subarctic_moose
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Re: Lance 825 toilet leak
Thanks for the advice- I ended up replacing the whole connection unit for the water supply. Even got to reseal the shower and around the base while I was in there. Nothing more fun than taking the toilet out in the backcountry while the wife and infant are wondering if it’s all going to work out. :S337Views0likes0CommentsLance 825 toilet leak
Hi all! Ended up buying an 09/10 825 in pretty nice shape a month back. The wife and I are currently on our way back from CO to Reno and learning the quirks of the camper as we go. Other than the LP setting not cooling the norcold fridge, which isn’t a huge deal, the one thing I noticed is that the toilet supply line seams to be loose at the connection to the toilet itself. This is causing fresh water to leak onto the shower floor and fill the grey water tank anytime the pump is on or we’re hooked into city water. The connection coupling itself feels fully tightened, but there’s some play where the line seats and I can get the leak to stop/start by wiggling it around. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find a way to actually get eyes on the connection without pulling the whole toilet out of the mount. Any ideas? Cheers, Hunter1.4KViews0likes3CommentsRe: Road tripping for used TCs
Thanks everyone for the insight! The Lance that I was looking at long distance seems to have gone off the market, so no more worrying about an 8 hour drive. I think I'll take the advice of staying within a reasonable search radius... The more I wait the more units I see popping up within a 2 hour drive anyway. No sense in stressing about what's in the next state if you don't need to! Cheers.706Views0likes0CommentsRoad tripping for used TCs
I'm reading a few threads on this topic, but would love to hear some advice on how you all have handled looking/buying TCs that aren't in your immediate area? Here's what I'm currently looking at: 2013 Wolf Creek 850- nearby but priced high 2014 Wolf Creek 840- price is decent, but 4.5 hours away 2012 Lance 865- nearby but overpriced at a dealer 2012 Lance 825- great price, but 8 hours away 2014 NS Laredo SC- kind of nearby, not sure if it's overpriced or not I taught myself a good lesson this past weekend by driving 750 miles round trip to look at an older Fleetwood. I was hoping for something semi-usable or a moderate project and it turned out to be practically scrap. Nobody's fault but my own, but I'm now a little paranoid about spending hundreds in gas (and time) to get burned by a misleading photos. Is this just part of the deal? I wouldn't mind these trips at all IF I knew there was a high likelihood of things working out, but doing 3-4 of them and coming up empty would be rough. Cheers, Hunter5KViews0likes17CommentsRe: Fleetwood Elkhorn
Intersting, the seller originally had it on a short bed, but I could see that mistake happening especially when you can't find old Fleetwood TC brochures anywhere on the internet. A local "dealer" actually had a cleaner looking 8S from the same year. They wanted 10k for it.1.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Fleetwood Elkhorn
notsobigjoe wrote: I know I screwed this up sorry!!!! OK, Fixed it. joerg68 wrote: Your pictures a not very detailed and do not show many areas of interest as far as the telltale signs of rot go. What I do see: The cabover window seal looks odd. Maybe was taped over at one time, or resealed very unprofessionally, or both. These windows are a known area for leaks, and so are the marker lights. Doubly so on sheetmetal siding as these are more difficult to seal properly. The passenger side front corner of the cabover also looks odd, the edge should be rounded smoothly like the driver side edge. Another indicator for a potential leak, damage, or substandard repair. Any water entering the cabover will pool in the cabover floor framing or run down the camper front wall, eventually compromising the structure that the front jacks mount to. If the jack mounts are "wobbly" with the camper resting on them, or already show signs of damage control (large amounts of sealant, aluminum diamondplate patches, etc.), you are likely looking at a major project. Open all doors and hatches and look for water stains in the lower edges. Feel around with your fingers. It is difficult to describe what to look for until you have repaired your first rot damage... Usually, you can not smell rot, and it is often impossible to see, because most visible surfaces are covered with a very thin layer of plastic / vinyl. What is with the furniture door lying on the dinette seat? Is there a split in the table? I wish you luck! I agree and I too see these things. What I see in the very out of focus pics is something that has been sitting for a while. If it was sitting under that roof then that would be great. It looks really dirty and dusty and these older wooden framed units are known for their rot. But occasionally a gem is found. I don't think you found one but for 600 bucks and some elbow grease you'll have a camper. I take it your young and invincible and the problems may not bother you, they didn't bother me in my first one. we cleaned it up and went camping. Just touching base on what everyone will be posting. water intrusion and wood rot are going to be the problem. Look for it. If you think you can fix it great if it's gonna sit for a year or two while you fix it I wouldn't buy it. JMHO, Joe I think you nailed it. That’s exactly what we’re hoping for. Definitely up for elbow grease, some flooring and cabinetry if needed, and some exterior repairs. For 600 I’m willing to do that if it means we can spare the 8-10k for a comparable Lance (at least for this round). Like you said, rot would be my biggest concern. If it’s a total mess I’m hoping that will be fairly obvious. I don’t know about young and invincible but I still have some elbow grease to give! Seems like you really have to pay a premium to avoid it these days…1.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Fleetwood Elkhorn
joerg68 wrote: Your pictures a not very detailed and do not show many areas of interest as far as the telltale signs of rot go. What I do see: The cabover window seal looks odd. Maybe was taped over at one time, or resealed very unprofessionally, or both. These windows are a known area for leaks, and so are the marker lights. Doubly so on sheetmetal siding as these are more difficult to seal properly. The passenger side front corner of the cabover also looks odd, the edge should be rounded smoothly like the driver side edge. Another indicator for a potential leak, damage, or substandard repair. Any water entering the cabover will pool in the cabover floor framing or run down the camper front wall, eventually compromising the structure that the front jacks mount to. If the jack mounts are "wobbly" with the camper resting on them, or already show signs of damage control (large amounts of sealant, aluminum diamondplate patches, etc.), you are likely looking at a major project. Open all doors and hatches and look for water stains in the lower edges. Feel around with your fingers. It is difficult to describe what to look for until you have repaired your first rot damage... Usually, you can not smell rot, and it is often impossible to see, because most visible surfaces are covered with a very thin layer of plastic / vinyl. What is with the furniture door lying on the dinette seat? Is there a split in the table? I wish you luck! Thanks for taking this time to spell this all out, great points. The seller did mention needing to reseal the cabover window. He also mentioned a slight leak at one point, but no rot to his knowledge. I will be doing everything I can to try and see if there's substantial soft spots or mold/rot to deal with. Not really sure what the deal is with the cabinets and table. Seller mentioned some projects that didn't get finished, so there could be some work to do there. He also stated that all appliances worked as expected, stove/oven, heater, electric jacks, etc. Best case is there is minimal rot and this thing just needs some elbow grease. For <1k ($600 to be exact) I can definitely give that a shot if the frame is sound. Worst case I burn a day and tank of gas to go look at this thing and see that it's not worth it. But I could use a road trip.1.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Fleetwood Elkhorn
KD4UPL wrote: I owned a 2003 Fleetwood Elkhorn 11x from 2009 to 2018. Mine had fiberglass sides, a dry bath, and, of course, was bigger. Overall I was pleased with it. Mine had an aluminum frame according to the decals. I don't know where it was as the only framing I ever encountered was wood. The lower edge of the front wall rotted out on mine. I fixed it with some new wood and a big piece of 3" aluminum angle on the exterior. Also, my side entrance step well had some rot. I fixed that with new wood. The refrigerator didn't want to stay lit but a new circuit board from Dinosaur electronics fixed that. We used the camper starting with just the wife and I. Then we had 2 kids and used it a lot. We sold it after the third child was born because it just wasn't big enough. Otherwise, I might still be using it. We had it to around 20 states I think over those 9 years. My Fleetwood only had room for one battery; I always wished I could have added one as we camped with no hook ups quite often. We camped in it off the truck plenty of times with no trouble. When I was researching the brand prior to buying mine I found lots of bad reviews about rot but also lots of great reviews. With closer study it seemed like the people complain had fairly new campers and the happy owners had owned them for many years. I decided that meant that if it was going to leak it would happen early on. Since the one I bought was already 6 years old I figured it was probably solid. Excellent to know, thank you!1.1KViews0likes0Comments
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