Brand new Class C owner and RVer

[dkmthecook]

Hello all. I just bought my first RV, a 20ft Chevy Escaper, 1990. Everything in it works right and I am looking forward to my first trip this weekend in preparation for my retirement and fulltimeing it next June. I look forward to following this forum and learning all the multitude of things I do not know.

[dkmthecook]

I saw the ro before I bought it but I figured it wouldn't be that hard to fix. considering what I paid for her a few hundred dollars here and there just seems like a good investment

[EMD360]

Clever way to find the leaks--a fog machine! Visible way of seeing them and not that expensive to find one. Great idea!
That rot is scary--surprising that you didn't feel the sponginess before you investigated visually. Or did you?
Great pics. Another older RV saved for good times.

[dkmthecook]

Actually the leaks are fixed. There was one in the front right corner of the cab over (the one that ruined the bed area). I patched that and put self leveling stuff on it. The side wall is fine. I found all my leaks by sealing all the windows, vents and drains and setting a fog machine inside. Then I pumped air in with a compressor through the water mains inlet. I opened the bypass cap. The positive pressure made the fog come out the leaks. One around the antenna and one the good one in the front. A little one at the back window which I need to caulk. The rubber seals around the window have shrunk exposing one corner. I don't know if I will replace it or just caulk it with black outdoor goo.

[Capt_Storm]

Nice job but the actual leaks have not been repaired yet,I'm guess from around the widows maybe?

[dkmthecook]

Once I got it all ripped out I bought 1/2 inch foam, 1/2 inch plywood and contact glue. I cut the pieces of foam and glued them to the plastic base over the cab. I had to cut the 4/8 sheet of plywood in 4 pieces so I could get it in my car so I held the pieces together with repair pieces (metal squares with 4 holes, one at each corner). Then I screwed the wood through foam with 1 1/4 inch screws all around the sheet metal of the roof of what used to be the cab of the van. I still need to put on the fake wood laminate and staple down the wrap around so it looks good but it is solid and much better built than it was when it was new.

[dkmthecook]

This was what it looked like under the fake wood grained press board. All rotted and the and the styrofoam was just millions of little pieces of white stuff.

[EMD360]

I suppose you didn't have time to take pictures. You found damage but just repaired it in a weekend? That is pretty darned good. Everyone says run away from water damage because of the work involved. But maybe for the right RV, fixing it would not be too expensive or overwhelming. Guess it depends on your fixup abilities.

[dkmthecook]

Well, last weekend was a joy. I started tearing out the bunk over the cab and found out that the entire thing was rotted out. It took me several hours to tear out all the junk all the way down to the plastic shell then an hour more to get all the glue off the deck. That took up Saturday so I spent the night in the RV and on Sunday I went to the local home improvement store and bought the 1/2" Styrofoam and 1/2" plywood and glue to replace it all, about $50. The project went well and all is good now but I still need to cover the plywood with something that looks good. I also found a little leak around the old TV antenna and instead of fixing the antenna I just used the auto leveling goop and made the antenna unusable. I got an inside one that works quite well. Also I found that the mount for the small awning over the big window had come loose. The screws that held it in were just the self tapping sheet metal type and they were screwed into the vinyl siding only. I took it apart and replaced the screws with umbrella bolts and sealed it up with the non leveling goop. That thing isn't falling out any time soon.. By then it was time to go home and go to bed. All in all a good weekend of fixup

[EMD360]

We were also in love with the RV and RV'ing from the moment we took the plunge. Glad to hear you had such a good time your first time out. You are right about camp folks. Awful helpful when you need it. We also had help in a Kansas campground from a guy who knew more about awnings and RV's in general than we did!
I replaced our grey tank valve and it was very simple. You might just be able to lubricate it but I chose to put in a new one, not that expensive. Plumbing leaks can be harder to track down, but with patience, you can do it. Working on the RV is quite a pleasure too. Enjoy!

[dkmthecook]

Thank you all for the suggestions and good wishes. I have the MH being checked out now by my mechanic for the engine stuff and am reading, reading, reading on all the other things I need to check. Of course since she is used I have some deep cleaning to do also but after my first short trip I can tell you that she is not in bad shape and will be just fine for my retirement.

[toedtoes]

Since you're finding some maintenance type issues to repair, I'd recommend having the fuel lines (both gas and propane) checked for leaks. Those are easy things to get checked, but possibly deadly if not caught.

Glad your first experience was wonderful.

[dkmthecook]

OK. I have read all the posts and done some searching on line as well as checked with Firestone. It looks like I will be putting new sneakers on Gwendolyn as soon as I can afford it, about $1200 total.
On the other hand I decided to risk it and drove to a nice RV park close to home, Autumn Lakes, about 30 miles, and spent Saturday night. I think I have discovered one of those things I wish I had always been doing. I believe even my prissy wife would have loved this life and this RV. This trip was supposed to be a shakedown cruise and I did find out several things. First, the people here are just wonderful. The guy next to me showed me several things I did not know like how to correctly put up my awning. He also lent me a water hose. I had not thought of that. One of the other things I learned is I need a water pressure regulator. I don't know if the pressure here is too high or not but Gwen leaks in several places. It looks like I need to replace a few connecting hoses underneath. Also the valve on the gray water tank does not close all the way. The handle won't go all the way in to the seat.
Other than that I have to say my first experience RVing was a wonderful experience.

[toedtoes]

I agree on the Firestone 8.75 R 16.5 tires. I put them on my clipper and they run great. I know some folks have switched to the 16s, but my local tire shops will order the 16.5 and match online prices, so I figure it's not worth switching at this point.

They were also the very first purchase I made when I bought my clipper. I had read about a blowout with another clipper - the undercarriage, tanks, pipes, wires, etc. were all damaged. Stuck in the middle of a trip with the RV in a shop costing a ton.

[Travelcrafter]

I just purchased a 77 TravelCraft with like new tires on it. I drove 20 miles and exploded the inside dual on the drivers side so please take note of that. I limped in to a discount tire store and they wouldn't touch them; over ten yr.old. I purchased 7 new Firestone's as mentioned on here a lot. old was the 800. new 8.75. The ride is nice and handles good as well. They do fill up the tire well but do not cause any clearance issues, in fact I think they look better plus may even add to increased fuel millage, they are 16.5's as well.