Repair priority and order

[Gilly-HILO]

Hi All, I have been a long time reader, and am finally ready to post. I have a 2002 22LT. It needs a fair amount of work. I had hoped to work on it before our 3 week camping trip from California to Colorado and back, but life got in the way. We leave in 10 days. What should I try to do before we leave? Here's my list of issues. I am most confused about the roof. Should that be highest priority? Do I repair it or should I replace it? Or just recoat it? Are there maintenance things I should add to this? What needs to be done before the trip and what can wait?
1. Overhead cabinet (bottom detached)
2. Dinette seat (backrest detached from seat)
3. Possible roof leak (rubber roof)
4. Front door dry rot
5. Rust spots where awning was mounted
6. Missing seal in some places
7. Seam along all edges of roof
8. AC unit base partially missing?
9. Front end cap (Dry rot likely)
10. Rear end cap (large crack with dry rot)
11. Passenger side wall water damage
12. Large hole in underside of front end cap
13. Reseal all the windows
14. Lubricate cables, bearings
15. New tires/wheels
16. New foam around door
Here is a link to photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/J5wHva2W1DcQCDyG6
Any advice is appreciated! I've read a lot of other people's posts, but I still feel pretty lost on what I'm doing. Thank you!

 

[Gilly-HILO]

Here are some photos:
3. Possible roof leak (rubber roof)

4. Front door dry rot

5. Rust spots where awning was mounted

 

[JackandJanet]

Hi Gilly - welcome.

You seem to have rather extensive damage to the upper half, which will have to be repaired if you want to use the trailer for some time in the future, but 10 days is not enough time to take care of that.

Since you mention tires/wheels, I suspect the tires may be "old" or worn. If so, they should be replaced with good ones BEFORE you set out on your trip. You do not want a blowout - they cause damage to the trailer and may cause a more serious accident.

Along with that, I'd inspect and lubricate all the lifting cables. You'll have to remove the trim strips along the top edge of the lower half (inside the trailer) to see the most common area of failure and to lubricate the cables there. It's really a pretty easy task - the trim strips are held on with screws.

Some of the other things are mostly cosmetic or "nice" to fix.

- Jack

 

[Gilly-HILO]

Thanks for the reply Jack. Do you think I should put on some sort of patch or extra sealant before the trip to prevent further water damage? It is supposed to rain periodically. I think most of the damage is actually where the roof meets the walls as opposed to the roof itself.

 

[JackandJanet]

Thanks for the reply Jack. Do you think I should put on some sort of patch or extra sealant before the trip to prevent further water damage? It is supposed to rain periodically. I think most of the damage is actually where the roof meets the walls as opposed to the roof itself.

You can certainly do that, and it might prevent further damage, but I suspect the walls are so badly damaged already that they will need to be replaced. A good waterproofing/repair tape is EternaBond. It is incredibly sticky and will hold up for years of exposure to the elements. It's a bit fiddly to apply. Perhaps best done by two people - one to unroll the tape and hold the roll, while the other sticks it down. Once it's in place, you cannot move it!

- Jack

 

[sam-HILO]

Advice repairs

Advice from someone that has repaired water wall damage. The pictures show the extensive damage. I would not even consider taking this unit on the road camping.Your cables might snap and you would be unable to lower or raise the unit. Everything is fixable with months of work and $. You can't just seal up the window with caulk on the outside. It requires removing the windows and religning with butyl tape. Reinstalling and then putting caulk on the outside. Check out RANA rebuild thread. Many have rebuilt a HiLo in this poor of a condition. You are wise to ask for advice. If I lived closer DH would come and give you lots of help/advice. Take Care/Ann

 

[Gilly-HILO]

Okay, you scared me into action Sam/Ann! Tonight after the kids were in bed I started disassembling the roof to see how bad the rust is. The metal curves connecting the roof to the wall is slightly rusted on the curb side and quite rusted on the road side. I need to get up on a ladder tomorrow when it's light out, but it seems like the roof wood itself is okay. I need to read through some more of the reno threads to see how to proceed, but my guess is taking off the curves to see how the wall looks. I found duct tape and masking tape over the metal area presumably as seam tape. Does anyone know if that was from the factory vs a previous repair attempt?
Thanks! I added some pictures to the album.

 

[Gilly-HILO]

Well, I'm half rebuilding and half repairing. I'm not sure if I should start a new thread or keep this one. I got all the windows out today with the help of a friend. The curb side looks good. No water damage visible in the window area. The road side definitely has water damage and delamination. There is also rust visible on the metal parts of both the end cap window holes. I took all the face plates of the vents and air conditioner. The plywood roof looks good, so I am going to reseal it with liquid rubber. The cap rusty, so I need to find a solution for that. Planning to get new tires Monday. Already oiled the guide rod and cables.

 

[sam-HILO]

Repairs

So you have decided to dive in and do the repairs. I used rust oleum on my rusty metal. Many products available to do rust conversion. The gaps in your end caps will require fiberglass repair. Walmart has some fiberglass repair supplies. Home Depot will also have what you need. We love to answer any questions you may have.

 

[Gilly-HILO]

Yes, I dove in head first. We took everything off the roof. The roof itself looked okay, but all the caulking is cracking. I used Rust-Oleum on the ends, and my brother used a grinder to remove rust from the quarter arch cap that connects the roof and wall. I took both end caps off and removed all the windows. We treated all the metal with Rust-Oleum prevention spray, and all the wood with a wood hardener and protector. The roadside wall is the worst. When I removed one of the screws on the bottom, water poured out! It took a long time to dry out. We painted the roof with liquid rubber after everything else was put together. I took the opportunity to replace the vent with a Maxx fan. Eventually I will need to replace the wall completely, but that need to wait until after the trip. Overall the waterproofing worked well, but now one of the brakes broke and my freshwater system is suddenly not working. Sigh.

 

[sam-HILO]

Repairs

Glad you decided to go ahead with repairs.Your brother is a great source of help and encouragement. Best of luck as you soldier on and your camping trip.