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Fifth wheel camper demo/conversion

Thanks. Still a bit of work to do but considering that I only started tearing it apart a few weeks ago, it's coming along nicely. I'm lucky the entire floor didn't have to be replaced. As I'm on a fixed income, I'm going as cheap as possible. So far I'm into it about 15 days labor and about $160 in wood. It's going to need tires for sure as I'm surprised I didn't have a blow out just towing it down the road. They're very weather cracked. But I recycled as much as possible from past projects.
 
I finally found a day to spend on the trailer. I started off by pulling both grey and black tanks. There's basically a support bracket underneath that sandwiches the tank to the frame by a lip around the top of the tank. I only had to remove a self tapping screw on each side and slide the bracket forward then use a pry bar to wiggle the tank free. Simple stupid really.

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I then turned my attention to the tie downs and installed all of the ones I have along both sides of the trailer. 20250624_102910.jpg
 

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I then turned my attention to the front storage compartments closing both sides in and removing the propane tank storage bracket. That'll make excellent storage for straps and helmets. Tools as well.
 

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Today is paint day. I ended up going with an oil based armor coat for floors and porches. 2 reasons. 1. It has a built in sealer. 2. It was on sale. I wanted black but they only had white and grey. Grey it is.

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Paint is done. Next up are the lights once it dries.20250625_141706.jpg20250625_132807.jpg

Before I install the side panels permanently, I will run marker lights. I figured since the wood framework is exposed currently, I'd give it a coat of paint to protect from water damage in the future.

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So I should have paid better attention when I tore apart the camper. I first had intentions of only having one marker light at the front on each side. I started looking in the scrap pile behind the garage and found 6 clearance lights still attached to the metal siding. I was certain that I kept the lenses but can't find them so I picked up a few more to install. I still have to run the wiring but this will give you an idea of what I'm going for.


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I also installed some plastic screw on reflectors along both sides

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The trailer is still in the same state as I'm on vacation but I'm still shopping for deals for it. I had been keeping an eye out for a set of folding sled ramps for sale back home but hadn't seen anything. They come on sale for $349. I found a set barely used for $200. They fit nicely in the pass-through of our fifth wheel. 20250715_095345.jpg20250715_095720.jpg
 
Tip for anyone traveling by rv. Bring tools. Plan for anything. I carry my full electrical box and a full socket set along with a jack. So far this trip I've used everything but the jack (knock on wood). A couple days ago we stopped at an rv place and I discovered that my wiring harness for the trailer had become disconnected and was dragging on the ground. I rewired the trailer harness correctly but the running lights were not working although everything else was. After redoing it 4 times I decided to hook up another truck to the lights and everything worked. So the problem was with the truck. I changed out a 25amp square fuse for the running lights and everything is fine now.
 
I also have been considering upgrading the tires on the camper as they are 4ish years old. I keep them covered and properly inflated and they appear fine. But I also need tires for my flat deck. While on the trip, I have been tire shopping and found a good sale on a set at princess auto with stock at the store I will be going by in Winnipeg on Monday. So I ordered 4. They'll be there waiting. In the meantime should I encounter tire issues, I'm carrying two spares. 🤔 I've been stranded on a 2 lane road with no shoulder and transports flying by blowing their horns changing a flat tire on the camper in the past and don't care to do it again. The new tires will go on the camper and these will go on the flat deck.
 
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NorthernRedneck said:
While on the trip, I have been tire shopping and found a good sale on a set at princess auto with stock at the store I will be going by in Winnipeg on Monday. So I ordered 4.
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I'll bet your fellow travelers love you. Hmmm - cross country trip - HEY - let's spend a day and go tire shopping and get them installed. ;)
 
🤣 I bought them online. We're just going to pick them up and I'll swap out at home. And it'll give me an escape from any activity the girls want to do when we're in Winnipeg two nights. I might just swap them out in the campground while they're out.
 
I'm impressed that you have room for 4 tires plus the new ramps and still have room for two teenage girls and your wife's luggage. Impressive.
 
I figure I have room in my box for a couple tires and the other two are going in the doorway entrance to the fifth wheel as we travel. I'll make it work for $100 per tire mounted on rims when they're around $240 per at home. It's not our first rodeo. 😆 On our last big rv trip 5 yrs ago, we bought a kayak and had it inside the camper as we traveled.
 
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NorthernRedneck said:
I figure I have room in my box for a couple tires and the other two are going in the doorway entrance to the fifth wheel as we travel. I'll make it work for $100 per tire mounted on rims when they're around $240 per at home. It's not our first rodeo. 😆 On our last big rv trip 5 yrs ago, we bought a kayak and had it inside the camper as we traveled.
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I've been putting LT tires on for the last decade because of the ST tire headaches, I'll pay the extra for them plus they seem to last longer.
 
Today was tire and wheel bearing day down by my shop. I backed the camper up along side the flat deck and started swapping out tires inspecting each bearing and greasing them. I lucked out it seams as someone else had recently changed the brakes and wheel bearings on the old fifth wheel. They just needed a few pumps of grease.
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The flat deck now has a set of 4 yr old 14" tires and the camper has new tires I picked up in Winnipeg on sale. I went with the same size as what was already on the camper and downsized from a 225 75 15 to a 205 75 14 trailer tire on the flat deck as it won't be hauling that much weight. 20250728_114632.jpg20250728_114700.jpg20250728_133429.jpg

Speaking of weight, I have to check to see if the folding snowmobile ramps i bought will hold the Jacobsen mower? I had them opened up and mounted on the back of the trailer earlier to check on height and width and how steep etc the ramp would be but didn't take a picture.

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I hauled it over to my buddies place to work on the wiring. He's a heavy equipment mechanic and electrical specialist in automotive wiring. He had mine done in 30 mins. Now we're wiring his trailer. He bought it sight unseen last summer and quickly discovered that the frame was rotten. He works at the college in the mechanical shop and has connections. Over the winter, the teachers in the welding shop rebuilt the frame. He reinstalled the deck yesterday and has to reinstall the wiring harness.

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So I was at physio getting my back worked on yesterday. My physiotherapist asked me randomly how long my trailer was. I told him 30ft. He has a sailboat which is out of the water for the winter with the mast off. He wants to haul it to town to a body shop to get painted over the winter. I have a couple of ladder racks for the back of a truck. I blocked them up to the height of the front deck and screwed them down. I can remove them afterwards. I wanted to set it up like that anyways to be able to transport my canoe.

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I hope it's not a big/heavy sailboat. I didn't think ladder racks had a high weight capacity.
 
Make sure you put a red flag off the back end of it. ;) At least that's the law down here if something sticks out the back of the trailer by a few feet.
 
That went well. I met them down at the yatch club storage yard and they loaded up the mast. We strapped it down. Then headed off. I hauled it to a shop not far from my house where it will get painted. Then we can reverse the process in the spring to get it back to the storage yard. 20251018_083339.jpg20251018_091834.jpg20251018_092901.jpg
 
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