B and D, the site you are referring to most likely is mine located at:
Http://members.aol.com/br768
No, the roof section was always made with the styrofoam/aluminum skin, it was the wood that held the roof together to the walls that was bad in mine. Mind you mine was SERIOUSLY neglected, and always stored in a damp place. I'm really not sure they're using the new aluminum tubing in the ceiling/wall joint, but do know they're using it, and have been for some time in the lower section. Tho the repairs look scary for sure, believe it or not, I have about the same amount of time in that simple web page as I did in the actual repairs. I think I only spent a total of three weekends making all those repairs, and mind you most of the time was figuring "this thing", or "that thing" out......had I had a guide such as I have provided with my web page, the repair time could have been cut in half! Actually, maybe could have been completed in one day knowing the correct cement to use as I ended up securing everything with stainless steel screws instead of using the cement as it simply wasn't strong enough. (I was trying to use regular contact cement, had I found out about Gorilla Glue, things would have gone MUCH faster). The hardest part about those repairs was simply not knowing what I was going to run into next, and how to deal with it. At any rate, it works very well, and I'm quite happy with it! BUT, just because I was able to get through it doesn't mean someone would want to buy one and take on a project of that size right away, after all, ya purchase it to go camping, if ya can't camp in it right away, it's kinda a real drag. With an upcoming vacation on the horizon tho, it was a real motivator for me getting it all up and going to take it. :
I will say I had EXCELLENT support from the TM people, they bent over backwards to help me understand what I needed to do, and even sent a few diagrams per fax to help me out in the project. I can't say it enough, they're simply a really super good company that stands behind their product 1000%. Every time I've called, I've been able to talk to Jimmy, or Donny, whichever I needed to talk to at the time, both VERY important people in the company, and not once did I ever get off the phone feeling like I was rushed off the phone, in fact, always had good conversations with them both, and always got an invite down to the plant to check it out. They're just really nice people to boot which is so very rare in almost any industry! At any rate, feel free to ask me just about anything about the construction of the old ones, I'm QUITE familiar with it. And always happy to help someone. I can be emailed at:
[email protected] I don't mind one bit helping ANYONE out. In fact, at the moment, I'm helping a couple out that bought the exact same model as mine, only it's a 1987, instead of a 1986. But their issue is only with the lift system, and shimming it up, but the structure of theirs seems pretty intact compaired to mine.
Sincerely,
[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails..........[/glow]