The truck slide-in camper is a versatile way to go RVing with your pickup truck while being able to tow your boat and have hard walls to sleep under. But many of these campers are compact units that you might not want to live in. That was the case with the 12-foot Lance owned by Tom. When he found the camper too small, he decided to expand it to more than double its size. Now, it’s a 30-foot-long behemoth with a slide, a garage, and a porch that’s longer than the Ford F-550 Super Duty dually that’s hauling it. Even cooler is the fact that you can buy it.
This story comes to us from the RVing with Andrew Steele YouTube channel. As Andrew explains, for the past seven years, he’s been searching America for the most unique RVs, and the one that brought in the most traffic was this truck camper. He spotted it four years ago, and the post he made about it got over seven million views. People wanted to know how it was built, who built it, and why.
Andrew has finally tracked down the owner, Tom, and as it turns out, this truck camper is not entirely custom-built. It started off as a mass-market truck camper that was smaller than half its current size. Then, Tom’s needs changed, so did the shape of the camper. Now, this Internet-famous rig is for sale, and its asking price is refreshingly reasonable. The icing on the cake is that the truck underneath comes with one of the most legendary diesel pickup truck engines of all time, the 7.3-liter Power Stroke V8.
When 12 Feet Isn’t Enough
As the story goes, in 2003, Tom bought the 2001 Ford F-550 Super Duty Power Stroke from a retired Northwest Airlines pilot. At the time, the red dually had a 12-foot Lance truck camper sitting in its bed. The pilot bought the camper and truck new to travel with his wife, but, sadly, she was diagnosed with cancer and passed.
Tom has owned the truck and its attached camper ever since then. At first, Tom used the truck and the camper as a vacation vehicle, taking his partner and his family on fun camping trips. Sadly, in 2015, Tom’s partner would be diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and would later pass. Tom would then start spending more time in the camper, embracing the RV life, and driving it down from Minnesota to Florida, to where his mother had moved. Tragically, she would pass, too.
As Tom further embraced the RV life, he decided to spend the entire winter in Florida. But this presented a problem. A 12-foot camper is a small space to spend six months out of the year in. Tom would spend the next six and a half years transforming the Lance into what you see today.
When you look at the side of the truck, you can see the remnants of the Lance. The area featuring the slide, the awning, and the storage compartments all originated with the Lance. The white part of the cabover portion of the camper is what remained of the Lance’s cabover area. Tom said that the original cabover area was an annoyance because once he got into the queen bed, there were only a few inches between him and the ceiling.
So, Tom, who was an engineer by trade, cut open the Lance. Then he built a wooden frame that raised the roof and extended the cabover portion to an area ahead of the truck’s hood. Tom said that he gave the front of the camper its tapered shape to help it cut through wind like a modern semi-tractor or Class C motorhome.
The rear end of the camper, which is a sort of attic, porch, and garage in one, is also made out of wood and diamond plate. It looks like he stores bicycles, fishing poles, ladders, and beach chairs in the garage.
Tom says that the walls are three inches thick with foam insulation inside and diamond plate steel on the outside. It’s held together with glue, screws, and neoprene washers. Tom describes it as “bulletproof,” “hailproof,” and “leakproof.” I wonder about that “leakproof” part, because I see lots of seams where water can get in, and a wood build can still rot. But Tom doesn’t elaborate any further.
This may also be an optical illusion, but it also looks like the cabover portion of the camper is at a different angle than the rest of it, with the rear portion sloping towards the ground. Still, it looks like a better build than many of the campers cranked out of Indiana. Tom also says that his dream build was something even bigger that rode on the back of a Ford F-750 and had a garage for motorcycles or other toys.
As for this camper, Tom says it weighs around 17,000 pounds total. It’s not clear if that number includes the truck or not.
Correction: I thought I saw F-350 badges when viewing the video, but, thanks to a reader, I have since noticed that the truck is actually a Ford F-550. Based on Ford’s documentation, this truck should be within gross weight limits. I regret the error.
The reason the truck looks normal with all of that weight is because Tom is hiding the weight with an aftermarket air suspension.
If you don’t buy the truck with the camper, you’ll need a Ford F-550 or higher to carry this camper. That’s assuming the camper weighs around 9,000 pounds, anyway.
Power comes from Ford/Navistar’s iconic 7.3-liter Power Stroke V8, which put out 250 horsepower and 505 lb-ft when this automatic transmission-equipped truck was new. Today, the truck is said to have 265,000 miles, no rust, and averages 7.4 mpg. Tom says he really doesn’t want to sell the truck with the camper, but he’ll sell the truck if you give him $20,000 for it.
The interior is completely different from any 2001 Lance. Tom says that when he added on his extensions, he gutted and then renovated the interior. The only original Lance part remaining is the camper’s electrical box, hatches, kitchen vent fan, and other miscellaneous items.
The inside opens up with some storage areas, and then a fascinating dining room. By day, there’s just a bench, which more or less functions as the camper’s living room. If you want to eat, a table flips up, and then you have to install two portable benches.
The kitchen was all custom-built by Tom, and was designed to fit a big guy. He also added a bunch of storage areas, including one specifically for trash bags. Otherwise, you get the standard complement of a stove, microwave, refrigerator, and sink. Most of the camper’s components also route through the kitchen area, including the water tank, water heater, and 400 watt solar system. but this makes sense, as that’s where most of that equipment would have been in the original Lance.
The dry bathroom is a nice little part of the rig, and features a flushing toilet on a pedestal and a shower large enough for a six-foot-tall person to clean up in. It’s noted that the toilet, sink, and shower are also original from the Lance.
The grand finale is the bedroom. The entrance to the bedroom features two massive closets. This is where the original queen bed used to be. Further forward is the new king bed, which features a wood vaulted ceiling over it.
Tom says he’s selling because he’s getting older and it’s time to let it go. He hopes the buyer will be someone who wants to continue the camper’s journey. Tom also thinks the prospective buyer better be an extrovert who loves attention, because they will get it no matter where they go. If none of those details have turned you off, Tom, who can be found around Bradenton, Florida, wants $20,000 for the camper, or $40,000 for the truck and the camper. Click here to reveal his phone number. This number will be deleted when the rig is sold.
Not The Craziest Price I’ve Seen
Tom says he prefers to sell the camper because the truck is in really nice shape, and he’d rather not have to deal with the new truck market. But money talks.
I love so much of what Tom did here. I am a huge fan of custom camper builds, and it’s clear that Tom built something that he truly enjoys. This is a camper he built to cook stir fry in while jamming to Lynyrd Skynyrd on some beach in Florida. This whole camper is a vibe, and I’m here for it.
Good on Tom for having a dream and seeing it through to reality. This beast might just be the craziest camper that’s technically still a Lance.
Top photo: RVing with Andrew Steele/YouTube
“Tom says that the walls are three inches thick with foam insulation inside and diamond plate steel on the outside.”
Are you sure that’s steel? It looks like diamond plate aluminum to me.
Tell me you live in the USA, without telling me you live in the USA.
Is the autographed Lynyrd Skynyrd photo montage included?
FFS just buy a bus if you need that much space. I would not even want to put this monstrosity on the road. Talk about “unsafe at any speed”.
Agree. There just isn’t any practical reason to do something like this when plenty of larger vehicles could be converted.
Thank you, I hate it. He might not originally be from Florida but he’s an honorary Floridian in my book.
“ If none of those details have turned you off, Tom, who can be found around Bradenton, Florida, wants $20,000 for the camper, or $40,000 for the truck and the camper”
I’d offer him $20K for the camper WITH that old truck.
After decades of tent camping I had an RV phase for a few years. Being averse to towing things, I got a slide-in camper first. I quickly discovered that even though it was well within the payload rating of my 1 ton diesel pickup truck and properly installed with TorkLift frame tie downs, it was incredibly ponderous and fatiguing to travel with and downright frightening in a crosswind. Even with airbags. Not to mention it made the truck useless for any other purpose and was a massive pain in the ass to remove.
Then I tried a travel trailer for a few years which was a little better as they’re more spacious and you have the usefulness of your pickup truck even when the trailer’s attached. But the novelty wears off when you realize a travel trailer gives you the maintenance tasks of a house and vehicle all in one.
Now I’m back to tent camping and enjoying it more that ever. And this guy “Tom” is crazier than a shithouse rat.
A monument to just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Dude spent 10%+ of his adult life building this and when finished realized what a mistake he made. Now he wants out, but wants to keep the truck it’s built around. Who would buy this without the truck?
Is this thing even legal to drive on the road at this point?
And when you get to an intersection and can’t see the light? Just guess at what color it is and pray you’re right?
When the road starts bucklin’ and you can’t keep her straight, just push on through and ignore the hate
Maybe you try to make sure you’re always 50th in line for the light? lol
While this seems like the ideal solution, you still risk the light turning red right after the car in front of you. Then again, at least cross traffic will see you (and them, reflected back)
That’s pretty much what Bob Lutz told GM designers, if a tinier windshield made for a more saleable car
you stop far enough back you can still see the light. Also mirrors exist!
So, like, half a mile? Also, you seen lots of vehicle mirrors designed to look upwards? Hope you’re not driving on a sunny day between roughly 10am and 2pm!
its a custom vehicle so saying “does this exist normally” is not really an argument you have to think outside the box. Also you could just deploy the mirror at a stop light and cover it when the light turns green. or a camera and a screen.
Except I didn’t ask “does this exist normally”. “Thinking outside the box” by putting an upward facing mirror is a recipe for being blinded by the high noon sun (and many hours around it). If one were thinking outside the box, one would have come to that conclusion also.
well you ended at “this is a problem” instead of “this is a problem that could be solved” its good to think about challenges but its not so helpful to just stop when challenges exist.
It’s also good to stop when you’ve thought about the challenges and come to the conclusion that any solution to those challenges either adds many more additional or more dangerous issues or that the solutions would be vastly impractical.
What makes more sense: Developing some sort of remotely deployed mirror system that can detect and/or block the sun from view so you’re not blinded when trying to look up at the stoplight because of your ridiculously massive overhang? Or just not having such a stupid overhang in the first place?
its a one off project made by one guy to his own specifications. It looks like the cost benefit analysis was already done by him and he decided it was worth it. It’s obvious that “maximum practicality” was not in the design otherwise he would be in a class C motorhome.
Except he clearly didn’t come up with ANY solution, so, to paraphrase my original question again; what does he do when he gets to a light? Just guesses at the color and prays he’s right?
Must be absolutely frightful to drive.
Man worries about areo, hangs a massive counterweight box off front bumper.
Does it come with tractor suitcase weights for the front, or do I have to provide those myself?
I wonder what MPG this rig gets in real life/around town. Perhaps best to just park it in the backyard and use it as a guest bedroom/home office or something. In which case, the truck part becomes sort of moot.
The bigger story is the revelation that buying a Lance 1121 causes fatal cancer in women.
I don’t know that I’d want the Lance of Theseus around…