Lance(lite) 815--the 1/2 ton capable camper?

So I recall when I first came to the forum, many were happy to point out to me that the Lancelite 815 camper--which when it was made was the smallest Lance camper, is designed to be 1/2 ton capable.

Here's mine:

And here's my weight ticket:

My 1 ton, SRW truck is overloaded by 500 pounds. Those of you with newer 1 ton SRWs would be fine, as newer trucks have more payload because they generally come with 18" wheels, which have ~3600 lb capacities at least for the tires, whereas my truck has a 6200 lb Rear GAWR and has 17" wheels, with tires that were originally 3195 lbs. per.

I have long been skeptical of claims by companies that their campers are suitable for 1/2 ton trucks. I have serious doubts that any hard side camper is suitable for a 1/2 ton and even pop-ups with toilets are probably questionable as well.

I don't think it's the crime of the century that my 1 ton truck is ~5% overloaded but a 3/4 ton with the same features as my truck would be much more overloaded and the message really is, to me, that all but the smallest hard side campers belong on dual wheel trucks if we're talking about diesel, 4wd, 4 door trucks like mine where much of the GVWR is eaten up by the truck itself.

I know many of you disagree that the GVWR is an important number and instead focus on what the axles, wheels, and tires are capable of and by that measure, perhaps even a much larger and heavier camper would be okay on my truck. I would much prefer to be within my GVWR and I may pack lighter in the future to accommodate.

In the picture, I was loaded for a 5 day trip, but without my two dogs and their gear, and I was packing 25 gallons of fresh water as I was headed for the Grand Canyon where having a little extra water kinda comes in handy.

It's kinda like how you turn a 12 second car into a 16 second one: take it to the strip! Weigh your rig and I bet most of you would be very surprised at just how quickly the weight adds up.

The sticker weight on my camper (wet) is 2222 and the truck itself weighs 7,300.

Truck Campers

16 Replies

twodownzero
Explorer
Sep 12, 2014
c.traveler2 wrote:

twodownzero, I see in your photo that your sporting the short bed storage pods, how are those working out for you?

They are great. The latch on the left side one broke on my last trip so I need to replace them. But without them, there wouldn't be much outside storage so I'm glad they're there. I actually wish they were bigger because the bed of my truck is short enough that they could actually be considerably longer and it'd still fit.
c_traveler2
Nomad
Sep 11, 2014
sign man wrote:
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Yes a 1/2 ton can haul it around, get slapped side ways by a good gust of wind and you'll find yourself without enough counter weight for that Lance 815. Otherwise you have a good looking setup and I see that you have the optional outside shower set up, how has that worked out for you?
sign_man
Explorer
Sep 10, 2014
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c_traveler2
Nomad
Sep 10, 2014
I can speak from experience about hauling a Lance 815 around on a 1/2 ton truck. In 2002 we bought our Lance 815 new and already had a 1984 Chevie 1/2 ton. Yes the truck could "haul" it around after all it did fit in the bed of the truck.

Should it have been done, HECK NO!, but we were assured every thing was good. It was good till going through the Amboy area and a gust of wind put us on 2 wheels, I really believed we were going over, scared the wits out of my wife Julie. That trigger the search for a new, bigger truck, I bough a new 2003 F-250 6.0 diesel.

There are some hard side campers that would be fine on a small truck, as in the above photo, my brothers truck next to my Ford. He had a small, older Six Pack on it, very lite weight wise.

In 2007 I traded my F-250 for a F-250 4x4 and like twodownzero my GVWR is over by about 500 lbs,but well under the axle ratings

If I had known about this forum back in 2002 I would have bough a 3/4 ton truck for my Lance 815 instead of using my existing 1/2 ton truck.
Unfortunately Lance manufacturing like many other manufacture will stretch the truth on truck capacities.

twodownzero, I see in your photo that your sporting the short bed storage pods, how are those working out for you?
kohldad
Explorer III
Sep 10, 2014
We must pack about the same. My turck with 815 weighs in at 10,500# when ready to leave. I use to also haul a jeep on trailer which had 600# tongue weight moving me up to 11,100#.

I agree, with a wet ready to camp weight wet of 2,400#, I wouldn't want to carry it on a 1/2 tong truck unless it was a European version which seem to be allowed to carry a lot more weight.
billyray50
Explorer
Sep 10, 2014
hedge wrote:
good info. Pretty much in the same boat, I have an Adventurer 89RB on a 2012 F350 SRW. I thought I'd have lots of room with weight capacity but I'm likely over the cargo capacity sticker. My 2400 lb camper becomes 3400 pretty quick.

That's because the manufacturers sticker dry weight at least on my previous 2012 Adventurer 86 fb was not accurate. Look at some of my earlier posts. The Tcs dry weight was heavier at the CAT scale than both manufacturers stickers.
JumboJet
Explorer
Sep 10, 2014
My son saw a Toyota Tundra a few days ago with a TC loaded. He said it looked real dangerous with rear squatting and the front raised. Probably was one of those people that bought into the "if a Tundra can pull a 747" it can carry around a hard side TC with no problems.
twodownzero
Explorer
Sep 10, 2014
scottz wrote:
twodownzero wrote:
So I recall when I first came to the forum, many were happy to point out to me that the Lancelite 815 camper--which when it was made was the smallest Lance camper, is designed to be 1/2 ton capable.

That is pretty sensationalistic claim due to one person saying "With a Lance 815, you shouldn't need 19.5's. Lance markets those campers for use on 1/2 ton trucks! " in response your your comment " I strongly considered going to 19.5s".

I didn't remember the actual language of the response, but it did bring to my attention that these campers are marketed to 1/2 ton truck owners.

People have been overloading trucks for as long as there have been trucks. I would love a bigger camper, but I won't be hauling one on this truck. May just need a 5er for trips where it's appropriate.
Geewizard
Explorer
Sep 10, 2014
JumboJet wrote:
About the only difference between a 2500 and a 3500 SRW is the overload spring package(well if you throw out the exhaust brake and the true tow/haul mode). I owned a 2004 2500 and a 2008 3500. Both carried the same Lance 1030 with NO problem. Both had Torklift StableLoads installed. Both had a Hellwig sway bar. Both had 19.5" wheels and tires. Both carried the Lance 1030 for thousands of uneventful miles.

You should not fret over a few hundred pounds when your truck is configured to carry more than the manufacturer's conservative numbers. But I know some people are anal about such things and without a proper setup and driving skills it could be a dangerous situation. By driving skills, I mean maintaining conservative speeds, allowing for adequate stopping distances, a well balanced front to back and side to side load, a constant awareness of road conditions, and a constant awareness of weather conditions.

x3 (the last paragraph). Many thousands of miles on my rig without any issues. This debate has and will go on forever on this forum. It's kinda like vaccinating kids for MMR and fluoride in the water. And those chem trails in the sky! :W
scottz
Explorer
Sep 10, 2014
twodownzero wrote:
So I recall when I first came to the forum, many were happy to point out to me that the Lancelite 815 camper--which when it was made was the smallest Lance camper, is designed to be 1/2 ton capable.

That is pretty sensationalistic claim due to one person saying "With a Lance 815, you shouldn't need 19.5's. Lance markets those campers for use on 1/2 ton trucks! " in response your your comment " I strongly considered going to 19.5s".