Travel Lite TC Owners?

[languiduck]

I feel like I'm the only one on this forum. The search I did only came up with a couple owners who had issues with their Travel Lites. I know that every brand has it's issues and each camper is different depending on who put it together, and lots of times the only time you hear from someone is when there's a problem. So I was wondering, who else around has a TL TC and is having a great time with it? I hope there's more. It'd be nice to hear the good and bad, and share common problems and fixes with each other.

[EricCO]

Found another quality control issue this past weekend.

Removed caulking from fantastic fan and found the corner of the plastic flashing/frame was cracked when it was screwed down onto roof so allegedly Travel Light decided to apply extra caulking to cover up the broken corner.

It might be the reason I can't get the thing to stop leaking now even though I removed the old caulking and resealed with enternabond tape.

Probably have to replace the entire fan for this issue.

[WVbassmistress]

We did the bedliner stuff on our old pop up and loved it. Sold it not long after...so I can't attest to longevity We used Grizly Grip.

[Driftwood132]

Stars 101 hope you get it fixed and be able to enjoy your camper. Check into having a spray on roof when it's time. It's like the Rhino lining type stuff that is sprayed in truck beds. Many companies are doing it now.
We all missed you at the Rally and hope you all can make it next time.

[Stars101]

Well, we have to stick with this one; kinda the devil you know. Plus once it's fixed again, it should be fine b/c we will have personally seen to it. Also I can't in good conscious sell it and I don't want to trade it in an another piece of sh*t TC problem.

I think once we use Eternabond on the roof and pull the windows and all exterior compartment doors and re-seal that there just won't be any more access points for water.

I feel that since this has been bone dry under a vented cover that this is some sort of chemical reaction and I hope that fixing the visible issues won't involve trying to track down a water leak.

If you saw the caulking on this camper you would swear there shouldn't be any problems. It's tightly sealed and well applied.

LANGUIDUCK - can you repost a few of your photos? If you use the RV.net photo app link they will always stay visible in the post. I think that would be a HUGE help for members so they can see what you had to deal with.

Wish me luck!

[exhaustipated]

I'm so sorry that all of this is happening to you and I just wish that it wasn't. I'm also sorry that I didn't get to see you at the Southeast Truck Camper Gathering. We finally got back home yesterday after being gone for over three weeks as our journey took us to the "Gathering" and then onto Pella, IA for their Tulip Time Festival. We have a 2012 Travel Lite 960RX and love ours. During those three weeks we encountered quite a lot of rain but the camper never leaked. so that's good. I have never experienced anything falling apart or breaking down either. At home, the camper sits outside on the truck 24/7 365 days a year in all kinds of weather and it has never developed the problems you're going through. Maybe it's just luck that I bought mine before Travel Lite went straight to hell on their production line making these shoddy campers. nowadays.

[languiduck]

I hate that is happening to you. That is exactly what mine looked like at first and it quickly deteriorated to where it was big holes. The dealer still swears it is a chemical reaction with the glue and the aluminum. I don't really care what it is/was. Because there was still water intrusion in that area and around the storage doors and floor
I really do miss having a truck camper and had some great memories, but I couldn't sleep at night watching my TL deteriorate before my eyes and start falling apart inside. I lost a couple grand on the whole thing, but it's better than losing more later down the road. Lesson learned, I know what I'll be buying next time...after I save up for a dually.

As you said, having that situation and making monthly payments will not give you a warm and fuzzy. We're debt free now, saving up and will pay cash for the next one.

At least the new owner is happy. I was upfront about what he was getting but he didn't care.

[WVbassmistress]

Stars, I really hate that you have this ongoing (and worsening) problem.
I am sure this is over-simplifying, but can you cut your losses. Sell it and break even? This is supposed to be fun and obviously you are not having fun.

When we were looking for a new camper, I ran away from every Travel Lite we saw 'cause I remembered the problems you had. You have poured your heart into that little thing and you have nothing to show for it other than lots of knowledge of how these things are made.

Good luck! Again, we missed you at the rally.

[Stars101]

I am so tired of dealing with this camper.

No lie, we literally climb up before and after EACH trip the check the caulking and go over the entire thing looking at all the seams for issues. And it's kept covered. My DH is so disgusted that he will hardly use it anymore b/c it's just a headache. We used it for 2 weekends last year... not worth the loan expense and hassle. It stinks that we have a nearly new TC sitting there and if we go "camping" we use our tent b/c we are scared to uncover and use the d@mn TC!

I think this time we are going to seal all roof seams with Eternabond. I know the pros and cons, but at this point I think it could only help.

[Stars101]

The areas on the driver side have not changed that much.

But the bad area on the left side of the door (above pic) has just exploded in the last 3 months. I've been checking it and the large patch with the crack in it wasn't even visible in March.

This is a 2014 Travel Lite 770R that has been kept under cover since it was re-built and re-sealed at the factory in Aug. 2014. It literally HAS NOT seen any rain on it b/c we are so wary of having it uncovered.

This leads me to think it's either A) chemical reaction between the glue they used and the aluminum siding, or B) corrosion between the staples or screws used. It's very uniform along the drivers side at regular intervals... leading me to think corrosion and not a major water leak. C) Galvanic corrosion.

We are having it torn apart next week and I'll update when I see what's behind there.

[Stars101]

This is what I found in 2015 on my 2014 Travel Lite 770R
It is always stored under cover and has NOT seen any rain since it was re-built at the factory in Aug. 2014.

We decided to keep an eye on it to see if it got worse b/c we didn't have the resources to get into ANOTHER expensive camper repair again last year.

[HMS_Beagle]

I agree that the general quality of RVs is abysmal, but not all of them are as bad as that. The trouble is, most of them are designed to leak. I mean this literally. There are joints perfect for trapping water, caulk used in places where there is no hope of it working, etc.

In a camper, Bigfoot or its derivatives (while being far from yacht quality) are at least designed not to leak, for the most part.

[Stars101]

Hey languiduck- I sent you a PM with some questions.

[languiduck]

Thanks for the encouragement!

[exhaustipated]

I'm glad that your dealer, Gloucester RV, took care of you the way they did and fixed all of the issues you had. It's nice to know that there are RV repair facilities that knows what they're doing. If it wasn't for the RV repair facility that I use, even though it is a three hour drive to get there, I wouldn't know who to trust and depend upon. Now that it's fixed you might want to get one of those custom fit covers to put on the camper when you're not using it to make sure. I'm not telling you what to do, Keith, but you might want to hold off selling the camper for awhile since everything is hopefully fixed so that you can go back to using it again and then decide whether you want to keep it or sell it. I know I've had a leaky roof and had to take mine back three times within a year but everything seems to be alright now so I'm planning on keeping mine for awhile longer. It's been stormy and rainy here in the Central Plains for the past month and the camper is bone dry so that makes me a happy camper.