1988 Lance Squire 9.4

[theycallmeWALLY]

New old Camper to me that I just picked up for FREE with the help of Mikey at the Fab Lab.

I also have a 40ft RV but wanted something smaller for shorter trips without the family.

The guy who owned it before had gutted it to fix the PEX plumbing and then lost motivation. First thing I did was to take everything out of it, test what works (basically everything) and now to patch any open areas.

Step two is to get the heater and water heater working.

Step three is to figure out what I want to keep and then upgrade. So far I've ordered up a queen mattress. I'm going to have to demo some cabinets on it to make it fit. I realized on the last camper I owned that most of the items I kept in the camper never got used so less is more!

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

So I've started up the shopping process and going to try and pull the trigger on 'prime day' with most of the purchases.

I'm thinking of getting a Diesel heater like this guy -

Diesel Heater

And I'm also looking to get a simple 2 burner stove to replace the big oven unit that I'd never use.

2 Burner Stove

Also debating on pulling the trigger to get something like this but man these are Spendy.

ICECO Fridge/Freezer

Thoughts on how you would approach a 'build' like this?

 

[DesertGoat]

i have no feedback other than to ask: did you make yourself an entire subforum for this?

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

i have no feedback other than to ask: did you make yourself an entire subforum for this?

Yes.

I figured we all camp when we go to the desert so there should probably be a space to chat it up about our set up?

Think it should go in a different spot? We can always move it.

 

[DesertGoat]

lol, nah. just got a chuckle out of it.
making a comfortable living situation in the dirt is a skill in itself - made even more complicated by wanting to tow your prerunner or whatever out.

crawler haulers & slide ins seem to be the preferred not-ultra-ballin' way to do it.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Got some work done over the last few days.

First was demoing storage space that I just didn't need. I learned from our last camper that I kept more sheet in it then I needed. Most of the stuff I kept in it I only took out once I sold it.

So I'm sticking with the "less is more" concept.

Took out the bottom cabinet that made the table area an 'U' shape. It'll now be an 'L' shape. I purchased all of the wood to make a 'vanlife' style bed extension. Also I put in the flooring and quarter round.





The top bunk above the bed. It's normally cabinets that fold down to make a 'bed'. Yeah that was never going to happen so I wanted to leave it 'open' and i'm just going to have some bins that sit up there and hold stuff. Added a stopper to hold everything up there. I chose a piece of wood that had a little character to it. Once sanded and stained it should look pretty cool.





A few from the bed.



And here is another cabinet demo. It extended into the bed space about 12" or so. I deleted that and capped it off. Now there is plenty of space for the RV queen bed.

 

[badlinesgoodtimes]

Looking good.

You gotta score a new shower head in that bitch.

amazon - shower head

amazon - faucet valves

 

[84projectFORD]

Reminds me of Tyler Childers "country squire" song.

Shes lookin good! gunna stay with the same interior paint color or change it up?

 

[badlinesgoodtimes]

lol, nah. just got a chuckle out of it.
making a comfortable living situation in the dirt is a skill in itself - made even more complicated by wanting to tow your prerunner or whatever out.

crawler haulers & slide ins seem to be the preferred not-ultra-ballin' way to do it.

It's so nice being self-contained with just a truck and a tent pack up and GTFO down the road.

But it is also pretty swell to be able to have amenities such Bed, A/C, Heater/ Shower/poopatoriam/ Fridge

Especially, if the whole squad ( Wife & kids, dag) is in tow.

Damnit I'm getting old.

 

[84projectFORD]

It's so nice being self-contained with just a truck and a tent pack up and GTFO down the road.

But it is also pretty swell to be able to have amenities such Bed, A/C, Heater/ Shower/poopatoriam/ Fridge

Especially, if the whole squad ( Wife & kids, dag) is in tow.

Damnit I'm getting old.

fucking 100%. i love the simplicty of loading up teh tracker and going on an adventure but there is something to be said when its real shitty weather outside and you can sit in a chair, have a/c or heat going, watching a movie and plenty of room for the kids to play.

family vs single life lol

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

fucking 100%. i love the simplicty of loading up teh tracker and going on an adventure but there is something to be said when its real shitty weather outside and you can sit in a chair, have a/c or heat going, watching a movie and plenty of room for the kids to play.

family vs single life lol

Highway Miles - Lander, WY

sometimes you get fed up with life and need to check out for a bit, this story started last year over the 4th of july. i was working another holiday and was over it. went in on monday and submitted my request for 2 weeks off. throughout the year i knew that i was going to create waves but again...

forum.badlinesgoodtimes.com

If you haven't already, give this trip report a gander... For a family trip like he did his life could have been a little bit better with a set up like this old camper. All of those unexpected everything's that he went through haha. It's a really good read.

But yes... some of the best trips I've had are loading up the old Ranger with some firewood, daddy juice and my old trusty Tentkot. Times have changed for the most part. I'll get back to the simpler times when the little one gets older, but until then setting up this old camper has been a fun project.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Reminds me of Tyler Childers "country squire" song.

Shes lookin good! gunna stay with the same interior paint color or change it up?

Probably going to leave the color because I really don't have an eye for that stuff.

The flooring came with the camper and they had done a lot of the painting already. It also came with more paint so for now I'm just going to touch it all up when the major renovations are done.

 

[84projectFORD]

Highway Miles - Lander, WY

sometimes you get fed up with life and need to check out for a bit, this story started last year over the 4th of july. i was working another holiday and was over it. went in on monday and submitted my request for 2 weeks off. throughout the year i knew that i was going to create waves but again...

forum.badlinesgoodtimes.com

If you haven't already, give this trip report a gander... For a family trip like he did his life could have been a little bit better with a set up like this old camper. All of those unexpected everything's that he went through haha. It's a really good read.

But yes... some of the best trips I've had are loading up the old Ranger with some firewood, daddy juice and my old trusty Tentkot. Times have changed for the most part. I'll get back to the simpler times when the little one gets older, but until then setting up this old camper has been a fun project.

lol yeah i read through it. Hes a brave man but honestly, thats what my dad did way back when he was a kid (1960's). They would load up in a station wagon (him and 4 siblings plus mom and dad), then head out for a week to 2 week adventure. they would go to yellowstone, mount rushmore and so on. eventually they got a travel trailer to pull behind the station wagon to help with sleeping at night.

No way my little tracker would make it with the family. MAYBE if i load the roof rack down with stuff but doubtful. Boy needs to get out of his car seat so he gets more leg room first lol.

We have a 38ft toyhauler we usually take camping with the fam. load the tracker in there or quads/motorcycle. i got a chuckle about him crossing the rez. i dont think about it cause i know all too well about it but realizing that out-of-towners dont know how the navajos run their area can make thing interesting! honestly, 95% of them out there are very welcoming people. weve broke down a few times out there (mainly my buddy lol) and they are more than willing to let us stay on their property or help if they can. what i dont like are the jackass drivers on that road, that is something you really have to watch at night.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Yep. Did you just see that Ricky Brabec was hit by some dude in a Tacoma looking at his phone? He was just out putting in some training and got his knee mangled.

 

[84projectFORD]

yup! fuckin people... i had a jeep just decide to turn down into a corner on a dirt road (he was on coming headed west on a turn where it was a sharp left for him) as i was coming into the corner the opposite way on my dirt bike. No damn clue wtf he was doing but i hit the brakes, went sideways and he cut back up into his lane. Some how i missed him and didnt lay the bike down. fuck i was pissed. We were doing a dirt bike ride from Silverton to Lake City and back, we were almost to lake city at that point. thats a whole nother story ill have to post up.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

yup! fuckin people... i had a jeep just decide to turn down into a corner on a dirt road (he was on coming headed west on a turn where it was a sharp left for him) as i was coming into the corner the opposite way on my dirt bike. No damn clue wtf he was doing but i hit the brakes, went sideways and he cut back up into his lane. Some how i missed him and didnt lay the bike down. fuck i was pissed. We were doing a dirt bike ride from Silverton to Lake City and back, we were almost to lake city at that point. thats a whole nother story ill have to post up.

Send it! Stories are what this type of platform is all about!

 

[DesertGoat]

It's so nice being self-contained with just a truck and a tent pack up and GTFO down the road.

But it is also pretty swell to be able to have amenities such Bed, A/C, Heater/ Shower/poopatoriam/ Fridge

but there is something to be said when its real shitty weather outside

^faaaaaaaa sho.
the biggest trip of the year I do is always at new years in Johnson Valley with my old college buddies. so that's usually 3-5 days of JV drinking not enough water. We used to do that in tents when our immune systems were 20something years old and the recovery wasn't so bad... nowadays sucking down all that dust mixed in with coors latte's and pacificos and eating like zero vegetables for multiple days with lots of sun exposure is just... not gonna cut it anymore.

i get a trailer delivered to the desert now for that trip

 

[badlinesgoodtimes]

^faaaaaaaa sho.
the biggest trip of the year I do is always at new years in Johnson Valley with my old college buddies. so that's usually 3-5 days of JV drinking not enough water. We used to do that in tents when our immune systems were 20something years old and the recovery wasn't so bad... nowadays sucking down all that dust mixed in with coors latte's and pacificos and eating like zero vegetables for multiple days with lots of sun exposure is just... not gonna cut it anymore.

i get a trailer delivered to the desert now for that trip

You're 10 ply, bud.



But I'm 200% with you haha

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

A video of the floor install

 

[Hunter_mf_]

dammit steve i clicked on that video and watched the whole 1200 mile prelander trip for the second time haha love all the videos