calvin o
qualicum beach british columbia
New Member
Joined: 08/28/2008
View Profile
 Offline
|
great website i have been lurking here for awhile now reading camper info. iam wanting to spend around $3000 for an older okanagan camper mid 80's to get started in the rv world. found an 1984 8'6''model in my local classifieds with water damage. roof is sagging, water pooling around vent and is leaking. interior ceiling panel above dinette is mushy, front bunk under mattress seems to be sagging aswell causing exterior nose aluminum panel to seperate at the seam and rear door wont close properly looks out of square in frame. fridge doesnt work either. all this for $300 obo. is it to far gone or fixable . iam a handy guy but my time is limited and my wife would freak if i drag this thing home! your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
|
mudmovers
Whittier, Ca
Full Member
Joined: 08/22/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
1st off.... if your wife would "freak".... Its a no brainer man, leave it be and find something that she's gonna be on board with. Camping is a family affair, and if she's bitter towards your new time taker, its not gonna be pretty!
2nd.... I'm new to this too, but as a professional mechanic, and somewhat handy person myself, that camper sounds like a basket case, and the guy should be paying you $300 to remove it from his property. But perhaps I'm wrong.... it just sounds like more work than its worth.
Good Luck with whatever you choose, and welcome to the TC community!
Jon
2004 Chevrolet 3500 4x4-D/A CCLB SRW, 19.5 Visions-245/70 Toyo M608-z
air bags, tork lift frame mounts, super hitch w/48" extension
2009 Host Everest Triple slide
95 Wrangler "crawler" 75 IHC Scout II "wheeler"
04 KFX400 02 TRX250
|
chistoso
Tracy Ca.
New Member
Joined: 04/29/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
It sounds like a bad deal and a lot of work. I bought a 1989 Lance, fully loaded, and over 11'. It was in great shape and every thing worked. I paid $4000.00. This was almost 2 years ago. I believe the prices have come down do to the economy. During 2 years of use, and many wonderful family adventures I have had to fix a few things. I am a, do it yourself and save a few bucks, guy and I knew what I was getting into. I have since had to replace a faucet, water pump, furnace fan motor, cooling unit on the fridge and a few other small items. I was able to diagnose the problems, order the parts cheaper online and then do the work myself. If I were to take the camper to a repair center to have those items fixed for me I would have paid a lot of money for the repairs. Even though the camper is working great and looks good it is still 19 years old. Seals, wire connections and small plastic pieces don't work as well 19 years later.
Just something to thing about before buying an old camper.
Chistoso
* This post was
edited 08/29/08 01:58am by chistoso *
49er Faithful
|
Steve_in_29
29 Palms (SEMPER FI), CA 92277
Senior Member
Joined: 01/08/2004
View Profile
|
Run Away!!!
2007 F350,SC,LB,4x4,6.0/Auto,35" tires,16.5 Warn,Buckstop bumpers
2007 Outfitter Apex9.5,270W solar,SolarBoost2000e,2 H2K's,2KW inverter,2 20lb LP on slide out tray,4 Lifeline AGM bats,Tundra fridge
95 Bounder 28' ClassA sold
91 Jamboree 21' ClassC sold
|
Trickewon
Lebanon, Pa
Full Member
Joined: 07/15/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
You have a very smart wife LOL leave that unit alone
Pappy, Two Grandkids & Their Dad Camping The Way It Was Meant To Be
F150 SuperCrew 5.4 V8 Wildwood LE 27BHSS
|
|
|
jefe 4x4
Nevada City, CA
Senior Member
Joined: 01/21/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
I hate to sound like I'm piling on, but Stevein29 is correct. Run Away!, run away!
It would forever remain an eroding piece of junk on your property. Way too much work to bring it back. There are much better options out there. Keep looking. Just widen your search area. A few hundred miles away from you is the TC of your dreams.
regards, as always, jefe
'01.5 Dodge 3/4T, CTD, HO, Qcab, SB, 4x4, 6spd, D60, D80+Pwr Loc,
camper&tow pkg,Titan V, 285/75R-16 frnt, 33/14.5 Nitto super singles rr,
Rancho 9K's, Warn M15K winch. tows Jeep CJ8 rock crawler on 14' trailer
'98 Lance Squire Lite 165s, 8' 6" X Cab
|
SoCalDesertRider
SanDiego, CA, USA
Senior Member
Joined: 12/14/2003
View Profile
|
I agree, that one sounds too far gone. You would end up re-manufacturing most of the main structure of it, at great expense of time and money. I would much rather pay more for a good one that can be used the way it is, with only minor things to fix.
I agree that buying that camper will just be moving the pile of junk from the seller's yard to your's and making the wife unhappy. I can only see that camper being a good deal for someone who just needs to rape some working appliances out of it to fix up a camper they already have that is in otherwise good shape, except for some non-working appliances.
92F350 CrewCab 4x4 351/C6
LoadNGo service body
69Bronco ATC250R CR500
20' BigTex flatbed carhauler
B&W TurnoverBall g-neck Curt Magnum rr DrawTite ft
HD springs Rancho9000s Bilsteins poly sway bushings
285/75-16E BFG AT on 16x8 Stocktons
4.56's & Lock-Rite rear
|
bigjimcruising
Orange County, CA
Senior Member
Joined: 02/22/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
jefe 4x4 wrote:I hate to sound like I'm piling on, but Stevein29 is correct. Run Away!, run away!
It would forever remain an eroding piece of junk on your property. Way too much work to bring it back. There are much better options out there. Keep looking. Just widen your search area. A few hundred miles away from you is the TC of your dreams.
regards, as always, jefe
Run away, run away!!! Got to agree with my fellow Monty Python fans. And if you haven't seen "Spamalot" go! It's worth it!!
2007 F450 4x4 Extended Cab, 6.0 PSD AT, 9ft Flatbed with 8ft boxes. Okanagan 117DBL, loaded. 13ft tall! Happy Trails!
|
Tizi
WA
Full Member
Joined: 08/07/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
Forget about it. You would be better off finding one with no leaks and in working condition.
2008 Dodge Ram 2500 QC 4x4 - HEMI
2004 Northern Lite Ten-2000 CD
1998 Glastron GS 180 SF w/ Merc 150 HP
|
Reddog1
El Dorado, CA (above the fog & below the snow)
Moderator
Joined: 03/09/2004
View Profile
|
I have a 1988 TC. It was structurally sound when I bought it about five years ago. It needed TLC, and did not have most of the deluxe items of the TC's today. It cost me $1000. I have upgraded everything to what I want, including solar. I do my own work. I have about $6000 into it today, and it is equipped with the features I want.
What you described will require way too much work. I have rebuilt similar TC's, and can say if you and the wife choose the rebuild together, it can be enjoyably. If she is not interested, forget it. The frig repair alone will cost over $600. Probably another $400 in wood/paneling related material, and lots of work. For starters, you will need to completely gut the inside, just for the ceiling repair. It can be a fun hobby project.
I think there are better buys.
Wayne
blog.rv.net - Your daily guide to the Open Road.
Reddog1 Photos
96 Dodge (DSL), 2500 (6200#)
88 Bigfoot @ 1500# per decal, Stable Lift (w/remote), 130 watts solar, 100 amp AGM, Polar Cub A/C, EU2000i Honda Gen.
Toad: 91 Zuke
|
|
|
|
