Lance lite 845

Bought a well used 1996 Lance SquireLite 185S. The framing is 1X2 furring strips. Not much rot in the cabover but rot was expected. Using Varathane wood hardener for the mostly solid wood. I bought little glue syringes for Jewelry making from Hobby Lobby. I shoot the hardener into the screw holes, stick a matchstick with waterproof wood glue on the end and snap off flush with surface. Let stand for a few minutes (glue sets up fast) and reinstall a new metal roofing screw with rubber gasket. Pocket hole screw and glue replacement wood in. Adding 2X2 framing in the bed area to beef up the insulation. Peeling tons of failed butyl and owner applied silicone off everywhere. Caulking with Alex Plus Latex Caulk With Silicone (40 year). Best thing about the old camper? It came with a 3 jack Stabile-Lift. Just had to buy the saddle mounts to bolt to the frame of the truck (between $300 & $350 including shipping). The Stable-Lift is worth more than what was paid for the camper. Added USB outlets, dedicated inverters, solar, batteries, rear porch, new refrigerator, upgraded galley faucet and added a drinking water faucet. Also pulled the power cord off and installed a 30Amp Marinco Park Power outlet. Need to use it for a few months before making plans to renovate/upgrade the rest of the camper. Luckily, I have the skills to do all the work myself. Basically I used to get paid to do what I am doing for myself.

Well, all is not well.

Found some corrosion around a few screws under the cabover. Pulled a screw and though it still had bite, some dark wood chips came with it making me think there could be some water damage.

Going to take it to a couple local repair shops for estimates so we can make an educated decision on next steps - fix or sell.

Camping this weekend. Planning to take the old camper though I really wanted to try the new one.

:-(

silverbullet555 wrote:
Need to order or figure out how I want to connect it to the truck for blinkers, etc.

Make a Pigtail from the lance connector to the 7pin on the back bumper.

silverbullet555 wrote:

narcodog wrote:
I have an 06 845 with no a/c, I would not sell mine for that price in any market. I would add another $2500 on to it.

Will the camper fit with tailgate down and open or do you have to pull it off?

You need to remove the tail gate. Plus there is no need to carry 70 lbs around with you.

mbloof wrote:

silverbullet555 wrote:
Wife got in last night and really liked the feel of the new one. Felt it was more roomy, loved the bed being north south. This could put off a travel trailer for a couple of years.

Congratulations!

Now comes the fun and excitement of transferring items from your old camper and finding places to put them in the newer one. :) Personally when I did a camper upgrade, I stopped carrying many items that I had stuffed in my old camper. (I'm a 'packrat' LOL)

Then comes the possible updates and upgrades. While the queen sized N/S bed could use bedding from the house, I opted for new sheets/blankets for the camper. Older RV's are mainly outfitted with power hungry CAR bulbs that can easily (and inexpensively) be replaced with LED ones. Then there's the battery(s) of unknown vintage/age that you may wish to simply replace.

Best of all once packed/outfitted you get to enjoy planning and having your first trip!

Happy camping!

- Mark0.

Yep. This camper has a bit less storage inside which is fine. We don't use a lot of what's in the old one. Need to thoroughly clean the new one first and then go through the stuff as we move it. I have LEd bulbs that usually work well for those types of lights so we'll make that change. The battery is a few years old so we will watch it closely. Need to order or figure out how I want to connect it to the truck for blinkers, etc.

silverbullet555 wrote:
Wife got in last night and really liked the feel of the new one. Felt it was more roomy, loved the bed being north south. This could put off a travel trailer for a couple of years.

Congratulations!

Now comes the fun and excitement of transferring items from your old camper and finding places to put them in the newer one. :) Personally when I did a camper upgrade, I stopped carrying many items that I had stuffed in my old camper. (I'm a 'packrat' LOL)

Then comes the possible updates and upgrades. While the queen sized N/S bed could use bedding from the house, I opted for new sheets/blankets for the camper. Older RV's are mainly outfitted with power hungry CAR bulbs that can easily (and inexpensively) be replaced with LED ones. Then there's the battery(s) of unknown vintage/age that you may wish to simply replace.

Best of all once packed/outfitted you get to enjoy planning and having your first trip!

Happy camping!

- Mark0.

Wife got in last night and really liked the feel of the new one. Felt it was more roomy, loved the bed being north south. This could put off a travel trailer for a couple of years.

Congratulations!

Well, here is a quickly snapped pic.

narcodog wrote:
I have an 06 845 with no a/c, I would not sell mine for that price in any market. I would add another $2500 on to it.

Will the camper fit with tailgate down and open or do you have to pull it off?