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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Factory Visit - Report #1
wrastle castle,
Obviously Lance is doing some scrambling to keep their heads above the economic water. They are now in the travel trailer business and have let at least one key employee go. So, I do think we are hearing that at Lance it is not business as was usual in the past few years. But, I agree with you, if they were in major difficulty we would have heard about it.
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jmtandem
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11/30/08 08:34am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Who is a four season TC'er?
Mooney,
I go to California when it is too cold in Nevada. The delta is always nice especially in winter and so is the ocean. In fact the ocean can have better weather in January than in July. I don't put my camper away like many do. I do blow the lines and put some pink in the drains but that is about it. Sometimes I cannot fill the water tank here and have to wait until I get to warmer climes as the water might freeze in the tank before I get to warm. No big deal. It is all fun.
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jmtandem
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11/29/08 06:42pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: camper lean to one side while on the truck
ramrat,
Was just at Pt. Reyes last month, went to the lighthouse; camped at a private campground just two miles from Pt. Reyes station.
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jmtandem
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11/29/08 05:37pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Best truck for the job
mranger,
Figure out the camper you want, then add the truck that can handle it. The rule of thumb is to add about 1000 pounds to the camper weight for stuff, water, people, dogs, bicycles, etc. That makes a 3000 pound camper a 4000 pound weight for the truck. Pretty basic stuff. Get a sizeable camper and it is real easy to enter dually land, get one of the biggest campers and the 450/500 or 4500/5500 trucks are 'just right'.
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jmtandem
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11/29/08 05:32pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: camper lean to one side while on the truck
ramrat,
All of the above and especially get rid of the plastic bed liner. Those are bad news for slide kin campers. Be sure you have cab clearance of about three inches and get that with plywood or presswood not two by fours, etc. Put the rubber mat over the wood and under the camper. Measure the side to side distance front and back to be sure the camper is in the middle of the bed and then address the side to side sag and door issue. If the camper is not centered in the bed it can tend to have an affect on the truck. Your camper weighs about 1000 pounds more than the actual dry camper weight with water, stuff, etc. (My Dodge quad cab rear doors miss the camper by a couple inches but if the camper is not square on the truck it can be much more on one side and much less one the other. If you still have more sag on one side then you might need some suspension stuff--air bags that can individually adjusted for more air on one side, energy suspension bumpers (Tork Lift has something similar), or springs. It should ride just right, not slide around, and if the overload springs are just touching the (aftermarket) spring bumpers eliminate most sway. My camper is 4000 pounds on the truck and it handles it great. If after all that you are still having door issues then add a 1x6 board in front of the camper and between the front of the bed. This effectively moves the camper rearward another inch.
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jmtandem
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11/29/08 08:43am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Front Chains or Back Chains
I agree with Clattertruck. If you need more traction than chained outer duals to use a paved public road (mountain pass) then I would reconsider the trip. Start with 4x4 and decent mud/snow tires, then if needed chain the outer duals. If you are off roading and need chains then the best advise is to put them on the front going up hill and the rears downhill. That becomes quite a chore. If you are trailer towing in California and you need chains to get over the summit, they will make you put a set on the trailer wheels, also.
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jmtandem
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11/28/08 08:05am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Outfitter to the Outback...of Utah, many pictures
nice trip, nice pics. thanks.
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jmtandem
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11/26/08 08:47pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Insurance Gripe
ctraveler,
Last summer I finally changed from Allstate to another company. My premium for the same coverage dropped 40%. And Allstate called me to try to understand why I switched...............
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jmtandem
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11/26/08 04:30pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Bigfoot closes
zumdish,
I agree. The problem with the 3500 series with the slide out is that it is not that different than other conventional campers in design and construction. Bigfoots real advantage seems to be the clamshell design, not found in the 3500 series. I am sure you will like your 2500 series and if I can find one for less than $30K new I might pull the trigger. Around here in the Reno area truck campers are not selling significantly cheaper than they were a couple years ago. Toy haulers are deeply discounted, not campers. Trying to get more than the normal accepted discount of 25% off MSRP is a uphill battle.
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jmtandem
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11/25/08 05:29pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Bigfoot closes
This has been a very informative thread. Unfortunately, the clamshell design does not lend itself well to slideouts. For the relatively high MSRP that some BF models cost, other manufacturers offer slides. It is hard to justify high price and small space together. For this reason I think this closure has been coming for a few years.
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jmtandem
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11/25/08 11:29am |
Truck Campers
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RE: TC Mileage - how is good is yours?
jeff and abby,
Your fuel mileage would probably be a mile per gallon or so higher with 3.73 gears in the hills/mountains. On roads with no gradients nor wind the 3.55 gears might edge out 3.73's but under most conditons especially with the camper in the hills the 3.73's would progably yield slightly better mileage. Without the camper the 3.55's are probably slightly better.
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jmtandem
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11/25/08 08:22am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Fuel prices dropping, camping increasing?
I have been traveling about the same for the last several years. Fuel is/was a small part of the overall costs of the camping experience. I go on bicycle rides that cost $4 to $5 per mile and the bicycle doesn't consume any diesel or gas.
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jmtandem
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11/25/08 08:15am |
Truck Campers
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RE: The bad thing about TCing
I don't stop camping during the winter, just travel to California and camp on the coast or the delta. It is all good and in the winter there are way less others camping.
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jmtandem
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11/24/08 08:41pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Bigfoot closes
Beddows,
Not having to buy back inventory from dealers almost makes the case for Alaskan, Outfitter, and others that essentially do not have a dealer network and sell from the factory.
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jmtandem
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11/24/08 05:44pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: TC Mileage - how is good is yours?
jeff and abby,
You actually have flat land gears, not mountain gears. 3.73 gears are better and 4.10's are even better for climbing. You have the exact opposite that you say you needed/wanted.
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jmtandem
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11/24/08 05:34pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: TC Mileage - how is good is yours?
13.5-14 mpg with the camper (4000 pounds) in my sig.
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jmtandem
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11/24/08 11:04am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Bigfoot closes
silversand,
If I lost every dime in my camper the loss would be substantially less than the $70K I have lost in equity in our home the last two years, my stocks, etc. Yes, that will likely all come back but I still have the camper regardless of what it is worth, I use it, and if I get nothing out of it in the end someday it will have been worth it. The financial value of my camper (after depreciation) will probably never come back, I don't expect it to, but that is moot. So far I have gotten no enjoyment from the loss of the value of the home and stocks but I have great memories from the use of the camper.
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jmtandem
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11/24/08 08:08am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Bigfoot closes
sleepy,
If I could get the local dealer under $30K for the Bigfoot models that they like to sell for MSRP $41K, I would strongly consider the purchase. There are probably not times in the future when RV's will sell as inexpensively as now. As less units are built and the demands again rise new prices will go up until manufacturing catches up with the demand. Now we have the opposite, supply is good, demand is low and prices reflect that. Diesel is under $3.00, trucks are (relatively) inexpensive, what a time to buy an RV that would have cost much more a couple years ago.
I agree with others, RVs' are a depreciating asset. Trying to justify one on cost or making money in the future with an RV is a little unrealistic. However, as life goes by and time gets short trying to justify not getting an RV when the getting was good will have little value in the quality of life category.
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jmtandem
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11/23/08 09:17am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Future without NEW Pick-Up Trucks?
It doesn't take a lot of research to see that the Japaneese and others will take up the slack if (and I hope this does not happen) the big three walk away from the pickup truck market. The Tundra and Titan are only model year away from a powerful diesel one ton if they wanted to make them and sell them here. More interestingly, will be the military vehicles that we will need for our nation--will the they also say Toyota and Nissan on the sides. Say it can't happen? The Pentegon is planning to buy military aerial refueling tankers from off shore builders. It is happening! Boeing is not happy.
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jmtandem
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11/23/08 09:07am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Lance 992 water supply issues
MrBlane,
I am not quite sure I understand the issue with your new camper. My camper has the same pressure at all fittings including the outside shower. There is no reduction or surging. I do hear the pump cycle in the shower but the pressure at the shower head is steady. I have the stock nine year old pump. Maybe a better question for you to ask is why it was surging in the first place as it doesn't have to surge.
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jmtandem
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11/20/08 08:00am |
Truck Campers
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