On Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 5:56:33 PM UTC-7, Ted Heise wrote:
Hi all,
From time to time I've posted a question or two here. I'm still
thinking of getting small trailer, and looking at the Lance 1475
from online reviews. Should be able to look at one this weekend.
Any experience of folks here with this trailer, or the brand?
--
Ted Heise <the...@panix.com> West Lafayette, IN, USA
Hi, we purchased model 1995 Lance tow-behind trailer in November. It is a 2018 model year. We got it from a reputable RV dealership that took it on consignment. Have made 3 short trips, and so far very pleased. At first, we were towing with a half-
ton Ford pickup with the quad-cab. Now we have a 3/4 ton Ford pickup with just the extended cab. A bigger truck makes a lot of difference when towing, even tho the half-ton was within its towing limits. I checked the lance website and your 1475
floorplan has the same bathroom arrangement as ours. However, our model year, they have a cloth shower curtain instead of the opaque fiberglass sliding doors. I thought the cloth shower curtain would be great and I wouldn't have to clean the trac of
the sliding door. Well... if you get a cloth curtain, you will need to add velcro stickers to the back wall because the folds of the shower curtain tend to let water escape to the floor behind the toilet. Even WITH the velcro stickers, water escapes
from the shower to the small space of floor behind the toilet. So we keep a towel ready to soak up water that sprinkles out of the shower and onto the floor; and immediately after our shower we pick up the towel and quickly dry the floor. At least by
putting the towel on the floor, it prevents standing puddles of water on the floor, and those standing puddles can creep behind the wall/floor junction which would eventually turn to mold. Definitely want to prevent that. But, its still more pleasant
to take a shower in my own unit than walk to the campground shower house! Other than that-- the kitchen is quite small although the fridge is quite large for the size of the RV. Previous to this Lance trailer, we had a 21' Nomad trailer (slept 5
people) and that fridge was much smaller (the trailer was also much older and that might have been a factor). We added a foam egg crate mattress topper. We don't use the attached awning much, prefer a free-standing screen room; helps with bugs and if
the wind kicks up, its more steady. In the campgrounds, we have also visited with Lance owners of 2075 and 2185. The 2075 is really good if you have kids, or smaller size adult guests. The beds are at opposite ends of the trailer and that affords
privacy. The kids in a 2075 are just going to plop down individual sleeping bags and you could probably fit more kids on the lounge than the 3 bunks of the 2185. The owners of the 2075 were an older couple like us (65-70yrs) and they really like that
rear dinette that makes into a huge lounge area! With the pull-out exterior kitchen, they do most of their cooking and eating outdoors, but they clean that up early and retire for the evening INSIDE their trailer on the lounge to watch a movie or other
media. I gotta say, its different watching a movie or watching TV on the lounge with all the windows to the rear and usually a nice view out the rear, than it is on your bed towards the hitch of your trailer! We are beginning to cook outdoors on a
portable campstove and eat outdoors more often, and sit in our screen room to read and sew. Then we gotta batten down the hatches (depending how public the camping area is-- what we think we need to do to secure our belongings) and go inside to sleep.
The other couple has already secured their cooking/dining stuff and gone indoors. Sometimes, we wish we had gotten either of those two larger trailers. I didn't think I would like the tub unit and seemingly smaller bathroom in those two models, but the
lifestyle those two models affords just seems to make more sense; and I think the shower/tub is better also. I thought we would have more 'elbow' room in the corner shower with the cloth curtain, but the sprinkles of water that escape the cloth curtain
are still a puzzle to be resolved. I think we will get a routine down so we can deal with the unit we have; at our age I don't think we want to switch trailers, now that we have settled on a purchase!
As far as a smaller trailer with 1 axel----- NO. My parents had a single axel Santa Fe trailer when I was a child. Blew a tire, before my dad could get pulled over to the edge of the road the axel also broke and that ended our vacation trip. After
that, he bought Chinook slide-in campers and purchased a dual axel 1964 3/4ton, Ford positive-traction rear end. That thing was a beast. No more ruined vacations that started with a flat tire that turned into irrepairable equipment less than 90
seconds later. I know you probably only have funds for a smaller SUV and/or a smaller trailer, nowadays. As for me and my husband, we just got a decent tent with a e-pocket that allowed us to put our electric cords thru the wall of the tent without
keeping the tent door zipper open a crack. We tent camped in the wind, and when we were in rain territory-- we put shipping pallets under the tent (we added a few boards to the shipping pallets so our foot would not get stuck inbetween the pallet boards)
. We also have a Thousand Trails membership that allows us to get a RV campsite even tho we had a tent. Therefore, we had water and electric at our campsite. In tent sites, the water is something you walk to, fill your bucket and carry it back. You
also depend on battery lights and fans in your space. So we just toughed it out in a tent (after our '72 Nomad trailer developed a roof leak, and a plumbing leak) and looked and looked until we found the 1995 Lance on consignment. When buying a used
unit-- you gotta be cash-in-your-hand ready with pre-approved credit to buy on a used unit, because somebody else will be right behind you, while you wait for the bank or credit union to open the next morning and you are filling out loan papers... We
got skunked on a few nice and well-maintained used trailers from private parties in our search; somebody else viewed the unit later in the day and bought it on the spot. Sellers have loyalty to green cash only!
Good luck in your search and your decisions. I am new to this Google Group. I will continue to post later about our trips in our 1995 Lance! Sincerely, Brenda
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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