Lance construction video

All this talk about vinyl is amusing. My inexpensive trailer built by a now-defunct division of a twice-sold company (just since I bought my trailer) has solid wood cabinet doors: solid wood for the door frame and decent thickness plywood for the insert. However, the cabinets themselves are made with press board with a printed vinyl covering for the frame, and very thin plywood with a veneer for the sidewalls. I'm quite happy with my trailer, but even so, pointing out that the doors are wood as evidence of good construction (presumably better than mine) doesn't impress me.

That said, I've looked at Lance trailers and really like them, and think them well built (just not because they have wood cabinet doors). It's a shame they don't make hybrids.

BAL/Norco make the frame for Lance. They're "huck bolted"

BAL/Norco

As for the photo engraving cabinet comment, I was being facetious!

LitePly is a trade name, not a company.

WoodGlue

From what I gather, the cabinets in Lance trailers are Poplar veneered plywood made by Lite-Ply. So, they are stained.

WoodGlue wrote:
Trust me, it's not "photo engraved vinyl" whatever that is!

WoodGlue

That really makes sense, if you don't know what it is...

So if Lance is in the top 5,what are the other 4? I just bought a Wind River 250rdsw and have had several problems with quality. When I bought it I thought it was in the top 5, not now. As I look close I see that the wood, other than the cabinet doors is "photo shop" sticker. Many of the components are a Lippert owned company. I just wonder what the people were smoking the day they built mine. Huge back window had to be replaced because the open-close device was broken. Cracks in the front fiberglass cap. The tongue is not level with the frame and is off by 4 inches, that is, level the TT frame and you have to lower the front to make the tongue level so the tongue is pointing up when the TT is level. So the ball on the hitch has to be 4 inches higher than needed for the TT to be towed level and the power jack is 4 inches shorter because of it. Yes the factory is aware of these and we shall see what happens. I like the lance but not fond of their floorplans. Who makes the frames for Lance?

OK, for information's sake, is the finished surface stained plywood, stained poplar, or a stained veneer?

I've used Poplar and Alder for building and furniture projects, too. I know about it's characteristics.

If I had my druthers', I'd pick fir plywood as the material of choice. A couple of years ago, I replaced some of the fir plywood floor in my TT. The water heater had leaked and a wall had leaked. In every other area the 43 yr. old floor was sound and intact.

I have the Lance 1575 and despites some other peoples said , we were sold on it because of the floor plan,the rise dinette,quality of the cushion , low clearance and construction quality. I visit the RV show , and most of the other are using low quality materials or put a lot of gadgets to attract peoples to buy. No gadgets in Lance just simple working stuff
Oh yes , and the door are not vinyl printed , they are stain on wood
PS I build furniture and I use poplar a lot for painted or stain project . It's a very stable wood versus fir

Trust me, it's not "photo engraved vinyl" whatever that is!

WoodGlue

building with a zero tolerance via CNC Routers, etc.

I am also from a machine shop background. "zero tolerance" is not occurring with a "router", CNC or any other kind. More like an "accurate wood fit" which is very good, but not zero tolerance.

CNC allows highly repetitive reproduction of parts within a tolerance of the machine and material it is working with, quickly. A skilled woodworker or machinist can produce accuracy equal to or better then some CNC machines. It may take them longer though.

Keeping it in perspective, Lance is using technology to create an accurate repetitive process. When set up correctly, providing the volume is there to pay for the investment, those methods can often outproduce the older methods, cheaper. Not that older methods cannot produce the same end result or better, they have a harder time competing.

This happened in the machine and fabrication industry not that long ago. When wire cut EDM came along, that technologically and high accuracy faster can out produce the the older traditional methods with less labor. Same goes for water jet and lazer in the fabrication industry. You down load a 3D model to the machine and fab shop parts come out with parts within 0.005" to cookie cutter fit together to later be welded together. Technology changed the industry to compete, not that it is more accurate.

And that said, when the machine or operator messes up on a CNC machine, you can make junk fast...

WoodGlue wrote:

westend wrote:
A couple of things I noticed: When they are laying up the composite walls, there are only four or five upright aluminum studs in the whole wall, the floor looks like a composite, also. They must be getting a lot of stiffness in the wall structure from the Azdel, the fiberglass, and foam. They interlock the walls to floor and walls to roof with an aluminum channel, it looked like those were fastened with self-tapping screws. That's probably a pretty good way of attachment.
They really tout the "Lite-ply" like it's some sort of advanced material. Really, it's the use of Alder instead of Fir that makes the weight difference. As for CNC machining, I know some home hobbyists that have three axis machines, now. Nothing special there.
Overall, IMO, they're building a product that is about mainstream or maybe a touch better in some respects. The glowing endorsements from the crew was a bit much but to be expected.

Yep, Azdel is 2 sheets plus the block foam plus the aluminum studs, it's strong stuff. And Lance also uses Lamilux which is a very thick fiberglass.

LitePly is Poplar, and the great thing about it is that it's basically a "white" wood and can be stained evenly and matched years later should you need to. It can also be rounded, to curve over surfaces, which is great!

When you can build a Travel Trailer with zero tolerance, that's saying something, that being why I'm such a fan of the CNC Router.

WoodGlue

We would all be better served if they didn't pinch pennies and used a better foam insulation, barrier reflective coated would even be better. Expanded polystyrene is the cheapest foam available.

I dunno' about the Lite-ply. For the application it certainly saves weight but isn't as strong or durable as other species like Fir. White wood has no intrinsic value. In fact, most woodworkers wouldn't choose it for cabinet construction. I doubt very much that the finished surface of those Lance cabinets is Poplar, probably photo-engraved vinyl.

I don't mean to dump on your parade about Lance products. I have no horse in the race. I guess I comment in opposition to a lot of your posts because it is an implicit recommendation of all materials and processes Lance uses. Some of it is good, some of it is just OK, and some of it can be improved, There are no absolutes in construction, as you seem to believe.