Steel tubing in side wall
 

Bought a used '90 20 ft Funlite from my parents. They bought from a guy who did some "creative engineering" to the passenger side rear corner. I noticed the outside bottom corner molding was not attached. Pulled whole corner (outside) off. Found square tubing was rusted and falling apart from ceiling down to bottom to top section. Question is (1) has any one replaced one or made another repair? Thinking of two options make a replacement from a new tube or a piece of lumber. but weight i know is a consideration. Found multiple leaks from PO's "fixes" as well as large chunk of fiberglass missing from his fix. Also are the windows pretty generic or special size for HiLo? PO took out rear cantiliever and put a window AC in (maybe reason why leaks started?)

Help I want to keep this for a long time and appreciate it.

Welcome!
 

Welcome to the Forum!

It sounds like you got a new hobby! There has been much discussion here by members that have done some pretty extensive repairs and rebuilds. You can do some searches for repairs and also check in because I'm quite sure someone will post something that will be of help.

RichR
Moderator

Danny, the windows are generic but could vary from year to year. Joel at Midget RV in Ohio could probably tell you what brand was used in your unit. He was the plant manager at Hi-Low.

Replacing steel tubing.
 

I,m thinking you have a Funlite with a steel tubing frame. We have done extensive wall rebuilding due to water dammage. I have not had to replace tubing. I would weld in another piece of steel. All of your windows need to be taken out and resealed due to the age of the trailer. Our is also a 1990 25ft.Clasic. You will have to figure out the source of your water leaks and repair. Post pictures of any repair areas you need advice on. Do a serch for many back posts on rebuilds/repairs. Here is the info to get to my repair story. 3Sam TLPX's Library Photobucket 4-6-2014. Window resealing 7-31-2012. You tube also has a video on window resealing. Keep the questions coming and welcome to the forum.

Well found source of leaks:

1. awning attachment to sidewall
2. plumbing vent at roof
3. vent fan above shower

So far am finding rust through at roof line, above window, and below window by dinette. This is quite extensive.

will look at other posts from the forum and get a plan.

Finding water leaks.
 

You have found several of the usual spots for water leaks. Here is a back post by a service advisor for HiLo. 7-31-2010. Reattaching awning bracket by Sam Shields. DH did this repair and it works. Another interesting repair story. Demolition begins by Garyk52.

Oh crap!
 

Well I think I have stepped into the world of a completes rebuild:eek:
I am attaching photos from todays tear down.

Definitely looks like a project.

Big water damage repair.
 

dannylvin2009,You can do this just take your time.

Good thing I found a metal dealer locally where I can get 20' sections of 2" square tube for about $20 each. Just have to figure out how I will bend it to shape back corner. Straight pieces will be easier to fit. Father in law has huge shop to back into and my dad was a welder before retiring.

Danny, contact any of your local sheet metal/louver shops, those that make louvers for new homes and the like. It is not uncommon for them to have metal benders that will handle your problem.

Bends in metal.
 

DH is a retired sheet metal fabricator. Any good sheet metal welding shop will have a power brake that can bend metal into any specifications that you need.

I personally would look at doing it differently then the factory did. I patched mine back together with basically scrap wood and metal ties (which is similar to how the factory built my 93) but at some point it think newer, lighter, never rot, better insulating, structural engineered panels with aluminum skin would be the way to fix it forever.

If you can get the back section with rounded corner cut, then you have the general shape of it, make a jig out of plywood, get a length of 2" square tubing and heat the part that needs bending with a torch until the heated part is red (you may have to use oxy acetylene to get it that hot) then attach one end to the jig and wrap the heated section around the jig, a little hammering may help also to get it in the shape you need.

I would be very careful with bending a red hot piece of square tubing around a plywood jig. The jig could very well erupt in flames.:(

Garry
the jig will be one time use only, so as long as it holds its shape for 10 seconds its ok to catch in flames, you will be amazed how red hot steel can be bent in short period of time, you can also wrapped the jig with thin sheet metal to give a little protection.

Thanks for the response Gus.:)

Well after spending the last two weeks of "vacation" on my project, have found the whole starboard side resembles swiss cheese. Major amount of steel is rusted. Have tore out all of the interior paneling, most of the foam insulation (what a major piece of work that was) and replaced broken forward vent. :eek: Time to seal her back up for now until next break from school. Found out that the fiberglass panels on outside can be rehabed to look pretty good (no TLC by PO in YEARS) with a little elbow grease.

When you get back to your project...Good Luck!:)

Fixing funlite
 

You should be okay since your dad is a welder. We had rusted metal frame on our classic. Then we wire brushed and coated with rust oleum primer and rust oleum paint. Consider doing this step that was recomended by JR. Since you have taken everything off your interior walls you are now down to the interior fiberglass. Get a can of bondo and following all the directions use a chip brush and apply it to seal up any pinpoint leaks you can't see. Use an industrial respirator and have all windows and vents open. Then when dry put your wall layers back in. Your trailer will last for many years with your tlc.

Would kool-seal work on the inside of the fiberglass instead of bondo?

Thanks
Chuck

sealing interior fiberglass.
 

Kool seal is not the right product to use for this repair. Walmart sells Bondo or any auto store like auto zone. I only used a small can that I bought at a speciality auto paint supplier. After a few years the remaining material ate through the can. I can't emphize enough that it has been four years and we have no leaks. Do it once and do it right!!

found hidden water damage to wall
 

I have had the front of my trailer collapse on me. I found hidden water damage in the wall. I am newbie to owner a trailer and have sure bought a lemon. the steel frame on the curve at the front of the trailer has broken apart from rust. that cause it to collapse on the frame and bust the fiberglass along the front. This is definitely a fixer upper.

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have went and resealed all seams with caulking and also sprayed Flex Seal on all seams and used Cool Seal on the roof. now just have to repair the water damage.

more picture of the wall frame

Wall repairs
 

Use a multi tool to get off the wall material until you are down to fiberglass. Treat all rusted metal with rustoleum paint. Treat the inside exposed fiberglass with bondo. Use Heavy Duty liquid nails to glue all your wall layers together. Use expanding foam to fill any air leaks. Shave the foam as needed. All your windows need to be taken out and resealed. This is a big source of water intrusion.

Wall repairs
 

One more tip. Don't use flex seal as I read a review that said it doesn't work. Lexel caulk is to be used anywhere that needs to be sealed up. It is about $8.00 a tube and can be purchased at Ace Hardware or on line. Yes it is pricy,but you get what you pay for.

Thank you about the flex seal. I had used caulking first then sprayed flex seal. I will go and buy some the Lexel Caulk and re-caulk all seams.

Sam,

thanks for the tips. the pictures did not come out to well. But on the left front of the trailer the curve steel part has broken apart because of the rust. Any idea how to repair that. I have pulled all the paneling away and down the foam blocks. I will rip out all the foam blocks where I will only have frame and fiberglass wall.

thanks so much agan

Repairs
 

I'm guessing that any broken metal would have to be welded. Some of our metal frame broke by the read door. DH used pipe inside of pipe and stainless steel hardware. We couldn't weld as it would have set the paneling on fire as per our Welder friend. Our repair is quite strong. For any big gaps we used spray can expanding foam and just shaved it flat. I think it comes in a less expanding form. I would highly recommend putting bondo on the interior of all exposed fiberglass. JR repair(HiLo ) place told us to do this. Yes, it is a lot of work. Bottom line it has been several years and we are toasty warm and dry. We didn't have front damage like your pictures show. Our water damage was due to us not understanding the need to take out all windows and resealing them.

you are so right about the flex seal. we just had a big storm here and I decided to go in the RV and start tearing out the foam blocks. well low and behold there was wet areas behind the foam. I must know figure out where they are coming from. The area where you plug in the AC had water leaking down the wall. an area near the bathroom had water leaking down the wall. I have almost completely removed all foam in the wall. also, there was water leaking into the bathtub from the electric vent fan. the roof above the tub is really soft when you push it in.

BTW:

I am ordering the Lexel Caulk on-line today to try and reseal along the seams on top of the RV

Wall repairs
 

I strongly encourage to bondo the inside fiberglass. This seals up any pinholes you can't even see. For larger gaps you can use greaat Stuff expanding foam. If need be shave it flat. Maybe it comes in a less expanding foam. Remove and reseal all windows. We also had water leaks where our AC outlet was. Both on the inside and outside. Also had leakage around our escape vent that we fixed with new weather seal. Read all the directions on the Lexel tube. I believe it comes in clear and white. 3SamTLPX's Library | Photobucket This is our photo bucket story with pictures to our repairs. We don't claim to be experts. However,I can tell you we are warm and perfectly dry for a lot of years.

Sam,

thanking you in advance. On your photobucket, the 2x4's did you use them to jack up the side of the trailer so you could expose the bottom of the upper part. I cannot get to the bottom of the upper part? I sealed the outside but did not think about the inside. as I had not stripped the wall out yet. will definitely follow your advice about bondo.

Seperating halves of HiLo
 

Dh says initialy we didn't have enough knowledge to properly seperate the halves. Then we had to replace the seals. DH says to measure on the drivers side how much thread is left on the cable bolts between the wheels. He used long enough 2x4s and the Jack pictured in our photobucket. Write down your measurements. Then loosen the all the bolts to take slack of the cables. We worked with one corner/part of side at a time. We weren't able to get the seal replaced around the Ref. as we were afraid to tip over the RV. Another member did extensive repairs and couldn't get the seperation around the ref. either. One forum member used a forklift to seperate the halves. Cable replacement in my 1998 HiLo 24TD 3-3-2010. Harbor Freight is a good place to purchase the a jack with a 20%off coupon. It will also be used when you have to change a tire.

Sent you a PM
 

If anyone has a better way to do or explain how to break the halves apart please add to the conversation.