New (to me) Lance 815 truck camper owner. Got a few q's

[EddieS]

Just got my first truck camper. Have had a 5th wheel for a while before. Got a few questions:

I have a 2007 F250 crew short box, 4x4, 6.0. Just picked up a used 2006 Lance 815 with east/west queen. The fellow I got it from had a similar truck (but long bed), and helped me construct a 2.5" platform in the bed (horizontal 2x4s with two sheets of 1/2" OSB). He said he read it somewhere that the camper needed to be raised off the tops of the bed rails by that much.

Q 1 - Is there a standard?

He had the short bed modification boxes that came with it from the factory (and the original owner before him), but my tailgate cables were in the way, and I had to cut slots in the plastic boxes to be able to slide the camper all the way forward.

Q 2 - Is this typical?

I have the towing and camper package on the truck, and my GVWR is 10K (5,600 FAWR/6,100 RAWR), and my sticker states I have a 2,399 max load rating. Before getting this camper, I hauled a load of landscaping rock. My before weight was 7,860, with only me, some basic tools, 5th wheel rails and frame brackets, a removable bed liner (on top of the 5th wheel rails) and a full tank.

After I got the camper, I took the truck and camper to a CAT scale. My steer axle was 4,720, drive axle was 5,540 (total 10,260), with a full tank, and some basic tools. There was no water or anything in the holding tanks. The camper only had a few cleaning supplies, fridge, Mach 3 AC and a microwave (no TV, stereo or oven).

Q 3 - Is this 260 lbs of over weight acceptable?

There's almost nowhere I can cut weight, other than removing the 5th wheel rails and frame mounts, microwave, and maybe a sheet of OSB. Kind of perplexed here, as I was hoping it would be near the weight of 1,992 (as per the factory sheet, after adding the microwave).

Based on my figures, I should have been at ~7,860 (truck) + ~1,992 (camper) and maybe around 100-150 lbs in lumber, torklift/fastguns and a few extra tools. That should have been at or just below 10K. I really don't know where the extra 250-300 lbs is coming from on this camper...

Thanks for any advice on these questions.

-Ed

[Powerdude]

I think you will be fine on weight.

The tires and wheels are more of a limiting factor than the axle.

E rated tires are 3590 lbs each (roughly), so on an SRW, you are good to 7k on the rear axle.

Not necessarily that you would want something that heavy, but a Lance 815 is just fine.

You will find that that it is quite a common occurrence (notice I don't say problem), to NOT exceed your axle or tire weights, but to exceed your GVWR.

That's because most of the time, the GVWR is smaller than the FGAWR and the RGAWR addd together. Seems weight, but that's the way it is.

In some states, you can't even register your truck for the exact GVWR, so the number is pretty meaningless.

What matters is the tires and wheels, they put the weight on the road.

[SidecarFlip]

jplante4 wrote:

jaycocreek wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:

jaycocreek wrote:
And my '94 F-350 Supercab Dually is 1400 pounds lighter. Older truck lighter metal.. (laughing)

94??? Sounds like corrosion is making it lighter.....:p

It is for sure...Duct tape and superglue is all that's holding it together..:)

Daryl - check your shoe. I think you stepped in something 🙂

Actually, it looks like mine, I have a 97 SRW 4 door. Mine sleeps all winter when the roads are snowcovered and salty.

[SidecarFlip]

I must say, my old 97 FD350 has a vault like tailgate. My buddies new Silverado has a tin foil tailgate. We bent it loading a quad on HF ramps. Very weak.

[jaycocreek]

They make a tailgate support that I had looked pretty hard at for hauling my Yamaha Rhino in the rear of my truck..

Tailgate Support

I personally liked having the tailgate on with my truck camper when I had a camper it worked on.Storage on each side was a plus and easy access to the wheel wells for shovels/axes and such...Never had an issue with it down..But we are all different in our likes and dislikes..

[mkirsch]

Yes, keep the tailgate on if you enjoy broken tailgate cables from the camper bouncing up and down on it, and a dented/scratched tailgate from all the rocks and road debris that gets kicked up behind your truck. Not to mention the lovely slots you will have to cut into the saddle bags to make it fit.

It's entirely up to you but most leave the tailgate at home, especially considering there are more downsides to having it on than off.

[Grit_dog]

OP, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. That is a very lightweight camper for your super duty, period. The first limiting factors would be tires and wheels, and your even under the original 17s with 3195 lb tires. Newer 18s = even more factor of safety.
Tailgate or not is your call. If you need it, make the mods to keep the tailgate on.
Sometimes I run with the tailgate, currently I have a generator mounted back in the “wing” that doesn’t allow it. I pack a2x8 to fit in the bed slots to make a short tailgate when running bobtail without the camper when we’re on the road with the camper.
You don’t need much clearance between bed rails and camper. It’s not a thing as long as you have a few inches between the roof of the truck and the overhead on the camper.
Have fun camping! Nothing to worry about from a capacity standpoint with your truck.
(But you may prefer to add a sway bar or other suspension mods to stiffen up the rear end.)

[jplante4]

jaycocreek wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:

jaycocreek wrote:
And my '94 F-350 Supercab Dually is 1400 pounds lighter. Older truck lighter metal.. (laughing)

94??? Sounds like corrosion is making it lighter.....:p

It is for sure...Duct tape and superglue is all that's holding it together..:)

Daryl - check your shoe. I think you stepped in something 🙂

[jaycocreek]

SidecarFlip wrote:

jaycocreek wrote:
And my '94 F-350 Supercab Dually is 1400 pounds lighter. Older truck lighter metal.. (laughing)

94??? Sounds like corrosion is making it lighter.....:p

It is for sure...Duct tape and superglue is all that's holding it together..:)

[SidecarFlip]

jaycocreek wrote:
And my '94 F-350 Supercab Dually is 1400 pounds lighter. Older truck lighter metal.. (laughing)

94??? Sounds like corrosion is making it lighter.....:p

[Marty1951]

valhalla360 wrote:

Buzzcut1 wrote:
The axle on the Ford 250/350 SRW and the DRW are the same. It's the tires ,wheels and springs that can be different.

But do you have a source as I get conflicting answers searching on the web but no one posts a source.

PS: DRW I'm 95% sure is a different axle but not really relevant as I'm not going to retrofit duallies. I might upgrade wheels and springs though.

I purchased 19.5 Rims and tires. Ordered Vision Rims rated at 5000 lbs ea tires rated at 4080@95psi Michelin XRV 33" diameter. Dulap had some 4900lbs at 120psi looked them up at discount tire then went into store and ordered them, they honored internet price.my truck uses twin I beam independent frt suspension with stabilizer bar which I took off and used Hellwigs front and rear. for a source Call parts at dealership and have him look up part no. for the years you are looking for. then ask him are they universal parts or can they be used on which years you are looking for.

[KD4UPL]

Take the tailgate off. You don't use a tailgate with a TC.
Stay under your tire and axle weights, don't worry about the GVWR.
My latest TC rig was 1,600 pounds over the GVWR. The one before was 1,200 pounds over. I drove thousands of trouble free miles with both of them.

[Buzzcut1]

so I was off a bit The SRWs in 2008 all had the Dana 10.5s and the DRW had a Dana 80

https://www.dieselpowerproducts.com/c-2819-2008-10-64l-ford-powerstroke-axles-and-differentials.aspx

[jaycocreek]

Q 3 - Is this 260 lbs of over weight acceptable?

Yes it is in the truck camper world..If one wants to play by the numbers from the manufactures you would be hard pressed to make an optioned out Lance 850 non-slide be under GVWR on a 3500 SRW truck with atleast two passengers/gear and full of fuel.It would eat up that 3900 pound payload in a blink of the eye.

My 4600 payload of my F-350 DRW barely takes a Lance 9.6 non-slide without AC but heavily loaded..I am within a few hundred pounds of max GVWR and that will be gone once I hook up to my ATV trailer.

My late 21 ft Class C ran about 300 pounds over Max GVWR full of everything...

[EddieS]

Buzzcut1 - I have about 3-4" clearance above the cab, and I know Fords flex, so, suppose that's about right.

SidecarFlip - Not sure what rating the rims are. It came new with aluminum 17s, but the previous owner put on Lariat 18" rims. Running BFG ATs, with a 3,640 rating right now. It should have come with an upgraded tranny cooler with the towing package. Do you mean replacing that?

The camper's mfg sheet says the CG is 29" from the front 67" from the rear. My rear axle is about 39.5" from the front, so, should be about 9-10" forward of the rear axle.

JimK-NY - It came with Rancho shocks, which I thought were part of the FX4 package, but maybe they were with the slide-in camper package, along with the overload springs, which, I'm only hitting the bumpstops on one end of the overloads, and it sits almost level. At least, better than with my 5th wheel.

zcookiemonstar - The max payload shows 2,399, which I assumed, with a 10k GVWR, meant the curb weight of the truck should have been 7,601, but I really have no idea if that's correct, or if the GVWR is just a designation for the class of vehicle. I looked at the listed curb weights of a typical F250 crew, 4x4, shortbox with 6.0 (no mention of towing or camper pkg), and it showed a front curb of 4,356 and rear of 2,713, for a total of 7,069. I really don't know if that's what my truck was, because the landscaping place (who sells everything to industrial/commercial and tractor-trailer and cement trucks) listed me as 7,860. Not sure what to believe.

Freep - Hadn't thought of that. Maybe too much beer before the trip...

Wanderingbob - They are. It came with them factory installed for the original owner's shortbed. The second owner took them off for his long bed, and I put them back on for mine. Besides the "light weight" (cough) of the camper, that's one of the things I wanted, in case I move to a long bed later.

And to add, I fueled up right before getting my CAT rating of 10,260. Drove 288 miles home, with a 1/4 tank left, and stopped at the landfill to get a weight before pulling into town (NOT the rock/cement scales). They showed me at 10,220. So, 40 lbs difference between the two scales and after using about 25 gallons of fuel. Someone is off, and I don't think it's CAT.

[jaycocreek]

jaycocreek wrote:
And my '94 F-350 Supercab Dually is 1400 pounds lighter. Older truck lighter metal.. (laughing)

I was on my phone and should have added my sons 2002 Chevy HD 2500 4X4 extra cab weighs almost identical to my F-350 DRW, about 6400 pounds full of fuel with one on board.The ops seems heavy compared.