I have also noticed that the "camper guides" show a reduced carrying capacity (the Ford guide is the same). I suspect that this may have to do with the fact that the load is no longer sitting inside the box but now extends well above, and also out the sides, front and back of the box. This obviously affects stability, so maybe this is the rationale.

Have you checked the numbers, i.e. GVWR minus curb weight of the truck versus wet weight of the camper? If you are within the rating, then you should be OK with the existing truck. You might have to do some work on stabilizing it if it seems a bit wobbly. Re buying a new truck, keep in mind that adding things like a club cab and 4wd adds weight, and reduces your payload capacity. If you buy a new truck go for lots of capacity.

The first priority is to determine the GVWR of your vehicle; this will guide you to the maximum weight you can carry, and therefore the range of campers you can be looking at. With a 3/4 ton truck you will be limited to the lighter campers. Look through this website; there is lots of advice and discussion about matching camper to truck.

I have a box liner in my F250 (which is probably too slippery to sit the camper on) so I installed a sheet of half inch plywood in the box with 1X1's screwed to the plywood on each side to keep the camper from moving sideways. I also put a board across the front to keep the camper from rubbing on the box liner. To ensure that the plywood didn't slide backwards or sideways I put some wooden pieces ahead of and behind the wheel wells. It makes it a bit heavier but the camper never moves.

I installed Yakima control towers at the edges of the roof on my 8 ft. Lance. The camper has 1 inch aluminum tubing in the roof so the rack store (Rack Attack in Vancouver) drilled into the tubing to insert the anchor bolts. It is all well sealed, but leaks are always a risk when you drill into the roof. Rack Attack guarantees that it won't leak. The cross bars are 86 inches long. I carry a canoe or two kayaks on the roof. One of the advantages of this system is that you can remove the rack for the winter (the mounting pads stay in place).

The Lance 865 weighs 1870 pounds dry (i.e. without water in the tank, possibly without propane in the tank, and without any of your gear on board). Do you know the GVWR of the truck, and it's curb weight with a full tank of gas and driver and passengers on board? Subtract that weight from the GVWR and you have the payload. Then start adding the weight of everything you will be loading into the camper and truck to the 1870 pounds to find out if the truck capacity will be exceeded. Be sure to include the weight of water and propane.

Have a look through this forum for lots of advice on the topic of determining what size camper you can handle.

Definitely go for a bigger capacity truck. Even a 3/4 ton may not be enough depending on how heavy a camper you are planning to put on it. Have a look through the other posts on this site. There is lots of valuable information on the subject.

The Lance camper is built using welded aluminum tubing, the Northstar is wood framed. I would go with the aluminum frame for weight, strength and resistance to moisture problems.

Before you decide on the camper, make sure that your GVWR is sufficient. There is lots of information elsewhere in this forum on this topic and it is worthwhile reading it. Too many people buy the camper and then find out it takes them over their GVWR.

Don't buy the truck until you have confirmed that it has adequate GVWR to handle the camper you are hoping to buy. I wouldn't buy a 3/4 ton again even though my truck handles my camper just fine (with air bags to keep it level).

I left the plastic bed liner in my F250 but put a sheet of plywood down and added some wood pieces at the front and sides that prevent the camper from sliding around and prevents the plywood from moving within the box. It adds some weight but does the trick.

The camper people want you to buy a camper even if your truck isn't adequately rated. Never trust what they say in their brochures. If you go over your GVWR you may be liable in the event of an accident, or your insurance provider may not accept your claim. That being said, lots of people do go over their GVWR by doing things with the suspension, tires, etc. The cost of trying to beef up your truck can be substantial, and if you are way over the limit you may never get a satisfactory result.

Take a look through the website; there are lots of posts on this subject. It is one of the most common questions asked.

1100 pounds is pretty light for an 8 foot camper; I would double check that number. Also, if your payload is only around 1300 or 1400 pounds you will be up to the allowable limit by just adding two people, without even considering water, propane, food, gear, etc.

If you have a look through the numerous postings on this subject elsewhere in the forum you will get lots of helpful information. This is a topic that is always coming up.

Wind resistance is a big factor with truck campers, so you would likely see gas consumption increase with a regular camper versus a pop-up, although I don't have any figures to back this up. My personal experience driving into the wind on the I5 in California was that the wind made a huge difference to the gas mileage; so much so that I just found myself a nice semi to tuck in behind and stayed there until the wind subsided. The speed you are travelling also makes a big difference; at 70 mph my gas consumption was much higher than at 55 mph.

I was able to get some very detailed drawings and advice from Lance by simply emailing them with my questions. Try contacting Mike Conley at the following address: mikec@lancecamper.com

Wildcat: with an F250 your options are limited when it comes to carrying a TC within the GVWR limits. I have an F250 short box crew cab and the payload is less than 3000 pounds. The short box limits the type of camper you can buy and the GVWR of the F250 limits the weight unless you want to make modifications to the suspension, etc (which still doesn't change your GVWR).

I have only stayed in a 5th wheel once, and it was very comfortable, but I didn't have to tow it or back in into place. I love my camper and wouldn't trade it for a trailer, but it certainly doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a 5th wheel.

As always, life is full of tradeoffs. Go with what suits your lifestyle.

I see now why the GVWR rating for Ford is confusing: on the Ford Canada website they only list the 9900 or 10,000 pound GVWR for F350's. On the US website they list all the available models up to 11,500 pounds. I'm not sure if that means you can't buy the higher rated trucks in Canada or whether they are a special order. Probably not a big enough market in Canada to carry all the available models.

Before you buy the truck, do some research into what the camper you are interested in will weigh, fully loaded. Then check the payload of the truck (i.e. GVWR minus weight of the truck full of fuel and passengers. Subtract the weight of the tailgate if you are going to remove it.) The Ford website lists all the specs of the vehicles.

Ford has a funny system of GVWR. When I bought my 2011 F250 I discovered that the F350 had the exact same GVWR. The only difference was that the F350 has an overload spring that only comes into play when the truck drops a couple of inches. If you find that the GVWR of your dream truck is not enough to carry the camper you would like, you might want to look at other brands to see what they can carry.

You were wise to go with the larger, heavier duty truck. Too many people try to get by with a lighter duty vehicle and then have to do all kinds of things to it to carry the weight, often still leaving them with a vehicle that is overloaded.

You will find many posts on this website about the subject of how much weight you can carry. You need to start with the GVWR of your vehicle; it should be written on the registration or possibly stamped on the door tag. From that you subtract the weight of the truck, full of fuel and the people you will be carrying. The resulting number is the maximum weight that your truck can legally carry. If you remove the tailgate that gives you a few extra pounds to work with.

Remember that the dry weight of the camper usually does not include the weight of propane or water so you need to add that to the weight. Also add the weight of food, supplies, gear, tools, and anything else you intend to carry. If your camper has holding tanks you have to consider that these might be full, although that shouldn't matter unless you have added more water to the tank but haven't emptied the holding tanks. If you plan to tow a boat, the tongue weight adds to the total.

I have seen trucks that were loaded well beyond their GVWR where they have added overload springs, air shocks, etc. and they seemed to handle OK, but legally you might be on thin ice if you have or cause an accident. You can't increase the GVWR of the truck by adding these devices even though they will make it more stable. You have to think about whether the frame, tires, wheels, etc can carry the extra load. If the camper you are considering seems to be too heavy you might want to look at a smaller and/or lighter version.

Be careful with your choice of truck; the GVWR is the key. If you have a camper with a dry weight of 2300 pounds you need to add the weight of water, propane, food, gear, and all passengers to find out what it really weighs. Then subtract the curb weight of the truck from the GVWR and you will know what you can carry. Forget about putting a camper on a 1/2 ton; the GVWR will not be adequate. Your best bet is to go bigger on the vehicle and keep the camper size down if possible.

My Lance 805 short bed camper was installed on a truck with an 8 foot box before I bought it. The camper has removeable storage compartments which allow it to be installed in an 8 foot box without any problem, without having to install spacers so it doesn't affect the centre of gravity. Prior to putting it on my short bed truck we just re-installed the storage compartments. Perhaps the 825 has a similar system.

I have a 2011 F-250 short box 4X4 crew cab with the back up camera. The box measures 6' 9" with the tailgate closed. My camper is a Lance 805 which hangs over a bit more than a foot so I had to take the tailgate off and consequently lost the use of the back up camera. To solve this problem I bought another camera from Ford and installed it in a 3" pvc tube under the back of the camper. The new camera just plugs in where you unplug the tailgate camera. It worked great until November when we were driving in the rain to Palm Springs from Vancouver, then for some reason it quit. I haven't had a chance to troubleshoot the problem yet.

I would suggest that you buy a 350 rather than a 250; the price difference was only $1500 when I bought my truck, which is what it would cost to buy the overload springs used on the 350 (installation would be extra). This seems to be the only difference between the two trucks; they both have the same GVWR. The overload springs don't cut in until the truck has dropped a couple of inches so you still might have to add air bags to keep it level. Even with my light camper the truck still sags a bit in the back end when loaded. It's not a real problem but it does mean the headlights aim a bit high.

Let me know if you have any other questions about the 250.

You have a good truck for carrying a camper, but you have to go with one that is light and also designed for a short box camper. I have a 2011 F250 crew cab 4X4 and it has a similar capacity to yours. I bought a 2009 Lance 805, 8 feet long, 86 inches wide (narrower than most TC's). (This model is no longer made). It has no shower, toilet or holding tanks and has a dry weight of about 1500 pounds. It is basic, but we love it. We haven't added any extra air bags or springs and it handles the camper no problem. You could look at other Lance campers designed for short box trucks (look at the Lance website for details). Another option is to look at Northern Lite campers. There are some models that would be OK on your truck.

The best advice is to avoid going over the GVWR. You could risk being charged if you were in an accident and were overweight; also, your insurance company might void your insurance.

Remember to add the weight of fuel, passengers, water, food, gear, etc when you are calculating the total weight of the vehicle and camper.

I wonder if the white isn't paint that someone has put on over top of the rubber roofing. If so, you may be able to wash most of it off and apply a protective coating that is compatible with the rubber.

I have a question on the same topic: how do you get the kayaks down from the roof of the camper? It seems like it must be a bit tricky. I saw a camper last summer with kayaks on the roof and he had a roller intalled across the back edge of the roof so he could push them across the roller without damaging the edge of the roof. His wife waited below to assist.