Lance 1131 / 1191 w/ tent - pros/cons?

Hi TriumphGuy. Welcome to the TC Hunt, I wish you the best in your hunt.

I too, have a Lance 1191 and love it. I also spend a lot of time in mine and have developed my own opinions on it's use. I often have guests and the floor of my camper is often utilized, as well as a backpacking tent I carry with me.

One point that is the ugly secret and comes up on occasion is the situation that the tent will need to be replaced. We see this here in this forum where people are scrambling to find a replacement and they are discontinued and different for different production years, from Lance. Most resolve this issue by going to a Tent and Awning Company for a custom made replacement/repair. Something to think about.

I am a big proponent of Stealth Camping and this tent option would be a deal killer for me, in considering for this use. Also cold infiltration would be another, when using one or in it's stored position, for four season camping.

I considered one, as I have grandkids, but the $1,000 upgrade was too much for my checkbook.

Again, glad you are doing your fact checking before making the plunge.

Oh, yeah, btggraphix is well known for his long posts (Sadly, I am not far behind the word count too), but we(me) read every word as his posts are filled with information!

Have fun and keep us posted on your progress and decision.

b

Yeah, I guess old work habits die hard (solving technical issues via email always encouraged covering as much as possible to avoid so much back and forth and continuation...)

The "LanceMax" was what they called the flagship models at that time when they replaced the previous big campers such as the 1161. They were all somewhat loaded with "standard" options and were all supposed to be 4 season I think. I don't •think• there was an extra all weather option for them because it was standard. It might have also been when they introduced the "Lance lock" aluminum framing system that (I think) they still use. The two models I remember for sure being a part of that line was the 1181 and the 1191 and I know the 1161 was discontinued at that same point.

I think I have a brochure still in the camper somewhere but you can dig them all up on Lances website. They do have a very good website for additional info

KD4UPL wrote:
in my opinion adding any soft side section to a hard side camper ruins most of the advantages to a hard side. The insulation is poor which matters in both hot and cold weather. The sound insulation is poor which matters both with keeping outside sounds out and inside sounds in. The security is poor, anyone with a pocket knife can climb right in. If a camp ground has restrictions on soft sides because of bears for instance you're out of luck.

All things I've thought about ... can't say I disagree with you and I wish there was a model that has the Amerigo setup. But this looks like the best compromise for us at the moment, given that a big multi-slide hard-side camper is out of range. And the dinette / fold down bunks do seem long enough to where they could be used exclusively if we had to stay folded in (for example on a WalMart overnight)

pa traveler wrote:
We have a 1191 with tent, its a great option for kids ,grandkids ect. No problem closing it back up.We have a canopy that you can deploy it extends over tent,helps in summer keeping it shaded.

The canopy sounds interesting - any pics? Is it mounted to the camper?

billtex wrote:
Adventurer made a model for a few years that had 2 bunks in a slide. Not sure how long the bunks were.

I think it was the 950B. I really liked the looks of that floorplan. It's still in the back of my mind as an alternative, but accounting for the fold out tent I think the 1191 gives more space and a nice hideout for the kids.

Wheelholder wrote:
I don't have the models you are looking at, but a Lance 830 with the tent. ...

It does make a difference in the heating and cooling of the camper. Makes both units work harder.

....

Ahh yes I did look at the 830 as I tossed around the idea of putting that on my shortbed (at least I thought it was a shortbed model). Ever have your A/C or heat not able to keep up?

btggraphix wrote:
Hey there. I do have an 1191 and love it. ...
BT

BT you get the award for longest posts! :) Thank you for all that detailed info. Extremely useful. What I found especially interesting is that all the use your Lance had before you bought it and then now you're fulltiming, it must be holding up very well. Funny point about the carpet around the toilet. I wondered the same thing looking at pictures online. One question, what is Lance Max? 4 seasons or ??

I poked around online and here is the one closest to me.

http://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2007-Lance-1131-113329004

Nothing really out here on the East Coast it seems. If I were ready with the $$ I would be tempted to bargain them down. I've repaired delam before and fixing a slideout wall might not be too crazy compared to what I've had to do before. But on the other hand that stuff is always more than you bargained for. Maybe it's good we're not ready to buy yet!

I have the tent option, it has never been a problem for us. That being said it does get hotter when deployed. We camped in Zion last summer at 112 and the A/c worked to keep us cool. Another down side is if you put it away wet you must reopen at home so it can dry out. For us the extra sleeping space far out weigh the negative issues.

Pss: there is also a long sliding drawer in the step that you access by opening the side door and then pulling it out. Is is shallow, but really long like 3-4'. Not accessible except standing outside and with the door open.

I knew I'd forget a couple of items from your list...

Outside storage. On the right side, there is the propane compartment (2 x 30# tanks on a sliding tray), and the door you couldn't figure out is (in ours) a compartment that houses the water pump but also has a decent storage for other stuff. We used to use it for TP, black tank chemicals and such. Decent size....now we converted it to store the litter box for the cat...I cut a hole into the interior of the camper and put in a cat door and we take the box out to clean from the outside. On the slide side (in the slide) is another compartment about that same size that takes up half of one side of the dinette and is accessed from outside; the other half is a drawer that is accessible from inside. It could easily be converted to a full drawer accessible from the inside if you desire. The other side of the dinette is a single big drawer. There is also a shallow, but tall and wide compartment at the back wall above the steps that would not be there if you get the tent. Later years also had an outside tool cabinet (shallow but wide and tall) that would be gone with the tent option. I know they moved around the battery box depending on year and the tent option but with ours it is on the back wall outside and can fit two group 31s with minor mods to the sliding tray.

Later years had a much bigger service bay. The possible drawback to later years are tank sizes. To add more storage (I think) they reduced the size of the tanks. Mine had 45 fresh 38/37 grey/black and I think later ones got slightly smaller like the numbers you mentioned.

Yes, there are occasionally campgrounds with temporary restrictions due to grizzlies that close CGs to soft sided rigs.....it is very very rare and technically they are 'temporary' but a few spots have had this restriction so commonly and for years that in effect no soft sided rigs are ever allowed (Many Glacier Campground in Glacier is the notable example of this) but it is so rate as to not be worth picking a hard sided camper just for this reason (IMHO).

The depth of the slide for my year is not nearly as deep as the new ones on the new model Lances. I THINK Lance did start making them deeper on the 1191 later (very recently) but I not sure of that. It is not super deep like on an 1172 now but it make a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE to have a slide over no slide as far as living space in the TC.

Lastly, Lance is very good about having their old catalogs online so if you find a used one out there look up the catalog online to find floor plan and tanks capacities.

Good luck, let us all know if you have other questions. There is another guy here (handle starts with bka) who haS lived in his 1191 for nearly 7 years now and it has worked very well for him too; he has a later year and may chime in here as well.

Hey there. I do have an 1191 and love it. The 1191 actually came out with the "LanceMax" series along with the 1181 and at least one other back in 06 (possibly 05 but I think 06). I think A year or later the 1131 came out with slight differences along with the tent bed option. Within 2 or so years they merged the 1131 and 1191 and the tent became an option on the 1191 at the time and it became maybe 6" longer. We had identified these two models as our dream camper at the time and would have bought it with the tent bed option had we bought one new. But we like you would not have been able to afford new anyway (combined with needing a much bigger truck) so when we found our rig for sale used (fresh off a one year 32,000 mile trip to South America) we snapped at it.

We found it to still be in great shape after that huge trip on a bruiser of a truck and figured it was very well battle tested and therefor a solid unit. We put another 400 nights in it before quitting our jobs and moving into it full time last August. We still love it.

There were a number of little things that irritated us (such as carpet around the toilet (how the heck do you keep THAT clean??? And the too-tight service bay...) but I have to give Lance credit in that most all of those little things were fixed or improved, especially by the time they merged the models....so I'd have to say/guess that the sweet spot for an 1191 like you are looking for would probably be between say 08 and when (gasp!) they discontinued the model completely. I'm sad about that because it was such a great model and layout for us and could be fully used with the slide in for stealth camping.

Storage is not as good as when you have no slide, but it is still pretty good for us. In our year you either got a huge closet in the cabover, or a big window. We would have wanted both and they did that later...a big closet and a small window so if storage is key you don't want the early years with a window and no closet. Instead you'd want a closet and no window and then you could add a small window like we did after the fact if you want to (we had Lance do it later.). The best combo again would be a later year where you got BOTH from the factory. Next, for max storage, either get one with no oven and a convection+microwave, or the oven but NO microwave. If you have both you lose the overhead storage. Or just pull the microwave out if you don't need it (or for that matter remove the oven like sleepy did and use that space for storage.

If the kids aren't with, or horrible weather, or for some other reason like a no soft sides restriction you can leave the tent closed and sleep one kid on the floor and one slightly diagonal on the bed. As the other poster notes above. You don't have to out it out. But in good weather, if we had it, my wife and I would probably open it up, unzip all the windows and sleep out there. It also would have been great for our two big dogs. I believe there is even heat ducts to the tent area. The flip side is I would want to inspect the tent itself to make sure it is in good shape. I do not know if they suffer a lot of wear and tear or if they ever leak, but having grown up using tent trailers in all sorts of weather they are actually pretty darn functional and with a good system of closing it up and wiping it down with rags etc we could setup and year down on the rain or damp pretty well.

Storage for us doesn't matter much because we have a flat bed with boxes. If you are looking at a newer DRW truck, you might think about a larger 450/550 series truck if possible for extra capacity and safety leaving you options for flatbed or utility bed type truck and now you have the storage you need.

I've had this reply open awhile and it is on a cell phone so I may have missed some things I meant to say, but the bottom line is the 1191 and 1131 are two of my most favorite models from any manufacturer I have seen in the decade since I've been reading tv.net and looking at new campers at RV shows etc. It is just about perfect for us!
BT

I don't have the models you are looking at, but a Lance 830 with the tent. It is very nice when the grandkids go with us. The rest of the time, it stays folded up. I did use it once when I went to a radio control meet and stored my electric planes there for the 3 days I was there.

It does make a difference in the heating and cooling of the camper. Makes both units work harder.

Folding it up is pretty easy. Just turn on the fan, close the door and it pulls it right in.

Adventurer made a model for a few years that had 2 bunks in a slide. Not sure how long the bunks were.

Agree that dinette beds are 6' max...and many much shorter.

Northstar also made some with tents.

What area of the country are you?
Tent could be an issue cold weather camping.

Our EC has a 6' dinette and we sleep 4 often...sometimes 5 (one on the floor!)

Good luck, Bill

Edit; OK you are in SC...tent may be a good option for you.

We have a 1191 with tent, its a great option for kids ,grandkids ect. No problem closing it back up.We have a canopy that you can deploy it extends over tent,helps in summer keeping it shaded.