Who's keeping an older MH on the road??

we have a 1990 34' actual length Champion Lasalle motorhome, 67K miles. Lots of work getting it the way it should be, like sealing the roof, new sofa sleeper, dining booth, new front curtains, new 120 volt fridge. Good thing we paid very little for it, grand kids are loving it too.

biffidum said:

1987 Triple E Regency Class C 6.9L diesel.  191000km's on the odo. C6 tranny.

Picked it up for $4500 and spent the winter restoring it at an additional cost of around $3000 (power steering, tires, brakes, belts, flushes, leaf spring, new AC receiver dryer and r134 conversion, suspension bushings, some soft wall repairs and resealed windows).  All work done myself.  Everything works on it and some early camping trips have gone well.

Wanted a smaller diesel class C for our impending 9600km round trip out west and back to Ontario.  So far I am getting around 12mpg doing a mixture of local and highway driving.  Once I am on holiday I will drive a bit slower ;-)

Definitely have to be a DIY type for an older motorhome, but the end result can save you some $ and be rewarding.  Not to mention that if something is to go wrong I will likely have an inkling of how to fix it.

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Hey Biffidum! Good to see another Canuck on the forum!

Any tips for wall repairs? I've got a big soft spot on one of the walls of my 92 Southwind. Compliments of a crappy caulking job at the roofline above. How hard is it to cut out a section and replace with new plywood?

Wall repair depends on the type of wall construction you have in your MH.  Mine happens to be a foam board sandwiched with 1/8 plywood on either side.  The exterior is then covered with 1/8th fiberglass sheeting.  I cut the exterior fiberglass off as neatly as possible and used it for a template.  I manufactured my own replacement wall board by gluing a sandwich of 1/4 plywood / pink foam board / fiberglass shower liner (1.5mm ??) (home depot).  The thickness in the end matched the factory sandwich almost exactly.  I could not find 1/8 plywood that didn't cost a fortune and I thought the fiberglass liner would add extra moisture protection if oriented towards the exterior.  I used a commercial polyurethane glue for the laminating process.

Once the glue set I placed the exterior section over the board and cut out the board for an exact fit into the MH.  You have to leave some room for lapping the edges for strength.  I also cut into the stringers in the wall for added rigidity.  You should carefully mark the best spots for screwing the wall to firm mounting points.

Once in place I squirted in some flexible window foam sealant and then glued the exterior fiberglass panel in place.

Turned out quite well I think.

You will definitely want to reseal all your windows with the window mastic putty stuff or you will have more troubles in the future.  I also went around the roof edge and sealed it with self leveling sealant as the silicon stuff will not do the trick.

Nice job on the wall repair! That's a big job    And thanks for posting the pics and how-to. Very informative for other hopeful DIYers.

I believe the walls of my coach are built similarly to yours. As the fibreglass seems to be in OK shape (though I found a spot of delam over the driver's door last night while resealing what I hope is the leaky spot), I'm really hoping I can simply cut out the interior ply layer and replace it with new..... Will have to read up on repairing delamination before I get into it though. May be a one-shot deal!

If you are sure there is no water damage, ... for delamination I have heard of some people drilling a small hole and injecting an adhesive, then placing a thick board against the spot and applying horizontal pressure with a plank up against the side of their house of some firm vertical wall of some sort.  You could use gorilla glue which will foam into the surrounding area if you leave a gap for a few minutes and then apply pressure.  Just be sure to inject a bit of moisture for it to cure properly.  You might want to mask the area of the hole with some tape so you can clean up what comes out under pressure to minimize a glue stain.

Cheers!

biffidum said:

If you are sure there is no water damage, ... for delamination I have heard of some people drilling a small hole and injecting an adhesive, then placing a thick board against the spot and applying horizontal pressure with a plank up against the side of their house of some firm vertical wall of some sort.  You could use gorilla glue which will foam into the surrounding area if you leave a gap for a few minutes and then apply pressure.  Just be sure to inject a bit of moisture for it to cure properly.  You might want to mask the area of the hole with some tape so you can clean up what comes out under pressure to minimize a glue stain.

Cheers!

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Thanks for the advice! Sadly I know the area of delam is not dry - discovered it while (hopefully) sealing a leak that has rippled the wallpaper on the inside of the motorhome wall right behind the driver's seat. Not sure if the water is on both sides of the wall (ie both plywood layers) or just the interior layer though.  I may poke an exploratory hole into one of the delam bubbles and have a peek. Given as how I'll be poking a hole there to repair it in any case, there's no harm!

When they installed the right front window in my coach from the factory, they didn't get the seal in right. I had delamination and wood rot . I pulled the window out and cut all the damaged area away. Mine has an aluminum frame so no frame damage. Scraped all the glue off the outer skin and replaced the foam and used 1/8 in luan. don't remember what adhesive I used, bought it at the lumber yard with the rest of the material. It was a slow set so I had time to complete the job and get some bracing on it, inside and out. Then I used some material I had from redoing the seats in my old Itasca, to make door panels. Came out pretty good, now I just have to make another panel for the drivers side. That was a couple years ago, still very solid. I was able to use the original seal after I warmed it up. No leaks now. Your problem maybe hard to get the outside to be straight while the glues set up. If you push too hard on it, it'll stay that way when you remove the shoring.

1986 Winnebago Elandan 32k miles 31ft 454chevy w/banks p30 chassis, first RV for me and I love it. Ex-in laws owed it since new.

My wife and I have a 1982 Sport Coach and she is still running strong! We are full-timers in it right now. It might not have all the facny things that the new motorhomes have, but it works for us. I don't think there's a motorhome out there that is pefect. They all have issues at some point, or another. Nothing wrong with needing some TLC now and then. The oldies are the goodies in my opinion from what I've seen! ;D

Going to put a new set of tires on ours soon, have to go to a bigger city to find them.

Need to check the levelers, one in the front slowly went down, saw some fluid in the foot, hubby said maybe leaking hose, he is going to try and check.

Also we think the radiator on the genny is losing water.

It's old, has been 6000 miles since we got it on the road, soooo

Also getting an oil change

If Tom doesn't get time to look at those items then I'm off to the factory.  Maybe they will like seeing one of their old 1992's still on the road.    But it will be a lot cheaper if he can have the time to fix those items.  Likely hoses old and rotted.

PatrioticStabilist said:

Going to put a new set of tires on ours soon, have to go to a bigger city to find them.

Need to check the levelers, one in the front slowly went down, saw some fluid in the foot, hubby said maybe leaking hose, he is going to try and check.

Also we think the radiator on the genny is losing water.

It's old, has been 6000 miles since we got it on the road, soooo

Also getting an oil change

If Tom doesn't get time to look at those items then I'm off to the factory.  Maybe they will like seeing one of their old 1992's still on the road.    But it will be a lot cheaper if he can have the time to fix those items.  Likely hoses old and rotted.

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Hey patriot. Sounds like your rig has hit one of those "maintenance milestones" again! Mine never seems to get past them! My rig is the same vintage as yours, but a lot simpler in some ways - gasser engine, no levellers, no genny (bummer when it's HOT on the road, but nothing to break down or leak on me either!). Mine will be in the shop next week for it's semi-annual feel-and-tickle (oil change, chassis lube, filters, brake and tire inspection, etc). Seems a little crazy sometimes for the limited miles we (plan to) put on it this summer, but it's better than a middle of nowhere breakdown!


Decision time might be next season, though, as I'll have to decide between $2000-$3000 on new tires for a then 22yo MH or sink the same into a payment on a new(er) rig.  ??? :-\

1995 Winnebago Luxor Class A Pusher Diesel.  Very well built and in great condition.  Even fun to drive!  We call it the "Freeway Flyer".  We love it!

This year has been an expensive one, we bit the bullet and bought the new tires, 6 Michelin XZA2's, ouch.

Now I am on an 1800 mile trip so far, will be several thousand more before I get back home.  I've had issues, hubby didn't get it totally winterized apparently,
the p trap on the washer leaked, and a bypass valve at the water heater
 
The other day the fridge went, that HURT BAD,  but it was 22 years old so what can I say.  I debated on getting an RV fridge or home one, decided I didn't want to worry all the time if the food was good or not, so bit another bullet.

The RV repair guy must love me by now.  By the way he is very good I think.  My 1 furnace blower and motor is going.  He can't get it apart was going to put new parts in it.  It's rusted I guess, he said he had a whole used furnace he had bought and will check it out for me and if it works ok I will buy that, will save me a bundle.  Oh I forgot the water heater quit working too, he ungraded it to electronic but I have a couple of used parts in it too.  I like someone like that.  If anything else goes wrong I likely will wait till hubby can fix it.  Enough money for 1 year. However, I don't really envision more issues.  We have had it going on 3 years now and did nothing to the inside, wanted to make sure the mechanicals were ok first.  It's just we could have done a lot of this so much cheaper if hubby were home.

I put up a new light fixture in the bedroom, I think the old one has some pieces that need soldered.  I like the original better, I bought 2 at a flea market but only put one up for now.  If hubby can resolder the one connector I would rather have them, they are heavy duty and much nicer then new.  But its also nice to have light back there and not stumble around in the dark to get to the head of the bed to turn on a light.

Now lets see if I can go many more miles this year without buying something else!  I hope so.

I think I may have hit the proverbial wall with our 1992 Southwind. My contract at work came to an end this month, so we were thinking about getting a seasonal site for the old rig, but it seems no one around here wants a rig THAT old on their sites! Most lenient park I have found so far has a 15-years-or-newer policy for its seasonal campers. (Sigh).

That, on top of a limping-home-from-camping experience last fall (lost the seal on the EGR valve - NOT a fun way to drive through the border crossing at Buffalo, NY/Niagara Falls, ON. Had to two-foot it all the way home to keep from stalling out - one foot on the gas at all times, including when braking with the other foot! A white-knuckle drive I do not care to repeat.

The repair cost there wasn't too bad at about $650, but the DW and I get the sinking feeling that the cost/benefit ratio of keeping the ol girl on the road is tipping significantly out of our favour! In fact, after that crappy trip, I went out and bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee as a future tow vehicle I don;t also mind using as a daily driver.

For Sale sign is up on the Southwind, and I'm looking in earnest for a suitable travel trailer.....

Driving a 96 here. Still going strong. It is our first RV, so plan to keep it 4-5 years then upgrade.

We have a 1993 Barth Breakaway 36 ft 8.3 cummins and allison 3060 trans (6 spd). We are, for practical purposes, the 2nd owners. No slides-- no problem! !
The coach has a beautiful paint job and with chrome bumpers and some chrome accents-- looks great (our humble opinion). We are currently very happy with it-- we'll be starting into our 6th year with it in a couple of months.
We also have a 1977 Barth 21 foot for use here at home-- it takes a bit more TLC to keep it moving down the road but did a 2000 mile trip with it last year (closer to home).

biffidum,
    You have my respect and something else. I owned an 1987 Triple e class C, the same colors as yours. And, had a bad leak in the wall about the same place that you had to repair yours. I replaced the interior walls myself, but not the outer walls. I heard everything from pin holes in the aluminum roof causing the leaks to leaks along the seam where the roof meets the wall. Had the ceiling peeled out and the mold all cleaned out. After having it all repaired, I sold it off and purchased a diesel pusher, and now I could not be happier to be rid of the Triple E. Just too many repairs.

Bill

Where were you going they wouldn't let you in?  I haven't  had that problem yet but I worry that I will, then I will have to do something.  Either buy another or give up motorhoming and just drive the car.  Going to be hard going back.

My wife and I have a 1988 Rockwood Driftwood 37' motorhome.
We have had it for a few years now.I like the older style motorhomes, and not having notes helps too.
When we bought it, I worked on it for 1.5yrs, before we used it.There is 45.000 miles on it, but because
of age, alot of things needed to be fixed.I upgraded the kitchen,and totally upgraded the bathroom.
also did alot of little things to bring it up to date.I fixed oil leaks overhauled the carb,replaced all ignition parts,
new fuel lines,brakes.Just worked it from bumper to bumper including some painting.
It may be old but it looks great inside and out.We live in it fulltime now,and have run it up and down the east coast,
with no problems.All you need to do is upgrade things,just do a little at a time.In a older rig,you mostly have alot
of little things to deal with.If you bought a newer rig,you would have to start all over,going through it.
You will always want to do things, to your taste.Every motorhome on the road will always need something.
Ours is just right for us.We have no plans to replace it. Good luck,and enjoy your rig!

Looking back, the radiator didn't have a leak on the genny.  Husband said the fan motor was not working so not cooling good and  using water.  He found another pretty cheap a new one and put it on, end of that issue.

At the age of ours lots of things are finally giving up the ghost with use.  Unless its the motor or tranny we will just keep it going.  I don't know what we will do if it gets to that, will wait till then to make a decision, no indicator of problems there yet.