Moose Nugget
Palmer, Alaska
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Great photos, sometimes better then words So, just how easy was it to remove the bottom and get into your basement? How did you support your camper while working under it? And did you add insulation or any other modifications?
Moose Nugget
2004 2500HD Ext Cab LB 4X4 Duramax 6.6L; 90FWS Adventurer, Hellwig swaybar, Bilstein shocks and 265/70-19.5 Michelin tires.
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mrblaine
SoCal
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Joined: 11/25/2007
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Moose Nugget wrote:Great photos, sometimes better then words So, just how easy was it to remove the bottom and get into your basement? How did you support your camper while working under it? And did you add insulation or any other modifications?
No serious modifications. I was chasing a pump performance issue. I found it and while I had the bottom off, did some tidying up.
In many of the pics that show the perimeter, you can see an aluminum extrusion that has a flange that is up from the bottom edge about 1/4 of an inch.
There are two pieces of 3/16's thick Luan Plywood, that have what I suspect is a textured melamine coating on one side and left raw on the other. The weather side is the melamine.
The plywood is attached to the recessed flange about every 6-8" with wafer head sheet metal screws around the perimeter. There is also a row up the center on the longer piece that goes into the dividing wall the forms one side of the long drawer compartment.
I don't know for sure that the row up the center is from Lance. Early one, the long drawer collapsed inwards, fell out of it's support tracks and blew the bottom cover off. A service call to the dealer got it repaired and updated with Lance's pair of spreaders to keep the top spread apart and in the tracks. The service techs may have put that row in.
You can see them in this pic-
But, many of the screws have been installed too far and have penetrated the first layer of the ply, so the retention is sketchy in places and many of the screws had to be moved over to a new section because they just pulled through. I need to come up with a better material to make the cover out of. I'll be starting some investigation into something suitable here shortly.
As far as how I supported the camper, I didn't. It came from the factory with a very nice set of electric jacks that seem to work just fine. 
The rest of the time, it's stored on a trailer.
* This post was
edited 12/14/08 10:57am by an administrator/moderator *
05 Dodge 3500 4x4 DRW Long Bed 4dr
07 Lance 992
III so far.
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jmtandem
carson city nv
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Mr. Blane,
I was out of step with most here in that I kind of liked your 'drink ' comment in your first post. What you are doing now is counter productive and will not make the manufacturers create better campers. It is time to either fix the camper or get another. Americans want cheap and quality in the same package and it doesn't happen. You have pointed that out. I am amazed at what passes for most buyers as OK RV construction practices. The reality is that these are not nuclear subs and are not make that way. When buyers want high quality campers they will be heavy and cost.
'05 Dodge Cummins 4x4 dually 3500 white quadcab auto long bed airbags overload springs bumpers
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mrblaine
SoCal
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jmtandem wrote:Mr. Blane,
I was out of step with most here in that I kind of liked your 'drink ' comment in your first post. What you are doing now is counter productive and will not make the manufacturers create better campers. It is time to either fix the camper or get another. Americans want cheap and quality in the same package and it doesn't happen. You have pointed that out. I am amazed at what passes for most buyers as OK RV construction practices. The reality is that these are not nuclear subs and are not make that way. When buyers want high quality campers they will be heavy and cost.
I must not have been clear. I am systematically going through and fixing as many things as I can that currently bother me. I'm more than capable.
There's no tilting at windmills here. Some things aren't up to my version of what's correct or how it could be slightly different, I'm rectifying that. I don't expect that to generate even the slightest ripple in the TC industry as far as their manufacturing practices go.
BTW- that wasn't my first post.  Besides, I thought everyone liked pictures?
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pjay9
Tacoma, WA
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MR. B. PLS tell us about the battery set up!! THX Capt PJ
2005 Lance 1161 2004 Dodge CTD 3500 Dually 2009 Raider 185 Pro Fish 90hp Yamaha
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Hoka Hey
Casper, WY USA
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Joined: 10/17/2004
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jmtandem
Your comments suggest that placing a screw properly justifies higher costs and heavier construction. Many of us recognize that there doesn't need to be any more materials or fasteners...they just need to be installed correctly. The RV industry knows that most consumers are clueless and they prescribe to the "what they can't see won't hurt them mentality". The RV industry should be ashamed if this is standard practice. It seems that you understand what is good quality and what isn't and that you accept the RV industry as it is. Sometimes I wish I could just let go a little, but laziness and the lack of regard continue to irritate me.
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Matthew_B
The boonies near Dallas, Oregon
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Quote:* This post was edited 12/13/08 09:00pm by an administrator/moderator *
You missed one big picture (assuming that was the edit  )
Got it:
Quote:* This post was last edited 12/14/08 09:56am by an administrator/moderator *
* This post was
edited 12/14/08 11:39am by Matthew_B *
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Matthew_B
The boonies near Dallas, Oregon
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jmtandem wrote:Americans want cheap and quality in the same package and it doesn't happen.
At $25K and up for a camper, how can you utter the words CHEAP?
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jmtandem
carson city nv
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I guess I need to clarify, I am not impressed with the construction practices of most camper manufacturers. The quality of the construction factors into my decisions to buy. Thankfully, my camper has not given me any issues in the time I owned it. What I was saying is that as long as most buyers tolerate the construction practices today they will not change. For those that think $25,000 for a camper is not cheap, you might check out the prices of most RV's. It is easy to spend $40K for a Bigfoot, Lance or Host, $75,000 for a nice toyhauler and hundreds of thousands for motorhomes. Campers are among the least expensive RV's, but not on a square foot basis. Having owned an airplane, expensive motorcycles and bicycles, the quality of the RV is sorely lacking by comparison. I don't blame Mr. Blaine for being concerned, for wanting his water to not surge, for expecting all the screws are straight, etc. but one person will not change an industry that buyers have shown through their purchases that they will tolerate the current practices.
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yosemite3000
Sacramento
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Joined: 12/06/2008
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Mr. Tandem you have a great point. In reality, I'm sure you realized, quality is a big problem. Anyone complaining of why rv's are not built to the same standard as autos needs to do more research on the auto industry and their vendor relationships.
Where Mr. Blaine is pointing out fit and finish issues, much of the warranty that is paid on warranty relates to a vendor supplied item. The simple fact is vendor relationship in the auto industry are just much closer, to the point where automotive vendors have representatives at the auto manufacturing plant.
So your points are well taken, and I agree with rectifying those assembly-line fit and finish problems, but this is a bigger problem than what most posters recognize.
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