Back to a Slide in Camper!

We trailered for 35 years when we had kids with us, with various beautiful, roomy, travel trailers and 5th wheels! In our retired 60's we've gone back to a Chevy diesel 1 ton, 4 x 4, crew cab with a Lance #1121 camper with slide and generator! In fact we just sold a '05 Arctic Fox we thought was a great trailer, but not for us!

So, why give up all that luxury and go to a Lance slide in camper! Simplicity and reduced stress on trips has become more important than room! We prefer to be able to go anywhere and do whatever we want without thinking twice about it! Who cares about dead ends, small parking lots and tight turns in gas stations! Just pretend your driving a pickup truck around your hometown! We travel at the speed limit in the fast lane avoiding the rough lanes caused by the big rigs without looking for police over our shoulders! We stop anywhere a pickup can fit without giving it a second thought! It rides better than any rig we've ever had! It's easier across country to stop for fuel, water and propane, and any odd little store we see! We keep it loaded at all times and take it when we go half a day away from home and decide later if will return home or stay the night at friends and relatives!

The GM 1 ton 3500 with diesel engine, Allison transmission, front suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes, and factory overload springs works great with no need for sway bars! It needed no adjustments!

A few caveats/warnings! (1.) We don't travel much in the winter anymore except to Reno, NV to see the snow and eat at the buffets for a few days! With shorter hours of daylight we found the camper too confining in the winter (but frankly, so was a 5th wheel)! In the winter we like being with our wood burning stove at home in the high desert of Calif! In the summer we don't spend much time sitting around in the camper! We usually spend the day doing things outside, with maybe a nap in the afternoon if we're worn out! Then it's dinner, a shower around 9:00 PM, a couple hours of TV, and snooze time! (2.) We don't cook much in the camper! To us, part of traveling is finding great local restuarants to remember! We always have food with us for roadside lunches, national parks, beaches, and emergency dinners. It's usually just our small hotel room on wheels! See Ad in For Sale Section

Questions about a camper on a Chevy 1 ton?
davedundon@aol.com

Interior pics? That's bigger than most I've seen. Nice setup.

Diesel_Day_Deamin'

If you're interested take a look at http://www.lancecamper.com/

for the Lance #1121 Fiberglass Slide in Camper! I researched just about all of them and Lance is probably the best constructed RV I've ever seen bar none! Ours is a '01 model and we've had zero problems with it after many cross country trips! I'd prefer a used one with the one piece 40 gauge Aluminum roof to the new models that I have heard are coming out aluminumed framed with rubber roofs! Not an improvement, a cost cutting change!

Sounds like a great idea to me.......

Hey! Why are you posting a picture of my truck and Camper? Just Kidding. I have the exact same set up for pretty much the same reasons. I must admit it took me awhile to adjust to the space coming from RV's. Only drawback is youy have to be very tidy and put things away........fortunately for me the GF is good at that!

To Gruber,

I put an ad to sell it in the "FOR SALE" section! We're going to travel overseas for about five years! My wife won't let me have a GF, so I have to clean up after myself! Actually we have less mess in the camper than in the 30" Arctic Fox we had! I love the lack of stress and freedom when traveling in it!

Diesel_Day_Deamin'

If you're interested take a look at http://www.lancecamper.com/

for the Lance #1121 Fiberglass Slide in Camper! I researched just about all of them and Lance is probably the best constructed RV I've ever seen bar none! Ours is a '01 model and we've had zero problems with it after many cross country trips! I'd prefer a used one with the one piece 40 gauge Aluminum roof to the new models that I have heard are coming out aluminumed framed with rubber roofs! Not an improvement, a cost cutting change!

I thought aluminum frame and rubber roof was the way to go??:confused:

Hi BigOl3,

I knew we'd meet again!

I think the alumn. frame issue can be argued either way! My feeling is the weight saving is not that great and I've been to the Lance factory and the methods they use in construction and their laminated kiln dried wood stock is the best in the industry! It beats anything I've seen in any RV at any price! Of course you pay dearly for it! After many trips aound the U.S on and off the road, not one thing has moved, come loose or changed in the construction! An unnamed source at Lance told me that the Alumn. frame was a major cost saving from the wood! It may be just fine if welded carefully, and if Lance wants to keep it's standards it probably is, but I know the wood construction is great! I had a 5'er with an alumn. frame and it wasn't very rigid! If you didn't level it right the doors stuck! I guess it's like wood frames, some good, some not so good!

As to the rubber roof, on any unit you may want to take off road like a camper I think its a big mistake based on lower cost of construction! The heavy one piece alumn. roof on my camper will withstand a lot of abuse such as tree branches! A repair would be simple and quick if you ever did hit it so hard it actually tore! I had a rubber roof on a upper quality 5'er and I tore it on a small branch and it cost over $5000. to replace! No RV repair station would repair it due to the liabilty if the repair leaked! Needless to say I repaired it myself, and when I did I found the roof coming loose due to improper spreading of mastic!

If you watch the factories put on a rubber roof you'll understand the reason for the change! A few minutes to spread the mastic, roll it out and your done! It's a big cost saver they all "have" to go to to compete! In my opinion the only problem with old style alumn. roofs were the seams that had to be resealed! The one piece alumn. roof is as bullet proof as you can get!

Dave is so right, especially on the aluminum frame issue.Holiday Rambler has used aluminum framed walls for many years with success due to their constuction methods which includes adding a foam thermal barrier on the inside of the wall.Aluminum is a great conductor of cold and heat,no insulation value period.Airplanes made of aluminum are riveted,not welded.Aluminum will not rot but if welded up rigidly will crack from road stress.A lot of the big names in the RV industry stayed away from aluminum frames for these reasons but are now being knuckled into by the fast bucks industry.Talked to a honest RV salesman who has toured the factories,said either you will be impressed or you might not buy another RV.Have been looking to replace our current fiver but cannot seem to find one thats put together from the ground up with any common sense.Maybe I am getting picky with age but seems most are running around with blinders on.

Another case of live and learn!

Dave is so right, especially on the aluminum frame issue.Holiday Rambler has used aluminum framed walls for many years with success due to their constuction methods which includes adding a foam thermal barrier on the inside of the wall.Aluminum is a great conductor of cold and heat,no insulation value period.Airplanes made of aluminum are riveted,not welded.Aluminum will not rot but if welded up rigidly will crack from road stress.A lot of the big names in the RV industry stayed away from aluminum frames for these reasons but are now being knuckled into by the fast bucks industry.Talked to a honest RV salesman who has toured the factories,said either you will be impressed or you might not buy another RV.Have been looking to replace our current fiver but cannot seem to find one thats put together from the ground up with any common sense.Maybe I am getting picky with age but seems most are running around with blinders on.

SAYWHAT,

Take a look at Arctic Fox trailers! They are the best buy on the market I'm aware of today! It's a true 4 Seasons trailer! They come standard with most everything the average person wants! I bought one and was very happy with it and I'm picky too!

I bought mine at

www.thunderrv.com

They are very nice, honest people who gave me the best price by far without any sales games and hastle! They have a RV business in La Grande, OR where Northwood manufactures Arctic Fox! You can pick up a trailer there or they'll ship it to your house! Ask for Dan & Moneta! Tell them Dave from So. Calif that bought a 30U sent you!

(I don't make a dime on it, just passing along info. because good, honest people should be recommended!)

Do you like the Lance better than the Arctic Fox as far as pick up campers go? I was just wondering, I've heard good things about both of them.

Do you like the Lance better than the Arctic Fox as far as pick up campers go? I was just wondering, I've heard good things about both of them.

Both Arctic Fox and Lance are good campers, but I do think the Lance construction and design is much better. I've gone to a number of RV factories through the years and I've never seen any RV at any price built as well as Lance. The last factory I visited was Northland were I watched them build Arctic Fox. Good, but not as well constructed or thought out as Lance. My Lance has been around the U.S. a number of times and I have not had one problem with it. It's solid as a rock. My recommendation is to get one with hard fiberglass sides, a slide and the one piece metal roof for tree branch safety and lack of maintainence. Also the built in gererator is great. We don't use ours alot, but you you need it, it's great to just push a button and have AC or a microwave. The GM dually with overloads is like it was made to carry that camper. Level and little or no sway on the highway due to the tortion bars. We've found it the most relaxing and free way to travel.

You may have seen my ad in "For Sale" on the forum. The only reason I'm selling it is that we are going to travel overseas for 5 or more years and I can't see letting the rig just sit around.

See: (Lowered price) '02 4x4 Crew Cab/Lance 1121 Camper

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38832

Let me know if you have any other questions.

P.S. From your tag name, I thought you'd be from Arizona or the High Desert Area! Of Course My name doesn't mean I've seen an Apple lately!

Dave

Yup, Lance is great. I'm on my 3rd one. First started with an 815 Lite that I squeezed onto a Dodge 1/2 ton. Then my folks tired of their 835, so I bought that one from them since I had recently upgraded trucks. Now I have two children, and we have the ultimate setup (for us, at least): a lance 920 and a Chev 3500 Dually crew 4x4 D/A. Cost drove us to the 920 (we wanted the open floorplan of a slide out, but too much $), as we picked up a brand new '04 this summer for $16k.

Our 4th camper but first Lance. Love it!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/freewayrandy/Yosemite008.jpg

Nice.........

nice campground!

Thanks, CG is Yosemite, lower pines.