B+ motorhomes

[Daniel_C_]

I just bought a Trail Lite B+ 211s with 8.1 Chevy
engine. This is my fifth motorhome (others range
from an old 20' Vagabond, and three Winnegagos, from 19 to 32'. This vehicle is fantastic. I am
using it as a mobile office (and sneaking in a fun
journey from time to time). It gets about 9.5mpg
and I believe I could pull a bus behind it if I wanted! I paid low $40's which is about what I had expected to pay for a five or six year old Chinook with a nicer interior, but fewer features
(slide). I am delighted thus far.

[Orion_42]

That has some potential Snowbird. You may even get away with doing just one pole by using another structure (back of a garage) or a tree for one end.

[Artum_Snowbird]

I keep thinking about this issue too, and have thought about trying to make an extendible three piece section of fairly robust pipe. Start with putting a section into cement in the ground front and back of the motorhome. Use about two or three feet, and put it into the cement so it is flush in the ground and the first piece can fit snugly inside the cemented in pipe.

Build up three sections so that the top is about 15 feet or so up. The top pieces should have a pulley that a rope will come through and an anchoring cleat at the bottom.

Once you do that, get a tarp and put it over the rope, and pull the sides down towards anchors in the ground so that it's not touching the sides of the MH. If you think it would help, maybe run the rope through a piece of rubber hose to provide a softer edge to pull the tarp over.

Here's the deal. 90% of the weather is going to leave it just the way you want it, and sometimes you are going to lose the tarp in the wind and weather. But it won't cost much to replace the tarp compared to building a hard sided shelter.

You might have to experiment with anchors, and maybe even guy wires to hold the poles up tight too, but in summer it all just comes down and gets put away. No fuss, no mess.

[B-Plus]

I don't seem to have any degrading of my roof material after 9 years and mine sits out in the new England weather. I think mine is called DICOR BRITE TEK TPO material, heavy vinal texured surface 1/16 thickness with a felt backing ,seems to be a pretty tuff material to me.I have backed into tree branches and broke them off without any tears in this material, does not seem to create black streaks either. I have one of the early B-Plus units so it may have been a material that they were trying out but became a cost issue to them so they decided to go with rubber. I think the coaches with the old style front cap may all have this material. I don't recommend anything that stays in contact with the roof where wind could cause chafing of the two surfaces or hold in moisture.
Dario

[hoosiermark]

We have company in our area that makes pipe frames for buildings and other things. KLENE Pipe Structures. I read about it in Mother Earth News and then found he was 15 miles away in Greensburg IN. They appear to be just a heavier version of the pvc ones. These are built for farm use. I would think you could assemble it and then cover it with a tarp (roof and/or sides) when the tarp showed age you could replace it. If you are worried about wind use an anchor for a mobile home or a dog tie out. This structure would be portable and could be disassembled easily.

[cheeze1]

Costco sells some nice tarps.. 2 for $40 or so. Pretty thick and have grommets.

[burlmart]

Some good ideas...Makes me think of laying a tarp atop the roof and having a PVC pipe structure on each side of the RV to that you swing up from the ground to support the tarp eaves. Then, some snap in place ridge line to hold the trap a few inches higher in the center.

[Orion_42]

happyjack, I had a hovercraft that needed a higher cover similar to what you describe. I extended the legs, but found that overall it was too wobbly to trust in a wind. The more expensive heavy duty "canvas" garages are probably what you would need instead. They have about 2" dia. heavy steel tubing and are built for snow loads, but a bit pricier and more permanent and come in heights to accomodate RVs. I'm currently using the tyvek cover available from Camping World. I got the one for up to 21' and it fits my 211 fine. A little extra material where the cabover should be, but there's a tie-across to pull it in. It is waterproof and white on top, and breathes through gray-colored material on the sides.

[happyjack2]

I keep looking at those lightweight portable "garages" that are made out of pvc pipes and reflective vinyl tarps. They are 10' wide and 20' long, but only 8' high. Most only last a few years but might be worth the effort to modify the height and cover the T/L when not on the road for the UV protection it would provide in the summer. I park next to my 24 x 24 detached garage so I really only need to cover one side, the top and the front.

[Gene_in_NE]

burlmart wrote:
I often think there has to be a simple way to frame up a 'hat' to cover the roof of our small rigs. It would need to be light enough to take up there and set in place...

Sounds like someone should be able to come up with a solution. How about temporarily covering the roof and sides of the RV with a painters drop cloth. Then drive under a horizontal boom* that would spray either a fiberglass layer or something like this Rhino pickup bed liner onto the drop cloth. When it dried, trim it up and you would have a negative mold of the contour of your RV roof. It should be light enough for two people to toss it on the roof. Don't know where you would store it while using the RV. I do know that they make small trailers by spraying fiberglass over a negative mold. Only need about 1/8" thick or less.

Maybe you would need a tree in your yard that you could drag the molded cover underneath. Then you would attach a lifting device, hoist it up in the tree, drive the RV under and detach. Reverse the operation when you return. You could embed some lifting eyes in the cover. If it was custom fitted, it would remain in place and not shift around like a tarp. This idea needs more work. 😉

*I'm thinking of a car wash.

[cheeze1]

Ahhhh...but for the room to have a structure like that Dario. I do like that platform, but as for making it 'permanent' I only have a single width driveway, no garage, and I don't want to break any more stuff trying to get the coach into the back patio.

[burlmart]

I often think there has to be a simple way to frame up a 'hat' to cover the roof of our small rigs. It would need to be light enough to take up there and set in place. It is better than just a tarp cover because the tarp is held several inches above the roof to allow ventilation.

I see the framing being PVC pipe and the covering just regular tarp. The framing and tarp could be separate, so that the whole thing is manageable - place the PVC frame, then strap on the tarp.

Has anyone seen anything like this?

(I posted a thread on this some years back and recall it met with little interest - kinda like most of my posts, come to think of it:) )

[B-Plus]

Chas, after you build that platform all you have to do is add a few more boards and make a garage for the RV and you won't have anymore fading of your front Cab, plus, think about what you will save on storage per month. Seems to me it could the start of a Rube Goldberg design project.
Dario

[Gene_in_NE]

on 04/05/10 cheeze1 wrote:
I figured that! I was going to put the ladders so the 'A' faces the sides of the rig, so they resist pushing.

Saw this in another thread (My cabover window elimination project) and I thought about your question about how to get to the upper fiberglas cap for cleaning. Quite a platform -

[burlmart]

B-Plus wrote:
Burl, I would clean up the foam spray that is all over your solenoid and disconnect switch, you never know when or where your going to have to fool with them. On the side of the road in the middle of the night with a flashlight in your mouth is not a good time to be cleaning foam away from electrical items,a nice day in your drivway would be better. Take another a real good look at my pic , too many " HOT " live 12v cables in the box!!!

Dario

I know, but it's all them HOT wires that keeps me from the job!

[B-Plus]

Burl, I would clean up the foam spray that is all over your solenoid and disconnect switch, you never know when or where your going to have to fool with them. On the side of the road in the middle of the night with a flashlight in your mouth is not a good time to be cleaning foam away from electrical items,a nice day in your drivway would be better. Take another a real good look at my pic , too many " HOT " live 12v cables in the box!!!
Chas,I use a car polish on the front of my Trail-lite ( Van ) and I use 3m Marine Boat Cleaner / Polish on all of the fiberglass. Seems to work great . It's made for more harsh conditions and holds up better than regular polish or glaze.
Dario