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Thanks Craig! My best advice is to make sure you have the determination to see the project to the end. RVs aren’t terribly complicated structures and if you lean on those with expert advice and knowledge you’ll find there’s a lot you can accomplish yourself.
Hey Pippi, would it be okay if I linked a blog I’ve started about my pilot adventures? I’ve documented my trailer build a little more thoroughly there as well as a bit about my atypical lifestyle.
If not that’s okay, I’ll just keep updating here like I have been!You can check out my 5th wheel rebuild for some inspiration: https://www.pippenings.com/rv-living/rv-motorhome-life-forum/topic/1993-wilderness-rebuild/#post-2368
Search Youtube for camper restorations and RV repairs and you’ll see a lot of similarities in how they are all put together. At the factories all of the walls are built on tables and attached to the finished sub-floor. They are almost all 2×2 pine construction stapled together with Luan (thin plywood with a vinyl wallpaper) stapled to the interior, and fiberglass or aluminum sheets on the exterior.
The good news is there is no wrong way to put it together so long as it is structurally sound and fits how you intend to use the RV. Remember, one step at a time and scour the internet for inspiration!
Here’s some progress on the back wall. Everything from the base of the window down was completely removed and rebuilt. There was just far too much rot on every piece.
Here is the completed back wall! Notice I replaced all of the horizontal pieces that the roof ladder attached to. Last thing I wantex after all of this work was a rickity ladder!
All of the framing for the walls is 2x2s and occassional 2×4. The floor joists were 2×3. I think I used 9/16ths plywood for the floor but it could’ve been 11/32nds. I had to measure with calipers AND take a scrap piece to Lowes!
All of the affected wood that wasn’t cut away got treated with a 50/50 hot water and outdoor bleach mixture. Here is a picture of the kitchen wall exterior after it was treated and before any wood was replaced.
Sadly I don’t have any pictures of the kitchen wall completed before I put skin on it! Rest assured it looked fairly decent and all of the wiring was where it needed to be :^P
Next up was the overhang and roof. I don’t have any pictures of the extensive rooftop surgery. I didn’t realize how few photos I was taking!
The entire front wall had to be removed and built from scratch. The nice thing about that is it gave me the option to remove one of the bedside closets and move the bed closer to the wall for more floor space and freedom to move in the bedroom!
That’s all of the wood replaced and ready for electrical inspection!!
I got a job flying for another small airline in Colorado starting in January of 2017! I had the back wall completed by the time I was hired, and all of the current progress has been as my schedule allows. My dad went through all of my electricals while I was out of state and made sure all my grounds were in fine shape. I got all of the insulation put in. Then my Dad, myself, and my good friend Collin put up the aluminum siding!
That was midway through the aluminum install. I’ll need to grab a pic of all of the siding put up but it looks eerily similar to before I did any work to it :^PNext on the agenda is get good butyl tape ordered, install all of the windows and trim and the rubber roof and get it ready to be rolled outside if we need the shop space.
I’m still deciding how I want the interior and how I’m going to do the new cabinets and bartop.Please feel free to give comments, feedback, suggestions, ideas, and criticisms! This is a huge learning situation from me and I would love if everyone could benefit from my over-ambitious half-baked ideas! Thanks for putting up with the picture spam! Until I get another free chunk in my schedule, see you soon!
This was my first time doing structural work on an rv and I’m proud to say my floor turned out flat, level, and sturdy!
I just used standard household fiberglass insulation, I think R13. The price was right and it was easy to work with.
Finished floor!! A nice solid foundation on which to build up the rest of the coach.
Sadly I took far fewer pictures after this stage due to working largely by myself and keeping up momentum. I’ll definitely document my interior as it goes together so you have a nice entertaining visualization of my toil :^PCARNAGE!!!
For the record: this wasn’t demolition. Nope it was scooping up the joists and throwing them in the trash!
The walls don’t have a floor to attach to anymore!! This was much more damage than I had initially anticipated. Needless to say I was quite discouraged and feeling a little overwhelmed! But I just did the only thing I could do: just keep slowly plugging away at it.
P.S.- I’m so incredibly grateful to my Dad for his encouragement, expertise, and shop space to work!You can see as we pulled each piece of aluminum siding off we removed the staples and putty and slid it under the coach
The door-side sub floor was ruined all the way up to the door! You can see me starting to place 2x3s to replace the missing joists. Just liquid nails and deck screws held the new joists in place which turned out very strong and not squeaky
This is what was underneath the sink and stove
Obviously I hadn’t pulled the carpet yet. Getting the outside skin and trim off was a pain because I pulled all staples and cleaned off putty tape as I went instead of doing it after the shop was a carpentry mess. If I did the project again I would be sure to do it like that again! Huge time and morale saver.
It was only after I tore out the kitchen cabinet that I realized it wouldn’t fit out the door. whoops!
Here it sits to this day awaiting the time it can be set back in place
Looking at the damage from the outside of the rig you can see most of the water came in from over the refer by the tear and pooled at the back wall. The undercarraige is lined with PVC sheet to keep water and road grime out. Unfortunately that means the water that got in couldn’t run out and completely destoyed the floor and parts of the walls. Next thing to do is start pulling up the floor.
Front of the overhang
We had thought the front termination was shot and sure enough the front corners were gone all the way down to the landing gear.
Time for the inside assessment!
More disassembly!
As you can see the damage is extensive and prolific. Most of the wood that is dark black completely crumbled when handled! I wore a respirator during much of the demolition yet I still ended up getting quite sick for a couple weeks. *ALWAYS take necessary precautions and safety measures to keep yourself safe and healthy!!!*
Out with the old nasty rubber roof!!
After a bit of elbow grease I had all the appliances out, the carpet out, all of the windows out, and moved the kitchen cabinets ahead and out of the way of the kitchen floor for replacement. I knew the rear subfloor was going to be the hardest work and needed to get done so I’d have a solid foundation to build from.
In the process of disassembly I took note of potential problems. Any time I pulled out a screw or staple that was corroded or even rusted to nothing I knew I was dealing with water damage in that area. Unfortunately I found trouble spots on each corner of the rig, top to bottom. This project was quickly getting out of hand! My dad and I had planned on replacing part of the sub floor, but we hadn’t prepared for extensive surgery on all four corners.
OH NO!!
I found a tear in the rubber roof which seemed to have been hastily and incorrectly repaired. We were disheartened knowing that meant a big leak and was probably the source of the spongy floor. ARGHH!!
It was at this point we resigned to the inevitable; the aluminum skin was going to have to come off. We were hoping to avoid that but we ended up taking almost all of the aluminum off the entire trailer.
After pulling the Trailer into the shop I set straight to work tearing it apart! I had done work for my dads repair shop and already had some experience dismantling and reassembling rvs. Still nothing could prepare me for how much learning and growing was needed over the next few months. Unfortunately I took very few pictures of the old interior. In these pictures you can see how wet the carpet was plus the board covering the soft spot in the kitchen floor. EVERYTHING IS PINK.
I hate dinettes. I understand they work fantastic for many people and also function as a bed. I’m 6’1″ and really don’t fit well in dinettes! My plan for the kitchen is to have it wrap around in a horseshoe shape with nearly full counters and a breakfast bar where the dinette used to be. I really like cooking and baking and want as much usable counter I can get with my trailer. This model Fleetwood doesn’t have a slideout. Although that seems like a negative thing at first, it means far less work and complexity in the rebuild and one less thing to potentially leak later down the road. Plus it’s only me in my trailer for now so space isn’t super critical at this time.
I drew up a few plans on the computer and this is a vague idea of what I was thinking
The plan has changed and evolved drastically in implementation but the overarching layout is still in play.
Now on to the good stuff!
2500 miles and four days later I rolled into the Willamette Valley with my head and spirits high! My truck had transported me flawlessly and I was hopeful for my next job opportunities.
After a little hard work I was able to outfit my Ugly Truckling with a sliding fifth wheel hitch that my Dad had saved from the business and I took mounts and other necessary parts off an old dilapidated Chevy truck we had laying around. I even ran into a local who had a front bumper. The poor old girl has a completely new lease on life! Rotting away in Mississippi was not this trucks final calling.
Now I’m sure your interest isn’t really in plucky old tow vehicles so I’ll get on to the good stuff!
With my lack of a regular job I had plenty of time to get cracking on my fifth wheel remodel! Big shoutout to my grandparents for the consistent work and support that kept me on my feet!First things first: begin dismantling and assess the damage.
Soon after I acquired my new tenement on wheels I was shipped out to Memphis Tennessee to fly for my first small airline!
Any progress I hoped to achieve on the trailer were put to a halt as my schedule was just too busy to hop over to Oregon and get anything accomplished. After a good thorough wash I put it in protective storage until a later date.
Once in Memphis I was able to acquire a truck as well! At the time it was the only thing I could afford and had no idea that it might become my tow vehicle. Its a 1995 Chevy 2500 with the 6.5 turbo diesel. It was located down near Arkabutla Mississippi and was a wreck when I first saw it. It had no batteries or front tires and wouldn’t start. I gambled and had it towed to Memphis after I paid the nice lady her meager purchase price.
After a few days I had it up on four tires and had breathed some life into the old girl! Say hello to The Ugly Truckling:
A symphony in beige!
Try not to be fooled by her beauty, she was a bit of a problem child under the hood! After months of babying her and troubleshooting and darn near giving up, I finally fixed all of its fuel and glow plug issues and got her running great. I’m still proud that most of it involved elbow grease and very little money. Pilots make very little money starting out and I have school debt hanging over my head! Necessity is the mother of ingenuity, plus a little luck!
As the summer was waning and fall crept in, SeaPort went out of business and I was out of a job! The only thing to do was pack up my Ugly Truckling and head back to Oregon to start the job hunt.
In late 2009 I earned my private pilots license at my local airport in the mid Willamette Valley, Oregon. By the Spring of 2015 that turned into the start of an adventurous new career! As a pilot I learned quickly that I needed to be very flexible with where I was living. My dad was an RV repair technician for 25 years and I immediately knew the RV lifestyle would fit the bill nicely.
One of my dads friends had an old quality fifth wheel trailer stored on his property for many years. He and I worked out an awesome deal and I had acquired my new home on wheels!
As you can see it’s in pretty decent shape on the outside, but has clearly been neglected!
Before it was stored there was a soft spot detected in the floor by the kitchen. We knew for sure it needed some sub-floor replaced but weren’t quite sure how extensive the damage was.
Nevertheless I was stoked! I’m very excited to have a trailer to call my own, especially with such a small monetary initial investment: it was free! I just had to trade my time for work done. Now thats thrifty!Hello there Pippenings Board!
Its been a while since I’ve dropped by, which is great because I’ve been a busy little beaver. I have a large portion of the restoration complete and am nearly ready to begin interior remodel!In the next few posts I’ll take you through the complete story of my RV adventure.
