Bidding on a repo - how to plan for contingencies

[Steve 716]

As a former and never again Forest River owner, and as someone who has spoken with a number of Forest River RV owners at campgrounds across the country, walk away.

[Wellibe]

Thanks for the opinion, but you're a couple days too late.

[LETMGROW]

I'm going to say congratulations in hopes your purchase is deserving of a congratulations.
We'd like to see you start a new thread on this forum telling about your trials, tribulations and progress on bringing this unit back up to snuff so you can enjoy it. (I say 'We' because I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be following this)

[Wellibe]

Originally Posted by LETMGROW

I'm going to say congratulations in hopes your purchase is deserving of a congratulations.
We'd like to see you start a new thread on this forum telling about your trials, tribulations and progress on bringing this unit back up to snuff so you can enjoy it. (I say 'We' because I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be following this)

Thanks. I will consider doing that, as I'm sure it will be a long process with lots of twists and turns. Got some "life" stuff going on for the next few days; after that, first step is to get some new batteries in this puppy and start testing stuff. Or maybe first step is to get up on the roof and check/reseal...

[Wellibe]

Well, I never got around to starting a new thread to cover the refurbishing, so I figured I would at least give an update here. It's been mostly pretty routine stuff, so it probably would have been a boring thread anyway.

Amazingly, all of the appliances seem to be working normally, at least as far as I can tell from brief testing (knock on wood and fingers crossed). The plumbing and electrical systems also seem to be functioning normally.

I can tell that the water heater has had some corrosion, based on sediment around the drain plug and the fact that one of the water fixtures burped up some sediment the first time I turned it on. I flushed it, chased the drain plug threads, and put in a new anode rod. It seems to be working normally and the hot water runs clear, so I'll go with it as-is for now. I imagine I'll have to replace the whole thing at some point, but didn't see a need to do it just yet.

The roof needed cleaning, but otherwise is in good shape. I did some minor touch up of the lap sealant, and I elected to cover the entire front seam with Alphabond tape. Although the sealant on that seam was still in good shape, I noticed that water tends to pool up against it. I figured the first minor crack that develops would have resulted in a catastrophic roof leak, so I figured I'd get ahead of that issue.

I touched up the non-sag sealant on all the wall perforations, and I added some sealant along the front cap seams. Those seams had never had sealant. It looks like Forest River just relied on the butyl putty to keep those seams dry. There's no evidence that they ever leaked, so I guess I'm lucky that the butyl putty kept it dry as long as it did.

I patched some holes in the underbelly fabric using mobile home repair tape.

I replaced a couple of the corner trim cap pieces that had broken or started to pop out.

I noticed that the storage compartment doors had taken on some water at the bottom. (The actual door panels, not the compartments.) They looked a little wavy, and I could squeeze them and feel/hear the water in them. The edge molding was never sealed, so water that ran down the side of the camper was getting in between the fiberglass and the molding. They are foam core doors, so even though the bottom of the edge molding has drainage holes, the styrofoam was holding on to the water. Replacement doors are $256 apiece, and my camper has three of them. Not wanting to drop that much change, I used a hair dryer to heat up the doors and then squeezed as much water as I could out through the drainage holes and the edge molding seams. Then I sealed the edge molding seams on the outside. I left the drainage holes open and the interior edge molding unsealed, so hopefully any remaining moisture will evaporate over time.

I replaced the ****** CH751 storage compartment locks with uniquely keyed locks.

I replaced the tired old 81 AH group 24 battery with two 220 AH 6 volt batteries. I'm going to install a shutoff switch on the outside of the battery box.

I replaced the rubber seal around the bathroom roof vent fan. The old seal was quite hard, but was not leaking yet.

I'm in the process of replacing the two propane tanks, both of which are long past their recertification date. Not sure where they came from, but they are both much older than the camper. One was a 30 lb tank, and one was a 20 lb tank. I'll be going with two 20 lb tanks.

I replaced the old worn out fiber mattress with a new 8-inch memory foam mattress. Can't wait to sleep on it - it feels better than my main bed's spring coil mattress.

One of the interior LED lights doesn't work. I've bought a replacement but haven't installed it yet.

I am in the process of correcting a construction defect that I discovered in the bathroom. The bottom of the shower/tub insert is not high enough to accommodate the p-trap. So Forest River cut a giant hole (11" x 13") in the floor so the p-trap could stick down through the floor. The only thing below that is the underbelly fabric. So the air space under the tub, which contains water lines and graywater drain lines, is just contiguous with the outside air.
A 2" x 4" hole would have been plenty large enough, and the remaining gap could have been sealed with spray foam. Why they chose to just cut and leave a huge hole in the floor is beyond me. So I cut a couple of pieces of plywood to fit around either side of the p-trap and glued them down with construction adhesive. I left about a half inch gap all the way around in case things shift or vibrate during travel. I'll seal that gap with spray foam.

I re-packed the wheel bearings and adjusted the brakes. The shoes and magnets have almost no wear on them, which suggests that the previous owner didn't tow much. And yet somehow the brakes were way out of adjustment. I would guess they have never been adjusted. The star wheels were rusted fast, so I had to use a little gentle persuasion and a lot of brake cleaner to get them moving.

After reading the sidewalls and seeing that the tires are 6 year old chinese tires, I'm going to replace those. Haven't gotten around to doing it just yet.

It has a certain smell inside, not moldy but sort of a been-closed-up-with-a-bunch-of-dirt-and-crud smell. I've been airing it out on sunny days and have an air freshener in it. The smell has improved a lot, but isn't completely gone.

A couple of things have me stymied for the moment. I haven't been able to find a replacement screen door. May have to do without for a while. Also the door catch is broken, and it's going to be a challenge to replace because the awning support prevents the door from opening more than 90 degrees.

At this point I am guessing that this camper was used as a seasonal rig. I cleaned lots of dirt and forest debris off of the exterior and out of the gutters, and green dirt that looked like algae off of one side. I found several mouse traps, mouse repellent packs, and lots of mouse crap when I cleaned out all the nooks and crannies (as well as the aforementioned holes in the underbelly fabric). All that, combined with the nearly new brake shoes/magnets, but normal camping wear and tear inside, suggests that it mostly sat in one place for long periods of time.

That's it for now. Nothing too exciting, just some money and a lot of elbow grease.

[Wellibe]

I almost forgot about the gas lines. After reading up on black pipe and inspecting the lines more closely, I convinced myself that what I was seeing was normal surface rust. Apparently black pipe rusts quickly on the outside, but can take years to decades to rust through to the point of leaking. So rather than replace the lines, I elected to wire brush and paint them with rustoleum.

[Souljourner]

Thanks for that update. I think it’s human nature to wonder how things turn out. You must be relieved to have discovered it was mostly routine things plus elbow grease.

Regarding the lingering odor - having dealt with a neglected camper with a bad mouse problem - I found an ozone machine really works to eliminate not just cover odors. If you’ve never used one make sure to read the instructions carefully as they can do damage, especially to people, pets, and plants.

I had to use it many times over a period of a week but by the end of the week all smells were completely gone and the camper smelled as good as it looked.

Here’s a link to the machine I used:

Enerzen Ozone Generator 11,000mg Industrial O3 Air Purifier Deodorizer (11,000mg - Black) https://a.co/d/aeAAlFh

[Wellibe]

Originally Posted by Souljourner

Thanks for that update. I think it’s human nature to wonder how things turn out. You must be relieved to have discovered it was mostly routine things plus elbow grease.

Regarding the lingering odor - having dealt with a neglected camper with a bad mouse problem - I found an ozone machine really works to eliminate not just cover odors. If you’ve never used one make sure to read the instructions carefully as they can do damage, especially to people, pets, and plants.

I had to use it many times over a period of a week but by the end of the week all smells were completely gone and the camper smelled as good as it looked.

Here’s a link to the machine I used:

Enerzen Ozone Generator 11,000mg Industrial O3 Air Purifier Deodorizer (11,000mg - Black) https://a.co/d/aeAAlFh

Thanks much for that suggestion.

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by Wellibe

I can tell that the water heater has had some corrosion, based on sediment around the drain plug and the fact that one of the water fixtures burped up some sediment the first time I turned it on. I flushed it, chased the drain plug threads, and put in a new anode rod. It seems to be working normally and the hot water runs clear, so I'll go with it as-is for now. I imagine I'll have to replace the whole thing at some point, but didn't see a need to do it just yet.
I patched some holes in the underbelly fabric using mobile home repair tape.

I noticed that the storage compartment doors had taken on some water at the bottom. (The actual door panels, not the compartments.) They looked a little wavy, and I could squeeze them and feel/hear the water in them. The edge molding was never sealed, so water that ran down the side of the camper was getting in between the fiberglass and the molding. They are foam core doors, so even though the bottom of the edge molding has drainage holes, the styrofoam was holding on to the water. Replacement doors are $256 apiece, and my camper has three of them. Not wanting to drop that much change, I used a hair dryer to heat up the doors and then squeezed as much water as I could out through the drainage holes and the edge molding seams. Then I sealed the edge molding seams on the outside. I left the drainage holes open and the interior edge molding unsealed, so hopefully any remaining moisture will evaporate over time.

I replaced the ****** CH751 storage compartment locks with uniquely keyed locks.

I'm in the process of replacing the two propane tanks, both of which are long past their recertification date. Not sure where they came from, but they are both much older than the camper. One was a 30 lb tank, and one was a 20 lb tank. I'll be going with two 20 lb tanks.

One of the interior LED lights doesn't work. I've bought a replacement but haven't installed it yet.

I am in the process of correcting a construction defect that I discovered in the bathroom. The bottom of the shower/tub insert is not high enough to accommodate the p-trap. So Forest River cut a giant hole (11" x 13") in the floor so the p-trap could stick down through the floor. The only thing below that is the underbelly fabric. So the air space under the tub, which contains water lines and graywater drain lines, is just contiguous with the outside air.
A 2" x 4" hole would have been plenty large enough, and the remaining gap could have been sealed with spray foam. Why they chose to just cut and leave a huge hole in the floor is beyond me. So I cut a couple of pieces of plywood to fit around either side of the p-trap and glued them down with construction adhesive. I left about a half inch gap all the way around in case things shift or vibrate during travel. I'll seal that gap with spray foam.

I re-packed the wheel bearings and adjusted the brakes. The shoes and magnets have almost no wear on them, which suggests that the previous owner didn't tow much. And yet somehow the brakes were way out of adjustment. I would guess they have never been adjusted. The star wheels were rusted fast, so I had to use a little gentle persuasion and a lot of brake cleaner to get them moving.

After reading the sidewalls and seeing that the tires are 6 year old chinese tires, I'm going to replace those. Haven't gotten around to doing it just yet.

A couple of things have me stymied for the moment. I haven't been able to find a replacement screen door. May have to do without for a while. Also the door catch is broken, and it's going to be a challenge to replace because the awning support prevents the door from opening more than 90 degrees.

At this point I am guessing that this camper was used as a seasonal rig. I cleaned lots of dirt and forest debris off of the exterior and out of the gutters, and green dirt that looked like algae off of one side. I found several mouse traps, mouse repellent packs, and lots of mouse crap when I cleaned out all the nooks and crannies (as well as the aforementioned holes in the underbelly fabric). All that, combined with the nearly new brake shoes/magnets, but normal camping wear and tear inside, suggests that it mostly sat in one place for long periods of time.

That's it for now. Nothing too exciting, just some money and a lot of elbow grease.

What brand of water heater is installed in the rig? Since you added an anode rod, assuming it is a Suburban.

For replacement doors try looking at Bontrager's RV Surplus in White Pigeon, Mi. https://bontragers.com/
Another is Johnson's down the road from Bontrager's:
https://www.johnsonssurplus.com/

Tires, we use Sailuns on our 5th wheel.

For the door, try Bontrager's as well.

[Wellibe]

Originally Posted by hamm2018

What brand of water heater is installed in the rig? Since you added an anode rod, assuming it is a Suburban.

For replacement doors try looking at Bontrager's RV Surplus in White Pigeon, Mi. https://bontragers.com/
Another is Johnson's down the road from Bontrager's:
https://www.johnsonssurplus.com/

Tires, we use Sailuns on our 5th wheel.

For the door, try Bontrager's as well.

Yes, it's a Suburban 6 gallon water heater.

I tried Bontrager's for the screen door, but got no response. I missed Johnson's; I'll have to give them a try.

Thanks.

I did actually find an RV dealer about 40 miles away from me who said they could get a replacement screen door from Forest River for a little over 160 bucks. Great, I thought, until they said they couldn't tell me how much it would cost for Forest River to ship it to them. I said I can't commit to buying it without knowing how much shipping would cost. They said they'd call Forest River and try to find out. I haven't heard back from them, and that was about a week ago. So I'm assuming either Forest River wouldn't tell them, or the answer was so high they didn't bother calling me back.

[terry tarus]

beware of the old owner as well. if you do buy it change the locks right away. bought a pickup once that had been repoed. the old owners showed up trying to take it back. had to call the cops.

[Wellibe]

Originally Posted by terry tarus

beware of the old owner as well. if you do buy it change the locks right away. bought a pickup once that had been repoed. the old owners showed up trying to take it back. had to call the cops.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. Not sure the old owner would have a way to find out who bought it, though. I've had it for about 5 months now, so hopefully he's over it.