Weight doubters..

[jaycocreek]

I was one big time.I did not think I could get 1,000 lbs into my truck camper over the dry weight.Wrong!This is for the naysayer's as I once was.

I have had alot of truck campers in my years and never weighed any of them whether 1/2 3/4 or 1 tons.I just always did the mods and never had an issue but after I joined RV.net,weight/gvwr was a major topic.So living one block from the grain scales I started to think,why not for kicks.

I started this truck camper journey with a 1994 Ford F-350 dually(4600 lbs payload) with a not to worry about weight in picking out a camper,within reason.We found a Lance 480(9.6 ft) in our budget with a dry weight sticker of 2541 lbs.Then we put in everything we camp and hunt with including an extra stand alone battery..It is packed to the hilt along with most of my tools.

I weighed this morning on the way home from the store.Gas tanks full/propane tanks full and the water is full with just me in it...9600 pounds which gives me almost exactly 1000 pounds over the dry weight.I never thought in a million years I could get 1000 pounds extra in a pickup camper.

So bottom line is, as many have posted in the past,1000 lbs is a very good number to keep in mind when looking at truck campers versus there listed dry weights.I just did not believe it....The truck has all the camper special stuff like air bags/sway bars as a previous owner had a 10ft on it and did the mods including the happi-jack setup.

I am below all my weights including GVWR and axle etc but not by far..I never thought a 9.6 ft Lance camper without a slide could all but max out a 1 ton dually,even an older one.



A former doubter.:B

[bighatnohorse]

Gun.
Knife.
Beer.
Meat.
Salt.

Just the essentials.

[thedavidzoo]

Hey, I'm the wife and I was the one weighing EVERYTHING that went into the camper for our Alaska trip. Haha. No 17 lbs of knives here! I weighed every hose, shoe, plate, sleeping bag, towel, cereal, steak, box of pasta, flashlight, soaps, tools, etc. I mean everything and that includes all electrical, Torklift, bed mat, that we added. Put it all in a spreadsheet. I just wanted to know where the weight was coming from, what we started off with, and where it makes sense to adjust if needed. Go ahead and laugh. OCD like that. 😉

[TxGearhead]

My wife has the 5th wheel, I have the Bigfoot. I think she sorta looked in it once. Refuses to travel with it.
Oh well.

[joeshmoe]

burningman wrote:

By the way, if anyone wants to step up to a "who's wife can pack more stuff into a truck camper" challenge, count me in!
Maybe you DO need a dually to haul a pop-up.
Maybe if we were single we'd all drive half-tons.
Maybe... I better shut up.

someone will get in trouble if we start that thread.:B

mine has been slowly adding more and more "small" things. she treats it like it's an apt., not a camper for umm...camping. she's got fancy throw pillows, fancy comforter (my mistake. it's a duvet :R) and a bunch of other non-practical ****. if I were willing to fight about it, all I would need is a pillow, sleeping bag, boots/shoes and a few clothes. plus, whatever I need to cook with.

[burningman]

To know what you've packed in you need to scale the camper empty rather than believe the "dry weight" sticker. That factory dry weight doesn't include the A/C, any "options" whatsoever, no TP in the bathroom and probably not even the weight of the dry weight sticker itself.
You'll probably find your wife only packed 1500 pounds of stuff onboard!

By the way, if anyone wants to step up to a "who's wife can pack more stuff into a truck camper" challenge, count me in!
Maybe you DO need a dually to haul a pop-up.
Maybe if we were single we'd all drive half-tons.
Maybe... I better shut up.

[Kayteg1]

I scaled my 11-11" camper to have almost 1500 lb of fresh water and our stuff in it. Dogs eat 20lb of dry food a month, why are we carrying 50 lb for 7000 miles?
I don't think we need 70lb of knifes and utensils neither, but try to explain that to significant other.

[Ivylog]

Good thing I have 9,000 lbs of CCC as we have used more than half of it. 1000 lbs doesn't take all that much stuff.

[jaycocreek]

When my wife packs the camper with out me keeping an eye on her.... it's 2000 lbs

Isn't that the truth.:B

If I took out my wifes iron skillets alone,I could go Lance 1172..I just sold a 21 ft class c and storage wise,there isn't much difference other than in the bathroom but handling wise,the truck/camper combo is twice as stable on the curvy mountain roads I travel.On the class c I ran about 300 pounds over GVWR loaded for bear.

[tattoobob]

I have a 2005 F350 SRW GVW is 10500
my camper is a Lance 1010 camper weight = 27xx dry, wet its +/- 3500 I'm a minimalist so I only have what I need and most compartments are empty

The truck has upper and lower Stable loads and air bags

I go by tire rating and feel that the camper truck set up is perfect weight ratio

I use 20 pounds in the air bags

[Lwiddis]

I've cut down to 50 pounds of bacon...for short trips.

[hedge]

I found the same thing. I was sure I was under all the capacities of my truck based on published numbers and estimates but the scale told the actual story.

Everyone should visit a scale, I think you'll be surprised.

[SideHillSoup]

When my wife packs the camper with out me keeping an eye on her.... it's 2000 lbs....
😉
Nice looking rig
Soup