Finally bought a truck camper, a used Lance LC580, so I need tiedowns, airbags, type of hitch because I will be towing a boat (18 foot boat, boat and trailer weighs about 3200 pounds), new tires, some way to extend the mirrors. I have a 2006 Dodge Ram quad cab with an 8 foot bed and equipped with the diesel engine. I would love your input, and especially anyone in the Puget Sound region. I'm excited to get this on the road and try it out.

Did you mean, Lance 850 and is that an 8 1/2 foot camper? I tow my boat with a 12" solid hitch extension.P.S. - you also have to have the appropriate power plug added to your truck. I've understood that Lance uses a PITA plug instead of the standard 7 pin but you might want to verify that.P.S.S. - Does your Dodge have the rotating side mirrors? On my Dodge, turning the mirrors vertical works fine.

Its a 10'6' camper, thanks forgot about the wiring. All of this is a bit overwhelming!

First thing I would suggest is that if you have close to or more than 50K on that truck, is new shocks and make sure that your brakes are also in good shape, you're talking about stopping a lot of weight there.Second, Torklift for the tie downs, the fast gun turnbuckles and the super hitch. No, I don't own stock, but it is a good company that makes good products. I see on Seattle Craigslist someone selling Torklifts for $200.00, if they still are there, you should grab them.You might call some of the RV dealers that sell TCs in your area to see what they can tell you about airbags and installation and the electrical extension that you will need.

You need a Lance socket adapter which comes with wires for connecting to your truck's wiring for the lights and a 8ga wire (you will need to add to this) to go to the battery for powering the internals of the camper and charging its house battery. Important to have a fuse and a battery isolator wired in line with the 8ga power cable. Total cost for these two items will be less than $20. I bought the Lance wiring rig from a Lance dealer and paid them to install it - it was worth it to have their guy do it. For tie-downs it comes down to either Torklift or Happijac tiedowns and turnbuckles (Fastguns are one option though the most expensive). Torklift mounts remove so nothing is sticking out past the edge of the truck when the camper is off so this is the way I went with my camper.Take the weight of the truck on the rear wheels (CAT scale weigh in at $9) and add the weight of the camper plus an additional 600 lbs. and then see if half that amount of total weight can be supported by your tires. Even E range tires often have a load capacity of less than 3000 lbs. at 80 PSI or 6000 lbs. in total at the rear axle (truck, camper, gear, water, etc.). There are tires from Nitto and Toyo that have a 3750@80 PSI and fit on regular 17 and 18 inch rims.At this point the truck will be safe to pickup and drive home. If the handling is squirrely or the bed sits to low or leans to far in a turn then you can decide and add one at a time items like extra leaf springs (Supersprings), new shocks (Rancho 9000 or Bilstein), a rear anti-sway bar, air bags. Don't assume you need all of these additions or modifications to your truck. My stock 2011 GM truck needed none of these mods to safely and comfortable transport a 3200 lb. Lance camper through the mountains and SF Bay area city traffic. Older trucks are more likely to need one or all of these helpers.

Is your truck a 2500 or 3500? Better if its a 3500 because they have overload springs. Hold off on the airbags and try the Torklift Stableloads first. Then add airbags if you need to raise the back. Take a trip down to TLCentral in Kent. They are the factory retail outlet for Torklift. They can set your rig up in no time. As for the Lance connector, there is a Lance dealer in Clearview that should have the proper connector.Doug

Help! Just got my truck camper need advice | Good Sam Community

AnEv942
Nomad
May 21, 2013
Just for grins I priced out at one of the towshop parts houses, tlcentral and tweetys- excluding install and taxes I got approximatley within 200 bucks for parts. As the breakdown includes installation thats 600-800 to install. IF you shopped, bought this piece here that piece there Im sure you could save more-
If you need to have installed-that would be added back. Taxes depends where you buy.
Bottom line though breakdown seems high-its in ball park. I and many others could, self installing-power shopping-circumventing taxes probably shave 1200. Buying everything you need, new, one place, one time, installed has a value. Not to me but it has a cost.

If the weight of camper resonable for truck the quote at least as far stuff you need seems youve identified. You said you bought camper-do you have possesion? Has this been on truck?
billyray50
Explorer
May 21, 2013
Hey Freeborn, Congrats on TC. Looks like you have same truck as mine. Check out my profile and see all the mods I installed on my truck. not sure what year your lance is but your model at 10.6 its going to be heavy. Not sure what dry weight is but I highly recommend weighing truck with full tank of gas, tailgate off, and yourself, spouse? Then weigh your truck/camper fully loaded for trip. If you have the 17 forged aluminum rims I highly recommend the Nitto Terra grapplers 285/70r/17 high load index 3750 lbs. or Nitto Durra grapplers 285/75r/17s high load index rated 3970 lbs. The 19.5 vision wheels and tires would be another option. I found out the hard way my TC is a lot heavier than I realized. Ignorance is not bliss. Ideally I should have purchased a dually especially if you want to haul a 10. 6 TC and also be able to tow. Best of luck.
Sue_Bee
Explorer
Mar 23, 2013
Installing the superhitch is a no drill job and should require minimum tools, and if I recall correctly, installing the Torklift tie downs is too. My husband had a harder time removing the OEM hitch than installing the Superhitch, he had to soak it with penetrating oil to get it off. Once that was off, it was pretty easy, with some additional muscle to help lift it into place.

Getting additional bids is a good idea.
Fuzzy_Bear
Explorer
Mar 23, 2013
wcjeep wrote:
mastercraft1995 wrote:
The only thing you should have someone do s the electrical. Everything else you can do in half a day.

2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB BED MATT AND SPRING LOAD XL $346.95. That's an expensive mat. I'm not sure why you need it?
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC SH04DGFR / D1102 SUPER HITCH $692.73.
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC FMT TIEDOWNS INSTALL $604.60
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC SHEXT INSTALL SUPER TRUSS $561.02 Is this the extension? I sold one for $250 last year. Watch CL they pop up.
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC STABLELOAD DRILL QUICK DISCONNECT $408.85 What is this?
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB PLUG 3WAY 94-09 DG INST CMPR $141.61
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB LANCE PIGTAIL ADAPTER $115.68

I'm not what the expensive mat thing is too. However, the stable loads engage the overload springs alot sooner. This adds stability. I have preproduction units on my 3/4ton Dodge.

I'm thinking that might be a bed matt and the tiedowns (fastguns?). $604 to install the tiedowns and then $561 to install the superhitch is a bit pricy. I believe I have the tools. I have a dirt/gravel driveway, but we can put down plywood and cardboard. I wired my own lights, so with the proper kits we can do it. In fact I'm probably going to rewire mine as it was a quick job in a hotel parking lot. I need to redo the connections and mount it flush in the bed. I just got the pieces for the rearview camera this week so I'll be working on that too. I replied to his message and will probably meet up with him next week.

Doug
Freeborn530
Explorer
Mar 22, 2013
In evaluating the Torklift bid, the breakdown appears to be about $600 in labor. Unfortunately I don't have the location or the tools to do the job myself.
I do appreciate everybody's input and have requested additional bids.
wcjeep
Explorer
Mar 22, 2013
mastercraft1995 wrote:
The only thing you should have someone do s the electrical. Everything else you can do in half a day.

2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB BED MATT AND SPRING LOAD XL $346.95. That's an expensive mat. I'm not sure why you need it?
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC SH04DGFR / D1102 SUPER HITCH $692.73.
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC FMT TIEDOWNS INSTALL $604.60
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC SHEXT INSTALL SUPER TRUSS $561.02 Is this the extension? I sold one for $250 last year. Watch CL they pop up.
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC STABLELOAD DRILL QUICK DISCONNECT $408.85 What is this?
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB PLUG 3WAY 94-09 DG INST CMPR $141.61
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB LANCE PIGTAIL ADAPTER $115.68

I'm not what the expensive mat thing is too. However, the stable loads engage the overload springs alot sooner. This adds stability. I have preproduction units on my 3/4ton Dodge.
mastercraft1995
Explorer
Mar 22, 2013
The only thing you should have someone do s the electrical. Everything else you can do in half a day.

2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB BED MATT AND SPRING LOAD XL $346.95. That's an expensive mat. I'm not sure why you need it?
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC SH04DGFR / D1102 SUPER HITCH $692.73.
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC FMT TIEDOWNS INSTALL $604.60
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC SHEXT INSTALL SUPER TRUSS $561.02 Is this the extension? I sold one for $250 last year. Watch CL they pop up.
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC STABLELOAD DRILL QUICK DISCONNECT $408.85 What is this?
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB PLUG 3WAY 94-09 DG INST CMPR $141.61
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB LANCE PIGTAIL ADAPTER $115.68
Fuzzy_Bear
Explorer
Mar 22, 2013
I agree, those prices seem a bit high and some even seem to duplicate others. I could look for my receipt for when they installed everything on my current truck. I know it wasn't anywhere close to that. I did have the old tiedowns off my 03 that they gave a credit for and didn't need new fastguns. I work in Bothell and can show you what is on my truck and give you some pointers on yours. I also have a torklift extension hitch from my 10 1/2 camper that I no longer need.

Doug
smooth1
Explorer
Mar 22, 2013
The price seems high to me too. I would check with Clearview RV, Apache Campers in S. Everett, & Ryan's RV in S. Everett for their prices. $600 for front mount tiedowns and install where the parts are $250 on Amazon seems high. The local RV shops are not too busy right now and if you know what the prices are on these parts it will help you negotiate the labor.
jmckelvy
Explorer
Mar 22, 2013
Freeborn530 wrote:
Just got my bid from torklift, next is to decide on new tires for the truck.
Here is the bid.
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB BED MATT AND SPRING LOAD XL $346.95
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC SH04DGFR / D1102 SUPER HITCH $692.73
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC FMT TIEDOWNS INSTALL $604.60
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC SHEXT INSTALL SUPER TRUSS $561.02
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB TC STABLELOAD DRILL QUICK DISCONNECT $408.85
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB PLUG 3WAY 94-09 DG INST CMPR $141.61
2006 DODGE RAM2500 CC LB LANCE PIGTAIL ADAPTER $115.68
Summary
Job Subtotal: $2,871.44
Tax: $272.79
Total: $3,144.23
Less Deposits: $0.00
Total Due: $3,144.23
spring load xl and stable loads lance camper

Not exactly sure what some of those prices cover but they seem really high to me.