Happy Camper!

[Joe Dillard]

I've been looking since last summer for a shortbed camper for quite some time. Last weekend while at a local Lance camper dealers lot, I bumped into a guy who just so happen to be wanting to sell a used Lance camper that fits the bill very nicely!

I'm one Happy Camper and looking forward to putting it to use!!

[Jerry Bransford]

SWEET Joe, I wish I could talk my wife into one of those!!!

[DanB98TJ]

Nice camper! Lance is one of - if not the - best quality campers out there. They seem to hold up very well, both in construction and price.

Wish I wasn't already pushing the GCVW of my truck with the pop-up camper and Jeep/trailer - I'd love to have a regular hard side camper.

[Paradiddle]

Great Joe - now Sergey can room with you

Jeff

[JeepGal]

Thats awesome Joe!

congrats on a sweet purchase!

Tam

[Joe Dillard]

Jerry, there's a couple local places I know of that you may want to check out who rent RV's that you can tow your Jeep behind that may persued your wife into being more open to something like this or similar. Wifes who prefer more creature comforts tend to enjoy our hobby more if we can provide them with a better "home away from home". (as I'm sure you know)

Dan, good point! IIRC I'm very close.

Jeff, I certainly don't mind a guest now & then. They may not appreciate my modest snoring habits.

Tam, Thanks! It should suit me well.

[John]

I'd suggest an upgrade to the rear sway bar and some air bags in the back now. BTDT

[Stu Olson]

Joe....it would seem that your tow rig just got a whole bunch nicer! Pretty cool..... I hope you get a lot of use out of it!

[Robert J. Yates]

Originally posted by Paradiddle
Great Joe - now Sergey can room with you

Jeff

Man. Talk about bitch slapping your snuggle partner

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Robert J. Yates
Man. Talk about bitch slapping your spoon buddy

[DsrtJeeper]

Beautiful camper! Congrats. I ran a Lance for a while and loved it. I did however need to install airbags in the rear due to my truck being 1/2 ton. The airbags are very easy to install and make a huge difference!

Now you can make more trips to Phx!

[TObject]

Looks good!

Kind of hard to see from the pictures, can you still tow with this thing on?

[Joe Dillard]

Thanks for the pointers everyone!

Yep - it seems I'll be doing some upgrades to the truck suspension so it better handles the load. Obviously I'll need to alter the way I tow too by adapting things so the hitch extends further back ~1.5-2". Maybe a simple extension will do the trick, or something similar so I can hook-up my trailer/Jeep.

[Macgyver]

Originally posted by Joe Dillard
Thanks for the pointers everyone!

Yep - it seems I'll be doing some upgrades to the truck suspension so it better handles the load. Obviously I'll need to alter the way I tow too by adapting things so the hitch extends further back ~1.5-2". Maybe a simple extension will do the trick, or something similar so I can hook-up my trailer/Jeep.

Joe,

just get a slightly longer ball mount. With my 9.5 Lance I needed a class 5 titan hitch and a 20" long hitch extension to tow with my camper. The other thing you may want if you don't already have it is a weight distribution hitch. This will make it safe with a extension and the weight of the camper.

I towed my trailer with my lance for years that way before I got my motor home. I used our Lance for almost 8 years with almost zero maintance and very little of anything breaking. I spent like $500 in repairs during the 7 to 8 years of use. Pretty good track record. The only reason I got rid of my Lance was the family was getting too big to fit in it anymore. I miss that camper.

[Joe Dillard]

Oops, I just noticed a mistake I made earlier concerning the length increase the hitch will need to be. It's NOT ~1.5-2" (inches), it's more like ~1.5-2' (feet). Sorry!

Quinn, Yep - my trailer has the brackets welded to the frame for the WDH. The remainder of the WDH items suffered some problems a while back & I ditched the faulty pieces. It was a very old unit that suffered some abuse before I got it. Cracks close to the ball & the holes the "L" shaped pieces go through were becoming distorted - so I decided to chuck the whole thing. A new one will be in order - thanks for the input.

Also - I haven't forgotten about the engine skid I'd like you to make for me. I just haven't made the time to get up your way & make the appointment.

[Macgyver]

Originally posted by Joe Dillard
Oops, I just noticed a mistake I made earlier concerning the length increase the hitch will need to be. It's NOT ~1.5-2" (inches), it's more like ~1.5-2' (feet). Sorry!

Quinn, Yep - my trailer has the brackets welded to the frame for the WDH. The remainder of the WDH items suffered some problems a while back & I ditched the faulty pieces. It was a very old unit that suffered some abuse before I got it. Cracks close to the ball & the holes the "L" shaped pieces go through were becoming distorted - so I decided to chuck the whole thing. A new one will be in order - thanks for the input.

Also - I haven't forgotten about the engine skid I'd like you to make for me. I just haven't made the time to get up your way & make the appointment.

If it's 1.5 to 2 feet, you will be looking at a Reese Titan 5 hitch and extension. It's a 2.5" reciever hitch, with the 2.5" extension. Once this length is set to the back of the camper, you can plug in any 2" hitch or other accesories. It's really the only safe way to do the hitch extension. The hitches are down under $300 now, and the extension can be made if the Reese extension doesn't have the right length for your set up. I'll try to dig up a picture of my old set up.

[Iceman]

that looks like a pretty sweet set up
What's about the going rate for a decent used camper. I've got absolutely no idea so that's why I'm asking (mine is a long bed though) .... or any websites (just to get an idea)

[Joe Dillard]

Iceman - I tried the website search method for months & months with no luck in finding what I wanted price & equipment wise near me. Plus I didn't want to settle for something that didn't suit me.

This Lance SquireLite 186 (8'6") is impecable inside & out! I could be wrong - but I believe it's comparable to the newer LanceLite 845 (base price=$14,266). Mine has a good amount of expensive options & I paid far less than 1/2 that plus no CA sales tax.

http://www.lancecampers.com/sec3/lancelit/lanclite.htm

[Iceman]

thanks for the info Joe
I'm looking, but not really if you know what I mean

[John]

RV trader

[Bruce David]

congratulations... Looks good Joe.
One thing to check out is if the shower drains
into the holding tank. as opposed to the grey tank.
This is how my buddies Lance WAS plumbed.
His wife would fill the holding tank with one shower.

[ukjeeper]

Sweet! Thought it was a slideout for a minute though. Warren (OC4Play) Sternin has one. Very nice.

[wcjp]

Joe,

When I had the slidein camper I used the Torqlift SuperHitch with 4' extension. Towed the Jeep and trailer no problem.

[Joe Dillard]

Thanks everybody!

I got it wired in last weekend (PITA) and installed a Happijac tiedown system. Everything in and out of the camper works perfectly. I haven't been able to find even one flaw so far.

I've ordered a 2.5" Titan Class V hitch to replace my stock 2" Class IV. It should be here soon. Once I install it - I'll see approximately how long of an extention I'll need to use.

Oh yeah, airbags are on order too.

All this & selling my home yesterday and putting in bids for others has been real time consuming.

[Macgyver]

Originally posted by Joe Dillard
Thanks everybody!

I got it wired in last weekend (PITA) and installed a Happijac tiedown system. Everything in and out of the camper works perfectly. I haven't been able to find even one flaw so far.

I've ordered a 2.5" Titan Class V hitch to replace my stock 2" Class IV. It should be here soon. Once I install it - I'll see approximately how long of an extention I'll need to use.

Oh yeah, airbags are on order too.

All this & selling my home yesterday and putting in bids for others has been real time consuming.

Joe, sounds like your almost ready to camp! Also don't forget to make sure your tires are up to the load. All load "e" tires are not created equal a lot of trucks have load range "d" tires which may not be up to task.

on my Ford, the stock tires were 235x85r16 "e" with a load range of 3082 lbs per tire. So a total of 6,164 lbs for the rear. Depending on the tounge weight and load in camper that was okay. However I liked a little margin for safety so I upgraded to a 265x75R16 "e" tire and went up to like 3,365 per tire. This would allow 6,730 lbs on the rear tires, and an extra margin of safety. Also they needed to be at 80 psi with the camper, then back to 55/60 lbs without. Everyone always asked why I had OBA on my truck, also handy for the air bags

[mrblaine]

Joe, you need to stop be and relieve me of that WDH that I have beside the garage.

It's mostly complete and needs to be put to good use.

Before you ask what's missing, I have no idea as I've never used one before and am clueless. Chains, maybe?

[Joe Dillard]

Quinn - Thanks for the tips!

I have a good set of 17" Michelin E rated tires on the truck. I don't recall the size & actual tire specs though. I'll check into it. I also like to have a measure of safety. Excellent point!

Blaine - Sounds good! I'll have to make the time to come up. My trailer still has welded on brackets from my old WDH. The rest of it went into the garbage after one "L" section of it broke off the hitch. Faulty welds I believe.

I noticed the missing "L" piece when I pulled into Chris Overackers home. I guess the rest of it was on I-70 someplace in Colorado.

Speaking of misc items laying around......I have a set of 4 stock steel Dodge 2500 wheels if anybody wants them. I think they are 17x7.5 8 lug. I don't know the backspaceing.