Real lite weight question

[SteveB]

Would anyone have feel for the weight of a mid 90's Real Lite 12' side entry camper. I found one owners post here that noted that theirs weighs about 4000 lbs. I know that will vary with the "stuff" stored in it. Just curious right now on a bit of a fact finding mission. Thanks.

[SteveB]

Very cool pics Boatycall. That is a nice setup. The one I saw has electric jacks on it which is nice. I hate the old windup jacks I had on my Mini Cruiser. It took a while to load and unload. The 5er is much quicker to hook up than that thing.

[Boatycall]

smoke20 wrote:
cool pics Boatycall, I would like to get a cargo box on top of mine like you had. Did you have manual jacks on that beast? Keep up those cool sig. pics too hahaha

Yes, they were hydrolic pump jacks. I will never use those again. "Jacks-o-Death" when a seal goes out.

[smoke20]

cool pics Boatycall, I would like to get a cargo box on top of mine like you had. Did you have manual jacks on that beast? Keep up those cool sig. pics too hahaha

[Boatycall]

SteveB wrote:
Would anyone have feel for the weight of a mid 90's Real Lite 12' side entry camper. I found one owners post here that noted that theirs weighs about 4000 lbs. I know that will vary with the "stuff" stored in it. Just curious right now on a bit of a fact finding mission. Thanks.

Mine was 3750 - and it was a full 12' side door, just like you're referring too. It really was "Real Lite". I carried it on a F250 with a 4" lift, stock springs w/Ford Camper Package, on 35" tires.
There was a time or two when being on a lifted truck with 35's it gave me a little white knuckle ride, but I loved that camper.




On edit---
Worth noting, you have an '01 truck. You will likely find that you will have to raise the camper floor to clear the cab. When I went from my '95 Ford to my '01, the cab of the truck was so much taller the camper bunk not only hit it, but rested on it. Neither campers or trucks are made for that.
I had to add some 2x4's, plywood, and for good measure, styrofoam insulation to the bottom of the camper to raise it up.

This was taken right after I bought the truck and took a "maiden voyage". Note the bunk hitting the cab. I of course fixed it as soon as I got home. I had no idea this was going to be a problem when I bought the truck, and went "ahhh c&ap" after I loaded it for the first time.

[SteveB]

Thanks much, Smoke. If it pans out I'll let you know. Your dually is probably around 7200#. That's about where mine is. I was looking at the stable loads (just in case). The instructions for my Dodge are a bit more involved because the overload bumper mounts need to come off for modification. I don't need them with the Jayco though. Only about 1800# pin weight if I'm lucky.

[smoke20]

bone stock on the f350 but had bags and ranchos on the f250.

i might put some stable loads or something similar on the dually its squats the rear suspension just a tad below level but not bad.

btw those weights were on a 99 F250 SRW,STD CAB, LB not sure how much more my dually weighs need to scale it.

hey if your serious about this camper shoot me a pm. the have a week anchor/tie down system on them mine failed due to water damage and weak materials. i think they are still awewome campers and the problems can be fixxed fairly easy.

[SteveB]

Thanks Smoke,

It looks like your steer axle unloaded 140 pounds with the camper on. Are you running any air bags, load levers or bone stock? Your truck is lighter than mine by about 900 pounds.

EDIT> Just read your SIG LINE.

[smoke20]

all right i found the scale tickets and did the math
camper loaded-10160
camper unloaded-6380
camper dry weight-3780

the truck/camper was weighed after returning from a trip with about half propane,no freshwater and very little cargo weight(clothes,food,etc.) full fuel tank both times
i attached the scale ticket copies kinda of interesting it actually unloaded the front axle which i know t/c's are built with weight dist. in mind but every body thinks its so heavy on the nose when the see it of course a 12 footer has quite a bit of overhang too.

[smoke20]

hey Steve, I have a 96 Real Lite RL1200 and mine weighed out at about 3900lbs dry.

I cat scaled it on my 99 f250 empty and then camper loaded I can dig up the old scale tickets and give you an exact weight. But I can tell you that it now resides on a DRW truck lol.

[SteveB]

It does sound more reasonable than 2000 pounds I saw listed tonite on a local ad for a RL1200. It just "looks" gigantic and I figured its weight would match. I'm just window shopping right now thinking if I want to try to convince the DW that we should get another TC for quick weekend getaways.

[Artum_Snowbird]

As an owner of several campers, I would say you could be getting close to 4000 pounds. Often advertised weights were put out as bare bones campers (we didn't know you really needed jacks or a mattress inside) etc... Many things were optional, and so they were not included in the weight.

Often, owners put mods in too, memory foams, extra shelving and cupboards, new floors over old, roll on roofing, air conditioners... a host of things, and in the end, the original advertised rate is pretty lovely, but not anywhere near reality.

And then, there is the weight when you have filled the propane tanks, and taken on fresh water, but haven't made a dump site yet. There was a great deal on dog food and you really needed several cases of beer too.

3500 - 4000 pounds on board sounds realistic, doesn't it?