Greetings, General Questions
| Oscar |
 Dec 7 2012, 09:28 AM
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#1
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Group: Members Posts: 32 Joined: 7-December 12 From: Bethlehem, PA Member No.: 6,383 Favorite Truck Camper(s): Lance, I think. Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Chevy 3500HD CC LB DRW DmaxAllison Type of Tiedowns used: Torklift With Fastguns Truck and Camper Setup: Chevy 3500 Dmax CC DRW. Torklift tie downs. 2012 Lance 1191  |
Greetings,
New to this forum, not new to forums. Have a Chevy 2500HD DmaxAllison6 Crew Cab short bed and currently pull a Keystone Cougar 29BHS ultralite with it, and we love it and use it a lot. But, sometimes we just go somewhere for one day or night and it's quite a bit of work to get it out of storage and out of the gate. Also the one night is often at someone's house for a party when driving home is ill advised, and with an overall length approaching 50 feet that is not always practical. Soooo, we've been looking for something smaller and more nimble. LOVE the Winnebago ERA's......don't quite have a 100 large laying around.  The low to mid 20's is more doable.....So then I (re)discovered truck campers. Yesterday looked at a Livin Lite 8.5 Neat little setup and it sleeps a couple and two grown children. Not for a week, but a day or two will work just fine. Also found the Truck Camper Magazine site with the buyers resource. Working my way down the list. Have read a lot of what's on this forum, and understand what GVWR and axle ratings are. With the Keystone it's not an issue as it is around 8000 pounds on it's own axles, with about a 1000 pound tongue weight. Today I will have the truck weighed, as well as the individual axles so I know exactly where I stand. Questions..... I mentioned a couple and two grown kids. The Livin Lite has the optional drop down bunk over the dinette. Does anyone know of any other brands that have his option? Also, do I have to remove the tailgate on my short bed? Or can it stay down with the camper in it? Thanks. |
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Replies(20 - 23)
| aqualung |
Jan 25 2013, 08:34 AM
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#21
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 Group: Members Posts: 165 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 |
Looks great! I'd love to see some pics of the whole rig once you have it all together.
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| Oscar |
Jan 28 2013, 06:35 PM
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#22
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Group: Members Posts: 32 Joined: 7-December 12 From: Bethlehem, PA Member No.: 6,383 Favorite Truck Camper(s): Lance, I think. Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: Chevy 3500HD CC LB DRW DmaxAllison Type of Tiedowns used: Torklift With Fastguns Truck and Camper Setup: Chevy 3500 Dmax CC DRW. Torklift tie downs. 2012 Lance 1191 |
Well, it is done. Mostly good, a few detractions.
Friday night hauled from Eastern PA up to Manchester NH. Snowing.....traffic.....idiots.....more snow. 360 miles should have taken 5 hours, it took 7. Average speed 45 mph. Got to hotel in Manchester (we were there for an SCA event...Google that) and had it set up so that the next morning I "escaped" to go to Campers Inn of Merrimack NH. Nothing but good to say about them. Professional, large, seriously run operation. They kindly took my salt covered rig in and washed it while I did the paperwork. Then I spent a good 2 hours with one of their techs to get familiar with the unit and load it on the truck. A nice experience all around. Drove back to hotel, parked in employee lot out back and the next morning drove home. It rides VERY well. A little more '76 Impala sway than empty (duh) but very controllable and pleasant. I have no urge to run out and get performance enhancing hardware at all. Truck sat nice and level too. No ass heavy look. So far so good. Unfortunately a stop at a CAT scale told a less pleasant story. This unit is in the brochures at 3500 dry, the sticker on it says 4000 and apparently that is before they put the batteries, propane and a few more things in there. Best I can tell, it's well north of 4500#. Add three people, stuff in the truck and a 250 pound tongue weight for the VERY lightly loaded cargo trailer on the hitch extender and the whole thing was 440# north of the 13000# GVWR. And that's before we put ANYTHING in the many, many storage compartments. Realistically speaking, the Lance people should not market this as something that one can put on a pick-up truck, not even a one ton dually. Period. This technically takes an MDT. But, it is what it is. But, as I said it all handles well, so we'll keep the weight to a minimum. Oh, the unit is AWESOME. We are going to have a LOT of fun with this. |
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| Spanky |
Jan 29 2013, 05:40 AM
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#23
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 Moderator Group: Moderator Posts: 320 Joined: 24-June 06 From: Silver City, New Mexico Member No.: 144 Favorite Truck Camper(s): Lance 1030 Type and Brand of Truck(s) Owned: 1999 F350 Power Stroke Dually SuperCab Type of Tiedowns used: Torklift Truck and Camper Setup: 1999 Ford F350 4x4 Super Cab 1 ton Dually Lance 1030 Torklift tiedowns |
It sure looks heavy, but very nice.
-------------------- 1999 F350 Power Stroke Dually Super Cab, 2003 Lance 1030
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| aqualung |
Jan 30 2013, 09:37 AM
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#24
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Group: Members Posts: 165 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 |
Nice looking rig! Congrats!
Now you got me thinking about an upgrade  I just hope my wife doesn't see these pictures, it could turn into a very expensive proposition for me!!  |
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