Post by greymatter313 on Jul 14, 2020 9:56:52 GMT -8
Hi Everyone,
So I guess some introductions are needed. My Name is Todd, my Wife is Janelle and our Camper, well she's named Kevin. It's a long story. More on that another time.
So my wife and I have been tent campers forever, scoffing at all of you too good to sleep down here on the earth with us. Not being able to sleep with the humming of your AC units and the sounds of kids watching movies over sat tv and playing xbox live while we are trying to enjoy nature... (Truthfully that was really just me
, I think my wife and kids were mostly jealous) But yeah, as we got a bit older and our backs a bit creakier, even an air mattress didn't help that much. Last year our friends offered to let us take their Shasta up to Ludington State Park for a test run and we we're sold. No tents to setup, most of our gear fit right into the camper and I actually had a ton of room in the bed of my truck for once and better yet, no second vehicle needed to fit all of our crap in! whoohoo!! This really was a dream come true. Until we had to go drop it back off at our friends house.
Long story short, we had to find a camper on the cheap and bring it back to life.
Well after many months of checking out overpriced, rolling rotten rat traps and rust buckets (Michigan), we finally stumbled upon a decently affordable find on Facebook. A 1975 Skyline Layton 18' Travel Trailer, welcome to OUR Pursuit of Happiness!
It was just across town and best of all, they were asking $100 and finally for once, they responded through fb that it was available and we could come take a look. We hopped in the truck and went to check it out, sellers husband was a carpenter and according to her, had waterproofed the roof already, tore out and replaced some of the flooring in the front and some other stuff. They were great, not trying to tell us it was restored or anything like that. Well immediately checked the belly pan and frame and for Michigan, it was perfectly acceptable. Frame was solid, only surface rust. Bellypan intact, no holes to speak of. Suspension and axles and everything mechanical on it was tip top. It had the WDS hitch and all parts. The inside was mostly intact, bathroom had original and obviously rotted floor under several layers of old tile. But everything was there. three way fridge was pulled and replaced with standard dorm room fridge. stove was gone, Duo-Therm furnace still intact, although untested. Water heater pulled, no fresh water tank. 120V system wasn't operational, 12v from trailer at least lit up the signals and brake lights although the wires was duct taped to the frame rail and alum siding so assuming not hooked up to campers 12v system(Confirmed at this point). some water stains inside but nothing that looked recent. No standing water or dead animals that we could see or smell.
And as bad as all this really sounds it was still the best damned trailer we have ever checked out, period, and we have been out to look at some with folks asking upwards of $5000. So I figured for $100 bucks, how can I go wrong.
Here are some of the pics of what it looked like when we got her home.
So I am super excited to have found this place and hope to be able to find some good advice and assistance on bringing this old beast back from the dead and more importantly making it safe once again to be on the road! So nice to meet you guys!
Thanks!
Todd
So I guess some introductions are needed. My Name is Todd, my Wife is Janelle and our Camper, well she's named Kevin. It's a long story. More on that another time.
So my wife and I have been tent campers forever, scoffing at all of you too good to sleep down here on the earth with us. Not being able to sleep with the humming of your AC units and the sounds of kids watching movies over sat tv and playing xbox live while we are trying to enjoy nature... (Truthfully that was really just me
, I think my wife and kids were mostly jealous) But yeah, as we got a bit older and our backs a bit creakier, even an air mattress didn't help that much. Last year our friends offered to let us take their Shasta up to Ludington State Park for a test run and we we're sold. No tents to setup, most of our gear fit right into the camper and I actually had a ton of room in the bed of my truck for once and better yet, no second vehicle needed to fit all of our crap in! whoohoo!! This really was a dream come true. Until we had to go drop it back off at our friends house.Long story short, we had to find a camper on the cheap and bring it back to life.
Well after many months of checking out overpriced, rolling rotten rat traps and rust buckets (Michigan), we finally stumbled upon a decently affordable find on Facebook. A 1975 Skyline Layton 18' Travel Trailer, welcome to OUR Pursuit of Happiness!
It was just across town and best of all, they were asking $100 and finally for once, they responded through fb that it was available and we could come take a look. We hopped in the truck and went to check it out, sellers husband was a carpenter and according to her, had waterproofed the roof already, tore out and replaced some of the flooring in the front and some other stuff. They were great, not trying to tell us it was restored or anything like that. Well immediately checked the belly pan and frame and for Michigan, it was perfectly acceptable. Frame was solid, only surface rust. Bellypan intact, no holes to speak of. Suspension and axles and everything mechanical on it was tip top. It had the WDS hitch and all parts. The inside was mostly intact, bathroom had original and obviously rotted floor under several layers of old tile. But everything was there. three way fridge was pulled and replaced with standard dorm room fridge. stove was gone, Duo-Therm furnace still intact, although untested. Water heater pulled, no fresh water tank. 120V system wasn't operational, 12v from trailer at least lit up the signals and brake lights although the wires was duct taped to the frame rail and alum siding so assuming not hooked up to campers 12v system(Confirmed at this point). some water stains inside but nothing that looked recent. No standing water or dead animals that we could see or smell.
And as bad as all this really sounds it was still the best damned trailer we have ever checked out, period, and we have been out to look at some with folks asking upwards of $5000. So I figured for $100 bucks, how can I go wrong.
Here are some of the pics of what it looked like when we got her home.
So I am super excited to have found this place and hope to be able to find some good advice and assistance on bringing this old beast back from the dead and more importantly making it safe once again to be on the road! So nice to meet you guys!
Thanks!
Todd
