Lance Lite Wing & Truck Box Area Repair
Hi all! I have been lurking for a while and reading through a lot of the info here for a long time, but I finally registered to post. I picked up a 1999 Lance Lite 845 from the original owner a coup...
Forum Discussion
Ok, so I'm super slow with progress, but I have been moving forward VERY slowly with this repair.
I wanted to replace the belly panel because it was delaminating at the front edge like the side was in the original photo, and it also looked like someone set the camper down on something in the truck bed at some point and punched a hole through the wood into the styrofoam. I figured I could re-sheet the bottom quick and easy enough also. I regret this decision, but alas, I move forward.
The belly sheet was glued and stapled like crazy, and makes for fairly frustrating and difficult removal, but it's done other than clean up prep when I'm ready to install the new one. Here's the camper with the belly sheet off:
Front left corner:
Front right corner:
I also had to remove the grey water tank at the rear to pull the belly sheet all the way off (it's also missing in the above photo). That lead into another issue of needing to cut apart the plumbing. Don't you just love how projects snowball into something bigger?
Grey water tank out:
You will notice that I also pulled the aluminum skin off the wing area. That's because I noticed some rot in there and I wanted a better look. It's actually not as bad as I suspected, but still, more for the project. The left rear compartment had some significant delamination of the paneling around it also, but there is a lot of water stuff going on in here between the plumbing, the drain valves for the water system, the dump valves, the poor sealing of the wings, etc. Nothing leaks on this camper plumbing wise, so at least that's good.
As an update to my plan for replacement paneling, I found a local supplier who carries 2.7mm plywood for only $11 a sheet. I think I plan to use this and glue a thin plastic poly panel to that instead of using the FRP panels I originally planned to use. The wood will provide a lot more strength than just the FRP as well as a better substrate for gluing things together, and of course, the poly panel will give me the weather resistance I want. All said, I think I can make these panels for about $35 each ($11 for the wood, $24 for the poly sheet).
I wanted to replace the belly panel because it was delaminating at the front edge like the side was in the original photo, and it also looked like someone set the camper down on something in the truck bed at some point and punched a hole through the wood into the styrofoam. I figured I could re-sheet the bottom quick and easy enough also. I regret this decision, but alas, I move forward.
The belly sheet was glued and stapled like crazy, and makes for fairly frustrating and difficult removal, but it's done other than clean up prep when I'm ready to install the new one. Here's the camper with the belly sheet off:
Front left corner:
Front right corner:
I also had to remove the grey water tank at the rear to pull the belly sheet all the way off (it's also missing in the above photo). That lead into another issue of needing to cut apart the plumbing. Don't you just love how projects snowball into something bigger?
Grey water tank out:
You will notice that I also pulled the aluminum skin off the wing area. That's because I noticed some rot in there and I wanted a better look. It's actually not as bad as I suspected, but still, more for the project. The left rear compartment had some significant delamination of the paneling around it also, but there is a lot of water stuff going on in here between the plumbing, the drain valves for the water system, the dump valves, the poor sealing of the wings, etc. Nothing leaks on this camper plumbing wise, so at least that's good.
As an update to my plan for replacement paneling, I found a local supplier who carries 2.7mm plywood for only $11 a sheet. I think I plan to use this and glue a thin plastic poly panel to that instead of using the FRP panels I originally planned to use. The wood will provide a lot more strength than just the FRP as well as a better substrate for gluing things together, and of course, the poly panel will give me the weather resistance I want. All said, I think I can make these panels for about $35 each ($11 for the wood, $24 for the poly sheet).
