Forum Discussion

Ramblin__Ralph's avatar
Jan 03, 2018

Lance TC "wing" construction?

I bashed in the wing area of the passenger side of my Lance 845 (see pic). Is there any sort of wood framing between the aluminum panel and inside wood panel? Or, is it just "empty"?



Thanks,
  • Thanks for the suggestions!

    I should have checked my computer before posting. Four years ago I took my rig to the factory for some dry rot repair. I remembered I had pictures of the areas needing repair. One area repaired was the same wing that got crunched. I now know exactly what it looks like beneath the siding. :)

    I'm too old to try to do it myself. I'd end up with it incomplete when I'm ready to ramble again in May. :)



    Ralph
  • Lance would no longer support parts for my 2002 model, but hopefully they will still have the siding per foot.
    Give them a call to start.
  • Same problem with skirts on my '08 845 ... the interior of the wing was weak and some water intrusion and rot.

    I bought a piece of marine 3/4 plywood, cut a new panel to fit each side, drilled it out for lights and water drains. Sealer and paint on both sides and all edges,and installed it (in process now) and will share photos here when finished. Just got some exterior white paint, and good as new with little chance for rot now.

    I did notice the caulking was "a little weak" in application all around that area. For the future, I'll post photos later too. I discovered the front jack mounts had some 'give' in them when loading ... so, I welded a bracket that lays alongside the camper wall, and drilled bolted it thru - takes most of the stress off those very tall jacks in front. Now, it's solid, and not the give it had before --
  • Not too bad to undertake as a repair. Rather than try and replicate the staples I used a Kreg jig and pocket screws and waterproof glue. Two fun discoveries. 1) the drain petcock has virtually no slack and the hole which looks like it was done with a hammer and box cutter make it very tricky to get the spigot reclamped. 2) on the inside of the wings of my 845 some type of vinyl coated luan was used. Fortunately I was able to gently peel the delaminated luan off the plastic sheet/film.Took a Saturday and part of a Sunday to do both wings. One of the oscillating saw blade multi-tools helps a lot. Good luck.
  • Current day Lances (2009 to present) are built differently, using newer (Azdel, LitePly, pinch rolled, etc) materials and construstruction techniques. Gotta say, I see so many of the older, tried and true (2009 and earlier) on the road - it's amazing!
  • Lance does sell the wood wing frame for around $3/$400.00 give them a call
  • That thread pretty well sums up the wing issue on an older Lance. My 9 series was the same and had the same rot issues as well. The guy I sold it to completely removed both wings, rebuilt the wood framing and overlayed the wings with HDPE sheet. Youee aluminum skins is different but I bet the under the siding issues are there