Back in October 2015 I posted about the planned rebuilding of my newly purchased basketcase, a 1999 Fleetwood 721c Prowler Hybrid trailer. The entire floor had rotted out and needed replacing. It took a year and a half of weekends and then a bunch of weekdays after my retirement last January. I jumped into this project knowing absolutely nothing about rv construction. I now qualify as a local expert and have the scars to prove it! ?
In the end, I had to gut the entire interior, replace the entire floor structure and build a new interior from scratch. The project was completed last July and my wife and I have towed the Prowler nearly 4000 miles on a three week cross country trip and one shorter local trip for a four day weekend. Note that we had never tried the trailer life before taking on this project and, simply put, we absolutely love it.
Would I recommend this project? Short story, NO! It is time consuming, frustrating, and no way cost effective if you factor in your time. Long story: YES! But only if you really enjoy taking on a huge project and are the type to stay committed to a long, hard slog that will take a hell of a lot longer than you ever imagined. In the end, for me, it was worth it. I accomplished my two primary goals:
1) to learn as much as possible about rv construction and systems.
2) to finish with a custom trailer built to suit two people comfortably without the expense of a custom ordered build.
Next up: decision time. Do we keep this and continue to refine it (you are never really done!), or sell it and start another project utilizing all my new knowledge to build one even better? Stay tuned!
In the end, I had to gut the entire interior, replace the entire floor structure and build a new interior from scratch. The project was completed last July and my wife and I have towed the Prowler nearly 4000 miles on a three week cross country trip and one shorter local trip for a four day weekend. Note that we had never tried the trailer life before taking on this project and, simply put, we absolutely love it.
Would I recommend this project? Short story, NO! It is time consuming, frustrating, and no way cost effective if you factor in your time. Long story: YES! But only if you really enjoy taking on a huge project and are the type to stay committed to a long, hard slog that will take a hell of a lot longer than you ever imagined. In the end, for me, it was worth it. I accomplished my two primary goals:
1) to learn as much as possible about rv construction and systems.
2) to finish with a custom trailer built to suit two people comfortably without the expense of a custom ordered build.
Next up: decision time. Do we keep this and continue to refine it (you are never really done!), or sell it and start another project utilizing all my new knowledge to build one even better? Stay tuned!
You should be proud of yourselves.
