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Jwillvin's avatar
Jwillvin
Explorer
Aug 06, 2014

Weighed my rig today......surprised!

I have a 1995 Lance 990 and a 93 f350 dually 4x2 diesel pickup. The paperwork in the glove box (the truck came with the camper package) states that the maximum I can put in the cargo area is 3100lbs. I bought the Lance from an older gentleman in mint condition and according to the spec sheet with all its options and full of water it should weigh in at 3692lbs. I haven't weighed the truck separately but if the gvwr is 10,000lbs and according to the paperwork I can put 3100lbs in the bed that should mean my truck weighs around 6900lbs? I've also added the torklift frame mounted tie downs to the truck as well supersprings. The camper is not empty and has bedding, clothes for one, non perishable foods, pots and pans, plates, cups toaster, coffee maker, portable grill, and a bunch of other odds and ends. With me at 200lbs in the truck the combined weight was 10,630lbs. I thought that because of all the posts about "dry weight" and "wet weight" that the camper would be closer to 4,000+ lbs. Also I had the fresh water tank filled when weighing in. I'm over the gvwr but under both axle ratings. I guess that my truck weighs less than I thought and that the lance spec sheets are pretty darn accurate?
Truck Campers

10 Replies

  • Jwillvin's avatar
    Jwillvin
    Explorer
    Aug 06, 2014
    samuraiowner wrote:
    I have the same truck 93 f350 duely diesel I weighed it with out the camper and it is 6800 full of fuel and me in it. our camper only weighs around 1500 lbs so it handles it very well, we are looking at getting something a little bigger that has a bathroom. so how do's your truck handle with that camper?
    we get about 12.5 miles per gallon with ours, 15 with out the camper



    I purchased the truck only a few months before the camper from someone who took excellent care of it and had every maintenance record since he bought it n 1995. I drove 200 miles to pick up the lance mostly highway and got 16mpg. The drive home was a little white knuckle so I did some research and added the Rancho xl shocks, new e rated tires in the rear at 2800lbs each x4, super springs, and replaced the worn sway bar bushings. Truck rides great with the camper on. No sway, no roll, with the super springs I'm back to stock height so no sag in the rear. Truck has more than enough power and now I cruise down the road with one hand on the wheel comfortably. It's not as fast as a turbo but it gets me there every time. I usually get 13-15 mpg with the camper on. Also I tend to keep it between 55 and 60 mph or around 2000-2200 rpm.( I'm the slow poke in the right lane) I'm over the gvwr but not by much compared to some of the rigs I read about on here. Anyways the truck is 21 years old so you may have to make some similar suspension upgrades as I did and I'm happy with the setup.
  • finaddict's avatar
    finaddict
    Explorer
    Aug 06, 2014
    My 08 F350 4x4 SRW 6.4 with an aluminum bumper and 12k winch, 35 x 12.5" x 20" tires on stock aluminum rims and a full tank weighs in at about 8050 lbs. Those new 6.4's with all the extras (twin turbos, EGR etc etc etc) on them are Huge increase in overall weight.

    Add in the Alpenlite 8.5 Cimmarron about 3000 lbs. when wet and filled with all my gear, and add the 7000 lb. boat and trailer, I am about 18,300 lb. GCWR. that is as full as I ever want to get and while I am under the GVWR and the GCWR, I am right at the max or just over for both the tires and axles ratings. For trips on some of our "highways", well lets just say that there is a mild stress level.......
  • bikepsych's avatar
    bikepsych
    Explorer
    Aug 06, 2014
    I too was surprised when I rolled over the scales and weight in at 11,600 with water, spouse, and full fuel tank (no driver). The Adventurer 89RB is supposed to be at around 2800 with full everything. My truck empty weighed in at around 8280. So my axles were under but overall was over. :-/
  • sue_t's avatar
    sue_t
    Explorer
    Aug 06, 2014
    Our 2002 F-250 7.3l PSD, 4x4 supercab shortbox weighs 6,966 lbs with two big dogs, two humans, assorted tools and full tank of diesel.
  • scottz's avatar
    scottz
    Explorer
    Aug 06, 2014
    Jwillvin wrote:
    I guess that my truck weighs less than I thought and that the lance spec sheets are pretty darn accurate?

    To me the Lance advertised dry weight has always appeared to be darn accurate. I feel the discrepancies always have to do with inaccurate interpretation of advertised ratings.
  • noteven's avatar
    noteven
    Explorer III
    Aug 06, 2014
    That sounds like a nice rig that has run since 1994?


    Time to apply Red Green's Principle of Leave'er... and go camping...
  • Golden_HVAC's avatar
    Golden_HVAC
    Explorer
    Aug 06, 2014
    Hi,

    Back in 93, the duallys where rated pretty low, while they should have been rated a lot higher, but they where not. Now the F-250 trucks have a 10,000 pound GVWR with the SRW 17" rims! The 18" rims on the F-350 SRW can have upwards of 11,500 GVWR. But the brakes are different, and rims are rated at about 4,000 pounds each. Tires on yours only have a 2,500 pound weight rating - give or take a few hundred pounds.

    Sure you and overload it and drive around fine, the 7.3L had plenty of power, and with a turbo, they can pull a lot of weight too. However you ARE overloading the truck. Try getting a newer one, where the GVWR is higher, such as the 2005 and later trucks. However they do not have the good 7.3L engines. They do have a 5,700 pound cargo rating on the dually V10 trucks.

    Fred.
  • samuraiowner's avatar
    samuraiowner
    Explorer
    Aug 06, 2014
    I have the same truck 93 f350 duely diesel I weighed it with out the camper and it is 6800 full of fuel and me in it. our camper only weighs around 1500 lbs so it handles it very well, we are looking at getting something a little bigger that has a bathroom. so how do's your truck handle with that camper?
    we get about 12.5 miles per gallon with ours, 15 with out the camper
  • Jwillvin's avatar
    Jwillvin
    Explorer
    Aug 06, 2014
    Yes both 18 gallon diesel tanks were topped off at the same truck stop that the rig was weighed.
  • naturist's avatar
    naturist
    Nomad
    Aug 06, 2014
    Rumor has it that actually weighing your rig often produces surprises. Sometimes pleasant and sometimes not so much. I trust you had a full tank of fuel as well. At 7.8 lbs per gallon (thereabouts, depending on whether gas or diesel), there is a potentially substantial difference, and who in their right mind would start out on a trip with an empty fuel tank?

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