Hello,
Brand new to this forum, and first time camping trailer owner. I had to chuckle as I read some of the other posts, as we too have experienced the sway issue while towing, the low outdoor kitchen door head bash, and the scraping and ripping off of landing gear and tank caps due to the low profile of the camper (good thing my man is handy with a welder!). Needless to say, we are learning a lot! Overall we've been satisfied with the camper, but you don't know what you don't know until it becomes a problem. We have felt comfortable handling all of the above, but now we are faced with something we are very concerned about, and we don't know what to do next.
At the end of last season we started to notice a mild sag in the floor right in front of the kitchen sink. We looked everything over and checked for water leaks, suspension problems, etc. but found nothing. We actually questioned whether we were "imagining it" because it was so mild. This season, the sag became markedly worse and unmistakeable, and we were certain there was some sort of damage to the floor. We also started to notice a "potato-like" odor in that area. We figured there must be water damage, and proceeded to cut the linoleum to look underneath. The wood in front of the kitchen sink area was black with mold and saturated. As we pulled back the linoleum, we noticed that the wood in front of the cabinet and stove was nice and dry, but saw some darker looking stains as we approached the fridge. We decided to pull back the linoleum all the way to the bedroom entryway, and found that the wood between the fridge and the threshold was also black and saturated. We can't see under the cabinets/fridge all the way, but we're guessing there is more water damage. Is this due to the slide? It seems like maybe the water damage is adjacent to where the slide ends at each end. Someone suggested a slide-out awning, which we did purchase, but we haven't put it on yet because now we don't know how extensive the damage may be, how much it would cost to repair, and whether this is something that is going to end up with the camper being a "lost cause." We cut out what damaged wood we could and put down new wood and linoleum to "band aid" the problem while we still camp, but now we need some guidance regarding what to do next, whether we could feasibly tackle this ourselves, or if it's better to take it to a dealer, and if we do, what the ballpark cost would be.
Ultimately, we'd like to sell the camper because we're finding that it is too long for our needs, so any guidance with that in mind would be helpful.
Thank you!
Brand new to this forum, and first time camping trailer owner. I had to chuckle as I read some of the other posts, as we too have experienced the sway issue while towing, the low outdoor kitchen door head bash, and the scraping and ripping off of landing gear and tank caps due to the low profile of the camper (good thing my man is handy with a welder!). Needless to say, we are learning a lot! Overall we've been satisfied with the camper, but you don't know what you don't know until it becomes a problem. We have felt comfortable handling all of the above, but now we are faced with something we are very concerned about, and we don't know what to do next.
At the end of last season we started to notice a mild sag in the floor right in front of the kitchen sink. We looked everything over and checked for water leaks, suspension problems, etc. but found nothing. We actually questioned whether we were "imagining it" because it was so mild. This season, the sag became markedly worse and unmistakeable, and we were certain there was some sort of damage to the floor. We also started to notice a "potato-like" odor in that area. We figured there must be water damage, and proceeded to cut the linoleum to look underneath. The wood in front of the kitchen sink area was black with mold and saturated. As we pulled back the linoleum, we noticed that the wood in front of the cabinet and stove was nice and dry, but saw some darker looking stains as we approached the fridge. We decided to pull back the linoleum all the way to the bedroom entryway, and found that the wood between the fridge and the threshold was also black and saturated. We can't see under the cabinets/fridge all the way, but we're guessing there is more water damage. Is this due to the slide? It seems like maybe the water damage is adjacent to where the slide ends at each end. Someone suggested a slide-out awning, which we did purchase, but we haven't put it on yet because now we don't know how extensive the damage may be, how much it would cost to repair, and whether this is something that is going to end up with the camper being a "lost cause." We cut out what damaged wood we could and put down new wood and linoleum to "band aid" the problem while we still camp, but now we need some guidance regarding what to do next, whether we could feasibly tackle this ourselves, or if it's better to take it to a dealer, and if we do, what the ballpark cost would be.
Ultimately, we'd like to sell the camper because we're finding that it is too long for our needs, so any guidance with that in mind would be helpful.
Thank you!
