Lance truck camper for F350

you should be fine with that camper

You'll need to add material under the camper (about 2") to get it to clear the roof of the cab.

Lance center of gravity at the time was measured from the rear of the bed if I remember correctly (they have since changed to the front the bed).

Weight wise, you will be totally fine.

Here is the Lance brochure from 1994

http://www.lancecamper.com/docs/Lance_1994_brochure.pdf

You should be OK with that truck and camper.

Load the Lance camper on the F-350 truck like you were going to camp. Take it to the Cat scale to see your true weight. Ensure your Gray Tank is empty and Black tank has 2 gallons of little water so its not dry. F/W Tank fill 1/2 to 3/4 full for travel. That way you see the true weight of the truck/camper.
Camper Should be just fine with the F-350 otherwise.
Best of luck and enjoy camping.
Scott

We have an 880 on our 2003 dually. We needed to build a cradle to lift it approximately 3" for clearance. Some go shorter, I felt like this was better.

I just posted details on our (crude) cradle. If I can find it, I'll post a link.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27170413/gotomsg/27180487.cfm#27180487

We did add Firestone air bags to help with leveling out the load, as it was a little nose-light when fully loaded. Also added Tok-lift Stable-loads to engage the overload springs a little more efficiently. I heavier rear sway bar and Bilstein shocks were a plus, too.

Other than that, we love our 880 and it works dandy on the tuck.

I have a 880 as well. I believe I was at 10,360 lb with My 96 dodge 2500 standard cab long bed . All I did was add the tork lift stable loads and the truck road level, handled really well. I have now up graded to a 2004 dodge 3500quad cab srw and am at 11,??? something. I will be adding the stable loads to this truck as well. I would avoid the airbags. You do need to make a platform for the lance to raise it at least 2" , that way it will clear the taller ford cabs.

Beefie

That truck should carry it fine. I was carrying a 3,000 lb (loaded) Lance 835 and it didn't even level out truck, still sat higher in the rear with truck totally stock (camper package).

Scott16 wrote:
Load the Lance camper on the F-350 truck like you were going to camp. Take it to the Cat scale to see your true weight. Ensure your Gray Tank is empty and Black tank has 2 gallons of little water so its not dry. F/W Tank fill 1/2 to 3/4 full for travel. That way you see the true weight of the truck/camper

I urge you to follow Scott's advise except I would fill the fresh water tank full. This is the scientific way to get the answer. All else is opinion.

Well, my opinion (as a guy who has a Lance 880 and an F-350 with an 8' bed) is that you will be just fine. You will need something to raise the camper up somewhere between 2 or 3" or you will have a dented cab roof. That much is fact.

Any other modifications will be at your discretion and budget- and based on how you feel the truck handles with the camper on it.

We upgraded some suspension items based solely on how the truck handled with the camper weight, plus the 3' truss extension and our 7,000# horse-trailer in tow.

Those are our experiences- others might feel differently. ;)

The 7280 load rating for the two rear tires is your real limitation. Minus the 2730 that leaves a wet camper (with fresh water in the tank and all your gear) of 4550. I would be looking for a camper with a "dry" weight of 3,000 lbs. or less which may be the case with the one you found. For a ballpark weight look at the Lance sticker on the back of the camper for the weight and add 500 lbs. for a probable dry weight - you can verify later at the scales.

Allow for the cost of tie-downs and turnbuckles, 7-pin connector and battery isolator, extra springs, heavy duty shocks, and probably a rear anti-sway bar, in totaling up the cost to get this camper on your truck and heading down the highway. Suggest doing the suspension mods one by one and then evaluating handling before making additional ones.

Home Depot sells 4x8 foot pink insulation panels in thicknesses of 1" and 2" and they do not compress under a camper load and do not absorb moisture. They are the easiest way to raise the height of the camper. I put one sheet on my bed liner and then a rubber mat on top of the foam and then my 4,000 lb camper which does not slides at all.