Lance·Truck Camper·2025

Lance 1172

Name: Lance 1172
Brand: Lance
Price: 55000 USD

4.4across 1,600 reviews on retail listings

|18 ft|3,800 lbs|Sleeps 4

The Lance 1172 is a long-bed truck camper with a slide-out, dry bath, and full residential amenities. It's the largest Lance truck camper and offers features rivaling small travel trailers.

CouplesBoondockingFlexibility

MSRP from

$55,000

$$ Mid-Range

SolarNone

Slide-Outs1

Specifications

Length

18 ft

Weight

3,800 lbs

Sleeps

Fresh Water

35 gal

Gray Water

28 gal

Black Water

28 gal

Features

Slide-Out

Dry Bath

Queen Bed

A/C

Dinette

Microwave

Power Awning

Highlights

Slide-out creates a living room that's shockingly spacious for a truck camper

Dry bath with separate shower is a luxury in the truck camper world

Access to anywhere a truck can go — no trailer to unhook

What owners report

Summarized from Reddit and owner forums — not a first-hand test.

The Lance 1172 is the flagship of the truck-camper world — the largest camper Lance builds, and the one owners reach for when they want trailer-like living without ever towing anything. With a slide-out, a dry bath, a queen bed, and full residential amenities, it blurs the line between truck camper and small travel trailer, and the payoff is the freedom to drive a single rig anywhere a one-ton truck can go.

The practical catch is weight. Dry it's around 3,800-4,300 lbs, but loaded with water, gear, and propane it climbs past 5,000 lbs, and experienced owners are blunt that this is a one-ton dually camper — a 6,000-lb-payload DRW truck with airbags is the honest minimum for safe handling and braking. Build quality is the segment benchmark, but it isn't flawless: owners report moisture and condensation issues, occasional delivery QC misses, and frustration when discontinued parts like the skylight or jacks fail. It's a three-season camper at heart unless you add skirting and extra heat.

This is a camper for couples (it sleeps four on paper, but two live well) who already own or will buy a serious dually and want maximum off-grid flexibility. At $55K it costs as much as a mid-range travel trailer, and that's the real comparison shoppers wrestle with — the Lance 1172 versus a Northern Lite 10-2 or Host Mammoth on one side, and a towable like the Jayco White Hawk on the other. If never towing and getting truly off the beaten path matters more than square footage, the 1172 is hard to beat.

What owners like

+The slide-out creates a genuinely residential living room — owners say it feels like a small travel trailer once you're parked and popped out
+Dry bath with a separate enclosed shower is a rare luxury in the truck camper world — no soaking the toilet paper every time you rinse off
+Goes anywhere a one-ton truck can go, with nothing to unhitch — owners love pulling into a trailhead or boondocking spot a trailer could never reach
+Lance's aluminum-framed, laminated construction holds up better than most, and the brand's truck campers are widely regarded as the build-quality benchmark
+Big interior windows and the slide make it one of the most livable, least claustrophobic campers in the segment for full-time couples

Common complaints

−Payload is the dealbreaker — wet and loaded it pushes past 5,000 lbs, so owners say you realistically need a one-ton dually with 6,000+ lbs of payload, not just any 3500
−Moisture and condensation complaints recur — some owners found wet carpet and mattress mold, saying Lance hasn't fully solved interior moisture management
−Quality-control misses on delivery show up in reviews — at least one owner's unit was unusable on pickup and spent a month back at the dealer
−Discontinued components bite later — owners report Dometic skylights and Atwood jacks that are no longer available, making repairs costly and slow
−The high center of gravity plus the camper's weight demands airbags, upgraded suspension, and a careful driver in crosswinds and emergency braking
−At $55K it's priced like a small travel trailer, but you still need a $70K+ dually under it to carry it legally

Questions owners ask

What truck do I actually need to carry a Lance 1172?

Plan on a one-ton dually (Ram 3500 DRW, F-350/450 DRW, or GM 3500HD DRW) with roughly 6,000 lbs of payload. Owners consistently warn that wet and loaded the 1172 exceeds 5,000 lbs, and the dual rear wheels add the stability you need for crosswinds and panic stops. A single-rear-wheel one-ton can be made to work but leaves almost no margin.

Is the Lance 1172 a four-season camper?

Not really, despite its size. It's a solid three-season camper, but owners in genuine cold add foam skirting, supplemental heat, and tank heaters. Condensation is a known complaint, so ventilation and a dehumidifier help a lot in cold, damp conditions.

How does it compare to a Northern Lite or Host truck camper?

Northern Lite's molded fiberglass shell resists leaks and moisture better and is what many cold-climate owners prefer, while Host campers (like the Mammoth) go bigger with triple slides. The Lance 1172 splits the difference: more livable than most, with a huge parts and owner network, at a lower entry price than the molded-fiberglass competitors.

Can you leave it on the truck full-time?

Most owners do. Dismounting is doable with the electric jacks but it's a deliberate process, and the camper's size makes it awkward to store off the truck. Practically, people who buy a 1172 build a dedicated truck around it and leave it mounted for the season.

Is it good for boondocking?

Yes — that's its sweet spot. The 35-gallon fresh tank, dual 28-gallon waste tanks, and generator prep let a couple stay off-grid for days, and with no trailer you can reach dispersed sites that towables can't. Add solar (it ships with 0W standard) for the best experience.