RE: gmc wiring
Avoid hooking to your trailer plug at the back of your truck and running forward to the front of the bed (either with a jumper or permanent wiring). All that extra length of wiring will adversely affect charging your camper battery.
To assure adequate charging of your camper battery while driving, you want to use an adequately sized charge wire (#10 or #8 minimum, bigger is better), AND you want the WIRING RUNS AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE. Every extra foot of wiring causes a voltage drop when charging, and the loss of even 1/2 volt can greatly extend your charging time.
If you tap into your existing trailer wiring at the back of your bed, and run forward to the front of your bed, you have added about 15 to 20 feet of extra wiring the charging current must flow through -- remember that you are dealing with the length of the charging wire PLUS the length of the ground wire return path.
Avoid adding all that extra wiring by tapping into your trailer plug wiring under the truck near the front of your bed. For the charge wire, it is even better to run a new heavy conductor directly from your truck alternator output (remember to include an adequately sized fuse for the size wire you are using).
As was mentioned in an earlier post, many Chevy's have a pigtail for a camper or 5th wheel already installed and rolled up under the front of the bed. Look for that on Chevy's with the trailer wiring option.
Good luck...
RE: TC electrical hookup help
You didn't mention what brand/year of truck you have. My Chevy 2500HD with trailer hitch package came with a pig-tail pre-wired for a camper/5th wheeler hookup. The pigtail was rolled up and straped to a frame member under the truck at the front of the box. I just needed to drill a hole in the inside of the box side for a 7-prong trailer receptical, and wire the pigtail to the receptical. Look in your owner's manual to see if it discusses trailer and RV wiring.
RE: Lance 915 vs 835 weigh-in
Hi, I have a table showing all the weight info for my Chevy 2500HD SWR with Lance 810 camper here.
My Lance 810 has a published dry weight in the same ball-park as the campers you are looking at. My truck has stock tires and wheels, better shocks, aftermarket rear anti-sway bar, and airbags -- and it handles great.
While I am not recommending you exceed your GVR, with a SRW truck and a deluxe style camper it is really hard not to. Many focus on not exceeding their front and rear axle ratings (the sum of which is higher than the GVR), and make suspension mods to make sure the truck handles OK (rear anti-sway bar, better shocks, air bags, and similar). You will no doubt find that a limiting factor for your truck with a camper onboard is the load rating of your rear tires.
Hope you find this info helpful, and good luck on choosing a camper. You are certainly doing the right thing researching this topic before buying a camper.
