axle numbers.
    And you guessed it right. My trucks were Fords ;)
  • BurbMan's avatar
    BurbMan
    Explorer II
    Aug 07, 2020
    If you drop back to a crew cab you can get a long box, the payload on mine is 4300 lbs. The back of the crew cab has way more room than our Suburban did and I was impressed. Not limo-type room like the mega cab but certainly enough for us and I have the seat back all the way when I'm driving.
  • JIMNLIN's avatar
    JIMNLIN
    Explorer III
    Aug 07, 2020
    The Truck I'm looking at is a 2020 Big Horn 3500 6.7 HO cummins Mega Cab 4x4 SRW. GVWR should be 12,300. Payload should be around 4K lbs.

    A 4k payload will have to go on both axles as its a GVWR based payload.
    The 3500 SRW Ram has a 7000 rawr. These trucks are heavy and rear axle may weigh 3400-3500 lbs which leaves around 3500-3600 lbs in the bed.

    This means a upgrade in wheels or tires or rear suspension as they all need to meet or exceed the load you place in the bed from a TC.

    Measurements are so close and you have the TC I would drop by a Ram dealer and take some actual measurements.

    Someone may have the same combo so stay tuned.

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