GMC Sierra HD 4wd 2500 V8 and Lance 865

[LDHunter]

I lucked onto a 2008 GMC 4wd 2500 with only 80K miles already set up with a 2011 Lance 865 Camper and the 400 mile drive home was pleasant and uneventful. Brakes seem adequate and the engine seems to have more than adequate power.

Does anyone have a similar rig they can give me the ups and downs and ins and outs of what I'm facing?

One thing that stands out is the tires look worn and probably in need of replacement. Do I need special tires or are the LT rated tires usually tough enough with sturdy enough sidewalls? I'm a huge fan of the BFG All Terrain T/A tires.

Am I close to overweight? It doesn't feel like it at all but then maybe I'm not that well versed in truck campers. I've had two of them but one was on an older 1 ton GMC pickup back in the 70's and the other was on a beefed up Ford F250 and it was a homemade camper that came with the truck and I sold that one in the mid 90's.

By the way. It sways but in my slightly experienced world it seems totally acceptable. We won't do a lot of off roading with it.

 

[Roy M]

What is the maximum payload according to the door sticker on the truck? Now subtract you and all passengers plus any extra gear such as a cartop boat. The camper's advertised wet weight is 2900#, I suspect that will be over what you have available.

 

[LDHunter]

According to the sticker on my door frame the max payload of this truck is 2964 pounds.

I looked all over for the weight of the camper and the best information I could find is that the dry weight for the 2011 Lance 865 camper is 1830 pounds and wet weight is 2320 pounds.

That doesn't leave much room for myself, my sweetheart, our dog and gear but I guess it will do.

644 pounds won't go far at all. I'm 200, my gf is 130 and the dog is 65. With a full tank of gas and my Honda eu2000 generator at 55pounds with the one gallon fuel tank full I'm now at 450 pounds and we have less than 200 pounds room for clothes, food, drinking water etc.

Of course we will rarely dry camp where we need all that but we want to be prepared to if needed.

So.... Considering all that can someone recommend what I need for tires? I'd like to stick with the BFG AT TA tires is possible but if there is clearly a better choice I'd like to hear about it.

Any other issues I need to be aware of?

Thanks

 

[skyhammer]

https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/buyers-guide/hard-side/lance-camper/
They say wet weight is 2897 including 500lbs of stuff.

 

[Broke Boater]

What size BFG  tires are you thinking about, great on/off road tire construction, not sure they are the best for stability under a heavy load at hwy speeds. You may want to compare different brands and go with the heavier ply tires, stiffer side wall construction and load rating. I'm running Cooper's ST Maxx, on second set and have been a decent tire, sorry not the same set up for a fair comparison. Look at installing a Hellwig  big wig sway bar, beast of a sway bay and best single addition I did to my truck for extra sway a T/C brings to a truck, and I have a dually.  Enjoy your new adventures,,,gregg

 

[Roy M]

You will need load range E tires, they will ride a bit hard empty but anything less will result in poor handling with that load and you don't want to risk a blowout.

 

[Arch Hoagland]

What engine does it have?

 

[LDHunter]

What engine does it have?

VORTEC 6.0L V8 SFI ENGINE

 

[LDHunter]

https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/buyers-guide/hard-side/lance-camper/
They say wet weight is 2897 including 500lbs of stuff.

That link is for a 2019 Lance 865. Mine is a 2011 and my research was for a 2011 model so I think what I turned up was correct and it came from more than one source. Not arguing here but I was careful to make sure what I found was for my model year.

Here is an example.
https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/news/new-camper-2011-lance-865/

OK... I just read the info on your link more carefully and it appears that it closely matches my info I had found for the actual 2011 model...  Thanks....

 

[LDHunter]

WOW!!!  Talk about a link full of good information about tires and load ratings.... Try this one...
https://www.discounttire.com/learn/load-range-load-index?cid=093dcfd9-7ad2-4393-906d-9df3549f5517&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrOy11Nz54QIVg0wNCh1MMQqoEAAYASAAEgK3dfD_BwE

 

[LDHunter]

What size BFG  tires are you thinking about, great on/off road tire construction, not sure they are the best for stability under a heavy load at hwy speeds. You may want to compare different brands and go with the heavier ply tires, stiffer side wall construction and load rating. I'm running Cooper's ST Maxx, on second set and have been a decent tire, sorry not the same set up for a fair comparison. Look at installing a Hellwig  big wig sway bar, beast of a sway bay and best single addition I did to my truck for extra sway a T/C brings to a truck, and I have a dually.  Enjoy your new adventures,,,gregg

From what I read the stock tire size for this pickup is LT265/70R17/E and I found the BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 - LT265/70R17E 121S Tire which I have on a couple of my other trucks and I gotta say I LOVE these tires and they're load range E if you get part number 29668.

I really don't know what I'm doing here and I assume I should go by someplace like a Discount Tire store and get some advice but I want to basically know what I'm talking about before I end up buying the tires that the store makes the highest profit on rather than the ones that best suit my needs.

Does anyone have any actual experience with the All Terrain T/A tires on a pickup hauling a cab over camper?

I'm not married to BFGoodrich but I've had very good experience with them on my other trucks.

 

[JHammonds]

Have you checked the sticker in the glovebox? This will have specific camper weight capacities for your vehicle. I have an 06 2500 with a duramax and was sad to see that it was only rated for a 1475 lb camper. I don?t think they even make one that light!!

 

[LDHunter]

No I haven't checked it yet but I seriously doubt that anyone would pay attention to that since people have been abiding by the weights on the plate with the VIN and weights on it for many many years and I've never heard of someone saying that information and the advertised wet wait of the camper plus people and gear was inadequate information for making decisions.

If that were true then probably 90% of the pickup campers on the road would not only be unsafe but likely illegal in some places.

My only fear would be insurance companies doing their best to NOT pay a claim trying to use that information to "prove" that someone was operating in an unsafe fashion.

 

[JHammonds]

To your insurance comment. That was the main reason we didn?t do it

 

[LDHunter]

OK... So here's what I finally did.

I went to a local Discount Tire store and the manager came highly recommended by several people I know. He said although the BFG All Terrain AT Load Range E tires were "adequate" for my purposes, he recommended a commercial rated tire with a much tougher sidewall.

He convinced me to get a set of Bridgestone Duravis M700 HD tires. I haven't put the camper back on the truck yet but don't anticipate any problems with them. My research I did indicated that he was right in recommending them though.