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01-12-2025, 12:47 AM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2025
Posts: 5
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1993 Fleetwood Southwind
Is anyone familiar with this year model? I am about to purchase one for $4100. I have not owned an rv before.
It will definitely need some work. There are a couple spots on roof with wood showing, maybe 4x4 inches, but it is solid and not rotting.
Do I need to put a whole new roof or can I get by with sealing it? It will need 4 drive tires. It has 87,000 miles on it and 600 hours on the generator. The inside is very nice.
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01-12-2025, 10:06 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Full time RV'er
Posts: 5,531
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I owned a '94 Fleetwood Bounder for 12 years. Sold it in 2013. Diesel pusher. The roof was an issue in that it was EPDM type which has a sacrificial layer of chalky stuff that wind, sun, and rain wash off over time that streaks the sides and windows of the RV. This leaves the raw plasticized rubber membrane behind over the years which is dark. That's still water resistant.
But you say you can actually see wood? That is not good but you could try to find something to use as a patch, plastic maybe like a plastic table place setting, and both hold it in place and cover it with Eternabond roofing tape. When I was considering reroofing I found that rolls of EPDM 9' wide and 30' long were around $800 back in 2016 and that the work for 1 DIY'er with occasional help wouldn't be that hard, taking several days at a leisurely pace. Helped to have a forklift handy to lift/lower the roof ACs but rope and tackle worked too. The roofing material was available at Amazon. I see now that a kit for a class A roof replacement EPDM sheet is down to $600. Back than I found some DIY'ers blogs and Youtube videos of the work involved. Issue for me at the time was finding a space to work on it, covered from the hot sun, wasn't that easily found to rent. So I just kept repairing it with Ebond and eventually sold it in the Phoenix area without ever changing the roof material. Ad free article here: Roof issues...
Here's what I did when I had a tree branch jump out at my RV and scrape along the edge, and the surround of Ebond around the skylight which had started leaking. A few years later, it started cracking and I used Ebond tape to patch the crack too.
If you could post some pictures of the damaged sections of the roof, that would be helpful. Overall, if the roof holes are as you describe, there are working solutions for it that don't require replacing the entire roof. But do carefully look for any water damage.
I would recommend immediately placing 4" Ebond over the front and rear end cap seams.
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01-12-2025, 10:26 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Full time RV'er
Posts: 5,531
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As for the generator, the Onan's are good for 10,000 hours with regular maintenance. So, first do the maintenance, oil, filters, remove and contact spray the plug in connectors terminals, loosen and tighten the electrical connections in the junction box and perhaps on the transfer switch. Once that's done take a 1/4"X1/4"X12" square stick with some emery cloth attached, start the engine and insert the stick into one of the vent slots and burnish the slip rings. Try to get more hours on it. They are supposed to be run with a load like the AC for at least 1 hour per month and yours has at least that and more (372 hours at 1 hour per month). Running it for 8 hours at a time to get more hours on it would help loosen things up, gets the juices flowing. Since it's basically an emergency device, they are very well made.
The tires can be found online so look for a truck tire for maximum life, no need to get RV specific tires. Truck tires do give a slightly rougher ride, but I could never tell the difference between the ride of a truck tire, and that of an RV tire. The RV tires are made with a softer rubber side wall and use lower pressure, but don't last as long as a truck tire.
What I do is stagger my tire purchases. I replace the rears, move the best tires from there to the fronts (usually it's the inner dual tires that are in the best condition), than a year later replace the fronts. And continue with that back and forth purchase over the years.
You likely need shocks, so check out Bilsteins as they have a good RV model that has a decent price. There is a better shock that's more expensive, but given the age of your RV, I'd call them gilding the lily.
For other generic issues with the appliances in the RV, like the water heater, furnaces, etc., check out my ad free blog, link in my sig.
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01-12-2025, 11:49 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: MI
Posts: 2,618
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I'd pass on that unless the price came way down, maybe even then without a lot more information. Leaks are often the end of an older rv, the damage can be wide spread and not worth the time and cost to repair. One thing I'd think about is if they didn't bother to maintain the roof what other problems did they ignore?
You mentioned in another post you wanted to full time in this. Have you seen everything operate, stove, frig, AC, furnace, fresh water system and water heater? Because of their age you probably won't find repair parts for them which will mean expensive replacements, and they likely won't be drop in replacements.
Have you driven it? How was the handling, ride, braking? To be reliable enough to full time you will need to spend a fair amount of time on the chassis and engine to bring deferred maintenance up to date. Items that fail in the house are an inconvenience, chassis breakdowns can strand you.
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01-12-2025, 12:33 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2024
Location: WI Driftlesser
Posts: 2,586
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agree, it better be in decent shape all around for that price, it's not 2021 no more.
Must be in a dry climate for it to be showing wood but not rotted out inside? Patching is entirely possible, but beware that if this has been outside for 30 plus years, the material is wearing thin just from the sun, so I'd patch it to get going, but don't be surprised by future issues if you don't do something more permanent. There will be lots of little leaks in addition to the big patches. Sheet metal, screws and caulk will seal the holes. Vulkem, dymonic, sika are typical polyurethane sealants I'd use. RVers like self leveling because it looks better, I think it's crap. Nothing sticks to silicone, don't use that because you will be patching later. SILICONIZED acrylic is not silicone, that's fine, but polyurethane is better, Dynaflex 230 is the one acrylic, water cleanup, that I would recommend. Geocel and some others are often recommended also, just not by me. Cleaning is a big part of the process, you can spend days scraping old sealants off seams. For a short term fix to get going, pressure washing, then coating with an acrylic roof coating, even JUST the seams, will work, you can always scrape the seams later. The roof coating is not going to make it any harder to cut off.
I say "just to get going" because that is what I would do, use it to find out if it's reliable before you sink a ton of money into it. When you say it needs tires, I'm picturing mismatched and half are flat, so I won't argue. If it's just that they're ten years old and you're not in the sunbelt, then I'd run them. Get a spare and tools to change.
__________________
"Bringing third world electrical work to first world luxury." RV makers of Murica!
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01-13-2025, 08:35 PM
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#6
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2025
Posts: 5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim_HiTek
I owned a '94 Fleetwood Bounder for 12 years. Sold it in 2013. Diesel pusher. The roof was an issue in that it was EPDM type which has a sacrificial layer of chalky stuff that wind, sun, and rain wash off over time that streaks the sides and windows of the RV. This leaves the raw plasticized rubber membrane behind over the years which is dark. That's still water resistant.
But you say you can actually see wood? That is not good but you could try to find something to use as a patch, plastic maybe like a plastic table place setting, and both hold it in place and cover it with Eternabond roofing tape. When I was considering reroofing I found that rolls of EPDM 9' wide and 30' long were around $800 back in 2016 and that the work for 1 DIY'er with occasional help wouldn't be that hard, taking several days at a leisurely pace. Helped to have a forklift handy to lift/lower the roof ACs but rope and tackle worked too. The roofing material was available at Amazon. I see now that a kit for a class A roof replacement EPDM sheet is down to $600. Back than I found some DIY'ers blogs and Youtube videos of the work involved. Issue for me at the time was finding a space to work on it, covered from the hot sun, wasn't that easily found to rent. So I just kept repairing it with Ebond and eventually sold it in the Phoenix area without ever changing the roof material. Ad free article here: Roof issues...
Here's what I did when I had a tree branch jump out at my RV and scrape along the edge, and the surround of Ebond around the skylight which had started leaking. A few years later, it started cracking and I used Ebond tape to patch the crack too.
If you could post some pictures of the damaged sections of the roof, that would be helpful. Overall, if the roof holes are as you describe, there are working solutions for it that don't require replacing the entire roof. But do carefully look for any water damage.
I would recommend immediately placing 4" Ebond over the front and rear end cap seams.
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Thank you for the reply
I went and checked it out some more today and got some pics.
I also aired up tires and ride-rite bags and took it for a drive. Drove well. I couldn't get the generator started but parts of that problem I think is that the fuel Guage is not working causing the fuel pump on the generator not to energize. Let me know if I'm on the right track... here's some pictures of the roof... as soon as I figure out how to upload, I am new to this stuff as well.
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01-14-2025, 07:13 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2022
Posts: 408
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The generator fuel pump has nothing to do with the fuel gauge. What can be a problem is that if the fuel is below 1/4 tank, the generator pickup tube will be sucking air. You need to have more than 1/4 tank to draw fuel to the generator. What generator make and model is in the motorhome? Post any pictures of the identification plate for the generator.
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01-17-2025, 01:52 AM
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#8
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2025
Posts: 5
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Finally found the picture upload. Here's is the roof pictures. The rv drove great and I spent today checking the water system, furnace, water heater, fridge, and a/c units. Everything works. Happy I am. I do think the fuel level in tank is below 1/4.
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01-17-2025, 09:59 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: MI
Posts: 2,618
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Not for $4100 if at all. I'm guessing opaque white plastic bubble is a skylight, the way it's taped up means leak to me. Just forward of the ladder on the edge of the roof looks like another rather long patch. It's just opposite the picture of the hole you posted. Problems on both sides in the same area would make me nervous. The one waste vent doesn't look like it's been properly sealed. There are a couple of other smaller patches in the pictures. The AC covers are on the verge of self destructing and they're a couple hundred each.
A roof replacement is a major job and is almost always more extensive than expected. The price isn't a good deal. If you like this kind of work go for it. If you want to jump in and take off I think you'll find it's going to cost a lot more than expected.
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01-17-2025, 10:23 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2024
Location: Bohemia NY
Posts: 2,020
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Fleetwood and this age era was not a great combination when they were new.
If not in love and looking to do a full assessment and repair or replace whatever is needed, you will not be happy. If you're starting out with cost cutting on the roof replacement you are not choosing a good path.
__________________
Dennis
Bohemia NY
2008 Nimbus 342 SE Carlyle
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01-22-2025, 12:57 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2022
Location: Renton-Highlands,Wa./HB,Ca./Fujieda-Japan
Posts: 955
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Quote:
Originally Posted by d23haynes57
Fleetwood and this age era was not a great combination when they were new.
If not in love and looking to do a full assessment and repair or replace whatever is needed, you will not be happy. If you're starting out with cost cutting on the roof replacement you are not choosing a good path.
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That era of Fleetwood was a very well made era compared to many today. Today's era would not last 25 plus years in half as good condition.
__________________
1994 Southwind Storm 28ft - 454TBI w/4L80E
VIN#1GBJP37N4R3314754
Flight System G-Man 360 generator man (PM me)
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01-22-2025, 06:21 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2024
Location: Bohemia NY
Posts: 2,020
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1972VWbus
That era of Fleetwood was a very well made era compared to many today. Today's era would not last 25 plus years in half as good condition.
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I owned a 1992 Tioga Arrow. Happiest Days were the day I bought it and the day I traded it in.
__________________
Dennis
Bohemia NY
2008 Nimbus 342 SE Carlyle
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01-28-2025, 02:22 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2022
Location: Renton-Highlands,Wa./HB,Ca./Fujieda-Japan
Posts: 955
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Quote:
Originally Posted by d23haynes57
I owned a 1992 Tioga Arrow. Happiest Days were the day I bought it and the day I traded it in.
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Class C is why.
__________________
1994 Southwind Storm 28ft - 454TBI w/4L80E
VIN#1GBJP37N4R3314754
Flight System G-Man 360 generator man (PM me)
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01-29-2025, 01:12 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 1,302
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We own a 1996 Fleetwood Flair. I must disagree with the "Era" of Fleetwood quality statement. All RVs suffer from neglect and deferred maintenance, but this Era was when John Creen was still at the helm of Fleetwood.
John Creen was a business man, but also was also a RV owner. He and his wife used their RV, and got feedback from owners at the time. With that knowledge he designed and redesigned RVs for actual use on the road. Of course this Era does not come with the bells and whistles of today's RV, but they were built with quality.
Can I fault the EDPM roof? Sure. But, you have to remember this roof is 34 years old!!! I would suggest completely replacing the rubber roof with a new membrane. If you can do the work yourself, you will save thousands. If not, you will send thousands. Either way, if the rest of the coach is good, repair it correctly.
__________________
Always bring your A game.
1996 Flair 29V, 454 TBI, 4L80E. Your life is your story, don't let someone dictate your story.
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