Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I bought a 1979 Class C for $250. Low miles, tires are almost new, newer rooftop heat/AC unit. Yes it has leaked, as evidenced by the water stains on the ceiling and some rot in the sidewalls.
In my case it really doesn't matter. A $10 can of roof coating and a $2 tube of caulk applied once a year will prevent any additional leakage. The existing damage doesn't create any immediate safety concerns; I'm fairly handy with a saw and screwdriver so fixing the issues before they cause problems is no big deal. Or I can let it go for a few years until it becomes unsafe to use and part it out for more than I have in it.
I don't expect to drive this beauty more than 100 miles from home, if that. If I were considering using it on a 2000 mile family vacation I would have to weigh the cost and effort involved in getting it ready for a trip like that against the cost of buying something newer in better shape.
So I guess my answer would be, it depends on how you plan to use it and what your tolerance level is for little things not working quite right.
I don't mind things not always working right, because you can get them repaired if you really want them to work right.
Most of the vehicles I've bought have cost $1,000 or less. Even at that, I have found that it is possible to get a vehicle for those prices and still have it be reliable. I bought a 1985 Buick LeSabre for $750 a few years back - got 17,000 trouble-free miles out of it before giving it away to a friend of mine who needed it more than I did. I bought a 1985 Chrysler New Yorker once for $1,000... put 31,000 miles on it (and only had to replace one part the whole time), then re-sold it for $850. Good deals can be had. I was just wondering, for example, if most cheap motorhomes / travel trailers / 5th wheels are so cheap because they've been left to sit for years without moving and lots of important stuff rotted away due to lack of use.
For example, I looked at a 1977 Dodge Class C last year. They were asking $500. It hadn't run in three years, although I got it running fairly easily. The inside was a mess... ceiling leaks, etc. I was told it would probably set me back at least $5,000 to fix it up to where it was totally usable.
Older motorhomes and camping trailers have wooden framing, wooden floors, and fiberglass insulation. That stuff rots when it gets wet, and I'm talking about the whole structure. Water can enter the roof and settle in the floor. There's one way to fix that, and it's to replace all the rotted wood. That sometimes means replacing the floor, the sidewalls and the roofing, from framing to wooden sheeting to metal sheeting -- basically building a new motorhome on an old chassis. It can be done, but it's not a job for the guy with a screw driver and pliers.
Older motorhomes and camping trailers have wooden framing, wooden floors, and fiberglass insulation. That stuff rots when it gets wet, and I'm talking about the whole structure. Water can enter the roof and settle in the floor. There's one way to fix that, and it's to replace all the rotted wood. That sometimes means replacing the floor, the sidewalls and the roofing, from framing to wooden sheeting to metal sheeting -- basically building a new motorhome on an old chassis. It can be done, but it's not a job for the guy with a screw driver and pliers.
Around what year did manufacturers shift to different framing, flooring, and insulation? And what materials did they shift to?
Around what year did manufacturers shift to different framing, flooring, and insulation? And what materials did they shift to?
They havent. Many are still built the same way.
RV's...... They are built with two goals in mind, the first is money...They want to be able to offer a number of products that suit everyone budget, be it a 5K pop up or a 1.5 million dollar Class A...Just like everything else in life the old saying goes....you get what you pay for.....
The second goal with RV's involves the weight of the unit, again they want to offer a number of products in every weight class. So there is a unit that you can tow if you drive a small V6 pick up all the way to offering a unit that will need a HDT to tow it.
Now in todays market "light weight trailers" are very popular because it allows most buyers to be able to tow the unit with a common standard size truck or SUV.. Now if you do your home work you will find that the lighter in weight the unit is, the cheaper the quality of the materials are....So bottom line is you think some of the older units you have looked at in the past look bad, give these light weight units a few years...you have not seen anything yet
Around what year did manufacturers shift to different framing, flooring, and insulation? And what materials did they shift to?
Some manufacturers now produce models with aluminum frames, fibreglas outer skins, and foam insulation. This is mostly done in an attempt to save weight.
There are still plenty of units being built out of the traditional 2x2 frame, batt insulation, aluminum skin, and wooden decks.
Some manufacturers now produce models with aluminum frames, fibreglas outer skins, and foam insulation. This is mostly done in an attempt to save weight.
There are still plenty of units being built out of the traditional 2x2 frame, batt insulation, aluminum skin, and wooden decks.
Okay... well... that stuff doesn't seem bad. Aluminum doesn't rot like wood can. Is there a disadvantage to aluminum / fiberglass / foam, compared to the old-school materials?
Okay... well... that stuff doesn't seem bad. Aluminum doesn't rot like wood can. Is there a disadvantage to aluminum / fiberglass / foam, compared to the old-school materials?
Again these are pretty much all old school materials....
When looking at TT's If the trailer has aluminum sides that "normally" means it was constructed with wood framing......Problem with aluminum is that it dents very easy
Trailers that are built with fiberglass sides (actually with Filon) "normally" means it was constructed with aluminum frame work.....Problem with the Filon sides is that they are subject to delamination issues.
Some of the insulation issues you can come across is that the foam can get wet, dry rot and become brittle and crack pretty much rendering your R value useless. Not wet from a leak but just wet from condensation that can build up within the walls, builders put a barrier between the materials but again its not much more then a thin plastic (trash bag) layer.
So again not saying there is anything wrong with any of these trailers, it just things you have to think about based on how you plan to use the camper....
You have to look back at the history of this industry, trailers in the past and still many built today are designed for "camping" meaning that they are built for limited use during normal weather conditions...Many people today attempt to push the build of the trailer pass its normal expectation either by "full timing" in it or placing the unit in weather conditions where the weather temps boarder on the extreme (hot/cold) and that is where you see major issues like I have listed above arrise with those units.
The industry is now producting units that are built to withstand both full time living and extreme weather changes but now we are talking about a totally different animal all together with a much higher price tag
RTandC, I get it but perhaps what I don't understand is why people would choose to stay in areas experiencing severe weather (such as North Dakota in January) when they live in their RV's full time. After all, isn't the point of full-timing to be mobile enough so that you can keep your skies blue, in the actual and metaphorical senses? Maybe I know very little about this, but I would imagine that most full-timers will flock to the south in the winter, and to the north in the summer.
How does one find out about these insulation issues though? If the insulation is enclosed within the walls, and you can't smell mold, how do you detect insulation problems?
How does one find out about these insulation issues though? If the insulation is enclosed within the walls, and you can't smell mold, how do you detect insulation problems?
Well you have two ways of doing that, you can go out and spend the $$$ on various meters like an infrared or RTD temperature meter and a moisture meter etc and inspect a unit yourself and hope you are doing it right or you can pay the $$$ to have a professional RV inspector (that already has these tools and more) inspect an RV that you have interest in....
Not saying he is going to find every issue that there might be with a certain unit but anyone that has worked in this field for a few years know the normal areas of concern to check. Plus a inspector is trained in the heating, cooling, plumbing etc systems of all RV's so I would think it would be worth the money just to have him crawl around and get dirty so you dont have to......
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
