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Old 06-30-2008, 05:37 AM   #2
Bill
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There have been a number of improvements since 1993, but none are critical to your enjoyment, and many can be retrofitted if you decide to do so.

The big issue to watch out for in a trailer this old is this. In that era, the shells (the upper parts that lift up and out when you set up the trailer) were framed with wood. On more than one occasion, an owner allowed water to get inside the walls, and the wood rotted. As a result, it won't hold screws, and the body panels tend to separate at the seams. The wood can be replaced with aluminum, but it is not an easy job.

To discover whether or not your particular TM has this problem, first look at all the places where sidewalls meet the endwalls, and where the walls meet the roof. Is there any sign that the panels are pulling apart? Does the caulking all seem tight and well-adhered? Examine the seams inside and outside - on the insides particularly, do you see any signs that it has been wet?

Now back out some of the screws out of the lower edge of the shells. Do this in several different places around the perimeter. As you remove each screw, look at the threads - are there any rotted wood crumbs sticking to it? Shine a flashlight up into the screw hole. Do you see solid wood, or rot? Poke a long nail up into the hole - does it hit solid wood, or push through mushy stuff?

The screws along the bottom edge of the shells are reasonably easy to get at - you may have to remove some trim. But the rot problem can also occur where the sidewalls meet the roof, but I don't know how to get access to any screws there.

There have been a number of threads about rotted frames on this board. With some searching, you should be able to turn them up. I don't mean to scare you, but a particularly nasty story from this board (now archived) appears at

http://members.aol.com/br768

Close inspection of the unit's wall-to-roof seams, from the inside and outside, is probably your best assurance that your TM is a good one.

Bill
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