Ok, its been 7 months and I finally started my Lance 1161 slide out repair. So this is a continuation of my original post. i’m finally over the hump so to speak, all the dismantling is complete and now I’m ready to have my fabricator do his magic, then I will install the new sub floor wing (surface under the slide out), install the new slide out seals, re install the slide system and slide-out and finally, skin repair.
Here’s the update:
I was finally able to get the camper into the shop I had arranged to rent on 5/14/2019. It took 3 months to coordinate it with the owners schedule and my own, but I finally had the date so I kept it and got my camper in there.
The original plan was to put it inside, but his shop is quite busy and the weather was improving so I was fine putting it in the lot for now (or then). I also found the inside of the shop a bit smoggy as there’s automotive activity constantly going on and the ventilation isn’t so great, so after I got my camper in there, I decided it would be fine to do it in the yard. That was all a win / win as the shop space was a premium and because he was giving me such a good deal for SF Bay Area shop space and was generally cool about everything I didn’t even bother asking for a discount.
Immediately after I got the camper in the shop the weather turned...! I mean this is California and its supposed to be dry, but no. Every time I had time off, the rain would show up for a week or so. uggghhh, delays, maybe inside the shop would have been better. To make matters worse, I have a life, not that that’s bad its just I have things to do as well. Work assignments, personal life, weddings, graduations, sailing classes (I’m getting all my ASA certs and captains license), so there she sat.
I would come down and do what I could to peck around on her and then a good friend of mine, who happens to also have a 2003 1161 that had already been repaired and wasn’t in use offered it up as a loaner until mine was fixed. This changed everything...! I drove to Sacramento and picked her up. In exchanged I promised to do some overdue maintenance, fixes and upgrades to her, which I did right away..... So right before the next set of rains, I completely dicor re-sealed his and mine. I mean I went through it with a fine tooth comb. Every seal that was even in question got re calked. I had a couple cases of self leveling and non-leveling compound to work with so I was able to get the campers sealed before the onslaught of spring rains.... Having a backup camper was ideal. This allowed me to continue my lifestyle and keep spirits up as I was struggling to schedule in time to tear my camper apart. Oh, also, I installed some new wiring, fixed his LEDs,, install a new AC inverter, fix the wiring for the running lights and a few more other things. I really appreciated the loaner so I wanted to give back what I could, so thats all done - check...!
Now for the good part. The last two weeks have been VERY productive. Today, 6/28 I have finally finished the dismantling part of this project, so I’m very satisfied but based on my schedule I will probably need another 3-4 weeks before I can finish the project or at least get out of the shop rental situation. Once the slide is back in, I can finish my touch ups in my parking storage. Anyway, there’s the update of the progress so far. My next post will show all the photos of the work so far, so you can see what’s involved if you attempt this yourself. I can’t say it was easy, but coming from someone who’s handy but never done any project like this before, its not all that bad. Sure there was lots of learning involved, but you just gotta keep moving forward. That was key to me. Its scary to start taking things apart, pulling out the slide, cutting out rotting wood, removing past repairs, etc. But I have to say today, I finally feel a sense of accomplishment and I’ve turned the corner. Ok, putting pics together for the next post. Stay tuned...!
~ Gypsy
