Hello all,
Well, I just recently became a Lance TC owner. I have been silently lurking on these forums since March when I got my LANCE absorbing everything I can regarding truck campers. Such a wealth of info.
My unit is a '96 SQUIRE 8000 that I took off of my fathers hands. He bought it new when he retired and now he is done traveling with it and sold it to me, complete with Chev dually. Unit has been on the road about two- three trips per summer for about 5 of those years and one a year after. I know, I have been on the long trips with him. It has been stored on the truck indoors since new and never really been off the truck. Both are pretty new looking and of course, I got the family deal!!
I have since upgraded some things due to reading posts from all of you in this forum;
replaced battery with a Lifeline group 31, bought a Trimetric monitor to monitor power usage, got a DINO board for the DOMETIC RM3663 fridge since I always get the "check engine" light, and replaced the Magnaproblem converter with a WFCO 55am 3 stage model. I should be good to go.
Ok, so I was looking at my camper this weekend for calking issues and checked the roof. No problems found there. Everything looks well gooped up there. Checked the areas arould the clearance lights, running lights and found a few little spots that need touchups. I was looking around the cab over window and the seal is a bit "bumpy' and the corners are separating from the curve. I had read somewhere here that the cabover window is a problem area for water to get in and also the corners as well. Good timing and an opportunity to replace with a good storm window too. I hopped down and continued to check the RR and LR of the camper and this is where I made my discovery.
The wings on both sides are soft! The RR side isnt so bad but its there. On the LR wing just below my dump door, its completey soft and you can push a finger up into the seam where it is delaminated. I pushed on the aluminum siding and it is soft about half way up to the outside shower. My god!!
I havent had the unit out camping yet. I thought once my upgrades were done I could plan a trip but now it looks like I need to pull the cab over window to check that damage. Hopefully that will be a reseal but the wings...
I am going to take it to the dealer to get their opinion I already know it will be $$$$ but wanted to see what they say.
Any thoughts? Not sure if I can do these repairs myself.
Geez - the more time I spend on this forum I am starting to think that there is no such thing as a leak free tc. I looked at an 87 Lance Squire this weekend and the wing was soft on it under the sink and battery box. It seems like ever single camper I see that is not brand new has leakage. ???
Start tearing it apart from the outside and see how it looks. Otherwise sell it and move on to something new. I cannot believe it would be worth the thousands of dollars they will likely charge you to fix it.
* This post was
edited 11/17/07 02:20pm by an administrator/moderator *
Lance Noob wrote: My unit is a '96 SQUIRE 8000 .....
Welcome to the RV.net Truck Camper Forum!
We have a 1996 Lance 500. It also has some plywood delamination issues with the passenger side wing. Those wings hang down and get a lot of road spray. Also, the edge trim used by Lance on my camper was not wide enough to completely cover the edge of the plywood. I think this might have let some water get into the wood.
I actually siliconed the lenses on the running lights because of potential leaking from them. If a bulb burns out no problem prying them open plus I do keep a couple extra lenses. Welcome to the forum and Lance ownership. Hope this helps, Kim
2005 Dodge 2500 SLT+,CTD 610,Auto,4x4,LWB,QC,Leather
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Dhorn33 wrote: Geez - the more time I spend on this forum I am starting to think that there is no such thing as a leak free tc. I looked at an 87 Lance Squire this weekend and the wing was soft on it under the sink and battery box. It seems like ever single camper I see that is not brand new has leakage. WTF??
Start tearing it apart from the outside and see how it looks. Otherwise sell it and move on to something new. I cannot believe it would be worth the thousands of dollars they will likely charge you to fix it.
Well, I think that every TC will have some issues but I didnt think to this extent. My camper was kept indoors and only saw daylight when on a trip. I would say that with that amount of damage it probably started when the thng was delivered to the dealer.
Welcome to the forum. Sorry about your rot issues. You're forum name is going to need a change when you're no longer a "noob"! Also, I was recently informed by someone on this forum in reference to myself, that a "noob" is a bad thing... a "newb" is OK.
2006 Ford F350 Lariat CC LB DRW
6.0 PSD w/TorqShift 4x4 4.10LSD
Airlift Airbags/SureSet Controller - Timbrens
2007 Lance 1181 - All the Options
Torklift Superhitch/Tiedowns/Fastguns
Lance Noob wrote: My unit is a '96 SQUIRE 8000 .....
Welcome to the RV.net Truck Camper Forum!
We have a 1996 Lance 500. It also has some plywood delamination issues with the passenger side wing. Those wings hang down and get a lot of road spray. Also, the edge trim used by Lance on my camper was not wide enough to completely cover the edge of the plywood. I think this might have let some water get into the wood.
Good Luck,
Brad
Thanks for the Welcome, Brad,
Yes, it looks like the edge trim doesnt go completely around the edge. Stops right at the gap.
What did you do to fix the problem? Did you tear into it and what did it take to fix?
F350OilBurner wrote: Welcome to the forum. Sorry about your rot issues. You're forum name is going to need a change when you're no longer a "noob"! Also, I was recently informed by someone on this forum in reference to myself, that a "noob" is a bad thing... a "newb" is OK.
Burner,
NOOB is a bad thing? Whoops....I don't want to be politically incorrect with my forum name. I guess I will have to change it to something like "Squire Rot Master Blaster" after I fix my unit.
Lance Noob wrote: What did you do to fix the problem? Did you tear into it and what did it take to fix?
Well, to do it right would mean tearing out all the old rotted wood and replacing it with new. I don't have time to do it right.
The area of rotted wood on mine is fairly small, maybe 50 square inches. I bought some epoxii/wood filler that sets up like steel. I'm going to remove the rotted wood and replace it with the epoxii filler, paint it and call it done.
F350OilBurner wrote: Welcome to the forum. Sorry about your rot issues. You're forum name is going to need a change when you're no longer a "noob"! Also, I was recently informed by someone on this forum in reference to myself, that a "noob" is a bad thing... a "newb" is OK.
Burner,
NOOB is a bad thing? Whoops....I don't want to be politically incorrect with my forum name. I guess I will have to change it to something like "Squire Rot Master Blaster" after I fix my unit.
Apparently it is? It was news to me as well. You can find here where JoeChiOhki takes me to school on internet lingo.
I think your new name is much cooler... change it to that when your problem is fixed!
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I already know it will be $$$$ but wanted to see what they say. 
