well bad news

[Dodge trucker]

looks like my TM experience is coming to an end. I have a 1997 3023, and had it set up in the yard. I usually have it in the driveway but being that were going to be getting our driveway dug out and repaved, I set it up in the yard. I just got my new slide hinges from TM factory and was gonna go thru supplies and see what we still have and what needs to be replenished. We are supposed to be taking it camping in a couple of weeks.
well yesterday it rained sideways. Where I work 35 miles away it didn't do this but apparently we had high winds here. I had some running "the other way" after work so I didn't get home when I normally do. Before I got home I got 3 pix texted to me from my wife and a text from a neighbor asking if I knew there was a tree that just fell on it....
My panicky wife had already called our son... He got here a few minutes after I did, we got the tree cut up enough to move the camper back into the driveway, and then cut the rest up after the camper was moved.
To be honest we were going to put it up for sale soon anyway because my wife don't like everything having to be stored down low and I always have to get down and get pots and pans out that are low enough to have to get on hands and knees.... she refuses.... But now that you look toward the very back, and instead of flat (not domed like they're supposed to be) its now got a "smile" behind the AC unit. Its got brand new tires and wheels last year (2 campouts and 1 trip to winter storage and back) Made in USA "Goodyear Endurance". The AC will freeze you out, the heat works, the fridge works, we never tried the plumbing or the stove/oven as we camp in places that have showers, have never "dry camped" in it. The PO showed me that they did work when we bought it, electric brakes DO work and have plenty of life left, I inspected and adjusted them when I put the new tires on it.
I haven't taken it down yet, I got under it with a long extended drawbar I have, just to be able to get it out from where it was the quickest I could. Its dry in there, didnt leak, may actually still be able to be usable for a starter camper, an hunting shack, or maybe even (dare I say) parts? We were gonna be starting around $3k asking price OBO but in light of all of this would someone give me a grand for it??? I have to get pix and figure out how to get them up here.
Located near Kankakee IL. I also have an extra stone guard and extra front or back window that can go with.

 

[Kidkraz]

Sorry to hear of the damage. Could you post any pictures.

 

[Dodge trucker]

There's been a gap there where the 2 shells meet since we bought it. The guy who sold it to us wouldn't let me stray and look at what I wanted to look at when I wanted to look. Every time something caught my eye and I went to look at something, he called me to "stay with him". He just said to "just break the bubble" on the level front to back so water would run off. I thought there was something up with that but wasn't "allowed" to venture off" and look at "features" as I saw them. This guy was career military and seems like he had rehearsed his sales pitch as it was very orderly and I guess I'd call it " methodical".
The idea of the TM definitely intrigued me before I even got there, we had a few in our sights.
We had had a neighbor with a sewing machine make us a naugahyde cover of sorts to help seal the heat in during times heat was needed. It worked. We camped in low 30s a few times and had no issues keeping warm.

All that said, before a few days ago there was never a "smile" profile at the back of the back shell from the inside, as there is now. I'll have to get some pix from the inside to show that.
It never leaked, we had a torrential rain that afternoon when the limb came down. I suspect it could possibly still be used. And backed into your camping spot I suspect nobody would know as they'll see it from the front haha....
We actually already have a replacement camper bought ( wife all but made that deal like a month ago, it's a regular camper that doesn't fold down) and she thinks we can store our supplies up high since this one doesn't have to be folded down. And she (really I) don't have to get down low to get things out... But since this latest setback I'm just fed up.
I'd actually been looking at the possibility of moving up to a newer TM as I used it as our "starter" TM to see if I liked it. I do/ did. It was a step up from our last 2 campers which were both 1970s Apache pop ups. I'll get more pics later today.

 

[Dodge trucker]

Something else the PO tried to impress on us was that the way the floor was designed was some sort of "arctic package" as from underneath it has the appearance of the inside of an industrial freezer. Although the membership here didn't belittle me publicly when I asked about it I felt like I was probably being laughed at when I asked about that here especially after seeing other campers of many brands having similar construction.
I'm not deceive anyone, I'm hopefully presenting it as " worse than it actually is" and let an interested person make that determination.
After the tree thing I just need it gone. I just got the last of that cut up and hauled away yesterday.
I'll be back with more pix. I have one that came to me as a text that I want to post but can't figure out how to get it from that file on my phone to here. I just tried and failed

 

[Bill]

Here are my thoughts, for what they are worth.
1. Miraculously, the upward arch at the rear of the front shell is still intact.
2. The forward edge of the rear shell is a mess, basically non-fixable. Water will always pond at the low spot there, and it will always leak through and around the gap. For installation at a fixed location, such as a hunting camp, you could probably stuff a pool noodle in the gap to hold the flood back, and maybe bungee a tarp over the area. But if you ever have to pull the noodle out, the pond will end up inside.
3. It would be possible to build an inside frame to reshape and shore up that mangled edge, but it would be more money and effort than it is worth.
4. You won't be able to get $3k for it. I doubt that you will get $1K for it. I'm glad to hear that you will be honest about the condition if you describe it or show it.
5. If you have a big yard or barn where you can tear it apart, to remove and sell the pieces, you might make a few bucks that way. But 30-year-old parts aren't much in demand, and shipping costs will kill almost all of what there is.
6. Sad to say, your best bet may be to find an RV salvage place (yes, they exist), hope to get a couple hundred bucks for it, and be done. Then, start again from scratch with another TM.

I wish I could be more optimistic.

Bill

 

[Dodge trucker]

The front edge of the back shell was that way when we got it. I've been doing the pool noodle thing all along, and we have a cover to close up the gap between the front and back of the shells we have been using since the first time we camped in it. That hasn't bothered anything.

 

[Dodge trucker]

Well it's up on fake book. We'll see what happens.
And where are there so called "rv salvage" places? I tried to Google and the closest thing I can find is a thread that describes the salvage process. Not a single listing, for anyplace that is actually in that business. Not one. I'm between Chicago and Champaign IL almost dead smack in the middle.

 

[Dodge trucker]

Even with pix of the inside and outside I am getting quite a bit of interest on it via my wife's fake book marketplace. Have a couple of people coming to see it tomorrow. Let them look at it and they can decide. Who knows maybe they have another TM they can combine and make one really good unit?

 

[Dodge trucker]

Well it just left. Advertised for $1250 and told in the ad about its issues and got my $1g out of it. Buyer tried to tell me and his wife that the sag in back (besides the tree thing) was because "the dealer added ac after it was made, they didn't come that way and they weren't really made for the weight of an ac unit".. Well whatever. So onto something else.

 

[Kidkraz]

Well that's an interesting angle, but glad you got what you wanted. Good luck with yer future endeavors.

 

[Bill]

I'm also glad that the situation worked out as it did. You got a decent deal, but more important, you were honest. You don't have to worry about a po'd buyer running down your driveway screaming about how he was cheated, and he is going to get a lawyer, and all the rest of that stuff. Now you are ready to begin again, with a better outcome. We look forward to hearing your experiences.

As for the air conditioner theory - do you know if the buyer had any previous experience with TMs, or was he just spitballing it to show off his "knowledge"?

 

[Dodge trucker]

Have no idea what the guy who bought it knows ...