Comparison · Slide-in truck campers
Kimbo 6 vs Lance 650: an honest side-by-side comparison.
Two short-bed slide-in truck campers compared on construction, weight, fit, interior, and price — by the people who build the Kimbo 6.
A note on this comparison: Kimbo built this page. We obviously think the Kimbo 6 is the right answer for the buyer it's built for. Lance has been making slide-in campers since 1965 and earned every customer through real product quality — they're a serious competitor and we've tried to compare honestly. Where Lance wins, we say so. Where Kimbo wins, we explain why. If you walk away picking a Lance 650 after reading this, you've probably made the right call for your use case — and we'd rather you do that than buy a Kimbo that doesn't fit your trip style.
The short version
Two genuinely different campers, both well-built.
The Kimbo 6 is a hand-riveted aluminum monocoque slide-in camper, built in Bellingham, Washington. Base dry weight 830 lb. Starting price $27,990. No internal wood or steel frame — the aluminum shell is the structure. Built for owners who prioritize light weight, hard-side construction without laminated walls, and a modular interior over fixed cabinetry.
The Lance 650 is a welded aluminum-tube frame with laminated composite walls, built in Lancaster, California by Lance Camper Mfg. Corp. Dry weight 1,560–1,810 lb depending on trim. Starting around $35,000. Ships with a built-in wet bath and a traditional fixed-cabinet interior. Built for owners who prioritize standard amenities, larger water tanks, and a refined production product backed by Lance's 60-year history and established dealer network.
Neither is "better" in absolute terms. They're built for slightly different buyers. The rest of this page walks through every dimension that matters in the cross-shop so you can match the right camper to your truck, your trips, and your priorities.
By the numbers
Spec sheet, side by side.
| Spec | Kimbo 6 | Lance 650 |
|---|---|---|
| Construction | Hand-riveted aluminum monocoque | Welded aluminum frame + laminated composite walls |
| Dry weight | 830 lb (base) | 1,560–1,810 lb (trim-dependent) |
| Loaded weight | ~1,200 lb (fully equipped) | ~2,000–2,200 lb (wet, gear, propane) |
| Truck bed fit | 5'–6' beds — midsize (Tacoma, Ranger, Frontier, Colorado, Gladiator) + short-bed half-tons | Short-bed half-tons only — F-150 SuperCrew, Ram 1500, Chevy/GMC 1500, Tundra CrewMax (Lance does NOT list Tacoma or other midsize trucks) |
| Standing room | 6'2" (cabover lift configuration) | 6'4" |
| Sleeping | Convertible bed + cabover platform | Queen cabover + dinette convert |
| Wet bath | Optional module | Standard (cassette toilet + shower) |
| Fresh water | 10–15 gal (configurable) | 22–33 gal |
| Grey water | Configurable / portable | 14 gal |
| Heat | Dickinson propane heater (standard) | Furnace (standard) |
| Kitchen | 2-burner stove, sink, fridge (configurable) | 3-burner stove, sink, oven, fridge |
| Solar / electrical | Solar + lithium standard | Solar prep + AGM standard, lithium optional |
| Made in | Bellingham, WA | Lancaster, CA |
| Production method | Hand-built, small batches | Production-line manufacturing |
| Starting price | $27,990 | ~$35,000+ (typical configured: $42K–$50K) |
| Established | 2016 | 1965 |
Lance 650 spec figures sourced from Lance's 2024 published spec sheet. Lance refreshes specs annually; verify current configuration against Lance's website before final purchase decision.
Construction
Two genuinely different ways to build a slide-in.
This is the biggest engineering difference between the two campers, and it's the difference most cross-shoppers underweight when they're comparing on a brochure.
The Kimbo 6 is a hand-riveted aluminum monocoque. There is no internal wood frame, no steel skeleton, and no laminated wall sandwich. The aluminum shell itself is the structural element. Every panel is hand-fitted and hand-riveted in our shop in Bellingham, Washington — a single Kimbo takes weeks of hands-on labor by builders we employ directly. The construction trades production volume for durability: no laminated walls means no spots where water intrusion can cause delamination, no wood means nothing to rot, and the rivet-set construction means individual panels can be repaired or replaced decades from now without specialized equipment.
The Lance 650 is a welded aluminum-tube frame with laminated composite walls. Lance uses an aluminum-tube skeleton wrapped in a sandwich of fiberglass-reinforced laminate, polystyrene insulation, and an interior finish layer. The walls are bonded as a single composite panel — a technique that's lighter than wood-framed construction but introduces the delamination failure mode that's common to every laminated-wall camper, Lance included. Lance does a meaningfully better job at this than most of the composite-wall market, with sealed seam construction and quality control that reflects 60+ years of refinement. But the failure mode exists.
For most owners across the first 5–10 years of ownership, both constructions perform fine. The differences start to compound on the long tail — at the 15-, 20-, 25-year mark, what fails on each, what can be repaired, and what costs what to fix.
Weight & truck fit
Roughly half the weight changes the truck math.
The Kimbo 6 weighs 830 lb dry. The Lance 650 weighs ~1,810 lb dry. Loaded with water, propane, gear, and occupants, that gap widens to roughly 1,000 lb of difference. But the more consequential difference isn't the weight gap on a single truck — it's the universe of trucks each camper fits.
The Lance 650 is engineered for short-bed half-ton trucks. Lance's own compatibility chart for the 650 lists Ford F-150 SuperCrew (5.5' bed), Ram 1500 (5'7" bed), Chevy/GMC 1500 (5.8' bed), and Toyota Tundra CrewMax (5.5' bed). It is notdesigned for midsize trucks — the Tacoma, Ranger, Frontier, Colorado, and Gladiator are not on Lance's 650 fit list, and the payload math is the reason: at ~1,810 lb dry the Lance 650 is heavier than the Tacoma's top-trim payload (~1,685 lb) before water, propane, or gear are added. Airbags don't change that — they stiffen the rear suspension, but the door-jamb sticker is the legally- binding capacity.
The Kimbo 6 fits both midsize and short-bed half-ton trucks. Tacoma, Ranger, Frontier, Colorado, and Gladiator all fit cleanly — and Lance 650 isn't a competitor in any of those conversations because Lance doesn't engineer the 650 for those trucks. The Kimbo 6 also fits short-bed half-tons where Lance 650 is the head-to-head competitor (F-150 SuperCrew, Ram 1500, Silverado/Sierra 1500, Tundra CrewMax). On those trucks, both campers fit, but the lighter Kimbo 6 leaves substantially more cargo budget for water, gear, and family in the cab — a real difference if you're running fully loaded for extended trips.
If you run a midsize truck, the Kimbo 6 vs Lance 650 isn't the right comparison — the Lance 650 isn't built for your truck. The right Kimbo 6 alternatives on a Tacoma or Ranger are Four Wheel Camper, Scout, and Alaskan — see our best truck camper guide for those head-to-head comparisons. If you run a short-bed half-ton, Kimbo 6 and Lance 650 are both real options and the rest of this page is the comparison you came for.
For a detailed per-truck fit breakdown, see our truck fit guide or jump straight to the page for your specific truck.
Interior & layout
Fixed cabinetry vs. modular configuration.
The Lance 650's interior follows the traditional slide-in layout: queen-size cabover bed, dinette that converts to a second sleeping surface, fixed-cabinet galley with a 3-burner stove and oven, dedicated wet bath, and substantial built-in storage. It's a mature, refined layout that Lance has tuned over decades of production.
The Kimbo 6's interior takes a different philosophy: a modular base configuration (cabover sleeping platform, configurable galley, optional bath module) that owners spec to match their actual trip style. We ship fewer fixed cabinets and more user-configurable space. The galley is 2-burner instead of 3-burner. The bath is optional rather than standard. If you camp solo or as a couple and don't need a built-in bath, the Kimbo interior gives back the weight + space those amenities would consume. If you want a built-in bath, you add the module. If you want extra storage, you spec it into the configuration.
Lance wins this category for buyers who want a traditional, ready-to-camp interior with everything included.
Kimbo wins this category for buyers who want to tune the interior to their actual use case rather than carry features they won't use.
Price & value
Different price points for different products.
The Kimbo 6 starts at $27,990. The Lance 650 starts around $35,000 base and typically lands in the $42,000–$50,000 range as configured with realistic options. Lance offers a much wider option universe (package levels, factory options, dealer add-ons) which is part of the brand's appeal but also pushes as-delivered prices higher.
The price gap is real and it reflects genuinely different products. Lance ships more standard equipment (bath, larger tanks, oven, larger refrigerator). Kimbo ships less standard equipment but at lower starting weight and lower starting price, with the option to add what you want from there.
For resale: Lance has the larger used market by an order of magnitude, which generally means easier resale and more comparable comps when you eventually sell. Kimbo's used market is smaller but the resale value tends to hold strong because we build by hand and supply is genuinely constrained. Neither camper depreciates the way a travel trailer does.
The verdict
Who should pick which.
Pick the Lance 650 if…
- You want a built-in wet bath as standard, not an option
- You need larger fresh-water and grey-water tanks (22–33 gal vs ~10–15)
- You value a 3-burner stove + oven over a 2-burner galley
- You want the traditional dealer-service experience
- You're running a short-bed half-ton truck (F-150 SuperCrew, Ram 1500, Chevy/GMC 1500, Tundra CrewMax) with payload to spare — the 650 isn't designed for midsize trucks like Tacoma, Ranger, Frontier, Colorado, or Gladiator
- You prefer a refined, established product with 60+ years of iteration
- You want the larger used market for easier eventual resale
Pick the Kimbo 6 if…
- You want the lightest possible hard-side slide-in (830 lb dry — roughly half the Lance 650)
- You run a midsize truck (Tacoma, Ranger, Frontier, Colorado, Gladiator) where payload is tight
- You prefer hand-riveted aluminum monocoque construction over laminated-wall composite
- You want a modular interior you can tune to your actual trip style
- You'd rather have factory-direct service from the people who built it
- You're price-sensitive (starts $7K+ lower than Lance 650 base)
- You value American-made small-batch construction
Frequently asked
Questions cross-shoppers ask us.
What's the biggest difference between the Kimbo 6 and the Lance 650?
Construction philosophy and weight. The Kimbo 6 is a hand-riveted aluminum monocoque (no internal wood or steel frame — the aluminum shell IS the structure) and weighs 830 lb dry. The Lance 650 is a welded aluminum-tube frame with laminated composite walls and weighs 1,560–1,810 lb dry depending on trim. Roughly half the weight on the Kimbo side, with two genuinely different engineering approaches to building a four-season slide-in.
Which one fits a Toyota Tacoma?
Kimbo 6 — cleanly. Lance 650 — not designed for it. The Kimbo 6's 830 lb base loads comfortably onto a Tacoma's 1,100–1,685 lb payload range (varies by trim) without aftermarket suspension. The Lance 650 is designed for short-bed half-ton trucks (Ford F-150 SuperCrew, Ram 1500, Chevy/GMC 1500, Toyota Tundra CrewMax) — Lance's own compatibility chart doesn't list the Tacoma. At ~1,810 lb dry the Lance 650 is heavier than the Tacoma's top-trim payload before water, propane, gear, or occupants are added. Airbags don't change the door-jamb sticker. **If you run a Tacoma, the Lance 650 isn't on the cross-shop list — the Kimbo 6 is what fits.**
Does the Lance 650 have a real wet bath that the Kimbo 6 doesn't?
Yes. The Lance 650 ships with a dedicated wet bath (toilet + shower) as standard equipment. The Kimbo 6's bathroom module is a configurable option. If a built-in wet bath is non-negotiable for your trip style, Lance wins this category cleanly. If you'd rather trade the bath for weight and interior flexibility, Kimbo is the answer.
Which one is more durable long-term?
We'd argue Kimbo, with the caveat that both are well-built. Kimbo's hand-riveted aluminum monocoque has no laminated wall sandwich, no wood frame, and no spots where water intrusion can cause delamination or rot — the most common long-term failure mode in any composite-wall camper, Lance included. Lance counters with 60+ years of building experience, a refined production process, and a meaningfully larger field-tested fleet. Both will outlast most truck campers; the failure modes are different.
How does pricing compare?
The Kimbo 6 starts at $27,990. The Lance 650 starts around $35,000 base and typically lands in the $42,000–$50,000 range as configured. Lance offers a wider option universe (multiple package levels, factory options, and dealer add-ons) that can push the as-delivered price meaningfully higher. Kimbo's configuration set is intentionally simpler — fewer options, fewer decisions, more predictable final price.
What about resale value?
Lance has the larger used market, which generally means easier resale and more comparable comps when you sell. Kimbo's used market is smaller but the resale value tends to hold strong because supply is genuinely constrained — we build by hand and we don't catch demand. Neither camper depreciates like a travel trailer.
Who should pick the Lance 650?
Owners who want a traditional dealer-service experience, who prioritize a built-in wet bath as standard, who want larger fresh-water and grey-water tanks (Lance ships the 650 with 33 gal fresh / 17 gal grey vs the Kimbo 6's smaller tanks), who don't mind the extra ~750 lb on the truck, and who value the larger established used market. Lance has been doing this for 60+ years for good reason.
Who should pick the Kimbo 6?
Owners who want the lightest possible hard-side slide-in, who prefer hand-riveted aluminum monocoque construction over composite-wall lamination, who run a midsize truck where payload is tight (Tacoma, Ranger, Colorado, Frontier, Gladiator), who value modular interior configuration over fixed cabinetry, and who want a factory-direct relationship with the people who actually built their camper. The Kimbo 6 also starts ~$7,000 lower than the Lance 650 base.