Community Forums

KC2ndchance · 10-30-2017, 06:50 PM

Hi everyone, I've been looking at 5th wheels to live in full time. I was pretty much sold on DRV's but the one I was going to buy was $26,000 and take most of my money. I came across this 2006 Cameo by Carriage LXI 34CK3 for $12,500 it's never been lived in and has washer/dryer, it looks almost new. My understanding is it was only used a few times. My concern is will I stay warm during the winter. I live in Kansas City and we can have some long spells of 10 degree weather. It has 2 A/C units and fireplace, it's just not as fancy as the 2008 DRV I was looking at but as long as I can stay warm, I'll save enough money I can fix it up to my liking's. Any guidance would really be appreciated.

Greg

jacknife · 10-30-2017, 06:56 PM

They are pretty well built trailers. Just make sure you put skirting around it . Check to see if it has tank heaters and if the basement area is heated.

KC2ndchance · 10-30-2017, 07:07 PM

Thanks jacknife. I do know it has Thermal Pane Windows and Enclosed Underbelly. I will double check if the tanks are heated. Even the DRV's tanks wern't heated but the underbelly had a small maybe 2" diameter piping pointing towards the water manifold under the bedroom area. How do you tell how big the furnace is in a 5th wheel? Thanks again for the input.

grindstone01 · 10-30-2017, 07:08 PM

We full time in a Cameo 08 34ck3 going on 5 years now and head South for the winter, Texas, Az, Florida, and AL. We haven't used our furnace for 2 years now and rely on 2 space heaters and the elec FP. When the temp drops into the 20's, we put aluminum bubble wrap to cover the windows from Home Depot and put foam inserts in the roof vents. If the temp drops into the teens, I will put drop cord lights in the storage compartment, especially near water lines.

KC2ndchance · 10-30-2017, 08:42 PM

Just wanted to mention to any of the other people that have replied to my earlier threads. I had a deal on a 56TK3 Doubletree for 15K but things didn't finish as well as they started so had to back out. It's been so nice to have a place like this top go for us newbies feeling our way around this new adventure. Again, thanks for all the great info that people have offered.

Greg

Itinerant1 · 10-31-2017, 07:52 AM

The Carriages are a well built 5th wheel but I could be biased after owning a 2005 32RLS we upgraded to 2010 34ck3 and couldn't be happier.
I tried to upload a 2006 Carriage brochure but even after compressing the size it's still to large by .5mb

Itinerant1 · 10-31-2017, 10:18 AM

If you don't have the 2006 brochure maybe this will work.
pdf document: 2006_Carriage_Cameo_LXI.compressed.pdf

powderman · 10-31-2017, 10:30 AM

Greg, you should be like cornbread in the oven, and that is a super cheap price on a unit of that caliber. Enjoy!

Cypressloser · 10-31-2017, 07:13 PM

Greg, inspect the insulation in the underbelly before you buy and make sure it is dry and fluffy front to back, if not try to get the price reduced and redo the insulation. Also, see if there are heat pads under the tanks, you might need them.

KC2ndchance · 10-31-2017, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by powderman

Greg, you should be like cornbread in the oven, and that is a super cheap price on a unit of that caliber. Enjoy!

I went and looked at it today. It's a bank repo. The ad said "Clean roof, no water leaks, non-smoker, no pets, never lived-in" The thing is ROUGH! it was definitely lived in and he thinks it sat for the last couple years with out any attention to it. When he went and picked it up the ceiling vent right between the shower and toilet room door was broken . You can tell that water leaked through it and ran down the toilet room door, the door has swelled up at the bottom and the trim pieces that go up the front of the door are messed up.

The fire place has burnt the wood just above it. The outside stickers are shot and curling up and pealing. At some point it had a blow out on the passenger side back tire, it messed up the trim around the wheel well area and some damage to the inner skirt. The furniture is trashed and the rubbers that seal the slides when they're pulled in are not in very good shape. When the slides are out the rubber strips hangs down at the top. The inner rubbers that seal it when the slides are out seemed to look alright and seal up the slides pretty well.

Like I said, it's obvious that someone lived in it full time at some point and didn't take very good care of this trailer. There's a lot of tiny holes on the interior walls where I guess they had hung stuff up. Again there was a leaking ceiling vent that caused the toilet room door to expand at the bottom of the door but the floor is solid, the entire floor throughout the trailer seems solid. Other than the door being messed up the ceiling showed no signs of water damage and the same with the any of the carpet. The leaking vent was right at the top of the stairs going into the bedroom, the linoleum right there in the bathroom area is where the water would have settled, the floor throughout the bathroom is solid and strong

When I looked at the outside control box area I could see a clear tube that was for the fresh water line, the inner part of the tube was very dark and nasty so the whole fresh water system would need to be addressed. When we turned on the heater it didn't blow very hard and you could smell that mice had been in the vents, I guess all the heater system/vent would have to be cleaned out.

Basically the frame, walls and ceiling/roof look good, it's just everything would need to be gone through and thoroughly cleaned out. If I can buy it right I think I can do the fixing. Again, I think the main structure of the RV is sound. If I can by it for $7k would it be worth the money to fix up the interior and address the many issues it does have?

Please comment and thank you for any advice. I've never owned an RV of any type but I am very good with my hands and can fix almost anything it apply myself to.

KC2ndchance · 10-31-2017, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cypressloser

Greg, inspect the insulation in the underbelly before you buy and make sure it is dry and fluffy front to back, if not try to get the price reduced and redo the insulation. Also, see if there are heat pads under the tanks, you might need them.

Thank you Cypreeloser that is exactly the type of info I need, I will get back under it and check that out before I make my offer.

hclarkx · 10-31-2017, 08:20 PM

I'll address your initial question about whether you will be warm enough. I won't completely detail my experience with a brand new 5th wheel, but it went something like this regarding staying warm.

1) had to remove a scrap of plywood from the propane space heater intake area (it was almost totally blocking air flow).

2) weeks later the end of the plenum fell off. The two screws were missing. Basement got very warm, not so much the occupant area.

3) still not very warm so I checked air flow to each of the five air outlets. Closed the basement air outlet but still only one got good air flow (the bathroom just above the heater ... short run).

4) still not getting enough heat, three vents were putting out only small air flow and not very warm air (only bathroom was toasty).

5) figured out that even with the cover under the frame, the uninsulated mylar flexible ducts were bleeding heat to the outside world. And had to be kinked/crushed by tanks, slide mechanism, etc. Found another owner with same problem and confirmed duct damage.

6) cut three ducts where they went through the floor (about four feet from the plenum) and routed them through a panel into the living area. All three now put out huge amounts of air and very hot air.

I now can heat the unit from 48 to 70 in about 10 minutes. It used to take 30 to 40 minutes.

I don't know if this was just Rockwood or not, but I'd guess the whole industry has some issues and my experience is not unique.

KC2ndchance · 10-31-2017, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hclarkx

I'll address your initial question about whether you will be warm enough. I won't completely detail my experience with a brand new 5th wheel, but it went something like this regarding staying warm.

1) had to remove a scrap of plywood from the propane space heater intake area (it was almost totally blocking air flow).

2) weeks later the end of the plenum fell off. The two screws were missing. Basement got very warm, not so much the occupant area.

3) still not very warm so I checked air flow to each of the five air outlets. Closed the basement air outlet but still only one got good air flow (the bathroom just above the heater ... short run).

4) still not getting enough heat, three vents were putting out only small air flow and not very warm air (only bathroom was toasty).

5) figured out that even with the cover under the frame, the uninsulated mylar flexible ducts were bleeding heat to the outside world. And had to be kinked/crushed by tanks, slide mechanism, etc. Found another owner with same problem and confirmed duct damage.

6) cut three ducts where they went through the floor (about four feet from the plenum) and routed them through a panel into the living area. All three now put out huge amounts of air and very hot air.

I now can heat the unit from 48 to 70 in about 10 minutes. It used to take 30 to 40 minutes.

I don't know if this was just Rockwood or not, but I'd guess the whole industry has some issues and my experience is not unique.

That's great information, thank you for sharing that. It definitely gives me some things to look for, thanks hclarkx