Camper special ho ho

[Bill Stockard]

A lot of this takes common sense, if a lance 11' camper weighs --#'s, and that weight with the truck weight maxes out the E tires, guess what?, gotta go beefier. . My 245 70R 19. 5" Michelin XDE-MS 12 ply F rated is set at 4080 # @ 95 psi... these would do wonders for a swr camper.

Eric,



I have weighed our truck and camper combination on commercial truck scales. We are over the GVWR, but well below the GAWR on both the front and rear axles according to "the little sticker on the driver's door jamb". With our dually, wheel/tire upgrades aren't necessary.



Bill

 

[Grizzly]

Nope, not the same Bill. We were in the middle of building a new house, shop, and moving last summer. It would have been more fun and a lot less work had we gone to Alaska instead.



Bill

Thanks for letting me know. He said he was a TDR member, but I can not remember his last name or exactly what town in Texas they are from. Somewhere near Corpus Christi. I'm building an addition to our house this summer and plan to go to Alaska in 08.

 

[Big A]

I think you may have some wrong information on your buddy's truck and camper. I have an 05 DRW and I had a Lance 945 11'-3" camper. The Lance 990 and the 945 are the same length and weight, only difference is that the 990 has a dry bath and a smaller dinette booth. I had Happi Jacks and no sway bar on mime and it never swayed. In fact I had the same camper on my 95 DRW before the 05 with sway bar and Happi Jack and it didn't sway, however the 05 handled the camper better then the 95. The difference between the 05 and the 95 is that the 05 has the box beam frame and beefier springs.

I don't know what your Northland 880 weighs or what length it is, but I seriously doubt that it weighs the same as the Lance 990 because no camper weighs more then a Lance that I know of. Another thing, how much additional weight did your friends camper have, such as water, food camping gear and cloth. We took my Lance on my 05 to Alaska last summer and believe me for an 11,000 mile round trip for two months, it was loaded, but no sway. I don't think you are comparing apples to apples here.

My buddy has the Northland 990. The dry weight, wet weight for these 2 campers is a 200lb difference. We both haul them full of water, and ammenities. He does not have AC or microwave, I do. He has a step up bumper, I dont. Usually 4 people per truck. His '99 3500 also hauled the camper better than either my 2500, or his '05. Yes I'm sure your camper is heavier, but I'm not comparing to your camper. I'm comparing my buddy's and my setup. I'm not trying to state that the 2nd gen trucks are better, just that the sway bar, and tiedown systems are extremely important in hauling a cabover. Trust me if I could, I would have a dually too.

Big A

 

[Grizzly]

My buddy has the Northland 990. The dry weight, wet weight for these 2 campers is a 200lb difference. We both haul them full of water, and ammenities. He does not have AC or microwave, I do. He has a step up bumper, I dont. Usually 4 people per truck. His '99 3500 also hauled the camper better than either my 2500, or his '05. Yes I'm sure your camper is heavier, but I'm not comparing to your camper. I'm comparing my buddy's and my setup. I'm not trying to state that the 2nd gen trucks are better, just that the sway bar, and tiedown systems are extremely important in hauling a cabover. Trust me if I could, I would have a dually too.

Big A

My 05 DRW didn't come with sway bar and I was told that I wouldn't need it due to the box frame. I considered installing one, but first I decided to try one camping trip without it and it did just fine and if anything, I thought it was better then the 95 DRW with the sway bar. Wet weight on my camper was 4500#, however for our trip to Alaska I know it was much heavier. There wasn't even an option for a sway bar in 05 or I would got it. The yardstick I use to tell if I need a swaybar is to pass an 18 wheeler going the opposite direction on a two lane highway.