Sagging Outer Walls/Compromised Interior Cabinets

Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.

Frame patches, rotted floor, sagging walls.
Wow, you certainly don't run from a challenge.

My question....is it worth it ?

Sad to say, but that Prowler is probably not worth repairing. Almost invariably, water & rot damage is far more extensive than is apparent.

Sagging wall and soft floor are both likely caused by (a lot of) water intrusion, assuming the wall is wood framed. Wall repair is conceptually akin to floor repair, just vertically rather than horizontally: remove all the rotten skin, framing members, etc., and replace. It's not a quick Saturday afternoon job!

Basically, it sounds like you'll end up rebuilding half a camper...one with a frame that may be questionable. I'd think long and hard about cutting my losses before diving in; but on the other had, if it's the kind of work you enjoy doing as a hobby, perhaps it's worth the effort. It might not be much harder, though, to get a box truck or a step van or a bus or something and build up a new RV in that, reusing appliances and fixtures scrounged from the trailer.

If you want a project, go for it. If you want to go camping....

Hey Jay, welcome to the forum! Sounds like you got a pile of work ahead of you with this one. Prowler was a Fleetwood brand in 2006, so it's made just like my 2008 Terry was. I found a pic of a frame that is just like what Fleetwood used in that era:



On top of the frame the floor platform is built with 2x3 framing and 1/2" flakeboard, and extends all the way out to the outriggers. Picture a floor platform running on top of the whole frame and out to the ends of the outriggers.

Once the floor platform is framed, they roll out the sheet vinyl, add the base cabinets, then attach the walls on top of the floor platform (just like a house) and screw the walls to the cabinets.

If the floor is that bad, then the baseplate of the wall is probably bad too, and the wall is sinking down between the steel outriggers. Unless those are rusted off, in which case there is nothing but the cabinets holding that wall up.

Hopefully the vinyl floor prevented the cabinets from soaking up that much water, so if you can save the cabinets you'll be money ahead. Get the cabinets and appliances out of there ASAP, Then tear what's left down to the frame and start with a fresh floor and build up like they do at the factory. Big project but do-able if you have the time.

jayfraze wrote:
Hi all,

I have been a long-time recipient of all the advice for repairing campers but this is my first post.

I have a 2006 Prowler Lynx 200XP by Fleetwood. Probably 75% of the floor is rotted or soft which is something I've dealt with before. My biggest problem is that the right side wall of the camper is sagging below the frame. Further, there is a crack in the frame with an attempted repair with a plate. I have not pulled up the floor yet but intend to as well as the kitchen cabinets. The sagging wall extends from the door to the rear of the camper, probably 12 feet at most.

I am wondering 1) are these things related? 2) how should I fix the sagging wall?

Do you "love" this unit?

As they say with antique autos, it is a "labor of love"..

At 75% of the floor soft or rotted, wall sagging below frame AND a previous repair to the frame, I really think you need to step back and perhaps go a different direction and find a trailer in far better shape.

You are pretty much at the level of having to tear the entire trailer down to the frame and also toss the frame out.. Leaving you with pretty much nothing to work with.

If you had a good solid frame you could have just removed the entire "box" and started a new box from scratch, but your new box is only going to be as good as that patched frame..

You are better off to scrap a trailer with this much extensive damage, you can sell off things like windows ($200-$400), doors ($100 if not rotted), A/C $200 if working), furnace ($200 if working), water heater $100-$200), stove ($200).. You have potential of about $1500 you could get out of all the parts..

Save yourself a lot of work, headaches and aggravation..

Gdetrailer wrote:



You are better off to scrap a trailer with this much extensive damage, you can sell off things like windows ($200-$400), doors ($100 if not rotted), A/C $200 if working), furnace ($200 if working), water heater $100-$200), stove ($200).. You have potential of about $1500 you could get out of all the parts..

Save yourself a lot of work, headaches and aggravation..

Or, if you really want a project, go find a rotted box on top of a good frame, buy it at a bargain price, and rebuild with the windows and appliances of your current rig. I wouldn't personally be up for that level of a project at this stage of my life, but perhaps in retirement...

In either case, I would not invest anything near that kind of money or time into a rig set on top of a cracked frame. That's just throwing good money after bad.

Once the box is off of the frame, the frame is easily welded by a qualified welder and will be completely serviceable. The plate was probably done because you can't really weld a trailer frame right with the box on it without burning it down...

The OP didn't add any color about how he got here or why he's considering restoring this trailer, but with 75% of the floor gone, at least one wall sagging, and I can almost guarantee roof damage as well, it's almost a total rebuild from the frame up.

jayfraze wrote:
Probably 75% of the floor is rotted or soft which is something I've dealt with before

This one might be better off as a part-out, post some pics when you have time

BurbMan wrote:
Once the box is off of the frame, the frame is easily welded by a qualified welder and will be completely serviceable. The plate was probably done because you can't really weld a trailer frame right with the box on it without burning it down...

Granted one could have a "qualified welder" correct the issue with the frame once there is no box on said frame, but at that point one needs to ask the question "is it REALLY worth it?"

A "qualified welder around my area can cost north of $100 per hr labor and sticks for the welder are not cheap by any means, plus one will wonder IF that is ALL of the frame issues that need corrected.. Good welds take time, one little patch could end up running 4 hrs or more of labor and perhaps a pound of sticks.. Multiply that by any other "surprises" that shows up after the OP has removed the box..

The frame failed for a reason, high stress point? Poor materials? Poor design? Frame damage from accident?

How much chance is one willing to take that the frame does not have OTHER structural defects that may show up AFTER the OP has put a new box on top?

Used frames are dirt cheap and not all that difficult to find, around my area, see them pop up periodically for under $500 with valid title.

But at that point, the OP is starting from scratch and it is going to cost far more than what it will be worth if the OP does manage to follow this project to completion.

This is a suicide mission, there ARE plenty of used RV trailers for sale at reasonable prices with far less damage..

Heck the one I have I bought the trailer for $700, gutted inside and even replaced the roofing and siding, replaced a lot of rotted framing, rewired, reinsulated, made all new cabinets, altered the layout to my tastes putting around $5K into it and it only took me 9 months to complete. BUT, I had a GOOD FRAME, I had better than 95% GOOD FLOOR, 90% good roof trusses, 85% good wall studs to work with.

The sadest thing however, with all the work and money I put into my trailer, it is worth only $700 (scrap price)since it is a 36 yr old trailer (1984), that is the reality of RVs.

Even then, IF I were ever to do this again, I would DEMO the entire box by cutting the bolts and lifting the box off the frame then building new box from scratch.. Lost a lot of time with demo work, around 3 months of time.. But once again, I HAD A GOOD FRAME AND BOX WAS NOT 75% LOST like the OPs.

I would really highly recommend the OP just scrap and move on to a trailer in much better shape.. They will spend much less time and money demoing and repairing what they have..

It is just too far gone and does not make sense to throw your life and money down the hole.