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> 1992 F250 HD 7.5L, Buying a TC

hhr1315
post Jul 1 2013, 12:58 PM
Post #1





Group: Members
Posts: 1
Joined: 1-July 13
Member No.: 6,769
Favorite Truck Camper(s): Lance Legend 990
Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: 1992 F250 XLT HD 7.5L
Type of Tiedowns used: Happijac
Truck and Camper Setup: Class III Hitch, "E" rated tires



First post from a newbie to the truck camper world:

I am shopping for TC and have an opportunity to purchase a 1998 Lance Legend 990 11 ft truck camper. The gentleman I might buy this from says that the camper weighs 3,400 lbs.

I have a 1992 F250 HD with the 7.5L (460 CID) motor. I have weighed my truck with 2 full tanks of gas and myself and I come in at 5,580 lbs or 3,120 lbs on the front axle and 2,460 on the rear axle. My GVWR is 8,800 lbs with a front GAWR of 3,765 and a rear GAWR of 6,084. Lance claims that the dry weight of the standard cabover Legend 990 is 2,850 lbs, not including options, and 2,930 lbs for the extended cabover and I am not sure which one this is.

By my calculations, I can carry exactly 3,220 lbs (GVWR minus curb weight or 8,800 - 5,580 = 3,220). I have the Ford 10.5 full floating axle with 3.55 gears. The springs on the rear end are the same springs as an F350. Even the spring brackets are stamped with "F350" and it is my understanding that this is what makes my truck an HD. It is essentially an F250 with F350 springs in the rear (along with other things).

I have easily hauled 1 ton of rocks in the bed of my truck and couldn't tell anything was back there but I am a little concerned about exceeding the GVWR of my truck. I am planning a 4,600 mile trip with a camper in August and I plan to tow my motorcycle using a hitch extension provided by the seller. My motorcycle weighs around 454 lbs dry and the trailer weighs around 250 lbs. I will be going through the Rockies and Yellowstone and to Denver, CO so there will be hills but the 7.5L should be up for the job.

I realize I might be exceeding the GVWR by several hundred pounds once I had food and luggage but should I be concerned? Buying another truck is not an option after buying the truck camper. The piggy bank will be empty after this. I really like the 11 ft Lance Legend because of the stand up separate indoor shower (mostly wife likes this) and all of the options on the camper some of which were standard on the Legend (electric jacks and generator).

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you'd like to share with me.
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aqualung
post Jul 2 2013, 10:06 AM
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Joined: 3-February 10
Member No.: 3,725
Favorite Truck Camper(s): Adventurer 90FWS
Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Dodge 3500 Dually Quadcab 4x4 6.7L Cummins
Type of Tiedowns used: Torklift
Truck and Camper Setup: 2008 Adventurer 90FWS Torklift Tiedowns with SuperHitch and SuperTruss Firestone Air Bags Torklift Load Stabilizers Fastgun Turnbuckles



You should also check that your tires have the right load rating and perhaps beef up the shocks, etc. Air bags will help to level the load too but won't help with the GVWR.

My camper weighs in at 3100lbs but when fully loaded its close to 4000lbs. The fresh water really adds a lot of weight (8.35lbs/gallon). The hitch extension will add weight as well as do the tie downs, turnbuckles etc. A rule of thumb is to add 1000lbs to the dry weight of the camper to estimate to full load. Of course you can do things to reduce this like travel with empty water tanks, buy groceries at your destination etc.

When considering the trailer, you only have to add in the tongue weight to determine the gross vehicle weight (GVW) but if the trailer does not have brakes then you might want to consider adding them, especially if you're travelling in the mountains. The full trailer weight comes in when determining Gross Combined Weight (GCW) which should also be compared to the truck's GCWR.

In my experience, its all about braking. The truck will handle the weight and you can add suspension parts to make the truck ride better but you will likely have to address the brakes. You really don't want the brakes to fade out coming down a mountain road.... yikes!!
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arch7
post Sep 22 2014, 01:04 PM
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Group: Members
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Joined: 22-September 14
Member No.: 7,779
Favorite Truck Camper(s): NuWa
Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: 1993 F350 crew 7.5
Type of Tiedowns used: tow straps / HD straps
Truck and Camper Setup: 1980's 11' NuWay on 93 F350 7.5 crew cab long bed. all stock



I just drove my 93 F350 7.5 crew cab long bed to Jackson WY from Casper WY and back (tough mountain pass before Jackson) with no problems. I have all stock standard stuff. Its 4x4 and the brakes are actually pretty thin, probably original pads etc! I am budgeting to do all new brakes all around real soon but I didn't get to it.

I have the biggest camper you could buy back in 82 or so. I haven't weighed the rig yet but the rear barely sags at all with the camper and all my gear in there.

Basically I kept it in fourth gear the whole way, 63 mph (limit was 65, people were going 70-80) and around 2300rpm cruise control no sweat. Except when I had to go though that togetee pass, no cruise was possible and most of the bigger hills I was nearly flooring it and going 45mph, not too bad. There was one hill on the way back, 7% or so, long climb, that near the top I had to downshift to third gear and 40mph or less at 2700rpm or so.

I think you should have no problem. Also I don't have turnbuckles etc. I just use heavy duty tow strap and some other 3,000 straps to hold it down and again no problem. My tires are rated for 1550 pounds only and they held up great even doing some off roading for remote camping. I am going to buy new ones that are rated for like twice that weight here soon though.

I went up some really steep gravel, rocky mountain roads up to Curtis canyon campground and a good part of that climb I was going 5-10mph in first gear, but given the sharp rocks and turns that was right. truck handled excellent with the weight.

Hope that helps!
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arch7
post Sep 22 2014, 01:05 PM
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Group: Members
Posts: 5
Joined: 22-September 14
Member No.: 7,779
Favorite Truck Camper(s): NuWa
Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: 1993 F350 crew 7.5
Type of Tiedowns used: tow straps / HD straps
Truck and Camper Setup: 1980's 11' NuWay on 93 F350 7.5 crew cab long bed. all stock



also no where along the way did i have to really lay on the brakes. mostly by the time you get up the hills to the time to get to the next hill you're not going to get past 70mph anyway while in fourth gear so brakes actually used very little.
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arch7
post Sep 22 2014, 02:15 PM
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Group: Members
Posts: 5
Joined: 22-September 14
Member No.: 7,779
Favorite Truck Camper(s): NuWa
Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: 1993 F350 crew 7.5
Type of Tiedowns used: tow straps / HD straps
Truck and Camper Setup: 1980's 11' NuWay on 93 F350 7.5 crew cab long bed. all stock



as you can see size of camper and can't even tell if the rear is sagging (camper is off the end of truck haha but there is plenty of room still in the wheel well!!)

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litng1
post Jun 2 2015, 05:37 AM
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Group: Members
Posts: 10
Joined: 2-June 15
Member No.: 8,197
Favorite Truck Camper(s): most
Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: 97F250HD 7.5
Type of Tiedowns used: Straps for now
Truck and Camper Setup: F250



No issues with mine.1997 4x4 with 7.5 engine.Everything stock.Not sure how many pounds this TC is.

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Joemcg
post Aug 11 2015, 11:30 AM
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Group: Members
Posts: 16
Joined: 9-August 15
Member No.: 8,397
Favorite Truck Camper(s): Lance
Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: F350 drw crew cab (1991)
Type of Tiedowns used: Happijac
Truck and Camper Setup: F350, happijacs, air bags, Rancho shocks, Reese tow beast class V



I'm late to the party with this response but maybe it will help someone so here goes:

1. It's easy to tell a "regular" from an "extended cab over" Lance. In the regular the bed is crosswise, in the extended it is in line with the rest of the TC.

2. I carried a newer '05 Lance 981Max on a '91 F350 CC drw for years that had the 7.5L and it was no problem. Again it was a Dually so that added quite a bit to my max GCWR but in my mind the main advantage was increased stability. I had some experience with that since the rig before was a smaller Lance 815 lite on an '89 F250 diesel.


--------------------
1995 Lance 880
1991 F350 CC Dually
Also Pacific Coachworks 276RBS TT
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