Fiberglass For Long Term Living

[surferbeads]

I've been browsing around this forum for about 2 years now and decided I would finally create a thread because I don't see very much information on fiberglass trailers.

Like many others here I have tried various camping setups I thought might work for long term camping. I've tried tents, vans, and now light weight fiberglass trailers.

I love tents. Nice canvas tents can make great shelters, but they didn't give me the security I wanted. It's to easy for animals and people to gain access to a tent. It's very unpleasant to learn someone stole your laptop or honda generator while you were out running errands in town.

Vans are great but for me I didn't like not being able to stand up straight. I was also concerned about being homeless for a week or so while a major repair was being done on the van.

My solution: I purchased a 1985 Companion egg shaped fiberglass trailer for $1400. It's very similar to Scamp, Casita, Burro, Uhaul, and Boler in shape. It weights about 1000 lbs and I can tow it with my 6 cyl minivan. My van typically gets 21 mpg and when pulling the trailer I've been getting 18 mpg. The inside of this little camper is about 6 ft wide, 10 ft long and over 6 ft tall in the center. I completely gutted the trailer and insulated it with reflectex. I use a Mr. Heater Portable Buddy for heat (always make sure to crack some windows, use a carbon monoxide detector and follow the manufactures instructions when using these heaters. YOU DO NOT WANT TO WAKE UP DEAD!) So far the temps have gotten as low as 10 degrees F and the camper stays a very comfortable 75 degree F with the buddy heater running. I'm pretty sure I can keep it comfortable even if the temps go below zero.

Why I choose fiberglass???

Fiberglass is very strong, light weight, and will last nearly forever. You can do a professional job repairing any damage to the shell yourself with resin and glass mat you can purchase at walmart. Let's face it, many trailers and campers these days are made with cheap materials and not built to last. Many of these old fiberglass trailers made in the 1960's are still on the road today. Fiberglass lasts nearly forever.

If you are like me and weren't quite happy with tents or vans I would suggest scanning craigslist, ebay, and behind peoples homes in your community for an old fiberglass trailer. These older trailers are becoming more scarce but they still can be found. Many of them will need some repair, but if you quickly watch some youtube vids on fiberglass repair, you will be able to fix any damage. It is not uncommon to find older trailers in a price range from $1000-$2000.

I am very confident my 1985 Fiberglass trailer will be the last camper I ever have to purchase, plus it can be towed with almost any vehicle.

I hope someone finds this thread useful and if anyone has any questions you would like me to try and answer don't hesitate to ask. I will try and get some pictures up if anyone is interested.

Surferbeads

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

If I knew now what I didn't know then, I would have fiberglass myself.

 

[surferbeads]

Dragonflyinthesky,

I was a bit nosy and checked out your blog. You have a very cool vintage trailer! I like it.

 

[Bear Catcher]

The fiberglass is one thing I like about my Winnebago Adventurer. The top is fiberglass. I repaired it when a big branch from a big oak tree made a big hole through the roof. I did a professional repair. I like fiberglass. Aren't the exterior of my walls fiberglass?

 

[Patrick46]

YOU DO NOT WANT TO WAKE UP DEAD!)

You knoooooow.........ahhhhhhhhh....forget it!!


Love fiberglass trailers! And for $1400....that's a score!!

Pics....oh yes, we need pics!!

 

[surferbeads]

Bear Catcher,

I'm not sure what the exterior walls of your Winnebago Adventurer are made of. It could very well be made of fiberglass panels. I'm glad you were able to successfully repair the roof!

I was mainly trying to bring attention to the durability of these older molded fiberglass travel trailers. My hope was to introduce molded fiberglass trailers to people who are considering the move from a van into a travel trailer or transforming a cargo trailer into something they could live in. I believe older molded fiberglass trailers are an inexpensive, viable option for many people who want a bit more living space but are still on a tight budget. Plus, they last darn near forever. lol

 

[owl]

Dragonfly, why for heavens sake, would you want to fiberglass yourself. That would have to be mighty uncomfortable!
surfer, I agree. These rigs are better, my opinion, than a cargo trailer for a multitude of reasons. Good catch.

 

[Bear Catcher]

I'm sorry surferbeads, I didn't mean to divert attention from your intentions. I know very little about the molded fiberglass trailers and I should have not posted just because I have repaired fiberglass. It's too late to delete it. I'll try to be careful next time.

 

[surferbeads]

Bear Catcher,

No worries man! I was just trying to answer your question. Plus, you validated what I had said, by saying you made a professional fiberglass roof repair yourself!

 

[Vern M]

Another feature of fiberglass builds, in case you are a radio or TV or short wave/ham radio fan, the trailer is transparent to the radio spectrum. Less need for outside antennas other than for gain or special needs. But, maybe that's not as important these days as it is for us old guys.

 

[AltTransBikes]

Love'm, had a 13' egg behind a E250 for a 2 year winding adventure from New England to San Diego and many points between as well as down into MX. Nice thing is they hold and and can increase in value as they are sought after. I bought mine in 1990 for $500 off a super market bulletin board and sold it in 2005 for $2K.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I like those little fiberglass TT as well. I also agree of the advantages of small TT. Light easy to tow, inexpensive, low maintenance, cheap to liscence insure etc. I had a 10 x 6 footer for 10 years and as someone mentioned the value of it more then doubled over that period because of the demand for funky retro tt. I got tired of towing it around and moved to a small van that I can stand in. The only down size is the stealthness and the condensation that fiberglass interior have and the coolness of the product which can be offset with a little wood,,

 

[surferbeads]

I do agree there can be condensation issues. I completely gutted my trailer and covered every inch of fiberglass with reflectix. Maybe it's my imagination but it seems like the reflectix is working much like a cozy works on a cold can of soda. It keeps the soda cold and the hand dry. Since I put the reflectix up the inside seems to stay much dryer. The only condensation I notice is on the windows. I also leave windows cracked and a fan running to help circulate the air when my heater is on.

 

[Unchained]

I would have loved a fiberglass tt, but they are darned near impossible to find here. I went with a '73 Travlo, which is a knockoff of the Aristocrat Lo Liner. I like it, but would trade it for a fiberglass tt in a heartbeat.

 

[Mac J]

This is an interesting site in that is has want ads for fiberglass travel trailers in your area

http://www.fiberglass-rv-4sale.com/

 

[Lifemagician]

May I ask a question, since you are discussing fibreglass.

I believe that the top of my HiTop E150 conversion van is fibreglass. It is one of those which had the television in the space above the front seats.

The TV and all it's components for playing tapes has been removed. I now use the space for storage of towels and linen.

Towards the end of my trip, some six weeks ago, I noticed that I could see daylight through the front of it. It was only a pinprick size hole and only when facing the sun, but none the less, it was a hole.

What, if anything, should I do about this? I just don't want it to get any bigger and become a problem. Until my return sometime in 2014 the van is in storage in FL. It is under cover.

Lifey

 

[Mac J]

Why not put a small bead of epoxy glue over the pin hole?

 

[surferbeads]

Lifemagician,

If you could post a picture that would be of great help, but I think I know what you are talking about. You most likely have a pin hole. Pin holes are small pockets of air that get trapped between the layers of fiberglass during the manufacturing process . These air pockets create small voids in the fiberglass that can overtime open up and make holes through the fiberglass known as a pin hole.

You have a few choices:
1. If it's not leaking and it isn't bothering you, you can just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't deteriorate more over time.

2. You could do something like Mac J suggested and just plug the hole with something. Just keep in mind that if you ever want to paint your repair epoxy probably isn't the best choice. Not much sticks to epoxy other than more epoxy.

3. You can make a fiberglass repair. I have zero experience repairing HiTops, but I would assume they are manufactured with very similar products that the molded fiberglass trailers I've been talking about in this thread are made of. (you might want to check into this first) The old trailers I'm talking about were made with polyester resin (it's a very inexpensive resin) and fiberglass mat. You can buy the bondo brand at walmart. I've made many repairs with the bondo brand resin over the years and I have had no issues.

You will want to make this repair from the inside. The outside of your hitop is paint, then a gel coat, then the fiberglass. You do not want to disturb the outside paint and gelcoat if you do not have to. It will just make for a lot more sanding and painting. Plus, it sounds like the area you are talking about will be mostly hidden on the inside

I would use a dremel tool to slowly sand out the void. These voids can sometimes be larger than you initially think. For a small hole like this you will want to sand an area about 2-3 inches with the pin hole being the center. The deepest sanded area should be where the pin hole is, and taper the fiberglass back from there. Sand the area with course sandpaper. Then clean the area with acetone. You are now ready to cut some fiberglass to lay in the hole. I usually use 3 layers, but depending on how deep you sand you may only need 2. Mix up the resin and you should be good to go. Let me see if I can find a video on how to do this. It would probably be easier than me trying to explain it. lol

This guy does an excellent job explaining fiberglass repair. I has tons of videos I would suggest watching, but this video is 1 of 3. I would watch all 3

Then this video will basically show you how to make the repair from the inside of your van. Since you don't want to damage the paint or gelcoat on the outside of the van I would not do any sanding on the outside. I would use some tape, wax paper, and or plastic wrap to use as a backer on the outside of the hitop, so you don't get resin running down the outside of your rig.

I'm sure you will figure it out, it's not that hard, but I would suggest watching videos and practicing a little bit before doing the repair so you can get a feel for it.

I hope some of this helps.

 

[surferbeads]

I would like to keep this thread going because I hope it might be of use to someone who is considering buying an older fiberglass egg.

People mentioned I got a really good deal because I only paid $1400 for this egg. The truth is, my egg had some issues. The guy who owned it before me bought it as a restoration project. He ripped pretty much everything out of it. He then decided to use his "wood working skills" to cover the walls, ceiling and build some shelves. He claimed all leaks had been fixed and he had put a fresh coat of paint on the outside. It didn't look to bad. However, the first time it rained I had water dripping from the ceiling and I noticed water was also pooling in areas on the floor. I was a bit irritated to say the least!!! I ripped everything out and found a bunch of holes that had been filled with caulk, bondo and even a chunk of wood was filling one of the larger holes!

I've since fixed all the holes with polyester resin and fiberglass mat I purchased from walmart. If you plan to fix holes make sure not to buy fiberglass cloth. The trailer was made with mat and that's what you should repair it with.

I wasn't thinking when I started fixing cracks and holes so I didn't take any pictures of the damage. I've enclosed a few pictures of holes I have fixed from the inside. You can see light is coming through the holes because the gelcoat and paint on the outside is gone. I will sand and paint the outside sometime in the spring when it warms up.

There is also a picture before reflectix and a picture after. The reflectix is attached to the wall with spray adhesive. This is the first trailer I've restored using reflectix and spray adhesive to attach it to the walls. I have no first hand experience with how well this will hold up, but I do know of a guy who has done it this way and 5 years into his restoration it's still holding up just fine, so I have no reason to believe mine won't also.

So to make a long story short, you can still get deals on these trailers if you are willing to fix them up. I probably spent $50 on resin and mat. I also spent $100 on reflectix and I would guess close to $60 on spray adhesive.

The trailer is water tight, insulated, and I continue work on it. I'll keep posting pictures from time to time if anyone is interested?

I hope somebody finds this information helpful!

 

[corky52]

I'm rebuilding my 1982 Eldorado TransVan, total fiberglass shell on a Ford E350 Chassis, great way to go, few roof problems.

I'm living in it while I wok on it, kind of interesting, but not as hard as it sounds, just have to plan timing well.


Corky

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some pictures, I hope!

Corky

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