Virtual Tour of our U-haul CT-13 Fiberglass Camper

Now that we finished some renovations, I created a virtual tour of our camper.  

Freshening Up Our U-haul Camper

As things age, sometimes they need a little face lift. With a vintage camper, it's a bit tougher to decide what to do. Do you totally overhaul everything with a new look and feel? Or do you try to restore to original beauty? While my primary focus had been updates to the electrical system, I decided to use my new found energy and tackle some other things on the list. 

Curtains 

One of the first things we decided on was a color scheme. Originally, we started with a brown theme for the main bed and fun kid theme for the bunks. We had moved to wanting a more gray and white theme. My wife worked on bedding, sewing some throw pillows, and making new curtains (our 3rd set of curtains). For the curtains, she decided to use cloth shower curtain material since it holds up better to the moisture. Since we live in humid Georgia, and if the camper is closed up for a period of time, moister can build up from the fiberglass walls sweating. We definitely had a set of curtains get ruined by mildew in the past over a winter. I've since used damprid and sometimes a humidifier over the winter in there to try to keep it dryer. She found a shower curtain with a pattern she liked, cut it up, and made new curtains. We used 1 inch rings. I removed the rings and used the hooks with the clamps to hang on the original curtain wires. We got rid of the bottom wires and only use the top wire for hanging curtains now because it makes them easier to move.

Bedding

So we made decision to keep the rear bed full time. I bought and cut 3/4 inch plywood to be a base. Placed it over the seats from one wall to the other. I removed the table top all together. This gave us a bit more height under the bed and made the bed more stable. I kept the original cushions and purchased a memory foam topper. I found a 4" memory foam topper in full size at Sam's Club. I used an electric knife to cut the topper so it fit the curves of the back wall. We put the topper in a zippered mattress cover to help keep it protected. Previously we had a feather mattress topper but the memory foam is much more comfortable and less lumpy. A full fitted sheet fits well around both the topper and the cushions. 

The bunk beds (see previous post on original makeover for smaller kids) have gotten a lot of use with our kids. As they've grown, we've needed to adjust the space a little bit. They got new bedding to go with their new lighting we'd added (see post on lighting updates). We originally had a piece of fabric between the two posts to keep our daughter from rolling out in the night. Now that she's older, crawling into her cave from the end was becoming a bit more challenging. So we removed that and I reused one of the lower curtain wires to string across the top of the posts. My wife sewed two small curtains with ties attached that can be tied to each post or untied and closed for privacy. Our daughter enjoys being able to enter the bottom bunk from between the posts now and still having her private cave. 

Cabinets and Closets

In trying to find a balance between keeping the original feel/charm and updating, I opted to keep the cabinet and closet doors and paint them. I used Rustoleum Painters Touch spray paint in Satin Granite. I am really happy with the way they turned out. They look fresh and you can still see the texture and U-haul name on them. I also replaced the hinges which were starting to rust. The screw holes for the new hinges were just a bit off but the way they cover the old holes it wasn't a problem for me. I went with stainless steel which are a bit more but should hold up for a long time. I also spray painted the upper cabinet inserts and added lighting (see my post on lighting for how I did that).  

I decided to update the closet while I was at it. We've had a 3 drawer plastic thing in there for years, but I wanted something a bit more stable. I wanted to use small clear containers with lids to organize so i could easily see what was inside and have some flexibility with the storage. When doing the lighting updates, I'd put some wood inside the closet to drill into and hold the lights. I took those down and cut some 3/4 inch plywood to form sides and then used some 1/2 inch wood to make shelves. Going with the theme, I painted them the same Satin Granite. 

In an attempt to maximize storage, I removed the old propane heater. It was problematic and loud. This left a large area under the closet that I could work with. I installed a ClosetMaid 11-inch wide organizer that slides on a track. This organizer is 20 inches deep and has a ton of room in it. Since it slides, it also is easy to access. 

Counter

The biggest project by far was the counter. I crafted a wood counter top to fit over the fiberglass counter. I had previously purchased a new Dometic SMEV PI8022 stove years ago. The new stove sinks down into the counter and has a glass top that closes over it to provide additional counter space. It also makes the space feel bigger since there's more room between the top of the stove and the hood. The old hood was rusting and had electrical issues so I replaced it with a new hood. 

Since I had to cut the bolts off the original sink and it was showing signs of wear, I opted to buy a new one that was the same size. The one I bought also came with the drain hardware but it was plastic not stainless. So I went to Lowes and bought a Stainless Steel drain with a strainer/basket to install. I also decided to upgrade the faucet. The old 2-way faucet is the normal one found in pop-up campers. It's designed to pump manually for onboard water, or hold down when city water is hooked up. Since we don't use the onboard water tank, I wanted to install a nice looking faucet that would work with city water. (If I ever decide to use the onboard, I'll look into an electric water pump.) This opens up the realm of faucets to anything on the market for homes too. I found that a bar faucet is the perfect size. It's not a full size kitchen faucet that's super tall, and not a tiny bathroom faucet. It's the Goldilocks faucet. When installing a new faucet, you need to be aware if you have hot water or not. We don't, so that meant I had 2 options for the hot water feed line: cap it off or connect it with a T connector to the cold water line. I opted for the second option since it would allow the water to flow through both lines no matter whether the handle was directed towards hot or cold. If you opt to cap the hot water line, you will find you need to adjust the handle to full cold to get maximum flow. 

I'm really glad that life slowed down enough to get some updates done. We're happy with the results so far and will continue working on our list of things we'd like to update. I'm investigating adding air conditioning to the camper to make it more usable in the hot, muggy southern summer months and there's a few more electrical updates I'd like to tackle. More to come...

Wheeling

I was lucky when I bought the trailer as it came with 3 wheels. All of them were original U-haul wheels with the nubs to mount baby moon hubcaps. (though I wasn't lucky enough to score a set of the U-haul stamped baby moons)  The rims were in rough shape so I painted them black as the easiest way to get them with some uniform look. When I was looking to put the second spare tire mount on my tongue, I needed to get a 4th wheel. Fortunately, you can order them from U-haul truck parts Ebay shop (here).

The wheels are a nice clean white which match the new paint job well. (The newer wheels do not have the bumps to hold baby moon hubcaps though. So if you're looking for that style you'll need to find original wheels.) I opted to buy 2 new wheels and make them my main wheels and use the originals on the spare tires. I took the wheels and tires to my tire shop and had them swap them around. A new spare tire went on one of the old black rims after the tires from them had been moved to the new white rims. When I got back home I put the new white wheels on the camper and mounted the black rims on the 2 spare mounts. Having 2 spares for our 4000 mile journey was a huge comfort, especially since we'd be leaving the US on this trip.

Just for information, I use Carlisle Radial Trail (the existing tires were RH and the new spare is an HD) tires for the camper. Greenball is another highly recommended brand. Don't just buy the cheapest brand that you would normally throw on a small utility trailer that you don't use everyday. While you may not be using the camper everyday, you want something more dependable due to the number of miles you will drive when you are using it and the weight, heat impacts and bounce.  After all, it's better to not have to use your spare. For more info on tires see my earlier post.

The old lugs and lug nuts were very rusty. The old lug nuts were open-faced which allowed more rust issues on the lugs than a closed-faced lug nut. I bought some new chrome 12x1.5 close-faced lug nuts to put with my shiny new wheels. Next I tackled the rusty lugs with a wire brush to clean them up. (You can see my video on removing rust from the lugs if you need to do this.)

I like the new look. It's very clean and fresh looking. I'm currently on the search for chrome center caps to install to finish the look. I'll update when I find some that fit. Everything held up well on our big trip this summer and thankfully we didn't need to even use one of the spares.

The Second Spare

Previously, I had mounted a spare tire on the rear bumper. With planning for another long trip coming up, I decided I'd like to add a second spare to the tongue. I bought the same adapter I had used before. The question was, where to mount it as the tongue is a very busy place. Between the propane tank holder, jack, handle, and coupler, there's a lot already going on there. Then add the wiring and you have to make sure if you drill new holes somewhere that you're very careful where.

I opted to use existing holes. The coupler is attached with three .5 inch hex bolts and has the handle welded to the top of it. The tire mount comes with 4.5 inch long .5 hex bolts. These are the same size just longer. So I removed to rear two hex bolts from the coupler and attached mount there without having to drill new holes. I used the bottom holes because they are spaced perfectly and I wanted the tire to be high so no chance of it hitting the ground. I had to mount on drivers side due to the jack being on the passenger side. I also had to make sure because the bolts were long that they pointed the right direction so the tire could mount flat against the side of the tongue (didn't want them poking or rubbing a hole in the sidewall). The back plate that came with the tire mount wouldn't work as it was too thick and blocked the jack from swinging into place. So I got a kit at the auto parts store for hanging leaf springs and used a U-bolt from the back to add a little more support. I may keep my eyes open for a thinner back plate or try to make one in the future but for now it's secure.

I think this will work out and was an easy mod. Having 2 spares on the trailer is a good insurance policy for the long hauls. I've also bought a bottle jack to keep in the trailer.

Lets Talk Hinges

Door sag. It's annoying to say the least, but it's also a sign of some other issues. So catching it early can save you some bigger repairs later. The door hinges on the U-Haul campers are Polar hinges. Same kind that are used on industrial freezers. The original hinges are model 402, but they don't make them anymore so you may have to grab model 412 if you do need a new hinge. The hinges are not cheap, right now I've seen them running around $30 something a piece. Most of the time the weak point isn't the hinge though since there made so durable. It's the screws, bolts and wood that they attach to that fails first.

Out with the old.

Inside the camper you can find where the hinge bolts are as they're behind the little black 1 inch caps on the door and panel next to the door. Pop those caps out and you'll have access to the back end of the bots. The nuts on mine were rusted solid to the bolts, and they had worn out in the wood. So they were loose on the lower hinge (door side). I had to hacksaw mine off. I recommend replacing the nuts, bolts, and screws with stainless hardware. Stainless is more expensive but it doesn't rust. And trust me you don't want to have to replace these in a year cause you bought cheap hardware. Where the door hinges are, there is wood fiberglassed inside the door and wall to mount them too. Sometimes due to wear or a leak, this wood can start to rot. Depending on how much rot you have, you may be looking at a bigger job by having to replace those wood pieces. If you are lucky, like mine fortunately, you may catch it before a lot of damage. With mine, the lower hinge on the door side were seeing the 2 bolts wearing out and being loose. Also someone had previously put cheap screws into the screw holes which were rusting so I was going to change those at the same time.

In with the new.

I used 10-24x2in stainless Oval machine bolts which matched up to what was there. Some folks have used flat washers and lock nuts. Due to wear I could tell the holes in the wood had worn out some and were a bit bigger than the 10-24 bolts. So I opted to go with t-nuts. The t-nuts are designed to dig into the wood and grip against it vs just being a bolt against a washer. I put the new hardware in after using the hacksaw to remove the old ones. I also removed the rusty screws and replaced with 10-24x1in stainless screws. My screws were a bit longer so that they could dig deeper into the wood than the original. This job can be easier if you have a friend willing to help. Then one of you can work from the inside and one from the outside. Also be careful backing out rusty screws as they can sometimes tear up the wood on their way out if they've rusted a lot. Take it slow and use a hand held screw driver not a drill.

Tip: When working with tiny bolts and the t-nuts in the tiny openings, you can't fit your fingers ( could only fit one) in there to thread the nuts on the bolts. So what I did was take another bolt and back screw it halfway into the t-bolt and then use that to help thread it on the bolt from the front. Once the front has gotten halfway threaded, I backed out the other bolt and tightened the front bolt down. I did use my finger to push the t-nuts against the wood and hold them while tightening.

T-nut back threaded halfway with bolt to hold in place in hole while threading the regular bolt through the wall of the camper.

With the new hardware the hinges are again secure. Hopefully, I won't see any more bolts coming loose when I'm driving and the door will be more secure. All in all a quick maintenance job.

Facelift

I got a good deal when I bought our little camper years ago, but it did need some work. I've gradually spent time and a little money over the years to upgrade and replace/fix things. Two things have been on my list for a long time: paint and replace the patched in plexiglass side window.

Old Plexiglass Window

New Old Stock Window

Someone had busted out the original side window in the past and of course hadn't saved the frame. Some previous owner had stuck a chipped and cracked scrap piece of plexiglass in there and then calked it up real ugly. Due to that, the window had no way to open to provide ventilation on that side. Several years back a company that specialized in selling surplus from warehouses, opened a crate they'd gotten their hands on. Inside were a bunch of windows with Uhaul stamped on them. Well they posted them for sale on their website. Didn't take long before a group of us stumbled on them and they were sold out in a couple days. NOS (New Old Stock) Uhaul windows for the campers that Uhaul had claimed they didn't have any for years. At some point they had a batch of replacements and had gotten rid of them I guess while cleaning out a warehouse. I talked to the folks at the company and they said they bought a bunch of stuff in crates from somewhere all site unseen. They had no idea what was in the crates till they opened them at their warehouse. And even then they didn't know what they went to. So with luck I landed 2 of them a right and left side. (I have the other as a spare in case one of them ever gets busted.) Well this week I finally got that installed by a window guy. Thrilled to have finally gotten around to it.

Before New Paint (but freshly cleaned)

After New Paint (Shiny!)

The one thing that is the most noticeable about the camper has always been the outside of course. Mine had lost most of it clearcoat and shine years ago and was mostly chalky and rough. It made it difficult to keep clean and when you did clean it, it was a chore. I had a couple of options: paint or wax. When adding layers of wax to the fiberglass campers,you have to use a lot of it. Most folks go with a ZEP floor wax and put on 5-6 layers. This gets it shiny but also leaves imperfections visible. You have to use barkeepers friend or similar product to really clean and whiten it. Mine ha a fiberglass patch that was visible and some discoloring due to water from rusty drain hole in rear window running down the back of it. With painting, the wife and I discussed what color for 2 years before we decided to keep it white. I took it to my bodyshop guy and he did her up nice with a new coat of paint in Super White. Now she's shiny and clean looking. He even painted the rock guard to match. It was a hard plastic with a rough finish to it and a bit yellowing. Now it's smooth and the same color as the camper. All in all, I'm happy we finally got her done up right. I feel the paint adds more to the value of the camper than just a wax job.

So with the facelift done, I'm turning my focus to some other tasks as I prepare for our next big adventure with her. More updates to come over the next month or two as we continue some work and find some time work in adventure.

Camper Bunk Bed Poles

TopLine Folding/Locking Legs

While looking at some camper parts online, I stumbled on a company (TopLine) that makes folding poles of various sizes that can be used for bunk beds. There's obviously a lot of other options for using these (folding table, etc) but the bunk option is the one that's the most interesting to me. Currently my poles are still in fairly good shape but if I need to replace them, I know where to find some now.

Likewise, if you need replacement poles for your bunk or you're looking to add a bunk to your camper. Check out these, they might work. They come in 4 lengths:

1. 16" [FL3400-16]
2. 24" [FL3400-24] (should fit the U-hauls)
3. 27.5" [FL3400-275]
4. 30.5" [FL3400-305]

You can also see my previous post about pole stability and the post about mods I made to our bunk bed in the U-haul.

Trailer Tires...A Camper's Biggest Friend or Foe

There's a lot to be said about tires for campers. They can make or break a trip. You always want to go through a checklist before a trip. But there's a couple things you need to consider with tires whether you own a trailer or are looking to buy one. The first thing to understand is that trailer tires take more abuse than car tires due to trailer bounce while driving. Also, they sit a lot when not being used. So trailer tires are more likely to dry rot before the tread wears out. So lets talk about two topics related to tires: how to tell the measurements/size you need, and how to tell how old a tire is.

Tire Measurements

There are a lot of numbers/codes on a tire. They all give you some information about the tire itself. Most folks are familiar with something like P225/70 R15 on your car. This is the type and size designation of the tire. P at the beginning stands for P-metric (or passenger car in the US). It's never a good idea to use P-metric tires on a trailer. They aren't designed for trailers and if you put them on a trailer you can't go by the load capacity on the tire. LT (Light Truck) and ST (Special Trailer) tires are typically used on trailers. So you should look for LT or ST for your trailer.

The second part of the code (225 in this example) is the measure in millimeters from sidewall to sidewall of the tire. The third part of the code is the aspect ration which simply means the percentage of the height to the width of the tire. Basically the bigger the number here, the taller the sidewall. R stands for radial (which is most tires today). And the last digit is the wheel/rim diameter that the tire is supposed to fit. There are plenty of information on tire websites that goes into more specifics but that's the basics on tire size. My tires on the U-Haul are ST175/80 R13.

If you buy an old camper, you may find Bias Ply tires rather than Radial tires. They are sized differently. Your best bet is to take the tire/ or the numbers on the side of the tire to a tire store to get a replacement. Bias ply tires have been phased out over the years in favor of the softer ride of radials.

How old is my tire?

Knowing the age of the tire is just as important as looking at the tread (especially for those of you buying a camper who may have to drive it a ways to get home). If you want to know the gritty specifics on why tires dry rot, ask your friend who took chemistry in college or Google it. Basically, think of old rubber bands, The oils and chemicals in the rubber break down and some evaporate over time and the rubber gets more brittle. This makes it more prone to cracking and blowouts. A big cause (or accelerator) of this is UV rays from the sun. For those who are new to campers, you probably thought those tire covers on other campers were just for looks or to keep the tires clean. Not really. Veteran RVers know that shielding them from the sun will make them last longer. You may even want to get a cover for that spare tire to make it last longer.

All tires, in the US at least, are manufactured with an Tire Identification Number (TIN). The same code is stamped on every tire in a batch. The TIN is the code after the DOT part on the tire. as you can see in the picture on the right from my tire. What we care about is the last 3 or 4 digits on the tire. For tires made before 2000, there will be 3 digits at the end, for those made after 2000 it's 4 digits. So right away if I bought a camper with there being 3 digits only at the end of the TIN, I'd go get a new tire. For those made after 2000, the 4 digit code is easy to read, the last 2 digits are the year the tire was manufactured. That will tell you how old the tire is. (The preceding 2 digits are the week of the year.) So in my example to the right, This tire (my spare) was made during the 16th week of 2012 (1612).

So now you know how check your tires. I can't stress how important this is for those buying used or vintage campers to look at the dates on the tires. When I bought our U-Haul fiberglass camper, the tires on the camper were decent age but the spare was a bias ply that was probably 20-25 yrs old. I replaced that the first week as my very first "project" on the camper. I just wasn't comfortable trusting that spare if I needed it. Oh and always carry a spare! If you are buying a camper and it doesn't have a spare tire, then I'd recommend trying to find one before you go on a trip.

I hope this helps some of you. Feel free to drop me a line or comment below if you have any questions.

Rock Guards on Fiberglass Campers

So the Uhaul, like many other fiberglass campers with front windows, came with a rock guard. My thoughts on this are that Uhaul wanted to make sure that the glass didn't get shattered either from a truck towing it and throwing up rocks behind or a car towing it and rocks from the road coming over the roof of the car. In any event, it's a great thing to have in my opinion.

The front window is a solid glass window. Unlike the door, rear and two side windows, which slide open and have a screen, the front has no way to open and therefore no screen. There are two types of rock guards on fiberglass campers that I've seen: a solid plastic/fiberglass piece that clamps to the front window (Scamps seem to have this style) and a hinged piece with shocks. The Uhaul comes with the later. I suppose having a hinged guard vs a removable piece that could get lost is better in a rental environment.

The nice thing about the Uhaul rock guard is that I can open and close it as needed. I tend to close it at night since it's right at the top bunk and it blocks out the sun in the morning to let my son sleep a little later. Granted that's a benefit only applicable to those with kids on the top bunk but for us it's a big one. I also like that when open it provides some shade over the window. You can even use the shocks to hang towels on to dry if you're at the beach or anywhere that you may be swimming. The one downside I can see is that since it shades the window so much it does block out some of the vistas you could view out the front. That's minor for me as I tend to have the car parked in front of it most of the time. (Some folks have said they don't like having the rock guard at all so they can see all the way through the camper and out the back window when towing.

When we first got the Uhaul I noticed a couple of issues with our rock guard. (Which I must say from the folks I've talked with and those I've seen for sale since, not all of them still have theirs.) It's made of plastic so like with anything plastic it's a bit brittle after so many decades. It's hinged at the top. Ours had apparently been broken at the hinge point on one side and the PO had moved the hinge over toward the middle and re-riveted it. So we do have a "hole" in the top side when it's closed which does allow for rain, leaves etc to come through. I do have to clean out the leaves before a trip since it's parked under a tree at home. I may try to patch it at some point.

The other thing I noticed with ours was that there were issues with the shocks. The original shocks were lightweight and after a few decades had worn out. I took the original shocks to an auto parts store and I matched them for length and bolt size. The pressure in my replacements is likely higher than the original ones when they were new. But I don't see any undo stress. If you have issues with yours, then I recommend replacing them.

On a side note, if you do not own a rivet gun, I'd invest the few bucks in one with a fiberglass camper. They're really useful; especially with the double hull of the Uhaul. They will allow you to attach things to the outside without having to drill through both hulls and using bolts on the inside. The hardware that connects the shock to the camper had snapped a rivet and the other one was close behind. So I ended up re-riveting it and it was quick and simple. Here's a link to a video on how to use a rivet gun (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPwNsQMnx88). It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Just make sure you use the right size rivets for the job.

Feel free to comment with any questions.

Bunk Bed Stability

Rubber Cone-shaped Bumpers

So as I mentioned in a previous post, I've gotten around to resolving one of the issues with the top bunk. The poles from the top bunk do rest in these little indentions and rely on gravity/weight to keep them in there. The problem with this for me is if the lower kid kicks the pole or the upper kid jumps up and down, it feels like they could slip out. Many folks have tried and suggested various options. I want to keep the ability to break down the bunk (so I didn't want to make it permanent). I ordered some conical bumpers that measure 21mm x 12mm. I then picked up some #10 x 3/4 in. wide head screws at the local hardware store. (If you don't have the wood braces under the fiberglass, you should put some in.) I then screwed these right into the wood braces and they worked perfectly. The poles slide on and off easily but the diameter and height of the bumpers is enough to keep them from bouncing off should they be kicked accidentally. Also, the rubber bumpers are low enough to leave there with the cushions down. So no need to take them off when not using the top bunk and there are no sharp or protruding screws/bolts/etc that some folks have used. All in all I'm happy with it and we'll try them out on the next trip. I'll definitely post an update if they don't work as good as I imagine.

See my post on replacement poles for the bunk bed if you're looking for those.

Bunk Bed (Camping with Kids)

So we have 4 people in our family and so it was important to get a camper that would sleep 4. The U-haul CT13 campers do sleep 4. The adult bed is in the back and then the front bench pops up into a bunk.The back cushion is on a hinge similar to a piano hinge and the back cushion swings up. Two poles fold down and each rests in metal indention on the bottom. This style is common across other fiberglass campers.

There are a couple of problems with the design though:

1. There is nothing on the top bunk to keep a kid from rolling off during sleep.
2. A really small kid (2-3) on the bottom bunk could potentially roll off between the poles. 
3. The poles rely on gravity/weight to keep them in the holes. They are not fastened to it any way and can bounce out. Or it's possible for a child on the lower bunk to kick it out during sleep. This could potentially cause the bunk to come down. (Do not drive with the bunk setup; road bounce will make it come down!)

My first concern was to make it safe for our kids. At the time we bought the camper they were 4 and 2 years old. I use the front bench during travel to hold the screen room and our table and some other gear we pack to keep weight up front on the tongue. So whatever designs I came up with would have to be flexible and not impact the ability to break down the bunk to a bench.

The top bunk is backed by a piece of plywood. I picked up a couple of right angle shelf brackets and had an extra board laying around that turned out to be the right size. I used some wood screws to hold the brackets to the bottom of the bunk. I measured them so they could stay attached and be under the bench cushions when it's folded down. The distance measured is between the bottom cording of the top bunk cushion (when it's folded down as the back of the bench) and the top of the fiberglass bottom of the bench with cushions removed. I can put the cushions on the bench on top of the L brackets and you won't even know they're there. I then drilled holes in the wooden board and got a couple of nuts with locking washers and wing nuts to fasten the board. That way I can quickly unfasten it for travel. This provides the protection I needed for my 4 yr old not to roll off the top bunk in the middle of the night. It's been working very well for us. The reason I went with a board was because I didn't want a gap from pvc or other tubing that he'd get his legs caught in. The solidness of the board combined with the small curtain we put up that hangs from the ceiling also help provide the sense that it's his own room. I have a small Tupperware container that I keep in the cabinet over the stove that I put the nuts, washers and bolts in when I have it broken down.

My wife's fun camping fabric.

Close-up from back side

With the 2 year old going to be in the bottom bunk, we were concerned with her falling out between the poles. While discussing how the kids would probably go to bed earlier than us, my wife decided that a curtain would be a fantastic way to divide the camper into basically two rooms. But a large curtain hanging all the way down wouldn't work for several reasons. First it would be too heavy for suction cups and with the curve of the roof we couldn't make a curtain bar work. So we brainstormed and came up with the idea to take a fun cloth shower curtain my wife had found to make new window curtains for the front window and make a short curtain across the top and make a second one on the bottom. The top one is held by suction cups across the top. The lower one we designed to be a panel that slipped over the bars that support the top bunk. We sewed two sleeves that fit perfectly around the poles so you can slide it on. With the poles setup, it's tight and makes the bottom bunk a dark little cave. There's no way she's rolling out of there!

To resolve the issue of the poles possibly bouncing/sliding out of their hole, I looked at rubber bumpers. I have ordered some conical bumpers that measure 21mm x 12mm. My camper has wooden boards under the lower fiberglass to help transfer the weight of the upper bunk poles down through to the frame without cracking the fiberglass seat area. With a screw, washer and these rubber bumpers, I should be able to secure the poles pretty easily by having them slide over the bumpers. I'll post an update when this is done with pics. (EDIT: Post on bumpers.)

Kid's Bunk in our U-haul Camper

The kids love their "rooms". It's amazing with a little creativity how you can divide such a small space into more personal spaces. I close the rock guard on the front window every night to help the top bunk remain just as dark and cozy as the bottom one so my son can sleep good. We got a couple of camping themed twin bed sheet sets for them that we make up the bunk beds with. We also got two husband pillows similar to these that go at the head of their beds (left side of camper) providing some insulation and filling the small gaps. You can see the edges of them in the picture to the left. By adding some small led camp lanterns to light their rooms, they're happy and set. Now they can have their own personal space in our tiny camper to play with dolls, cars, and read books. I'm currently looking at some storage ideas to better organize their little "rooms."

(Update: See my post on replacement poles for the bunk bed if you need those.)

(EDIT: Post on the other bed; the one us adults use. )

Flooring Upgrade in the U-haul Camper

New Vinyl Plank Flooring

When we originally got our U-haul camper, the flooring was in bad shape. Nothing more than a piece of green, outdoor turf rug that had been cut to fit and just laid down over the fiberglass. It smelled awful and didn't look great or fit well. So that was a big item on my list to fix first. I did some research on different types of flooring after deciding I wanted to do something like wood instead of carpet. I came across a great product that you can get at Home Depot called Allure flooring. It looks like wood but is actually made of vinyl. It's referred to as vinyl plank flooring and I'm sure you can find other brands as well at other stores.

The thing about the Allure is that it's vinyl and links together to form a waterproof floating floor. It's changing the way bathroom flooring looks in the housing market. There are two types of Allure: regular Allure and the Allure Ultra. The regular uses grip/glue strips to link together. The Ultra version uses interlocking mechanism. The Ultra is more expensive. But I feel like it'll hold up and I love the way it looks. I'm willing to invest in a heavy duty floor. We went with the Durban Oak color. It did take me a little more than a case. So I ended up with two cases and several left over pieces (maybe half a case?). I figure if something happens to a plank at least I have replacements.

After some thin wood strips to help level the floor in a few areas. (Note that the sides where the inner shell meats the outer shell and the middle seam are raised a bit.) I tried to keep it simple and started at the back of the trailer and moved to the front laying planks as I went. The very front under the bench curves up. So that's why I started at the back. I did not yet put down any molding over the edges though I'm thinking about it. As of right now I can take the floor up if I need to since it's interlocking and not the glue strip version. Make sure you leave the case of flooring in the camper for a day or so when you get ready to do this so it adjusts to the temperature of the camper. These floors will expand/contract with the heat/cold that is experienced in the campers throughout the year. So you may want to do it in the summer when expansion is more.

Overall we like the flooring. It is so much easier to sweep out and keep clean with the kids and dogs running in and out. I think it's going to hold up for many years to come.

Camper Electrical Part 1

So electrical is a big part of any camper. Let me start by saying the Uhaul's come in two models: CT13 and VT16. Mine is a CT13 and so that's what I'll be talking about here. Though much of this is the same across many campers. It can also be confusing unless you understand that there are 3 electrical systems in these small campers:

1. AC (120V on a 15 or 30 amp circuit). This is your normal household current and the receptacles in the camper look like a typical household plug. If you're not plugged into shore power then your items that rely on this won't work.
2. DC (12V). This is the items in the camper powered by your battery and converter. Most of the internal lights, fans run off this. This is the same 12V power as your car. Unlike in your car where you have an engine turning an alternator to produce the electrical current, campers have a converter. It's a device that converts the AC to DC and charges the battery. 
3. Trailer lights (brake, turn, running). While the AC and DC systems are connected by the converter, the trailer light wiring is totally isolated from the other systems. It's power comes from the tow vehicle via the 4-, 5-, or 7- pin adapter that you hook up when towing. It includes the brake lights, turn signals, and running lights. 

I started with the AC system. One reason is because I was replacing the dorm fridge in my unit. These units originally came with just an ice box. But mine, like many I've seen, had been ripped out in favor of a fridge. I happened to have a slightly larger, stainless model that I used to use at my office at my old job. I had it in storage since I changed jobs and decided to replace it cause it looked better than the old brown one the previous owner had installed. 

I also had been having an issue during our first two trips with the thermal circuit breaker popping. After carefully adding up the amps I was using when it popped, I was way under 15 amps. So this led me to the conclusion after a little research that the old thermal breaker was worn out. These breakers do tend to pop at lower and lower voltages as time goes on. So 30 yrs later, this breaker was shot. I managed to find a replacement online. So I ordered one of those to install.

So first things first. Shore power comes via an electric cord that is stuffed inside the shell. It comes out the utility port on the driver side. You pull it out to plug in. When you're done, you can push the cord back into the wall of the camper. I may end up replacing the cord in the future if I decide to upgrade to a 30 amp system. If I do, I'll replace it with 10-3 type SJOOW electrical cable.

The power cord goes up to an electrical box where the single outlet and pop-out circuit breaker are on the side of the cabinet over the sink. There is another cable that goes out from this box to the converter (to convert the AC to DC to charge the battery and run the lights/fans while plugged into shore power). The previous owner of mine had run another cable from her down to the area below the sink with a female plug on the end to plug the dorm fridge into.

First thing before you begin working on AC is to make sure you're not plugged into shore power. Next I took off the outlet and separated it from the box. Then unplugged the circuit breaker and replaced it with the new one. I got a Sea Dog 15amp thermal push button breaker. I had to widen the hole a little bit as the diameter of the new one was a big larger than the old one.

I decided a few more outlets would be helpful. After cutting the fiberglass to widen the fridge area to fit my new larger fridge, it's a messy job and I'm afraid I may not be as skilled at patching holes in fiberglass. So I wanted to limit holes. I picked up an 8-ft, 4 outlet shop extension box from Lowes. I liked that it has it's own circuit breaker built-in and an on/off switch. I connected this to the extension from the top cabinet. I cut a hole in the sized of the cabinet under the sink (it's plastic and easier to deal with). I then put a couple screws in and hung the box on high on the back wall of the cabinet. We don't use that cabinet for much and nothing tall so it was a good spot. I plugged the fridge into that box and it leaves me with 3 outlets without having to install boxes and face plates.

As a side note, I cut a piece of an old rubber car floor mat and riveted it to the side of cabinet over the hole I had cut. I then slit the rubber so I could pass the plugs through. It was a quick way to cover the hole and hopefully provide a little insulation and better looking to me than an open hole.

I'm happy with the outcome. I may go back and upgrade to a 30 amp system at some point. The new pop-out circuit breaker fixed the problem I was having. I'll dive into the other electrical systems in the future as I tackle them.

Rain, Rain Go Away

So the first thing I discovered with our new Uhaul was the leaks. Due to the way the windows are made and mounted, as the old parts wear out the tend to leak. Most Uhaul owners have to deal with this at some point. Try not to silicone if you can. It's a mess to get off later. That being said I have patched some areas with roofing sealant in small doses. I found out a couple of ways to deal with our leaks.

1) Limit the amount of water running over the window.

This is a no brainer. If the window's leaking then a percentage of the water running over it is coming in. So decreasing the amount of water running over it will decrease the amount coming in. This is not a final answer as during heavy down pours you're going to see a lot of that water still coming in. However as a first step to resolving my leaks, I decided on gutters. Now you can figure out how you want to do those, if you want to make your own or use window shields. I went with a vinyl product that's pretty simple to work with and uses heavy 3M bonding tape vs drilling holes in the side of the fiberglass.

 EZE Gutters

Basically you can buy this by the foot and it comes in a long roll. Then measure out where you want and cut. I think I used a pruning shear to cut it and then finished the end with a box cutter. You want to make it curve down on the sides a bit. This is will help make sure the water channels correctly. From my experience this definitely helped.

I also had problems with the door leaking and used some extra I had inside the top of the door to make a channel. I'll have a separate post about that coming up.


2) Clean out the window traps.

On these windows there is felt in the tracks. (that you can replace if you want to take the window apart and drill out the rivets. There's a guide on FiberglassRV site to do this. Also a PDF of that thread exists here.) There is also some drain holes. Mud and yuck tends to build up in these tracks. and can block the drain holes. So before you go tearing your window apart to replace or grabbing a sealant, clean out the tracks. You'd be amazed at how much that can do. There was so much gunk and bugs in my rear window track that the water caught in the track would backup through the felt and bubble up the inside track.

Here's how you should clean them. First pull up the seal. Go ahead and pull it all the way out. You'll want to clean it out/off. I thought about replacing it but haven't found replacement yet. Now get some tools and get in there and clean out that track where the seal sat. You may find dirt, grime, and all sorts of yuck. You may find a small flat head screw driver and an old toothbrush helpful here. Some silicone spray will help. Make sure the drain holes are clear too. Some folks have drilled them slightly larger to allow for the water to flow out faster.

3) Finally, you may want to replace the weatherstripping (it's gets old and cracked and dries out) that holds the windows in place. Most of the fiberglass campers have clamp ring style windows that I think seal better by clamping to the fiberglass. The Uhaul windows are different in that they sit inside a weather stripping seal that surrounds the hole in the fiberglass. I have not done this yet but I plan to and I will document what I do when I get around to it. My Uhaul came with one window busted out and a plexyglass piece in place. That's the worst leak I had to deal with was that window. I did get my hands on another Uhaul window (rare) and I'm planning to pull out the plexiglass and put in the new one. More to come on that when I get around to doing it....

For now I have no leaks. So I'm happy.