Evaluation thus far

So I'm now over a year into owning an RV. Would I have purchased an RV again?

Yes. However, I most definitely would not have purchased this RV. 

The lesson learned here is to inspect the RV you may be about to purchase thoroughly. Pay attention to any and every problem. Pay special attention to any symptoms of water leakage. If you see any signs of water leakage at all walk away.

The question then becomes what do I do at this point?

I basically have two options. Option one is to cut my losses and sell it for whatever I can get for it. Option two is to invest the time and money into it to fix it up.

I have already invested a significant pile of dough into repairing the mechanical problems that the RV had. Those problems are now for the most part taken care of. It still has a power steering leak and could use a new water pump and belts and hoses. It will need two more tires in the rear and the cigarette lighter does not work.

I can do most if not all of that work myself a relatively low cost. One nice thing I see about this RV is that I don't have to hack it up to get underneath it to work on it. It sits so high off the ground I can easily go underneath it.

That is the mechanical portion. Then there is the water leak problem. The question here is how much water damage has been done and is the structural part of the RV damaged?

The worst case scenario is that it is completely rotted and will have to be completely replaced. If that is the case then it still will not cost a tremendous amount of money if my family and I do the work ourselves. I see no reason that we cannot do this work as it is basically the same as doing work on the house. It does not involve the specialized tools and training that mechanical things involved.

Add the above to the fact that I can't really get anywhere close to what I have into this thing out of it nor can I buy another RV in any better shape for that money and the conclusion becomes to keep the RV. I estimate that I will probably have no more than $15,000 into the RV by the time all is said and done. $15,000 seems to be about what it takes to buy a good RV of this size. In my case I believe the massive expenses of maintaining this thing are done with. I anticipate keeping in about another 10 years so hopefully there are many miles that won't cost so much left in this thing.

I look forward to working on it in the spring.

Frozen hot water heater and covered storage

It came in early bout of bad weather this year and I got caught without draining the hot water heater. The water heater froze and was probably damaged. However, I think judging by the water stains on the insulation that it was damaged previously. After the thaw it appeared to be leaking.

I got the system drained except for the hot water heater and filled full of RV antifreeze again except for the hot water heater. I took the drain plug out of the hot water heater and it has been well above freezing for about a week now so the hot water heater is most likely completely drained. I expect to have to replace the hot water heater.  

The RV is now in the covered storage. The storage place does not have sufficient room between the fence and the garage to easily put the RV in it. Took me a long time to get the RV into the tight space.

This project is likely mothballed until spring.

The picture below is water that leaked from the roof onto the bed.

Covered Storage

Yesterday I arranged for renting a coverd parking spot for the RV. There is no way I can complete the repairs needed to get the RV in good enough condition to sit in the weather all winter before it gets too cold to work on it. The spot will be $51 a month. It is good that I reserved it when I did as they are now out of coverd spots.

At this point I would sell the RV if I could get what I have in it out or even close but with the newly discovered water leaks and damage there is only one way to go. It will be done right when it is finally done.

Adventure always has its ups and downs. Stay tuned as this adventure continues.

Cab Bunk Layer Cake

Somebody went nuts with the glue and staple guns putting this thing together.

Rain at the worst possible time

It seldom rains here but has rained for three days. Three days that I have been insanely busy. 

Here is what I saw when I checked on the RV tonight.

The plywood is soaked, the seats are wet. This is going from bad to worse.

Yellowstone Trip

We took the RV to Yellowstone National Park a few weeks ago. This RV adventure or RV trip or whatever you want to call it was great.

After some expensive repairs we headed out.

Before leaving on the trip I took the RV to a tire shop at least three and I think four different times for out of balance tires. They replaced the front tires and balanced the back tires at least twice.

This did not stop the out of balance bouncing but I did not have time to take it back to them again before we left.

It rained Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The rain was of little consequence except that it showed me where all of the leaks in the RV are. In that aspect the rain was a good thing.

Other than the cost for fuel the RV was the perfect vehicle for this trip. We didn't have time to stop and explore very long so it was great to be able to pile out of the RV to go look at something and then pile back in again. We were even able to bring the dog.

The kids loved playing games while we're on the road and a few times in the campground.

We stayed two nights in Idaho State Parks, one night in a Walmart parking lot, one night in a scary Wyoming campground, and two nights at the Salt Lake City KOA.

We bounced all the way from home and through Yellowstone and to Park City Utah. Just North of Park city the bouncing was getting worse and driving me crazy. I stopped to take a bathroom break and visually checked the tires. I could see the threads coming through part of the tire. Fortunately, a tire shop and Park city was able to get us in quickly and get us back on the road in about an hour with two new back tires. 

This is what it looked like when we arrived at the tire store. The camera was too close so the quality is poor but you get the idea.

Yellowstone is one of those places that everyone should see in their life. There is no place like it anywhere else in the world. The geysers, fumerols, and mud pots are unique. We saw these along with Bison, elk, and a prong horn. We hiked down to the waterfall on the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Yellowstone is not a kid or pet friendly place. Dogs and wildlife don't mix very well. Kids and boiling water don't mix so well either. I knew this going in but my wife has a problem that could cause her to loose her vision and I was not willing to wait on this trip.

The last day in Yellowstone I planned to stay in Jackson, WY that night but the KOA was $128 for one night and another private campground was just as much.

Jackson had so many people on the street it reminded me of Las Vegas. 

We used the All Stays Camp and RV iPhone app to find a campground south of Jackson. When we arrived it was raining, foggy, and dark. The campground was in a wooded area off of the road. We pulled into a spot and went to sleep. We could see nothing and the dark the campground was an isolated and scary place. The dog would not even go pee when I took her out.

I woke up at about 5:00 am and drove on.

The campground would probably not have been scary in the daylight but it definitely was at night. I kept expecting a guy in a hockey mask to show up. 

In that campground I think our big RV was better than a GMC Motorhome would have been due to a bit of a steep grade to the highway. I think a GMC might have scraped on the low clearance bottom. One thing that is nice about our RV is that you can go underneath it and change the oil or inspect something without jacking it up.

Our oldest son is obsessed with video games so we have banned all video games or any other screen entertainment for a time. That meant no electronic entertainment on the trip. He had a hard time with this as we had just started the ban. Things were a little more rowdy than they would have been with videos and video games but the kids saw more and interacted more.

Once we got home the dog ran around the yard like she was insane. She didn't get to run off leash the whole time we were gone so she was going a little nuts. 

What worked well:

• Having a bathroom with us at all times
• I was able to stop the leaks in our fresh water hose by using pipe tape on the connections.
• Being able to stop wherever we were and sleep then go when we wanted to.
• Having our dog with us without having to worry about finding somewhere she could stay or paying to board her. Boarding is expensive for us and very stressful for her. 
• Free camping at a Walmart and at a local park. 
• Discovering leaks in the RV
• Google Maps on the iPhone
• All Stays Camp and RV App for the iPhone
• Rubber band guns we bought at a gas station on the trip
• Bison, elk, and antelope
• Seeing a really strange and beautiful place

What did not work well:

• The last time that we went camping several months ago I neglected to empty the freshwater tank. The water smelled awful and I filled and I drained the freshwater tank several times on the trip to get the smell out. We do not drink the water from the freshwater tank but we do use it to wash.
• 7-10 miles per gallon
• Nearly having a blow out
• The cigarette lighter in the RV does not work and our iPhones have to be almost constantly charging. This meant that we lost at least one mile per gallon from running the generator just to charge our phones.
• Due to an insanely busy schedule we were not prepared to leave and lost a full day of vacation just getting ready to go.
• My son had awful allergies. Benadryl helped but he was miserable much of the time.
• The children think that since it's an RV they can get up and run around while in motion at anytime they feel like it. For the next trip there will be some strict rules regarding when they can get up.
• Leaks in the RV will mean time and money.
• A $60 meal at Yellowstone Lodge and a $45 meal at KFC blew our food budget.
• Staying two nights at the KOA in Salt Lake City made us exceed our budget for campground fees.
• The two new tires blew the overall budget by several hundred dollars.
• The hot water heater would not ignite. This meant that any showers had to be taken at a campground.
• We did not allow computer games on this trip and our teenage son tends to think there's nothing to do if it does not involve screen. He complained much of the trip but then this is to be expected from a 15-year-old.
• For all of the world renowned sites that we saw and places that we went the place that are 10 and 11-year-olds liked the best was the playground at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.
• My Garman GPS is several years old and gave directions that sometimes were exactly opposite of what Google Maps was telling me.
• Google maps on the iPhone does not work when there is no cell service.
• Apple's maps application did not work nearly as well as Google Maps.

Class C RV Cab Over Bunk Inspection

After reading several blog posts about water damage that was much worse than it first appeared I decided to make sure there was no hidden damage before I put the window back in. If the framing needs to be removed and rebuilt the window won't be going back in. As I have said before, wood is a terrible option for a vehicle.

There is a big piece of plywood that makes up most of the cab bunk deck. That seems like unnecessary weight and may be hiding something. I peeled back the wallpaper because it was loose. Our plan is to remove all of the wallpaper and paint the interior instead.

These boards are not a normal part of a Class C RV

Both corners are damp. This is not looking good.

Not looking good at all

Removing the staples so as to remove the deck. The deck has to come up so I can see what the supporting wood looks like.

Removing the paneling

It looks like there was water damage previously. The damaged plywood has to be replaced and the supporting wood has to be inspected.