Lance 830 with Ram 3500 Mega Cab

[Weekendwarrior2]

I know this has been discussed before and I'm probably going to get the same answers from the same 2 camps, but I thought I'd try anyways.

I have a Lance 830 and love the camper, but it is a bit too much for my '04 F250 so I'm looking for a new truck to haul it and the Ram 3500 Mega Cab looks pretty appealing. Here's the dilemma;

Ram Short beds are about 76" long and the rear axle appears to be 34.5" from the front of the cab (mega cab and crew cab). The Lance 830 lists COG as 36" from front and 42" from rear (I believe where the wings almost contact the tail lights). Since this bed is shorter, we can probably just focus on the 36" measurement. This puts me 1.5"-2" behind the rear axle. Not ideal right?

But then I found this from Ram in 2016.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/bbg/pdf/2016/docs/ram/hdramcg.pdf

I don't think any of these measurements have changed since 2016. According to this I'm within the recommended "zone" for COG.

The Truck I'm looking at is a 2020 Big Horn 3500 6.7 HO cummins Mega Cab 4x4 SRW. GVWR should be 12,300. Payload should be around 4K lbs.

I always have gear on the floor of the camper up front so I know this shifts the true COG forward a bit, but if I'm dropping the money on a new Diesel I might as well get it right. Do I need to go the Ford route?

Thanks,

Chris

[mkirsch]

Good grief, 2" is nothing.

That amount of weight shift translates to the equivalent of <500lbs of tongue weight, and NOBODY thinks a 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck needs any sort of help to handle a 500lb tongue weight.

[Annwn]

There are (or were) at least two companies that do Ram Mega Cab extensions. One of which is http://stretchmytruck.com/ - that would be a solution.

[billtex]

That dodge mega cab eats up a lot of wheel base, that’s why the short bed. Pretty sure all the MC say ”not for TC’s”-check the glove box. You will NOT be happy with COG behind axle.

Have you seen the Ford crew cab? Just as big and come with a real bed. Just sayin’...

Safe travels, Bill

[KD4UPL]

Hauling pallets is irrelevant. Pallets come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Maybe there is some kind of standard but I've never seen it. I get freight quite often on pallets and unless it's the exact same piece of equipment the pallets are always different.
I agree that short beds are crazy, particularly for actual truck type uses (hauling). It used to be the 8' was standard and the 6.5"'was short. Now the 6.5' is standard and the 8' basically needs to be custom ordered. I'm an electrical contractor, conduit is 10' long, so I'd love a 10' bed on a truck which also used to be an option from one company in the 70's I think.
I generally end up with custom flatbeds and utility bodies on my trucks anyway and they still don't hold enough stuff.
''

[Grit_dog]

Ummm, been this way since at least 2003. I don’t recall how long 2nd gen short beds are. Maybe since 1994.
If it was a big enough issue I suspect Dodge would have changed it in the last 20 years.
It’s a short bed. They make different lengths from 5.xx to 6.xx to 8’.
I guess, not something that I personally ponder.
Been hauling a SB camper that overhangs 3’ past the bed for about 6 years now. Not certain it would feel any different if it was on a Ford with a 5” longer bed.
Although those “inches” are important when I’m towing the boat. In that instance, I could use the inches with my setup

[Weekendwarrior2]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm sure I'm fine and just wanted to make sure before making this heafty investment.

But seriously, does anyone know why ram would make a bed less than 80"? I'm not talking about the long bed/short bed argument, which is ridiculous. 1) short bed camper, 2) when hauling materials other than the camper I max out payload long before I fill my short bed, 3) my SB is more capable than LB on trail and 4) its a hell of a lot easier to fit in a parking space when grocery getting!

But at 81" bed length I can fit two pallets in my F250 short bed. But 76" in the Ram? What the hell? I know we're only talking inches 5-6" but those are kind of important inches (joke?) in a HD work truck. And this isn't just the mega cab. Same bed on the standard crew cab short bed.

Sorry can't let it go. Really does seem like FCAs target market on these is the Grocery Getter, as previously suggested, with them stressing the luxury of the cabin and ride quality.

[dhull]

Chevy dude! If you want the furthest back COG from the cab.
When I was buying truck for a chosen camper in 2016 i carefully measured the beds of the big 3. Chevys rear wheel centers were the furthest from the head wall of the truck bed, the point where the rubber bumpers on the front of camper touch the truck. I wasn't brand loyal so I bought the crew cab Chevy 3500 SRW. Great truck, my first Chevy! As I recall there was a 3 or 4 inch difference between the shortest and longest of the measurements.
My campers COG ended up directly over top of hub centers.

[KD4UPL]

I had the COG behind the rear axle when I carried my 11' Fleetwood on a 2005 Chevy dually. It handled fine over many year, many states, and thousands of miles.

[otrfun]

The manufacturer's COG is only accurate the day the camper left the factory. The COG is constantly changing. Adding/removing batteries, propane, gear, mods, water, etc. will move your COG forwards and backwards. How much weight you lose/gain on the front axle tells you more or less where your *current* COG is.

That being said, the *factory* COG on our camper (almost 4k loaded) is about 4-6" behind the rear axle. Truck is a '16 Ram 3500 CC SB (same 6'4" bed as a SRW MegaCab). Zero handling issues.

[Grit_dog]

JIMNLIN wrote:

The Truck I'm looking at is a 2020 Big Horn 3500 6.7 HO cummins Mega Cab 4x4 SRW. GVWR should be 12,300. Payload should be around 4K lbs.

A 4k payload will have to go on both axles as its a GVWR based payload.
The 3500 SRW Ram has a 7000 rawr. These trucks are heavy and rear axle may weigh 3400-3500 lbs which leaves around 3500-3600 lbs in the bed.

This means a upgrade in wheels or tires or rear suspension as they all need to meet or exceed the load you place in the bed from a TC.

Measurements are so close and you have the TC I would drop by a Ram dealer and take some actual measurements.

Someone may have the same combo so stay tuned.

Jim, you’re full of _____, basically.
If the truck has a 4K payload rating, that is the absolute minimum amount of weight it would take to get to the weakeast link. (Rims or tires)
OP, you were right, you’ll get the chicken little responses and the response from those who know better.....
All I’ll say is 07 Mega Cab 2500. Arctic Fox 860. Considerably heavier than your camper. Many years and miles of hauling it. Let er rip tater chip!

Seriously, not an issue in the slightest with that camper and truck. Hell, you might not even need to add any suspension to the truck.

[Kayteg1]

I think I know good explanation for short bed married to Mega Cab.
The 350/3500 series trucks are still used mostly as grocery getters, where small turning radius is crucial.
Mega Cab with long bed would make what? 22-24 feet long?
Not much chance to find good parking spot at your local milk place.
But one more time, having rigs with COG way behind rear axle, but having good safety margin before axle overloading never was a trouble for me.
On long stretches in TX, I was having fun getting into air drags behind semitrailers doing 75 -80 mph. Lot of turbulence in such driving, yet I was always having good control

[Weekendwarrior2]

I belive they are steel through 2020. 2021 details havent been released.

I dont have it in front of me, but I believe the GAWR for the rear is 7000 lbs with a base rear weight near 3200 lbs. I think Im good when purely looking at weights. COG has me worried as an old timer told me you'd rather be way over weight with proper COG than under weight with a COG too far back. I have no experience with this. I think its kind of crazy that Ram would put such a short bed on these things.

[Kayteg1]

I am not devoted Ford owner and fact that my top-end beast develop oil pan leak at 20k miles did not make me feel good at all, but each brand offers unique features that might help one, when make no sense to other.
Coming to your main question, I don't see you ever research Dodge actual rear axle weight v/s its rating?
If Dodge is still making steel beds, the aluminium Ford is having huge advantage.

[Weekendwarrior2]

Kayteg1, thanks for the input. TC is a little of 3000 lbs wet with gear, and I'm hauling it on a 04 F250 SRW, so I'm already overweight, but the COG is well forward of the axle with the current truck.

I'm thinking it'll be fine with the considerably higher payload on 3500 SRW even with COG slightly behind the rear axle, but then I also have 4-6" less of the camper being supported by the bed of the truck.

I've always been a Ford guy, but the simplicity of the Cummins and the Mega Cab have me sold on the Ram at the moment. But then this bed is tiny. Should I just stick with the Blue Oval?