Travelux Redux

[Pinecone]

I see it's been 8(!) years since I picked up my almost-one-of-a-kind 17' Travelux (floor plan G). I introduced it in this thread (w/ photos), and it's pretty much sat in a field ever since. Due to a lack of space, lack of tow vehicle, and unsure where to begin, I even tried to sell it once (the guy backed out, fortunately).

Well, my wife got a truck for work now, so I can tow things. Then I saw jonplayer's amazing thread and decided to, as they say in Alberta, "give 'er".




The interior panels are almost all off, and the mice condos removed. And, I got an exciting delivery from VTS!



This is gonna be fun....

[LuckyLux]

Hi Pinecone, please post pictures of your stripped interior and your frame. C-channel detail etc. I am in very initial stages of a restore and need all picture encouragement I can get

[Evalu8r]

Very Nice! looking forward to watching this one come back to life and be loved again.

[Pinecone]

Yesterday, I tore out the plywood and the insulation from the floor. The belly pan is toast, the outriggers are rusted, and there is probably only one screw somewhere holding the shell down...







I think the trailer was happy to get all that crap out of her:




Frame is 2x5 box on the two outside and a third from the tongue, and the centre sections are 1.75x5 c-channel. Pretty robust for a small trailer.

[Evalu8r]

The dirty work is done. Give her a good powerwash now and she'll smell better too! If you dont plan on taking the shell off to do the floor, wet sand blasting works well. That's how I did mine and I was pleased with the outcome.

[Pinecone]

Finally warm enough to do something useful.

Oliver is curious:





I pulled all the U-channel from the front. It needs replacement, so I'm thinking of using the pre-painted stuff for corrosion protection. On the left is my experiment piece, and the right is the original. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if the white piece is 3003 or 5052. Metal Supermarkets really doesn't know their aluminum.

[ericpeltier]

OK, that is a damn cute trailer.

[Pinecone]

Lift Off!



The shell is so very light. To get the 2x4s under it, I picked the shell up by hand, and my wife slid the lunber underneath.

Next steps: pull out frame, replace rusted outriggers/crossmembers, paint with Rust Bullet. Replace sprung axle with Flexiride axle.

[Pinecone]

Frame is free.

Body is quite flexible. It's a good thing, because it fell off the jackstands at one point, but went right back into shape when I picked it up again.

[Pinecone]

First Expensive Piece has arrived:

[Pinecone]

I guess I should provide details...

It's a 3500lb Flexiride, 6 x 5.5. Maybe a bit overkill for this, but what the hell. Hopefully, I get a good lift in ride height without needing a spacer. Next up is wheels & tires, maybe T02's or AWC 870s and LT tires. I may need to go online, since nobody around here carries trailer wheels that aren't white steelies.

[Stefrobrts]

We put a 3500# dexter under our 17' Caravel, haven't regretted the choice yet.

Excited to watch your progress on this project!

[truckasaurus]

Hey there, I'm at a similar is point on the Sovereign, getting the axles or in my case axle-less axles on is a check in the progress box. Glad to see you stuck with the project. William

[Pinecone]

Thanks Truck, your all-in dedication to your trailers is still an inspiration.

I hoisted the axle into position with straps to get an idea of the ride height. For comparison, I positioned the old axle next to it:





That's a ~4.5" rise in height. That's pretty good, but I'm thinking of adding an additional 2" spacer to make it a roughly 6" raise from stock.

With the stock 4" drop axle, there is only a few inches of ground clearance, and the wheel intrudes pretty far into the cabin.

[Pinecone]

Big day! First new piece added:


Granted, the welding looks like it was done by a coked-up three year old, but it's a big step forward.

I had to figure out how to bend the 14ga steel myself, since I can't find a place to do it for under the hundred bucks (for four x-members). A little bit of ingenuity, and I can make them for free.

[travelux1969]

by any chance did you keep the old axle and brake parts? i really could use a brake drum (or 2) as one of mine is cracked. mine are the kelsey hayes 10" by 2 1/4" 5 bolt. new drums available today do not have the large size bearing on the inboard side, which would mean me buying a new complete axle, like you did. my travelux is tandem axle, 24 footer
regards, gerry