old travel trailer

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yevgenievich

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Been looking at repairing an old travel trailer and figured to post here as I have never been on any camping forums. Seeing if anybody had experience with one. It is 25 ft long, really needs roof recovered, battery and tires. Inside is still decent other than refrigerator missing. AC works.

Main issue that has me concerned is that on back right corner, the body had fallen down 1.5" towards the frame compared to left side. Noticed it because siding on back now has a dent around the frame rail. Not knowing how they are built, but am I right to guess that it is structurally compromised with such a sag present on one side?
Not even sure if it is worth recovering the roof at this point.
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Camar068

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Been looking at repairing an old travel trailer and figured to post here as I have never been on any camping forums. Seeing if anybody had experience with one. It is 25 ft long, really needs roof recovered, battery and tires. Inside is still decent other than refrigerator missing. AC works.

Main issue that has me concerned is that on back right corner, the body had fallen down 1.5" towards the frame compared to left side. Noticed it because siding on back now has a dent around the frame rail. Not knowing how they are built, but am I right to guess that it is structurally compromised with such a sag present on one side?
Not even sure if it is worth recovering the roof at this point.
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sagging could that be because of a rotted spot in the flooring in that area? I don't know campers, but a buddy of mine fixed one up to sell and half the flooring needed replaced.

as for the roof, silicon or some sealant?
 

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I wouldn't do anything with the roof until you figure out what is going on in that back corner. Most likely, you will find that there is significant water damage/rot from a water leak in that area. It may be from the roof, or any other of areas that can leak on these old trailers. If it is fixable, then you can turn your attention to the roof. I wouldn't however put any additional money in to it until you establish what is going on structurally in that corner.
 

yevgenievich

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There is a very old roof leak towards the corner that I found(soft substrate on the roof about 8 sq in), which made me think that corner is toast due to water damage. Going to move it to my house for closer inspection next week, but thinking this might be only suitable for a deer lease type set up.
 

yevgenievich

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It would cost $500 in materials to get the roof sorted, and was about to order things when I noticed the body sag.
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Midnightmoon

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Do you already own this trailer or are you looking to buy it?
 

bucket

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The body sagging over the frame means there is floor rot. Fixing it the right way is very tedious and time consuming because all the stuff you have to remove to get the job done. The good thing is, it's relatively cheap to do. Except for the crazy cost of lumber right now.

There's some really good videos on you tube about replacing a rubber roof. There's also a stronger TPO stuff you can use.
https://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Membrane-Adhesive-Flashing-Caulking/dp/B01J913T6M

If you are willing to make the repairs, start with the roof first. Imho, there's no sense in fixing floor rot if water is still going to leak on it. That roof covering looks shot too.
 

bucket

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I'm not sure if I did this right...

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yevgenievich

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Roof is the easy part, it is the floor support that has me concerned. Trailer it self is free if I can fix/use it, but end goal would be to sell it by August as I do not have a place to store it.
 

bucket

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Roof is the easy part, it is the floor support that has me concerned. Trailer it self is free if I can fix/use it, but end goal would be to sell it by August as I do not have a place to store it.

If it's built like mine, there's floor joists that run width-wise and a subfloor on top. Which in turn support the walls. So you have to devise a way to support everything while you replace the floor.

If it's otherwise in good shape, you can still make money on the deal after fixing it. I paid 2k for my 30 footer, knowing it needed some floor work. When I was looking for one to buy, it was very frustrating. All the older (affordable) ones usually sold before I could even go look at them. You almost had to fight off other people to buy a camper, lol. I probably paid too much, but I wanted a camper and was tired of searching. The interior is in real nice shape though, and the appliances work, including fridge and AC.
 

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Only thing I accomplished this week is put a tarp on top and take a picture of the back.
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