Lance Camper Repair With California Parts Instead of Freight
Written by Structural Repair Lead, Structural and Frame Lead, OCRV Center. Reviewed by Fleet Account Manager
In shortLance builds in Lancaster, California, so panels arrive by in state truck rather than cross country freight. The repairs that define the brand are wing walls and jack mounts.
Why are Lance repairs faster than other camper brands?
Because Lance builds in Lancaster, California, about ninety miles from our Yorba Linda shop. Panels, windows and jack components move in state instead of shipping from Indiana, so a Rancho Santa Margarita owner often waits days rather than weeks for parts.
- Wing wall cracks at the front corners are the signature repair
- Happijac jack brackets tear out of the body under load
- Thermal pane windows fog when the seal fails
- In state parts freight is the brand's biggest practical advantage
- Built in
- Lancaster, CaliforniaAbout ninety miles from the shop
- Jack system
- HappijacBracket mounting into the camper body is the wear point
- Body rate
- $210 per hour
- Windows
- Thermal paneFogging indicates a failed seal, not dirt
- Estimate
- $150 written scopeCredited in full against an authorized repair
Last verified
Lance is the rare case where geography is a repair advantage. The campers and trailers are built in Lancaster, which means a wing wall panel or a molded roof cap comes down the road rather than across the country. On a brand where the parts are usually the schedule, that changes everything.
The campers themselves take loads nothing else in this catalog approaches. A truck camper sits on a bed floor and rides every input the truck takes, unsprung, all day. That is why the failure list is short, specific and structural.
Wing walls and why they crack
The wing walls are the sections that hang down either side of the cabover, forward of the truck bed sides. They are unsupported at the bottom edge and they move constantly as the truck twists. On a camper with real mileage, cracks appear at the front corners where the wing meets the cabover face.
Repair is laminate work from both sides where access allows, with reinforcement added at the corner radius rather than just filling the crack. We also check the fit against the truck, because a wing wall that has been rubbing on a bed rail is telling you the camper is not sitting where it should.
Happijac brackets and the loads they carry
Four jacks lift a camper that weighs as much as a small car, and they do it through brackets fastened into the camper body. Every load and unload cycle puts that weight through four small areas of sidewall. Over years, and especially if a camper has been loaded on uneven ground, the mounting starts to work loose and the surrounding structure crushes.
The repair is not a longer screw. We open the area, replace crushed or delaminated structure, add proper backing, and remount the bracket into sound material. Where the original design was marginal for how the owner actually uses the camper, we reinforce beyond the original specification and say so on the invoice.
Roof cap seams and the front radius
Lance uses a molded roof cap, and the seam at the front radius is the highest stress sealant joint on the camper. It sits directly in the airstream at highway speed, it flexes with the body, and it gets baked all summer. When it opens, water tracks down inside the cabover and shows up in the mattress area.
We remove failed sealant entirely rather than adding a bead over it, inspect the joint and the substrate underneath, then reseal with the correct product for the materials involved. Layered sealant is the most common thing we find on these campers and the most common reason a leak was never actually found.
Thermal pane windows and what fogging means
Lance fits thermal pane windows, which are genuinely better in heat and cold and which fail differently from single pane glass. When the perimeter seal on a double pane unit fails, moisture gets between the panes and the window fogs permanently. No amount of cleaning helps because the moisture is inside the assembly.
That is a window replacement rather than a repair, and because Lance is in state it is usually a quick one. We also check the frame and the wall opening while the window is out, since a window that has been leaking around the frame has often left moisture in the wall behind it.
The Lance trailer range
Lance builds travel trailers alongside the campers, from the compact 1475 up to the 2465, and they carry the same construction philosophy: welded aluminum framing, laminated walls, a molded front cap and thermal pane glass. They are heavier than comparable value trailers and they hold up accordingly.
Repairs are conventional towable work with the same in state parts advantage. Front cap stone damage, slide seals, roof terminations and window seals are the common items, and none of them wait three weeks on freight from Indiana.
Camper to truck fit, which causes half the damage
A large share of the truck camper damage we repair started as a fit problem rather than an impact. A camper that sits too far forward rubs the bed rails. One that is not centered loads two jacks harder than the other two. Tie downs that are too tight crush the body at the anchor and tie downs that are too loose let the camper move.
So we look at the truck as well as the camper. Documenting how the unit sits, where it contacts and how the tie downs are tensioned is part of the repair, because fixing a cracked wing wall without correcting the cause means fixing it again in two years.
Rates and our standing
Body, laminate, cap and refinish work bills at $210 per hour. Jack systems, appliances and electrical work bill at $260. A written estimate is $150 and is credited in full when the repair is authorized. Deposits are 50 percent over $2,000.
OCRV Center is an independent shop with no dealer agreement or affiliation with Lance Camper. All work is performed in shop at Yorba Linda. A camper can be dismounted here on its jacks, which is safer than doing it at home on a sloped driveway and is included in the labor when the job requires it.
Lance Camper lines we work on
- Lance 650, 825 and 855 short bed truck campers
- Lance 975, 1062 and 1172 long bed campers
- Lance 1475, 1685 and 1985 travel trailers
- Lance 2075, 2185 and 2445 mid size trailers
- Lance 2465, the largest trailer in the range
Parts. Lance builds in Lancaster, California, roughly ninety miles from our building. That is the single biggest practical advantage of the brand for a Southern California owner: parts move by truck within the state instead of crossing the country on freight from Indiana. Molded roof caps, wing wall panels, thermal pane windows and Happijac jack components are all obtainable, usually within the same week.
What we see on this brand
- Wing wall cracking at the front corners of truck campers
- Happijac jack bracket tearout from the camper body
- Roof cap seam sealant failure at the front radius
- Thermal pane window seal failure showing as fogging
- Rear entry step and bumper damage from steep departure angles
Appendix: questions and answers
- How much faster are Lance parts than an Indiana built brand?
- Materially faster. Lance builds in Lancaster, about ninety miles away, so panels, glass and jack components move in state by truck. Where an Indiana molded part is measured in weeks, a Lance part is often the same week. It is the biggest practical advantage of owning one here.
- What makes a truck camper wing wall crack?
- Unsupported geometry plus truck flex. The wings hang below the cabover with no support at the bottom edge and move every time the truck twists. Cracks start at the front corner radius. We reinforce that radius during the repair rather than only filling the crack.
- My jack bracket is loose. Can it just be retightened?
- No. If the bracket has moved, the structure behind it has crushed or delaminated. Tightening into damaged material buys a few loads. We open the area, replace the failed structure, add backing, and remount into sound material, reinforcing past the original specification where use justifies it.
- Why is my Lance window permanently foggy?
- The perimeter seal on the thermal pane unit has failed and moisture is trapped between the panes. Cleaning cannot reach it. The window is replaced rather than repaired, and we inspect the frame and wall opening while it is out, since frame leaks often leave moisture in the wall.
- Can tie downs cause camper body damage?
- Both too tight and too loose will. Overtightening crushes the body at the anchor point. Leaving them loose lets the camper shift and work the wing walls. We document tie down tension and how the camper sits during a repair, because fit problems cause a large share of the damage we see.
- Do you dismount the camper from my truck for repairs?
- Yes, on level shop floor using the jacks, which is considerably safer than doing it on a sloped driveway. Dismounting and remounting is included in the labor when the repair requires it, and it lets us inspect the camper floor and the truck bed contact points properly.
Open a file on this repair
Tell us the vehicle, what happened and whether a claim is open. We will tell you what the scope looks like and what it takes to get you back on the road.
Or call (949) 799-3387