redhed83402
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1968 Aristocrat Lo-Liner
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Post by redhed83402 on Aug 21, 2015 23:15:55 GMT -8
A 1968 Aristocrat Lo-liner. I've been lurking about for a bit & finally decided to join once we bought a trailer. I'd like to thank everyone up front for all of the fantastic information on here, it has surely been helpful as we've been scouring the ads for a camper. I guess we were blessed, because we only had to go 2 1/2 hrs to get ours ( in Paradise, Utah...sure was a beautiful drive, though!) ~ i've been reading about some of ya'all having to ship them or travel 1000 miles to get one. ( got a good man, but i don't know if he'd have done that! :-D ) This is a picture of her ~ i've been cleaning her out all day. PO was only the 2nd owner, & according to him, she was always stored in the original owner's garage, then he had her for 3 years, & left her out during the summer & stored in his dad's shop during the winter. She's a touch rough, looks like she had some water damage in the past, but no longer ~ still, i think we're going to have to redo all the butyl tape, fix the back hatch, take care of the boogered door, replace a missing glass louvre, & generally clean up the mouse nests in the outer hatch. Then of course, barring any other issues, (hoping & praying!, based on some of the horror stories, i am a little prepared for the worst) just paint, cushions, curtains, & the like. We towed her home (with our dodge van) for a 2 1/2 hour ride, though & she did fine. At $550, my husband said it was worth a shot.
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Aug 22, 2015 4:11:34 GMT -8
Welcome!
It looks like you found yourself a great deal.
You're right, it is an adventure. Most of us spend more time planning trips and working on our campers than actually camping.
With a vintage camper you'll be the hippest couple in the campground. And you can fit in a tent site.
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redhed83402
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1968 Aristocrat Lo-Liner
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Post by redhed83402 on Aug 22, 2015 4:30:53 GMT -8
Nccamper~ thank you for the welcome! Fitting into a tent site & ease of pulling into camp was exactly why my husband agreed to my crazy scheme in the first place. But as we sat & looked at some of the beautiful vintage campers all of you folks have worked so hard on, he kind of got a little ~bit~ by that ~bug~, & he said, "i think we can do this".
As to that great deal.....on the outset, she surely does look like a great deal, i surely do hope she stays on that side ~ :-D
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Aug 22, 2015 4:43:30 GMT -8
vikx once said that vintage campers are like potato chips, you can't have just one.
We'll see...
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RinTin
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Post by RinTin on Aug 22, 2015 5:16:07 GMT -8
Welcome redhed,
We have some friends named Redhed. I've always liked the exterior styling Lo-liner and Loflyte trailers, looks like you have a good one!! Congrats on the new addition to your family, once you've poured your heart and soul into it, it will be just like a family member. I remember when I first got interested in these and after learning a little about how things are done I thought "heck, I can do that", although I never thought it would take so long. Enjoy the journey, we are here to help. Get your husband signed up with VTT too.
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Post by vintagebruce on Aug 22, 2015 5:25:31 GMT -8
 to VTT. I agree with the others who are happy to have y'all join us here, and my compliments on scoring a very nice looking Lo-Liner at a VERY reasonable price, something getting harder and harder to do. Happy camping!
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redhed83402
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Posts: 99
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1968 Aristocrat Lo-Liner
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Post by redhed83402 on Aug 22, 2015 9:01:11 GMT -8
Thank you for the warm welcome!! Have to laugh about the potato chips comment ~ just now, as we were driving down the street, we happened to see a little Serro Scotty highlander sitting in someone's backyard, & my husband had an immediate ~ Heeeyyyy, check that out, what do you think of that, Honey? ~ reaction. It gave me slight pause, :-D
I think my husband will join, but he's never been one much for loading pictures & that sort of thing ~ I imagine that will fall to me. But his sweat equity will be far more than mine in the end of this whole adventure, of that much I am sure. These are some pics of the damaged (visible)parts. I am hoping these repairs won't be too extensive.
Missing piece of window glass.
Going to have to straighten up the window shade there.
The giant glop of silicone love that the Original Owner left.
The goobered up door ~ PO said that someone broke into it while he was off hunting ~ only stole a lantern. Gave him the benefit of the doubt & believed it, but...
Up close of the boogered up back hatch.
My husband thinks it has more to do with the hinge along the bottom edge than the bent top.
The only spots on the trailer that have water damage. It still feels firm, but I wonder if the Kilz paint actually stops the rot once the leak is dealt with, & I have a deep suspicion that it does not.
close-up of that water damage ~ PO said he painted it over with Kilz & re-butyl taped the corners. The putty does still have some give to it, but I think to be safe, we will have to do it again. 
The stove was pretty nasty, but I was able to get most of it cleaned up. Those little magic eraser sponges and some Dawn worked wonders.
Oops, put this pic in the wrong place ~ That board was put there by the original owner to take care of the ding on the front ~ that he gopped about 1/2 a gallon of silicone on. It seems to have worked, but.....
I put it all back together, cleaned up, no more gunk.
Inside the oven looks as though it has never been used.
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Post by vikx on Aug 22, 2015 21:10:13 GMT -8
Well, it looks pretty good! Skins are nice, no front sag (yet) and all the parts and pieces are there. It looks like you should lift the skins to do repairs; the back is definitely bad, and some of your edge boards where the interior shows past leaks. Hopefully, the dear PO didn't add gobs of silicone or goop to the roof...The skirts are rotten, and probably the wheel wells (wonder how I know that?) Wall framing is often good. I'm thinking a patch on the door might work:  The door looks pretty good other than that. Loliners are very easy to rebuild. The screws are hex heads and usually screw out with little effort. Skins are removed from the bottom up. Front and rear first, then the siding. NOTES: 1. Loliners can have a problem with blowouts. Check the front spring bracket to be sure there is enough clearance between it and the tire. Sometimes, radial tires are just too wide, especially if a person has added modern wheels. There is an easy fix on this board. I recommend trimming the front spring bracket in all cases. 2. Another little idiosyncrasy is the street side wall. Some Loliners sag badly on that side, so much so that the wheel well is below floor level and the stove angles backwards. Something to check. I've seen at least 3 with the droopy wall, and not too difficult a fix. (yours looks ok?) Here is a link to my most recent Loliner, click on Pictures and Videos to view the albums: 65loliner.shutterfly.com/The build photos should help you. |
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redhed83402
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1968 Aristocrat Lo-Liner
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Post by redhed83402 on Aug 22, 2015 21:59:51 GMT -8
Thanks for all of the helpful information, vikx! Extremely appreciated! We did see that trick of trimming off the edge of the metal near the tire, & are definitely going to do that,i suspect that was why the PO had to put new tires on it last year.
I think that street side wall might just have a bit of that lean, because the wall definitely isn't straight. It's hard to see, so i don't think it's really bad, but i fear it may exist, as my husband was just commenting the other day about how that wall just didn't quite look right. (He's a woodworker, so his eye catches that sort of thing naturally. I didn't see it, though, but since you mention it, i'm betting 100 to 1 that's what it is.)
That door patch idea is brilliant! I think it's the way to go.
My husband was really hoping a simple ~lifting of the skirts~ ;-D & fixing what lies beneath would be all the more structural repairs needed. He's not keen on removing everything. Well, lol, at least not yet. Truth is, he's a perfectionist, & he's probably going to get in neck deep. I knew this going into it, so i really hoped i'd found a good one so it wouldn't take so long, so that we could camp in it this year. Probably pipe dreams, eh?
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Post by vikx on Aug 22, 2015 23:26:27 GMT -8
Take another look at the Lounge Lizard's repairs (link above) :
The street side wall needs a very close look. I had to pull the cabinet sides into the trailer 3/4" to straighten the wall. Don't forget the wheel well sag.
It's fun to repair (and save) these Loliners.
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redhed83402
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1968 Aristocrat Lo-Liner
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Post by redhed83402 on Aug 23, 2015 20:59:34 GMT -8
Duly noted, and thank you, vikx! My husband & i poured over the repair pictures ~ it looks like we have a bit of work ahead of us. One question Tony (that's hubby) had was about the leaf spring. Is there any bad reason (or good, i guess) not to flip them? As you know,there just isn't much clearance under a lo liner, & he is concerned that a high speed bump might cause issues, let alone an unseen pothole. We saw Rob's work on how to recondition the leaf spring, and tony thought as long as he had it off, why not flip it for better clearance. He also wondered if it's possible to disconnect the u bolt to put the axle under the unflipped leaf spring, & would that improve the height as well as take off the stress on that u-bolt?
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Post by vikx on Aug 23, 2015 21:22:19 GMT -8
I'm not an expert on suspension by any means. Loliners are called LO for a reason, they tow very well because they ARE low. They were also able to fit into a garage with special lowering wheels. Kind of like railroad steel wheels. I'm sure others with more experience will chime in here. The axle itself shouldn't be "flipped" because it changes the tire alignment (toe in or out). Putting the axle under the spring may work. bigbill, where are you? |
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Post by bigbill on Aug 24, 2015 5:52:47 GMT -8
Duly noted, and thank you, vikx! My husband & i poured over the repair pictures ~ it looks like we have a bit of work ahead of us. One question Tony (that's hubby) had was about the leaf spring. Is there any bad reason (or good, i guess) not to flip them? As you know,there just isn't much clearance under a lo liner, & he is concerned that a high speed bump might cause issues, let alone an unseen pothole. We saw Rob's work on how to recondition the leaf spring, and tony thought as long as he had it off, why not flip it for better clearance. He also wondered if it's possible to disconnect the u bolt to put the axle under the unflipped leaf spring, & would that improve the height as well as take off the stress on that u-bolt? I am not certain what you are talking about when you say flip the springs. You can place the axle under the springs BUT DO NOT TURN IT UP SIDE DOWN. You will have to create a mounting locator on the top side of the axle to keep it in place. There are many ways to do this depending on you exact axle design. Some pictures would be very helpful. |
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redhed83402
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1968 Aristocrat Lo-Liner
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Post by redhed83402 on Aug 24, 2015 8:29:25 GMT -8
That's good to know, bigbill ~ looks like we unwittingly sidestepped a problem.
You see, when we first started looking at trailers, one of the ones we went to see, the owners proudly showed us how they had flipped the leaf springs for better clearance, and even had an extra leaf spring in the cubby, ~ for just in case~.
Neither of us had ever heard of such a thing, but thought it interesting. It did seem to give their trailer a lot of clearance. However, in the end, it was an '82 road ranger, 22', & my husband decided that was just too big, & not vintage enough.
(We have been camping out of a 1970's kenworth semi-cab converted to a trailer, 7' box for about 5 yrs....it's too cramped for me, i like a table & a kitchen, but he wanted to keep anything new we bought under 13'....the lo-liner was a great compromise, i can fit my grandbaby in there, & he can still tow it with anything we have.)
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redhed83402
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1968 Aristocrat Lo-Liner
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Post by redhed83402 on Aug 26, 2016 23:09:06 GMT -8
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to VTT. I agree with the others who are happy to have y'all join us here, and my compliments on scoring a very nice looking Lo-Liner at a VERY reasonable price, something getting harder and harder to do. Happy camping!
