Buying a Rotten Camper

So a few years ago I built my express van, it has a twin bed in the back and two rows of seats. 2500 gmc means it tows like a champ. Then along came kid #2 and logistically the van just doesn't do it. 
 

I want to go boat racing in Maine next year and the family has to come with. So I started looking for economical campers.

Next thing I know I'm buying a hybrid from a seller I've bought from before. 1 owner but he's getting up there and when he opened it up this year he found that water had got in and the floor was in his word "all rotten "

Why a hybrid ? I really didn't want a tent trailer . What sold me on this was the potential to have tent trailer quality leaks with all the problems of a larger trailer as well. 

Step one, evaluate the situation.

So after making sure the frame was ok and the canvas was in good shape I took the first step and sliced out the cheap vinyl flooring.

What I found was a lot of not overly rotten wood. 

Except around the door, which looked suspiciously dark. 

Better take out that cabinet and see what's up.

It's at this point I begin to appreciate just how horribly these things are built. It's basically strapping stapled together. 

In my optimism I thought, this looks isolated to the corner. Probably leaking at the seem let's just pull the floor and have a look.

Those formerly structural 2x4's are so rotten I was able to take chunks out with my hand. Oh well it's only a couple feet and I'll find some solid wood to work with...well sort of. 

well the 2x4 only got worse as I kept pulling up floor. It seems the door step was bolted right up through all levels of floor. Right behind a tire with no mud flap. I'd imagine all it would take it one good drive in the rain after a couple years and the water would just find it's way up.

So just keep digging until solid material is found .

If you got it at the right price, it's worth the effort.  I got a free pop up camper from a family member.  I've had to re-do the roof because of a leak, but I've still got way less in it than I would have spent on a "good" camper.

I don't envy you. Been there, done that, bought the shirt. 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/2001-ford-f-250/project-f-250-buying-and-restoring-slide-camper-ou/

Mold and rot are the crux of these things... usually the time to fix is worst than the cost.

I have a very similar hybrid. The front bunk end leaks when it's closed. The whole front half of the floor has been replaced once but is rotting again. I now store it in a shed so it isn't getting worse, but it's pretty gross. I am debating whether it's worth my time to tear it apart or just find something else. I got it for cheap enough that I've gotten what I want out of it in the 3 seasons we've used it. I really like how well it tows and how low it is. All the more modern campers seem to have a flat floor and are way higher up. I'll take the wheel well intrusions with lower profile. I'll be following along to see how it goes for you. 

I think I got a bit of  gonoherpasyphilaids looking at those pics.

Grasshopper, you have learned why there is no such thing as " Simple fix. Just needs a little floor work"

Uh, no, no it doesn't. 

I've done a few. Paid $200 for one of 'em. $400 for an old airstream. Didn't mind, cause it was not worth restoring to original. 
$100 for a pop up; the roof had been rebuilt, and to his credit, did not leak, but wow, that was ugly work!

Keep the pictures of the progress coming!

This is why I have a bus made of steel. Even after I did a cecent job of fixing our rotting trailer my wife refused to set foot in it ever again.

In reply to rustyvw :

It was priced right, I could have flipped it and made some coin...but the repairs are only setting me back a few hundred dollars and time. 
 

As for the mold...it wasn't getting any wetter so once exposed everything got a dose of spray 9 and then a fan placed on it for a day to dry it out.

This picture looks bad but it was actually encouraging. The outer 2x2 that forms the frame was still solid which meant I had solid wood on 3 of four sides. See also the 2x2 coming out across the floor. Cut it back to where there is solid wood.

I restored a 1987 camper 2 years ago, they are slapped together! My damage was way worse than yours. I screwed and glued everything together

so it should be better than original. Have fun camping in it when you're done!

Mock up of new wood including a corner brace that will be hidden in the cupboard. You'll note that I'm not much of a carpenter and fit isn't great. Screws were used to anchor the new wood and wood glue at the joints. Only gently used 2x4 was used in the structural repairs.

In reply to TurboFource :

You're a braver man that I for tackling a full blown project. 
 

BTDT with an Alaskan truck camper. The money saved on the purchase was well worth the extra work. 

Looking good so far. 

In reply to Toyman! :

I wanted to go truck camper but it just doesn't work with a short box half ton....

With this set up I can mount the boat on the ladder rack, motor and kart can go in the bed and the trailer behind. Easy peasy right? 
Right?

So once the structure was screwed into place it was time to lay some floor over it. Keep in mind underlay and vinyl click flooring were going over this so it didn't need to be perfect.

In reply to 1SlowVW :

That's what my father does. He tows a 5th wheel so the boat is over the cab, and everything else goes in the bed. It works pretty well. He has dragged that rig all over the country. I think at this point, the camper has over 100k miles on it. 

Toyman! said:

In reply to 1SlowVW :

That's what my father does. He tows a 5th wheel so the boat is over the cab, and everything else goes in the bed. It works pretty well. He has dragged that rig all over the country. I think at this point, the camper has over 100k miles on it. 

 

Can't imagine towing for that many miles. He must have his set up really worked out. 

With the cabinet assembled this weekend and the new plywood glued and stapled in place I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I'll note why there is some discolouration on that one section of wood it's very solid and dry so I just left it. This camper is a test run and if it works out we'll try something else in a couple years. 

In reply to 1SlowVW :

That is probably a great decision. We learned a ton about campers and camping and what we really wanted or didn't want after a couple of years of doing it. Some things you are sure you want or don't want and then you get out and do it and you are surprised by what you really want or don't want.

1SlowVW said:

Toyman! said:

In reply to 1SlowVW :

That's what my father does. He tows a 5th wheel so the boat is over the cab, and everything else goes in the bed. It works pretty well. He has dragged that rig all over the country. I think at this point, the camper has over 100k miles on it. 

 

Can't imagine towing for that many miles. He must have hit set up really worked out. 

His camper is 22 years old and on its second Dodge 2500. They spend several months a year on the road bouncing from campground to campground. This past summer they spent in Canada. It has been a great camper and it's always been stored inside which helps a lot. 

This is it behind my F350 several years ago. 

In reply to NY Nick :

My wife grew up camping in tent trailers and loved camping. It's all new to me as my family didn't do that kind of thing growing up. 
 

I liked having the van because it was quiet...we'll see about this trailer.

This is where I quit last night, some 1/4 round will be used as trim to clean up some edges. Let me tell you this things like a boat, nothing is square.

Looking good!