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SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THIS WEEK'S LATE BREAKING REPORTS OF OPENING, CLOSING AND PROPOSED CAMPGROUNDS
Buying A Retro RV?
8 Hidden Traps to Avoid
The hunt is on all over the world for vintage travel trailers. Many
buyers want to flip them for a quick profit. Other buyers want to restore
them for use as on-site campers and even as roadworthy RV’s.
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| Not all parks accept older RV's |
You may get a great buy, but restoring an old trailer or motorhome has hazards to your budget as well as your life.
ENVIRONMENTAL.When was the RV built? In 1989, the U.S. Government
banned certain asbestos building products, including flooring felt.
However manufacturing, processing, and importing these products was
allowed until August of 1990 and they were sold until August, 1992. One
common use for asbestos then was in RV floor tiles. Flaking lead paints?
Lead paints were in use until 1978. Removing old materials, or continuing to live with them, could be hazardous to your health.
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| Flaking paint may be a sign of trouble in the sub surface |
COSMETICS aren’t easy to fix if former owners have slapped on layers paint over a bad surface, or put new tile over a rotting floor. It can be a huge job to undo these cover-ups before you can do real cosmetic repairs. Some ugly stains and smells, such as black mold, rust, mildew, wood rot, delamination and some types of aluminum corrosion have
a life of their own and continue to grow, creep and destroy. Vehicles that were flooded by sea water are famous for lifelong electrical problems because salt water corrosion continues to migrate through the wiring.
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| Wood rot, rust, cracks can lurk under paneling |
LEAKS. Dry rot, or wood rot, is a living fungus that travels and destroys, often behind the scenes. Worse still, the water leaks that feed the fungus may be almost impossible to find. A tiny leak under a window seal may channel water down an exterior wall to a structural member and across to the other side before it exits. One woman bought a travel trailer, hitched it up, pulled away, and only the hitch came with her. It pulled right out of the rotted frame.
When wood rot is found, dig it out until you come to sound wood, which may be many feet away from the telltale spot. The source of the leak must also be found and fixed. One owner found and traced a small break in the sealant around the rooftop air conditioner. Water entered under the AC, traveled the length of the roof, then downward and around corners to come out in a rear tire well. The entire RV structure was riddled with rot.
TERMITES. We’ve all heard
about this hapless buyer. Her travel trailer’s inner walls and outer
skin looked good. Then the kitchen cupboards fell down because termites
had eaten the wooden uprights between the two walls. Roaches and rodents
may also have set up lairs deep in the RV.
WIRING in an old
trailer is probably frayed and brittle. It needs to be replaced from
stem to stern with new and heavier duty wiring and more outlets for
today’s needs. You need proper grounding and exterior lights as required
for highway use.
Have the work done by an electrician who knows
both 12-volt and 110-volt systems as well as RV’s. RV’s move,
vibrate, flex. Wires need proper routing, shielding from chafe and
securing.. This is also the time to do proper new installations for a
generator, inverter, solar panels and cables.
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| Mildew and black mold may be seen or unseen |
PLUMBING, usually plastic, may be brittle or worse in an old RV. If it wasn’t properly winterized over the years, there could be cracks. The RV's tanks, traps, hoses and pipes could be filthy with stagnant water and stubborn growths. Sealants dry out and crack. Joints twist and flex with road motion. Some or all plumbing may need to be replaced.
PROPANE plumbing is also subject to leaks, which can be deadly. Some early RV’s had gas lights as well as a gas furnace, stove and refrigerator. Remove re-route and replace to assure that the entire system, including the tanks, is up to code.
CHASSIS. Metals rust and are subject to metal fatigue
and galvanic corrosion. Tires weaken with age and sun damage, even if
it doesn’t show in the tread. Bolts vibrate and loosen. Welds crack or weaken.
If you’ll be taking a vintage RV on the road, have an expert check it
out where the rubber meets the road. That’s literally the BOTTOM LINE.
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| Happy Camping |
Farley Halladay is a 50-ish widow whose husband died in an unexplained fall from the mainmast of their ketch. She's now in Florida, operating a charterboat booking agency online while caregiving, cooking her favorite galley recipes and solving crimes with the help of her dog, Scuppers, and her wacky friends. If you love cozy mysteries with a salty setting, light up your e-reader tonight with Book 4 of the Yacht Yenta series.
April Avenger is available for Kindle, Nook. Google Play and most other ebook formats. https://amzn.to/3EKgaoP
CAMPGROUNDS; GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS
This is hard news gathered from local sources in the US and Canada. It may be premature, tentative or incomplete. No endorsement of any park, campground, company or service is implied. Follow up on your own.
*New since January in Estacada, Oregon, is the River Mill RV Park, a member of the RV Inn Style Resorts family. Winter rates at the park which is 30 miles southeast of Portland, are $45 nightly or $750 a month. Summer rates go to $65 nightly. The park offers full hookups, showers, a laundry and a rec center with kitchen. If your RV was built before 2000, send pictures for approval. The rig must be fully functioning.
* Another campground is closing, thanks to trashy “campers” who left the place in a mess. For two years, overnight camping and campfires will not be permitted at San Carpoforo Creek Beach, Big Sur, California.
Be at Askew’s Land RV Campgound in Edwards, Mississippi for the Spring Soiree on April 20. Camping folks will pour in from all over to join in for a day of vendors, music, food trucks, crafts, contests and children’s activities. RV and tent sites are available; non-campers pay $5 admission for the day's program, which ends with a sunset concert.
In Yellowknife, North West Territories, a 22-site RV campground is one step closer to reality. The proposed Kam Lake campground near Grace Lake has passed its first reading at the city council. There’s also talk of creating a 9-hole golf course on this property.
* West of Fort Myers in Alva, Florida, locals are pondering a proposal for a 700-unit RV campground. The small community on the Caloosahatchee River is known for warm winters and its historic chapel and library.
* New in Sneedville, Tennessee is Out on the Creek Campground & RV Park. It has full hookups and now WIFi has been added. (423) 40-3252) Book a creekside campsite and go kayaking, hiking and bicycling.
* Newly opened near Fredericksburg, Texas is Skye Texas Hill Country Resort, (888) 412-7555. Amenties include cart rentals, a resort style swimming pool with spa, free high-speed WiFi, bathhouses, a general store, clubhouse, laundry, ball courts and a pet wash station. Every site has EV charging. Fast charging is available at extra cost. The resort has its own vineyards.
* A new campground is promised in Abilene, Texas, home of the Whiskey Rodeo, historic Lake Fort Phantom Hill and a menu of things to do indoors and outside. The 25-acre site approved for the new RV park will have 40 RV sites, a seven-acre wildflower meadow and a future butterfly reserve. Keep up with developments at (www.) AbileneVisitors.com/
MOTHER'S DAY GIFT GIVES MOM DELICIOUS,
SHORTCUT RECIPES FOR RV OR ANYWHERE
In one, handsome paperback, Mom can have more than 270 easy recipes and tips to take on the road and use at home too. Order Cooking Aboard Your RV by Janet Groene, (Ragged Mountain Press) at any book store or have Amazon gift wrap and ship it for you. https://amzn.to/3nNndWY
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