My new to me Lance

[Powerdude]

Well, after many moons of shopping, I finally got a truck camper.

It's a 2001 Lance 820.



I picked it up in NC and drove it back to Missouri through some horrendous weather last weekend. Some of the worst rain fronts and winds that I have ever driven through. The good thing is that it stayed bone dry inside, and the truck handled it great.

Some things to do.

1) Put on Stableloads. I've already bought them, I just haven't put them on yet. Truck seemed pretty good with it, as it already has the overload springs on it.
2) Already ordered the LED upgrades from M4LED for the interior bulbs.
3) I have to upgrade the battery and probably the power converter to a Prodigy. Currently reading up on the truck camper university write-ups.
4) Fridge works fine on AC and DC. On gas it is a little finicky, so I'm currently doing some diagnostics on it. Probably needs a board upgrade.

It has no generator and no power jacks, but it is in great condition. The awning is a pain in the butt, so I'm going to take it off and caulk the holes, as well as some additional re-caulking.

Planning on a shakedown trip in a couple of weeks.

Thanks to all for all the advice.

[SidecarFlip]

1996 Ford F250 Crew Cab 7.3PSD 400,000 miles!

and I thought my 1997 was an antique,,,,,lol

[kjenckes]

You're going to love it. I bought a 2006 820 this winter and after a few tweaks to make it mine (LEDs, Maxxair fan, closet redesign) I'm really glad I bought it. Enjoy.

[SidecarFlip]

I have manual jacks (and my 24 volt DwWalt 2 of them). I put my wife on one side and me on the other. Works pretty well. I'm too cheap to put on the motorized heads even though my unit is pre-wired for them. Don't want to lay out the 1500 bucks for the motors.

[SidecarFlip]

"Since it is a 2001 you might want to do a pressure test to find all the leaks."

Exactly. I bet it's leaking and I bet it has rot issues, how bad will depend entirely on if the original owner kept up on the seals but I doubt that.

TT's are no exception either, they also have forward facing seams that leak.

Really easy way to tell is pull the vinyl insert trim that fits in the extruded moulding and take a hard look at the screws. If any are rusty, it's leaking and you can buy the trim in rolls for replacement.

[WNYBob]

Looks great, but I would change out the manual for power jacks first.

They were one of the reasons we sold our TC. It took me over an hour to take it off the truck and set up camp. Around and around up 8" and 24" down 4" at a time, making sure the cab over was always higher than the back.

Since it is a 2001 you might want to do a pressure test to find all the leaks. To do a long lasting job don't just caulk, remove trim and is butyl tape or other sealing tape.

My TT is much faster 5 min.!

[pcoplin]

Looks good! I have a 2001 915 Lite. Back in teh days when campers were fairly light, haha.

Go over EVERYTHING, and remove and recaulk it all iff needed. A camper that old will need a lot of work if it hasn;t been done. I also bought mine 3 years ago, and the converter, water pump, and both fridge and water heater pilots rusted out. I'd check it all.