This thread will be used to document the build and restoration of a project I've dubbed "problem child".
The project in question is a 1988 Lance LC980 slide in truck camper. I inherited this from my in laws. They were tired of paying storage fees on it, so my father in law told me that if I stored it at my house, I could have it. Score!! So, first matter of business was to get the camper out of the storage lot in the desert. Since the truck already had tie downs installed, and I knew the turn buckles were in the camper, I removed my tailgate and we made the 1.5 hour trip to the desert and picked up the camper.
First thing we noticed is that the turnbuckles were not going to work, as they were too short, so we devised a temporary plan for securing the camper to get it home. Combined all 4 turnbuckles to hold down the rear of the camper, and red necked up some ratchet straps for the front. As you'll see farther down in this thread, this has been rectified.
Here she is at home.. squatting the rear end of my 2500 pretty hard...
It was apparent that after a very squishy ride home, the first thing to do is to add either airbags, timbren Suspension enhancement or something else. After a lot of reading reviews on all the major products out there, I settled on timbrens. The cost to effectiveness ratio seemed good, and all the reviews on them have been positive. They replace your stock bumpstops and I'll say they work great. Took me 30 minutes to install, and that included looking for all my tools and putting them all back away. They definetly help with the ride while loaded, as well as getting rid of most of the squat in the truck.
Before timbrens:
After timbrens:
To be continued in next post....
Scott
The project in question is a 1988 Lance LC980 slide in truck camper. I inherited this from my in laws. They were tired of paying storage fees on it, so my father in law told me that if I stored it at my house, I could have it. Score!! So, first matter of business was to get the camper out of the storage lot in the desert. Since the truck already had tie downs installed, and I knew the turn buckles were in the camper, I removed my tailgate and we made the 1.5 hour trip to the desert and picked up the camper.
First thing we noticed is that the turnbuckles were not going to work, as they were too short, so we devised a temporary plan for securing the camper to get it home. Combined all 4 turnbuckles to hold down the rear of the camper, and red necked up some ratchet straps for the front. As you'll see farther down in this thread, this has been rectified.
Here she is at home.. squatting the rear end of my 2500 pretty hard...
It was apparent that after a very squishy ride home, the first thing to do is to add either airbags, timbren Suspension enhancement or something else. After a lot of reading reviews on all the major products out there, I settled on timbrens. The cost to effectiveness ratio seemed good, and all the reviews on them have been positive. They replace your stock bumpstops and I'll say they work great. Took me 30 minutes to install, and that included looking for all my tools and putting them all back away. They definetly help with the ride while loaded, as well as getting rid of most of the squat in the truck.
Before timbrens:
After timbrens:
To be continued in next post....
Scott
Up early today for some more cleaning. Its amazing home much dust and dirt can accumulate in an enclosed camper that's been sitting. First matter of business, pitch the original mattress in the trash. Not only is it worn out, who knows what kinda bugs it's got living in there! Don't mind the window shades, those will get replaced soon enough.
