I purchased maranda and spacekap utility shells and build my own camper.. paid 2,000.00 and 700.00. Best option for budget. Fiberglass shell will last a lifetime.
Honestly, projects like this are a great way to learn how to work on stuff. You don’t have a ton of money invested in it to start, and there is a ton of easily accessible information on fixing stuff like what’s going on here.
This video was very helpful. I think an important factor is time. You could fix all those things and what YT videos and spend a little money for parts, but it will take time and each new task will be fun to tackle but will take twice or three times as long than expected. So just depends how much time your willing to put into it or pay a bit more and just go for newer.
I just spent 70 grand on a Northern Lite 2023, 10.2, LE and a 100 grand on the truck. BUT I'm not a handy man and I'm old, LOST MY MIND! up for sale soon. lol great video.
Ok, I was minutes away from buying a 2 year old Lance camper for $34,000. My wife texted a 1995 six-pac on offer up for $8,000. I took a minute and decided let’s go see the Six-pac. I bought it for $6,000 it’s in great shape. Roof replaced, two solar panels installed, a few upgrades inside and a zodiac x2 pởwer box included. I’ve put $1200 into it to add a shower, shower curtain, replace the floor and little stuff. This being my first I felt much better spending less and eventually if we want to go newer, we can but for now I can’t see any reason why go newer.
To be honest there is a ton of these campers for either dirt cheap or even free. I just got a 1970 openroad that has slight water damage for free. Its absolutely huge, 3 burner stove instead of 2. A full blow queen+ sized bed space. I can stand in it and im 6ft 3in tall. It has a huge closet, and a place for a shower/crapper. You can buy new jacks, electric ones if need be. I get it you dont really know your way around tools and such. But heres the thing, non of us at one point and time didnt know how to walk. So i suggest getting familiar with tools ect... and ways to go about repairing and upgrading things. A brand new camper is a rip off. People with 50 grand to spend on a new one typically dont have a problem with paying stealership prices. If you have a problem with gas, a spray bottle with soapy water will locate leaks.
Honestly dude, talk about totally avoidable buyer's remorse... wtf would you buy a fixer-upper with self admittedly, ZERO handy-man skills? And to top off the act of throwing yourself under the bus by claiming that and sounding rather whiney about the situation. Jeez man.., this is why I watch folks like you. total entertainment. thanks
I think you’d be fine if you had good storage for it and a place to put a space heater in there to dry it out after trips. Those small leaks are going to devastate it over time. If you don’t believe me come look at my small trailer, it’s full of black mold 🥰
K. We’ve had old motor homes and truck campers. Once they start rotting you’re going to get into big repairs. This one is cute, so if it were mine, I would use it for all it’s worth, definitely don’t use that heater, and go for something better. That’s what we did, and we eventually found what we wanted at a decent price. It took time. If you love the lifestyle, you will get there. (Once you start ripping these old ones apart, it’s a big ole black hole, sorry)
Just came across your video. I just got a new to me truck camper has more leaks than yours but I do consider myself handy. You said you aren’t but your leaks seem minor I would keep it if you haven’t already. And camping in BC is great in the winter. We camped at cultus and Rathtrevor each night for $13 a night. Cultus had showers available. I like the inside of yours
i've been there with the denial bud ya reeeeally wanna believe that its ok bc you cant see the rot, but if there's water comin in its at least starting to rot back there, but odds are its been rotting for a while. good news is if you two wanna put in the sweat equity taking off the panels, ripping out the rotted studs and replacing them whole, and then putting it all back together and resealing it, that's not gonna cost ya too bad and is imo the best investment of either time or money you can make for the long term. re-sealing should be done preventatively every couple years anyways and if you keep that up one of these old campers can really last ya. i'm up in the northwest too and if you have the chance to get rid of your propane heater i'd def recommend putting in your own diesel heater. they used to only come from germany and be crazy expensive but now you can get good and cheap ones off amazon from china (if you do your research well) and you can plumb the system yourself whereas with propane you should probably get a technician to do it. none of that should cost you more than a grand. when you start talking about upgrading your batteries and solar, getting an electric cooler, and replacing the jacks is where things start to break the bank. if you do them right over the next couple years you could def pull all of them off but for this season i think you could live(granted in fear lol) without all of them. or maybe pitch for the jacks this summer and worry about the electric later(it's so confusing) but idk i'd say keep it and send it it sounds like it's something you really enjoy, you live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and if you see yourself making the most of the work and the money for years to come then that to me is well worth it. hope some of this helps:)
Hey guys. It's been awhile! Man like you said it might be a learning experience. I am pretty good at repairing things and it seems overwhelming to me. We found a 2000 Lance 845 for a pretty good price and everything works with no leaks. Good luck to you guys! Whatever you do I know you will have a blast 😆!!!
You are literally on RUclips. Search for videos on fixing campers. This camper is a great foundation. Jump in and fix this. First up...cut those wood screws off underneath the counter!
best to be wary, they can rot from condensation & it wont be obvious. I have a vintage camper i was going to get rid of until i realized i dont need to try to live/camp in a dollhouse, so im gutting it & and rebuilding very basic & simple. The 'workmanship', LOL, is scarey & appears they used scraps most people would toss. Seemingly, only thing the builder was good at was camoflaging shoddy work.
You are sitting on a ticking time bomb.. Get rid of it NOW!! You or your family are in risk of getting injured or dying in it.. I would not trust putting my family at risk of dying in it. Even putting it on your truck is risky not to mention the electrical hazards or LPG.. I would be scared to let my family sleep there.
I purchased maranda and spacekap utility shells and build my own camper.. paid 2,000.00 and 700.00. Best option for budget. Fiberglass shell will last a lifetime.
Honestly, projects like this are a great way to learn how to work on stuff. You don’t have a ton of money invested in it to start, and there is a ton of easily accessible information on fixing stuff like what’s going on here.
agreed.
Definitely worth the little work to keep it alive
I'm torn, my friend is an RV mechanic and told me to sell it haha. Just a lot of issues that add up. Not sure!
This video was very helpful. I think an important factor is time. You could fix all those things and what YT videos and spend a little money for parts, but it will take time and each new task will be fun to tackle but will take twice or three times as long than expected. So just depends how much time your willing to put into it or pay a bit more and just go for newer.
Yeah good point haha!
Run!! Sell and buy a one that you can enjoy.
I just spent 70 grand on a Northern Lite 2023, 10.2, LE and a 100 grand on the truck. BUT I'm not a handy man and I'm old, LOST MY MIND! up for sale soon. lol great video.
This is a excellent camper. Little work will make it perfect
stay tuned :P
I laughed at the "Hammer" joke!
Why spend $40k on a truck camper when you can get a used class c for a lot cheaper and more room
Ok, I was minutes away from buying a 2 year old Lance camper for $34,000. My wife texted a 1995 six-pac on offer up for $8,000. I took a minute and decided let’s go see the Six-pac. I bought it for $6,000 it’s in great shape. Roof replaced, two solar panels installed, a few upgrades inside and a zodiac x2 pởwer box included. I’ve put $1200 into it to add a shower, shower curtain, replace the floor and little stuff.
This being my first I felt much better spending less and eventually if we want to go newer, we can but for now I can’t see any reason why go newer.
To be honest there is a ton of these campers for either dirt cheap or even free. I just got a 1970 openroad that has slight water damage for free.
Its absolutely huge, 3 burner stove instead of 2. A full blow queen+ sized bed space. I can stand in it and im 6ft 3in tall. It has a huge closet, and a place for a shower/crapper.
You can buy new jacks, electric ones if need be.
I get it you dont really know your way around tools and such. But heres the thing, non of us at one point and time didnt know how to walk. So i suggest getting familiar with tools ect... and ways to go about repairing and upgrading things.
A brand new camper is a rip off. People with 50 grand to spend on a new one typically dont have a problem with paying stealership prices.
If you have a problem with gas, a spray bottle with soapy water will locate leaks.
Honestly dude, talk about totally avoidable buyer's remorse... wtf would you buy a fixer-upper with self admittedly, ZERO handy-man skills? And to top off the act of throwing yourself under the bus by claiming that and sounding rather whiney about the situation. Jeez man.., this is why I watch folks like you. total entertainment. thanks
Great walk through. I'm going vintage.
I think you’d be fine if you had good storage for it and a place to put a space heater in there to dry it out after trips.
Those small leaks are going to devastate it over time. If you don’t believe me come look at my small trailer, it’s full of black mold 🥰
Yeah for sure. Kept finding more leads lol
K. We’ve had old motor homes and truck campers. Once they start rotting you’re going to get into big repairs. This one is cute, so if it were mine, I would use it for all it’s worth, definitely don’t use that heater, and go for something better. That’s what we did, and we eventually found what we wanted at a decent price. It took time. If you love the lifestyle, you will get there. (Once you start ripping these old ones apart, it’s a big ole black hole, sorry)
Hey sorry for the late reply. But that sounds super accurate to me! Things just added up on this one!
Just came across your video. I just got a new to me truck camper has more leaks than yours but I do consider myself handy. You said you aren’t but your leaks seem minor I would keep it if you haven’t already. And camping in BC is great in the winter. We camped at cultus and Rathtrevor each night for $13 a night. Cultus had showers available. I like the inside of yours
Really cool vintage camper. You should vent your batteries to outside. What did you decide to do with it?
12 volt fridge
i've been there with the denial bud ya reeeeally wanna believe that its ok bc you cant see the rot, but if there's water comin in its at least starting to rot back there, but odds are its been rotting for a while. good news is if you two wanna put in the sweat equity taking off the panels, ripping out the rotted studs and replacing them whole, and then putting it all back together and resealing it, that's not gonna cost ya too bad and is imo the best investment of either time or money you can make for the long term. re-sealing should be done preventatively every couple years anyways and if you keep that up one of these old campers can really last ya. i'm up in the northwest too and if you have the chance to get rid of your propane heater i'd def recommend putting in your own diesel heater. they used to only come from germany and be crazy expensive but now you can get good and cheap ones off amazon from china (if you do your research well) and you can plumb the system yourself whereas with propane you should probably get a technician to do it. none of that should cost you more than a grand. when you start talking about upgrading your batteries and solar, getting an electric cooler, and replacing the jacks is where things start to break the bank. if you do them right over the next couple years you could def pull all of them off but for this season i think you could live(granted in fear lol) without all of them. or maybe pitch for the jacks this summer and worry about the electric later(it's so confusing) but idk i'd say keep it and send it it sounds like it's something you really enjoy, you live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and if you see yourself making the most of the work and the money for years to come then that to me is well worth it. hope some of this helps:)
Yeah, found even more rot afterwards lol... Appreciate the response. It's definitely adding up in terms of repairs and upgrades haha
Hey guys. It's been awhile! Man like you said it might be a learning experience. I am pretty good at repairing things and it seems overwhelming to me. We found a 2000 Lance 845 for a pretty good price and everything works with no leaks. Good luck to you guys! Whatever you do I know you will have a blast 😆!!!
Hey greg, That's awesome! I love those Lance campers!
🙂
Yo!! when you strap the camper on the bed do you do it from inside the camper or do you strap it from the outside??
the outside
You do not want your batteries venting inside the camper. Btw that camper probably weighs 3000 plus pounds.
On a scale it only showed 1700 apparently, but I'd believe that
theres no way you weigh 1700. i c a tile back splash eww😅
You are literally on RUclips. Search for videos on fixing campers. This camper is a great foundation. Jump in and fix this. First up...cut those wood screws off underneath the counter!
Haha fair enough. The issue is more the amount of problems it has. My friend who is an RV mechanic even told me to sell it
Find one with a better layout and remodel it yourself. Bathrooms are a huge bonus!!
You might be right!
It looks like it would weigh more than 1700 lbs. The truck handles it well.
best to be wary, they can rot from condensation & it wont be obvious. I have a vintage camper i was going to get rid of until i realized i dont need to try to live/camp in a dollhouse, so im gutting it & and rebuilding very basic & simple. The 'workmanship', LOL, is scarey & appears they used scraps most people would toss. Seemingly, only thing the builder was good at was camoflaging shoddy work.
Trade this camper for as much beer as you can get!
hahaha thats the best advice I've heard!
Buy a scout
lol good video pal, entertaining
Thanks Hana I tried!
So you can’t be to poor to pay someone to fix it and also unwilling to take on the diy jobs
It's more that the previous owner did a lot of weird stuff to it, so I switched it up!
You,Sir, Have purchased someone else's PROBLEM
Gay camping yAy, nice unit!
haha thanks!
You are sitting on a ticking time bomb.. Get rid of it NOW!! You or your family are in risk of getting injured or dying in it.. I would not trust putting my family at risk of dying in it. Even putting it on your truck is risky not to mention the electrical hazards or LPG.. I would be scared to let my family sleep there.