We have been sailors for many years and are now interested in truck camping. We are looking at a Lance 855s and a Ford 250 supercab short bed with a camper package. Although we would prefer a crew cab, the super cab fits in our garage and the crew cab does not. We are concerned that since the cab is shorter it may cause some instability in the truck or perhaps another problem we have not thought of. We would appreciate comments on this match as well as any comments on the Lance 855s itself. Thanks

I have a MH now, but I used a TC for years.A lot of people use a short bed truck for hauling a camper because that's what they had and didn't want to put out the money to buy another truck. It sounds like you don't have either at the moment so I would strongly recommend you get a standard 8' bed truck with the longer camper to go in it. I know you're used to the space on a boat, but I'd never go with the cramped space of a short bed TC. The one place it does make sense to me is using the short bed camper in a 8' bed. This gives you room for an extra fuel tank and generator in the front of the bed. Plus space for things like lawn chairs, the BBQ and so on.Bill

The cab in and of itself shouldn't affect stability, but wheelbase might. Ergo, a longer cab will by nature increase wheelbase. From your description since a crew cab is out then it sounds as if a super cab with an 8' bed is also out of the question? An 8 foot bed with a Super Cab in a nice truck for almost any camper. Are you buying the truck new? Regardless of your cab/ bed configuration... get an F350. JMHO.

Assuming new truck and new camper.Lance 855S shows a "wet weight" of 3084lbs. Assuming that means with full fresh tank and propane, but nothing else like food or your stuff.That's an awful lot for an F250. A typical F250 has a rear axle rating of 6084lbs, limited by the tires, and weighs in the neighborhood of 2800-2900lbs empty. So with just the bare essentials, you will be exceeding your tire ratings right from the get-go.At the very least you will need some sort of suspension add-ons, and bigger tires right off the lot. To me, it's ludicrous to throw away brand new tires off a brand new truck, when you can just get the truck with the right tires to begin with.If you upgrade to a single rear wheel (SRW) F350, you will not need the tires at least, and may not need suspension add-ons.

I have had two short box campers and now a long box camper. It is about as long as they get. 11 foot 6". I so much like the bigger everything. It makes a huge difference. Especially if you plan to stay in it a lot of nights. But of course that is only my opinion. But I agree with the other poster who said if you don't have a truck yet and want to get into truck camping I would get a long box also. It leaves all your options open. Long and short box. I had a one of my short box campers on my long box truck and it worked great.

If you haven't bought the truck yet go with an F350 over the F250.Our 2007 F350 SRW carries our fully loaded Outfitter Apex9 (3000+lbs) and still sits slightly tail high without any suspension mods.

Match truck and camper | Good Sam Community

DWeikert
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2016
Bedlam wrote:

To carry 7000 lbs level on the rear of my truck only required upper and lower StableLoads:

My apologies for the thread hijack, but can you explain what I'm seeing there. Is that a heavier leaf sitting on top of the leaf that engages with the Stableload? Do they separate as your springs compress?
Bedlam
Moderator
Mar 02, 2016
A typical F250 does not have the upper overload spring and perches with pads. If you have the camper package or a F350 the upper spring will be there but requires over 3" of sag before it is engaged. The front half of the spring will engage the pad before the rear to give you a more progressive spring rate when loaded. Using the taller upper StableLoad pads engages the upper overload in 1/2" to 1", so it uses your overload suspension sooner (like a preload setting on a motorcycle shock).

The lower overload is on both the F250 and F350. Until you compress the arch out of your spring pack, this spring does little. The lower StableLoad wedges are actually three wedge plates bolted together. This allows the lower overload spring to engage sooner and preserve more of the main spring pack arch. Based on the number of plates you use, you are also changing the preload on the lower overload spring. When this lower spring is engaged while you are unloaded, it results in a very harsh ride. Torklift created the wedges with a swing out hinge so you can disable your lower preload wedge when not carrying a load.

The photo you saw previously is the forward half of the spring and you can see the stabilizer bar end. This what the rear half looks like:

BTW: These photos were taken with my 4000 lb TC loaded, but only 5 PSI in the air bags and no trailer hitched up.
DWeikert
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2016
Thanks, but I'm specifically curious about the part of the upper overload spring that doesn't contact the Stableload in the pic I copied. It looks to me like that spring would be pushing down, not up. I'm actually thinking it might be a way to reduce sway.
d3500ram
Explorer III
Mar 03, 2016
I had to look twice but me thinks it is an optical illusion... there is only 1 top overload spring.
Bedlam
Moderator
Mar 03, 2016
The top spring is a single metal leaf. As the main spring pack compresses, the upper overload spring is pushed against the upper perches and resists further upper movement once it contacts the pads. I found that the upper StableLoad pads do more to reduce sag and the lower StableLoad wedges do more to reduce sway.

My Ram 5500 is set up the same way, but has two upper leaf springs.
DWeikert
Explorer II
Mar 03, 2016
d3500ram wrote:
I had to look twice but me thinks it is an optical illusion... there is only 1 top overload spring.

You're right. I zoomed in and it's the streak in the dust my eyes were seeing as the end of a shorter leaf. Never mind...

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