B+ motorhomes

Thx

My typos are terrible as I reread my post again

The opening for the genset had the most issues, but still had not allowed plywood damage. The film is puckering away from the wood along the bottom edge between the oval metal frame and the lower metal C channel.

And about a 6"x6" patch of the film is loose from the wood to the right of the opening.

***

I just looked again, and though loose along the bottom, the film is tucked in under the metal opening and lower channel.

I may tape the open edge to the oval metal to clamp shut the right loose patch of film and mayne premptively similarly tape over the 1/8" gap where it occurs elsewhere.

burlmart wrote:
Sman

They made clean cutouts for my lover hatch openings with the protective film sheathong cut even w/ the thin luan plywood and the clean cut is generally 1/8" away from the inside edge of the oval door metal frame. So water could get into this small gap. All wood is solid, and only around genset are there potential issues: across the bottom, the fikm is puchered off the luan, and going up the right side, it is loose - wood still solid.

What/where is Gorilla tape, and how is it w/r duck tape (redneck's dream tool).

Gorilla Tape is a brand of better duck tape. Supposedly much better. I will say that the adhesive gets on my fingers just from handling a piece, and it takes some work to get it off.

Gorilla Tape is sold in hardware stores.

ive been told that an older unit at some point has had those things already done as needed. This is a one owner unit that seems tohave been taken really good care of. We shall see!

Sman

They made clean cutouts for my lover hatch openings with the protective film sheathong cut even w/ the thin luan plywood and the clean cut is generally 1/8" away from the inside edge of the oval door metal frame. So water could get into this small gap. All wood is solid, and only around genset are there potential issues: across the bottom, the fikm is puchered off the luan, and going up the right side, it is loose - wood still solid.

What/where is Gorilla tape, and how is it w/r duck tape (redneck's dream tool).

JanTx - As has been mentioned, the BT Cruiser was considered an equal or better to the Trail-Lite with about a $5,000 higher new price. The Born Free is again another step better than both and with a corresponding higher new price. Born Free's are considered one of the better constructed units.

The mileage of the BT Cruiser of 65k miles and the Born Free of 80k miles makes them worth less. Both still have much useful life, but will start needing some TLC mechanically such as transmission, alternator, starter, brakes, power steering, radiator, hoses, belts, etc.

Be sure to look at the tires, not only the condition; but the age. There is a manufactured date code on them. Learn to look for them and be able to understand what they mean - for example {2305} means the 23rd week of 2005. The consensus of opinion is to seriously start considering replacement when over 6 years old. That can cost between $1,000 to $1,500.

We are thinking seriously about going to see a BORN FREE 21'r tomorrow. It looks very very clean and is a one-owner. 80 something thousand miles on it. gonna go drive it and smell it and look it over. Will report. I plan to really go over it w/ the fine toothed comb.

later!

Jan, you're welcome. It's entirely likely that the BT Cruiser does not have the specific issues I mentioned. They were considered to be better built. You'd still want to do all the inspecting for water damage, though.

thanks you all! you're a great help and this newbie needs all the help I can get!

burlmart wrote:
I feel this one in my mouth == like cavities.

I'll give a report when I check it tomorrow.

Thanks (I guess!)


JanTX

You just grimace and bear it - I've gotten a little used to it now. Similar detail issues can be found in aging homes as well.

I don't want to be the bad guy.

Really though, just a roll of Gorilla Tape and a couple of rags for cleaning beforehand, and you can waterproof the backside of all three service door openings in a couple of hours. From the outside, through the openings.

And do caulk those stupid screws in the door frame bottoms. Once you have the caulk, you're only talking 8 screws on my unit. A few minutes.

Now the loose sheeting on the bottom edges underneath, that's a crawl under repair. Maybe still only an hour, but on your back.

I figure if I'm going to do all that, I'm buying the best tape for the job, though. The Flex-Mend. If it ever gets here. :)

Jan,

Most people just buy one they like. Sometimes they get unpleasant surprises. Do you want to become expert at inspecting them? Or would you rather take your chances?

IMO the biggest issue with used RVs is water damage, usually hidden. Maybe the owner doesn't know about it. Inspecting for it is sort of a holistic thing. Water can get into the body anywhere there is a seam, or an item installed in a hole in the body or roof. So you look at all the seams, caulking etc. Including on the roof. If you spot a suspect area, then closely inspect the body inside and out near that area.

Go over the body and interior without skipping any spots. Meaning, open all cabinets, move mattresses out of the way, etc. Keep looking for hidden water damage.

As to your specific question. Trail Lites were built with pretty good specs and components for a low price. From what I've found, the weak point is their caulking and sealing. ON MINE, they didn't use a good caulk where the roof meets the gutters on the sides. I pulled it out and re-did it. Here is my post. You can browse a couple of pages before and after that one too.

As far as crawling underneath:
And also on mine they didn't use good practices on the inner walls below the floor. What they did was use black poly sheeting to cover the walls where they hang down. Three problems:
1) They squeezed an aluminum channel over the bottom of the wall, and the channel is supposed to go up over the sheeting and hold it. But in some cases the sheeting is not in the channel. It is loose and the plywood wall is exposed. The fix would be to buy the Flex-Mend tape, clean the area, and tape over the problems.
2) The screws in the bottom flange of the small service doors. The fix is to remove the screws, clean up area, put caulk under the screw, screw it back into place, and caulk over them a bit for good measure.
3) The sheeting is loose behind the service door openings. Now, they did roll some rubbery undercoating around the holes in the body panels. It probably bought some time but it is breaking down. So the fix is to seal the loose edges of the sheeting to something. Either to the rough opening in the body panel, and/or use Flex Mend tape to tape over the loose edge and seal it to the actual white door frame (back side). BTW I'm planning to do this fix from the outside, through the doors, not from underneath.

So, let's say you crawl under and find the things I mentioned. If so, then push on some of the walls under there. If they are still solid, you're fine. Just do the fixes. No, it's not fun working under there but it's just enough room. If the walls are not solid, then you have to decide if you want to deal with the lower wall panels falling apart.

This is only my experience with one MH, my Trail Lite. I have no idea if other brands should be crawled under to inspect. Wouldn't hurt though! I will say, after 8 to 10 years of age, these things will really start to show any structural issues.