lance camper plug

[fleecerdog]

I am buying 2 seperate units ... a 2003 Chev 3500 dually and a 2000 Lance 1020. I've heard that Lance power plugs are different than others ... also, anyone know if the Chevy has a camper connection near the front of the bed? What did you Lance owners do? ... is this a case of 'adapt' or die?:h

[trail-explorer]

fourscoot wrote:
I bought the Lance plug directly from lance this summer. My truck didn't have the camper package, but I was able to order the GM wiring harness from Amazon. I used all the wires except the ground and 12v. I located the plug towards the front of the bed, as the plug length on the camper end is a little short. I ran a separate circuit from the engine bay with 8 gauge wire and an battery isolater to charge and power the camper.

Good way to do it.

There's all this discussion about Lance having a special connector, which is true, they do, but other camper manufacturers use their own type of connectors well, albeit with undersized wire for charging duties.

I'm not trying to diminish what others are saying about Lance having a special plug, but unless a person explains it in full detail, like the post I quoted above, and how I described below, the whole story isn't revealed. And yes, the Video describes it very well, and it all makes much more sense to me now too.

The "Lance pigtail" is similar to other camper manufacturer's pigtails in that you can put whatever type of plug you want to on the end that goes to the truck. Granted, it does have a bigger B- and B+ leads, and totally different connector on the camper end of the pigtail.

The only way to benefit from that bigger wire is to run a new B+ and B- lead to whatever receptacle you decide to use to mate with a plug you install on the truck side of the Lance pigtail, then use the other pigtail / harness for all the other functions of the truck wiring.

In the Lance video, Gary points out the "Bargman connector." Neither the truck receptacle or the trail/camper plug will accept 8AWG wire, so some other type of connector is required if you want to take full benefit of the larger B+ and B- cables.

Me persoanlly, I want even bigger than 8AWG.

[fourscoot]

I bought the Lance plug directly from lance this summer. My truck didn't have the camper package, but I was able to order the GM wiring harness from Amazon. I used all the wires except the ground and 12v. I located the plug towards the front of the bed, as the plug length on the camper end is a little short. I ran a separate circuit from the engine bay with 8 gauge wire and an battery isolater to charge and power the camper.

On a side note. Lance was very helpful, fair priced and fast shipping. I would recommend buying from them.

[AISURFFISH]

http://youtu.be/OtJtt6a0XXI


Great video as to why Lance has a proprietary plug

[tad94564]

I have both - a regular 7 pin RV connector, and special lance camper plug in my bed. The regular connecter was a kit that plugs into the back of the truck, near the stock 7 pin setup. It has a very light weight charge cable, which you would never ever be able to re-charge a dead battery (too much voltage drop/not enough current due to under sizing of the wiring, and distance)

I wired the lance into a battery isolator up front, direct to the batteries. I also added a 3rd plug, a 200amp 2pin lift plug, so I can also charge dead batteries from the truck (and also run the inverter, using the truck engine as a 12v gennie.. yea, that's a special case)

I no longer have the lance, but I decided to just leave it, in case I'm ever asked to move/haul a lance camper.

[thejustin]

If the ONLY thing you are going to use your truck for is a Lance camper, you can have your RV dealer install the Lance specific receptacle in your bed. If you want more flexibility, you can install a standard 7 pin plug and then just make a pigtail adapter that converts the 7 pin into the Lance plug spec using a wire similar to the etrailer link supplied a few posts above. My local RV shop fabricated up one of these for me and IIRC he charged ~100 bucks for parts and labor to fabricate/splice. Worked fantastic.

I did this with my Lance on my F350. I can use one single plugin at the rear of my wheel well and plug in a 5th wheel, gooseneck, Lance, or any other brand camper. I'm glad I went this route as I eventually sold my Lance and bought a Host Everest so the Lance receptacle would have no longer been applicable to my camper as the Host (like most every other camper) uses a standard 7 pin plug.

[deltabravo]

GM has codes, called RPO codes, which means "Regular Production Options"

They are 3 digit codes of letters and numbers, on the sticker in the glove box.

The RPO code for the camper wiring provision is UY1
Check your glove box sticker to see if it has that code. The codes are listed alphabetically.

It would be odd that a dually wouldn't have that - no idea why the dealer that had my truck ordered it in without that option. Duallys are primarily used for hauling campers or towing a 5th wheel, so a normal person would think that the guy ordering the trucks should select that checkbox when ordering in a DRW!

[deltabravo]

If your truck doesn't have the camper / 5th wheel harness,
Etrailer has them: (lots of options to choose from, with huge variances in pricing too)

http://www.etrailer.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/pics/H/M/HM42137_2006~Dodge~Ram_Pickup_4_1000.jp...

[deltabravo]

Chevy or GMC Truck would only have the wiring if the truck had the "camper wiring" option from the factory. It's not a standard item, but the trailer plug at the rear bumper is standard on 99+ trucks.

If the truck has the camper wiring provision, the wire harness will be tie wrapped to other wires between the bed and cab, basically on top of the frame rail. You can see a bundle of wires when you look between the cab and bed.

If the truck doesn't have it, there's aftermarket options available that are plug and play, which don't require permanent modification of the factory wiring.

The factory camper wiring harness is an add-on harness which Tees in to the trailer wire harness behind the spare tire area. When I sold my 2002 2500HD, I pulled the factory add-on harness out and put it on my 3500HD, which didn't have the harness.

The best recommendation, for future options, is to use the standard 7 pin trailer receptacle in the bed and put a plug on the end of the Lance harness - that way the truck is ready for anything - 5th wheel, goose neck, other campers, etc.

Once I find the right part you need at E-trailer, I will post it.

Bed receptacle: (not saying it needs to be mounted at the rear of the bed, but I think that's where most 5th wheel owners mount it so they can easily reach it.

[narcodog]

Well the 8ga is not only for the 12v fridg. but it will charge your house battery(s) more efficiently while going down the road.

[MN_Ben]

I added the proprietory Lance plug the the front of my bed. Glad I did as I did not want to butcher the wires on my camper, and the truck will be ready for another Lance if I choose.

[maxum1989]

Lance owner here. Just went through this. Yes, Lance plug is different and the only place your going to find the appropriate plug for your truck is a dealer or something like Ebay. Other dealers don't carry them. There is a small chance your new to you camper will come with one as they are supplied with every Lance camper. But, if not, contact a Lance dealer and either buy the plug for the truck and wire it in appropriately or get the 8' Lance extension which comes with the Lance plug on one end and bare wires on the other. You can then add a 7way plug to the bare wire end and run it to the 7way on your truck at the rear hitch location. This will get you using your camper and later decide if you want to permanently wire in the Lance plug in the bed of your truck.

P.S. The reason the Lance plug is different is that 8 gauge wire is used to power the possible 12 volt fridge in the Lance. If your not going to use the 12 volt feature of the fridge then you don't need to worry about the 8 gauge wire requirement. The above instructions I gave you assume your not running the fridge on 12 volt.

[RoyB]

Be sure to check with ETRAILER. They have all kinds of adapters and extensions...

Something like this may be just what you need...


You can easily remote this connection to the wall of the truck bed...


Roy Ken

[AnEv942]

Not a Lance owner but Yes the Lance plug is different, its advantage as I understand is it uses or will accept larger wiring for the power in. Which even IF truck had a bed receptacle you might want to change to utilize. Or add second Lance plug. There are quite a few threads regarding this- couple of older ones in the TCU as to wiring.

But unless added by p/o truck wouldn't have bed plug and if it does likely a standard 7 pin & wiring (unless p/o had Lance). IF I had a Lance I would wire truck to utilize the larger power wire size potential (at minimum). Tapping trucks existing trailer tow wiring, its usually fairly small ga.