Lance or Wildcat TT

[carlrs]

Hi!

We currently have 2006 Wildcat Trailer (28’ overall) with a large bathroom and living space, but no bunks for our 3 kids & it is poorly designed for winter camping (which we do)

Overall other than the poor winter capabilities and poor design of leaky skylights in the slide-out (which I have since fixed, but the design is still questionable), we are quite happy with the trailer.
On a positive note it is very sturdy with axles and tires well above the gross weight of the trailer.

We pull this with a 2010 Tundra which does a good job.

We are looking into two trailers currently:

Wildcat Maxx 26BHS - Lite Travel Trailers (30’)
http://www.forestriverinc.com/TravelTrailers/WildcatWest/default.aspx?model=wildor&page=floorplandetails&floorplanid=4731&RVType=trailers

Lance 2185 (26’)
http://www.lancecamper.com/travel-trailers/2185/

We like the space with the Wildcat and overall build.
However the Lance has very smart use of space and with its lighter weight it should be easier to tow with maybe better gas mileage. More importantly since we do a lot of dry camping in the summer, we have found that the 28’ Wildcat we currently own barely or even does not fit in the majority of sites, so going two feet longer is questionable. The Lance is a bit over 2 feet shorter which is definitely a plus.

It appears the Lance does not have a true tub like the Wildcat, so this is a negative.
As well, since I owned two Lance truck campers many years ago, and while I found the build excellent, I found their customer service somewhat questionable as both had equipment that was defective that they simply passed the buck and never truly fixed. I am not trying to bad mouth Lance, as this was almost two decades ago and people/companies can change, but I would be lying to say this makes me a little nervous about Lance, even though I slightly prefer it above the Wildacat.

Please, if anyone has some thoughts or other suggestions for a TT , best under 28’ with a tub, and maybe a side mounted main bed so as to save space (a walk around main bed is NOT important to us, even though a popular feature)

Thanks in advance;
Carl

[goducks10]

Not sure where you live in Oregon, but there's the Fall RV show in Portland sept 11-14th. Be a good chance to walk thru lots of different models.

[carlrs]

skripo wrote:
We are 5 as well and found the Fun Finder 24BDS (27 feet overall) simply better than the dozens of brands we saw before hand.

http://cruiserrv.com/products/fun-finder/floorplans/item/f-242bds

Their interior finish is not only second to none, but simply more luxurious than any I have seen before. Full Fiberglas construction, top of the line appliances, 4760 dry weight make it worthy of serious consideration

The only issue is they are somewhat hard to find. Make sure you get a 2014 or newer model to get the fiberglass cap.

Thanks for the suggestion!;)
I just looked at these online and I am definitely impressed

There is a dealer in Portland OR about 250 miles from here selling these

[carlrs]

ycswat wrote:
I've had the 2185 for a little over a year and a half. We have the convertabed and it is a great feature. Plenty of storage room underneath the bed/couch for lots of dry food. No problems with the few issues we've had getting fixed by the dealer. Join the Lance of America site and you can get lots of good information to help make a good informed decision. You will see people with customer service issues on the site, and lots of good friendly people to help answer specific questions.

Rob

Thanks for the comment and tips 😉

[skripo]

We are 5 as well and found the Fun Finder 24BDS (27 feet overall) simply better than the dozens of brands we saw before hand.

http://cruiserrv.com/products/fun-finder/floorplans/item/f-242bds

Their interior finish is not only second to none, but simply more luxurious than any I have seen before. Full Fiberglas construction, top of the line appliances, 4760 dry weight make it worthy of serious consideration

The only issue is they are somewhat hard to find. Make sure you get a 2014 or newer model to get the fiberglass cap.

[ycswat]

I've had the 2185 for a little over a year and a half. We have the convertabed and it is a great feature. Plenty of storage room underneath the bed/couch for lots of dry food. No problems with the few issues we've had getting fixed by the dealer. Join the Lance of America site and you can get lots of good information to help make a good informed decision. You will see people with customer service issues on the site, and lots of good friendly people to help answer specific questions.

Rob

[carlrs]

Found a 2015 Keystone BULLET 247BHSWE that we really liked, any thoughts to quality of this RV?
I get the impression that the Lance is among the best as per quality, but we like the layout of this Bullet a bit better

[carlrs]

hddecker wrote:
Go to the Lance web site and look at their video on the manufacturing process, then go look at the others and compare.

Just watched the video as per your suggestion 😉

Very interesting, adding to some of the reads about Wildcat/Forest River, it does make me question their product versus the Lance.
That said, my current Wildcat has not been too bad either (partly due to DIY fixes of Winterization issues, drawer problems, and sunroof issues)

[hddecker]

I like the Lance and I'm still kicking my backside for not going with it over a Dutchmen.

Go to the Lance web site and look at their video on the manufacturing process, then go look at the others and compare.

One thing that stands out in my mind is how they make up their wiring harnesses. They actually do make a wiring harness that is consistent for the model. Ducthmens wiring harness is about this much wire should do, if you got too much just shove it behind something and carry on. I have found wires the were pinched under cabinets, rubbing on the fridge frame, etc. after I got through cleaning up the wiring, I had close to ten pounds of surplus wire, I got $2.50 a pound for it at the scrap yard. That ten pounds of wire cost me probably $100 or more in the price of the camper.

[carlrs]

bmj11 wrote:
The Lance is a full 4 seasons with the proper package.

The Wildcat is as well, and appears to be slightly better winterized than the Lance, unlike our current Wildcat

[carlrs]

Bagger97 wrote:
The Lance is to small for a family. No couch or chairs if everyone is stuck inside. Could get very nasty. Kids do get bigger.

Thanks, this is one of the main considerations with this trailer, especially since our kids are already teenagers (one is actually an adult, but due to her severe Asbergers & other issues, she is likely to be with us for the rest of our life).
In fact this is the reason for our desire for bunks, as our nightly rituals of making 3 beds then putting them up gets pretty old quickly, especially on our longer summer trips where we move around a lot (not so much an issue with short weekend trips where do not have to get moving early in the morning). But then so does dragging around a large behemoth of a trailer into National Park/Forest campgrounds, it comes down to compromise of what we can live with and what not, since we cannot obviously have every feature we want and still have a smaller trailer that fits into National; Park/Forest campgrounds

The Lance does have a convertible bed feature/option which makes for more room, but the Wildcat that we are looking at as well as the one we currently own has more "living space" than the Lance.

I get the feeling from reading here and elsewhere that the Lance might be the better made of the two, but then I have not read of many issues with the Forest River Wildcat

[Bagger97]

The Lance is to small for a family. No couch or chairs if everyone is stuck inside. Could get very nasty. Kids do get bigger.

[bmj11]

The Lance is a full 4 seasons with the proper package.

[Dtaylor]

Many of the "lite" TT are not the best choice for winter camping. Many have thinner walls, etc (to make more lite weight) My Wilderness is a "lite" model. We have spent several nights at 22 degrees comfortably using a small space heater to supplement the on-board. I do not think I would want many nights colder than that

[carlrs]

n7bsn wrote:
I would certainly go with Lance over WildCat, much better made.

This is what I have heard.
The price also suggests this too.
Thanks for the feedback.

I don't know if there is any validity to it, but he stated the newer Nash trailers were not as nicely built as the older ones. He implied that Nash was Northwood's entry level unit, which is kind of obvious, but that they were attempting to build Nash units to compete with lower priced entry RVs and that the quality on the newer ones had gone down.

That is too bad, but not suprising either as this is common in my line of work