Here are two photos of the camping trailer I purchased in Dec. There were a number of things wrong with it; the tires were dry rotted and I was lucky to make it back home on them, the tongue box literally fell off when I pulled on it once home, the drawer slides were all rusty and the ones under the burners fell apart when I tried to push it back in, the cooler hinges needed to be replaced and unknown to me the floor of the RTT was rotted enough that the new owner had to replace the entire floor. The rot was hidden. The tongue jack was a joke, it mounted to the tongue on a round fixture which was welded to the frame and had been hit hard, hard enough to bend the frame and the jack was wobbly. And, all the door hinges were cheap steel hinges which I replaced with stainless steel hinges. So I covered it up against the weather and waited for warmer weather to begin work.
The first thing I did was remove those hideous stickers, then replaced the tires and wheels. The owner tried to clean the inside of the trailer with over cleaner on the greasy areas and the oven cleaner did a number on the aluminum. I did put all the racks through the dishwasher and cleaned the interior the best that I could. Looks good in the photo but looks much better now. I ordered a new RTT from REI and had a frame built to add an additional 16" of height to the trailer so I could fit an annex under the RTT and have adequate headroom to at least stand.
The diamond plate box on the front was what trapped water in the RTT causing the rot. The box wasn't well waterproofed and leaked as well so it was of no use to me. There was also a 28 gallon water tank on a shelf above the cooler which had the fill opening in the upper box and that hole allowed water to pour through the hole into the body of the trailer. And the hose that connected to the tank was in shambles so the whole tank was removed and replaced with a storage shelf. Water will be stored in four 7 gallon stacking tanks in the right side.
So I rebuilt the tongue box and it is much sturdier and useful now. The way it was placed on the tongue prior allowed for water to flow behind the hinge and into the box. I hope to have the problem fixed now. The upper box was added and the ends and sides have been riveted into place. I'm sorry it looks so sloppy but I am waiting on the Monstaliner to arrive so I can coat the top and mount the RTT in place. I still need to mount the leveling jacks under the rear, have a new tongue jack welded into place, coat the hideous fenders with Monstaliner, add clearance lights on the sides, add lights which will go under the awning and a few other details before I can put this to use.
Then once the trailer is complete I can start on the 40, I have to add a brake controller so the trailer brakes will work. Then replace the rusty fuel tank and replace the head with a head that is currently being rebuilt. A busy summer in front of me for sure.
