Refurb / Repair 2000 Travel Supreme

[DonJon99]

Hi all. Newb here. Just purchased a 5th wheel for the 1st time. Travel supreme express 2000 38'. Had 3 other bumper pulls in the past. Really like the trailer a lot but it needs some work. Some problems I found while inspecting it ( with no help from the lying sellers lol) and some I found after a few days (I guess they failed to mention). I want to start a thread to go through the process of my "rebuild". I have to replace roof, two rotten wall sections, toilet leak, some cabinet frames, and what ever else comes along. I will have lots of questions along the way and maybe teach someone else how to do something they don't know.
I'll start out with some pic of my 5er.

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1st thing thing I'am doing is trying to stop the leak with a temporary fix till I can get it in my shop. I couldn't see any places that looked like they would leak till I removed the old caulk. The caulk was very easy to peel off and I realized the water had seeped under it to get inside.


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Further inspection reviled the hidden part of the roof that looked new (nice off white color and thick feel) the exposed part was just rubber (black color and very thin) most of the roof looked like it was flaking. Kinda looks like old cool seal someone put on it. Hard to see but the dark spot in this pic is the hole I found and the rotten wood showing. 1/4" hole that was under the caulk. Also, there is a 1/2" gap between the trim piece in the back and the trim down the sides.

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Got to looking at that trim gap and found this. Whole back "cap" of tt was separating from body. Only explanation I can give is maybe the wet wood inside swelled up and pushed it away.


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[westend]

You can browse through the restoration thread in my signature line, "the Cowboy/Hilton". I spent two weeks insulating the whole of my rig. I used fiberglass batt, extruded foam, and a poly vapor barrier. Best choice of anything I did was to insulate as much as possible. The cabin is now easy to heat and cool.

[DonJon99]

Questions on my mind right now... How to insulate this when I put it back together? I want to beef up the insulation in the back room while I got the walls open. Will search on the best r value I can get out of 1-1/2" space maybe some kind of wrap. Saw a few rebuilds a while ago where they used a wrap and foam. Will have to revisit those. Any ideas and links of this will be appreciated. FYI I will gut the whole back room of the trailer so I have access to interior walls and ceiling. Won't have access from outside except back and right side.

Kinda worried if I use foam and a wrap, will it cause sweating in the walls???

[DonJon99]

I think so too. Little worried about mold at the moment. Found a few small spots.

1st day I got to start on it. Got to tear up some of it ( fun part). Got the back unscrewed and set on the ground. Tomorrow I will try to find a way to move it out of my way so I can get more pics.


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[John_Joey]

Travel Supremes' are very well built trailers for the most part. I think you'll be happy with all of your hard work once you're done.

[DonJon99]

Ok. Update. Still haven't done much. Working 75 hours a week on night shift does not leave much time at home to do much.
But I have ordered the materials for the roof. Decided to go with TPO membrane instead of epdm. Seems to be as good if not better then epdm, from all that I have read about it.
Also found a covered rv storage place to do the work at for 150.00 per month. 2nd month is free! So 150 for 2 months rent.
Found a 3rd leak in the main slide out. :M Still not giving up on this rolling heap of junk yet. Still see potential. But have been wrong before.
So far spent:
Covered rv storage: $150.00 (2 months)
5x10 storage for tools $35.00 (2 months)
TPO membrane: $500.00 @ americanrvcompany.com
Roof install kit: $190.00 @ americanrvcompany.com
Extra self leveling sealant x4 tubes $32.00 @ campingworld.com
Roof pipe vent x2 4.00 @ campingworld.com
Bath vent $37.00 @ campingworld.com
Extra Eternabond repair tape 4"x50' rolls x2 $110.00 @bestmaterials.com
Still have to pick up 2 ac gaskets and that should be it for roof other then plywood for rot.
Moving rv and tools to storage tomorrow. Then start tearing it apart on Monday or sleeping Monday, which ever comes first. Hate sleeping, such a waste of time!

[DennisG9]

Every time you start to remove something you find two more that have to be removed to get at the first one.

Be sure to use an exterior grady plywood.

[DonJon99]

Thanks Randu! Good info to know. I dug out some more today. Realized there is not much framing in the rear of the trailer. They also screwed all the screws in from the rear before installing the rear cap (rear cap-fiberglass cover that covers whole rear of trailer). Didn't look too bad to fix. Will have to take that cap off to reach bottom of rear wall frame because it goes below the floor.


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After the current rain, I noticed some water still coming in so for a quick and cheap fix I used some tar. I know. Not the best fix. I only put it on things I'am removing, roof and old caulk. Didn't get it on trim pieces or rear cap. I wouldn't recommend it, could eat away at the membrane, but will give me a few weeks.

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I did dig enough to see that the roof was what looked like pine plywood. That's good, I don't care for luan in damp locations. Glue tends to give away to moisture and falls apart.

[Randu]

I recall 1/2" plywood on the roof. I'll dig into my files and see if I can find my 2000 brochure and specs. Randu


Edit add/correct.

Dinner is over and I found the brochure and the roof is 3/8" plywood.

Other standard specs of note are: 100"wide body, 8" box frame, Sidewalls R-7, Roof R-14, Floor R-19, 75 gal fresh, 55 gal Black, 55 gal Gray, 35,000btu furnace, 13.5 AC, 50amp converter.

[DonJon99]

I looked over a couple replacement tutorials to see how to replace the roof. Everything seems to be straight forward. The question I have is, what is the size and type of wood under the rubber roof? It says luan. But most of luan I've worked with was 1\4", sure couldn't walk on it and water makes it peel apart. Is anything else used here? Do I replace all or just the ones that have damage?
I also see luan on the wall studs and the fiberglass siding I assume is glued to it. That does look like 1/4" on the walls.
Trying to get all these questions taken care of before I get there.

[DonJon99]

@Randu thanks! got the linking thing down.

@john&joey. Ya I can see why. It's a bowl constantly filled with water. Either by the rain or the ac, which drains to the back. I saw two little drain plugs under the ac unit where the water drains out and wondered if I could attach a drain hose to them to make the water go off the roof? Sure someone has come up with a cure for all the water dripping down their camper.

@westend. Very nice work and great ideas on your trailer. Read and looked at it for hours, still not done. I will keep looking for the membrane. Just not to sure what to get. Haven't studied it much but think there are two kinds??? I read about other products. Bedliner stuff, roll on roofing etc. pretty sure I want the membrane. So I can do it myself. Don't really trust roll on products

[westend]

DonJon99 wrote:
Thanks for the support. This back corner, the roof, and a soft wall at the bedroom slide is the worst of it. Few minor things here and there. Found this kit for the roof replacement. Roof replace kit

Does this look like a good buy? Anyone used it? Comments?

I think you can do better, price wise than that kit. I seem to remember someone posting membrane prices of less than $200 for a 30' length. I would search the Forum and do some more online shopping.

I rehabbed my Starcraft from a lot of water damage. The dialog and pictures are in the link in my signature line, "The Cowboy/Hilton".

[John_Joey]

Have a triple slide 33 ft TS. Most owners of TS have issues with that spot. The way TS built up the perimeter of the roof there is no way for water to escape. The roof rack connection is a common failure point.

[Randu]

When replying or posting use the link tool which is the 10th button from the left on the tool bar. The picture tool is 12th from left.

Roof kit

[DonJon99]

Thanks for the support. This back corner, the roof, and a soft wall at the bedroom slide is the worst of it. Few minor things here and there. Found this kit for the roof replacement. Roof replace kit

Does this look like a good buy? Anyone used it? Comments?

[rvrev2]

Hey DonJon99, best wishes with the rebuild. That is a mighty big project and I plan to follow your thread. Thanks for the great pics thus far.