Worst experience EVER

Your right on.....with the Ash. I was going to post a close up picture this evening. Its also much lighter than the birch. We could actually camp in it this weekend . I`ll take pics this afternoon once we put the table, cushions etc back in place.

OMG, Susan.  I wanted to cry for you just looking at the photos.  You guys are phenomenal to get that done in 12 hours.  I am so happy that all of you are home safely.  Can't wait to see what she (?) looks like when she's all prettied up. 

Awesome job.

Barbara

Great story, tough experience. Sounds like you are on your way to recovery, cool.

Can you post what you think was the failure mechanism? such as 'rot in the RR corner on the bottom of the wall' or whatever you think was the starting point that caused the whole thing to start to sag? 'Cause, whatever it was, I want to double check my trailer!

Thanks so much for posting.

The bottom of all the lower walls on this one is untreated 3/4 x 3/4. These 3/4 x3/4`s are attached to the treated 2x4s surrounding the main metal frame, and so are the only thing holding the walls up. Once these rot the walls slip down as they have nothing else holding them to the main frame. The roadside wall was the worse. With the 1100 mile trip the vibration of simply going down the road caused all the rotten wood to drop out. When we look at a trailer we ALWAYS feel up and behind the very bottom of the skin. You can feel the treated 2x4 attached to the metal frame. What your feeling for is the horizontal bottom framing board(the wall) between the skin and the treated 2x4. Its usually bad behind the wheel wells and across the rear. I purchased this one from pictures as it was 1700 miles away and so couldn`t inspect it. I would still have bought this one had I found all the rot around the lower framing but I would have braced it with T`s from floor to ceiling prior to pulling it. The T`s would have prevented the walls from dropping. We also screwed the t`s to the floor and ceiling. Its really my own fault as I paid the PO to put brand new trailer tires on her and grease the bearings but I didn`t think to have him put a few T supports in her. I hope everyone looking for a camper remembers these pictures. Also those members who have bought a trailer and are using it until they have time to do a restore....PLEASE check your lower framing.

This is the main reason I am hesitant to purchase a trailer that I can't personally inspect,,These old camper are like classic cars,,they can look great to the casual observers but it's the hidden frame work & bracing that are out of sight that can bite you when you least expect it.

I've never rebuilt a camper but I have restored a few cars and done plenty of remodeling on homes so I'm not afraid of tackling a major project but sure would hate to have to do a parking lot fix like you guys faced.

Thanks Kim. This makes 3 in all. 2 needing full restores and Mr Sam (you`ve met). Mr Sam is nearly finished and we work on him between camping trips. We probably won`t start the restore on this one until next year as we are expecting 2 more in. One we hope to have ready by Spring and the other maybe by Summer. Then we`ll start on this one.

I'm in the middle of trying to transport my new trailer 1000 miles and this is giving me nightmares.