What is the dumbest repair(s) the PO made to your trailer?

[perryg114]

I was fixing plumbing leaks tonight and turned the water on for the first time since the winter. I turned the pump on and it started to catch up and I could hear air rushing in the bathroom. I felt around and found a cracked fitting on the shower valve. I thought well maybe I did not get all the water out of that valve since it is frozen shut. Well I started taking things apart and found that the PO had taped a chain around the water lines so to force the crack closed. I guess he thought that was a permanant repair.

My next project will be removing the water heater and fixing all the hose clamped connections that were made at the dealership who installed the water heater.

I am also wondering why the PO butchered the last foot of the fresh water holding tank pan. It had a hole in it already big enough to get to all the plumbing and the tank drain plug.

All the leaks are stopped for now. Knock on wood.

So who else has some idiot PO stories. I am sure there are some good ones.

Perry

[colberjs]

My trailer has enough caulk in/on it to fill the grand canyon.

[Ridgerunner3]

The rub rail on my trailer ( and maybe all AS) has a gap behind the rub rail, along the lower edge of the rub rail. The PO completely filled this area, all the way around the trailer, with clear silicone caulk. What a job it was cleaning all of the silicone out of the rub rail.

[rumrunner]

How about a 3" hole torched through a 4" frame without reinforcing?
I am still amazed that there was no sag.
tim

[Lumatic]

For a while I had the honor of owning a AS that went on the "Around the World" caravan with Wally. The PO decided to seal the seams with tar. It is now being restored by the current owner.

[54breadloaf]

Mine replaced the subfloor then left it out in the weather to get ruined before putting the shell back on.

[Thalweg]

Perry,

You got my curiosity up. You wouldn't by chance have pictures of that chain around the pipes, would you? Sounds "creative".

[perryg114]

No I was too much in a hurry to take photos. We are trying to get it ready to go camping this weekend for a shakedown cruise. I still have the chain.

Perry

[RickDavis]

When i bought my 54 Safari it had a large heavy aluminum plate on the bathroom floor. When the plate was removed a previous patch for a hole in the floor was uncovered. It was CONCRETE

[netman1969]

Not really a repair, but I bet I had 300 hooks installed in this thing when we purchased it. They had stick on and screw in hooks EVERYWHERE. I totally realize the need for additional hooks from what the factory puts in, but seriously.... there were hooks where there wasnt even room to hang anything.

[ddruker]

Cutting off the bottom of every interior wall and cabinet with a sawzall so they could shove hardwood flooring underneath? Of course all ragged cuts on an angle?

[Someday'59]

Originally Posted by RickDavis

When i bought my 54 Safari it had a large heavy aluminum plate on the bathroom floor. When the plate was removed a previous patch for a hole in the floor was uncovered. It was CONCRETE

Concrete! Wow!

[Someday'59]

I have two favorite "dumbest repairs":

This:


Also, the latex paint over the Zolatone.

[Wabbiteer]

Black tar caulk and duct tape?

[netman1969]

Originally Posted by Someday'59

I have two favorite "dumbest repairs":

This:
Attachment 166548

Also, the latex paint over the Zolatone.

Now what could possibly go wrong there?

[rumrunner]

Yeah, I had both of those too, latex paint and the rusty hasp. AARGH
Looks like you also had duct tape and JB weld too?
Lions and tigers and bears Oh my!
tim

[reinergirl]

The PO used the Airstream for a hunting camp, he had camouflage curtains hung from velcro strips that he gorilla glued to the window frame. Removing the rivets underneath was tricky and that velcro's never coming off! I really don't think the deer were that interested in looking in!!

[crazeevw]

Along with half a dozen wiring screw-ups and other things I'm sure I haven't even found yet, here's my shower stall in my Classic Airstream motorhome.
Someone must've thought having a black shower pan would be easier on the eyes (surely easier to ignore when filthy) and went so far as to use garage floor paint (with flecks of course), and then painted the rest of the stall with what looks like a broom with white oil paint.
Oh, bathroom walls (but not all of them) were painted a brown hi gloss, that to this very day, is STILL tacky when touched......

[Uzzah]

The previous, previous owner of our AS broke out the back window with his garage roof overhang. So the previous owner took a piece of plexiglas and screwed it to the outside of the frame, then "sealed" it with black "100 mile an hour tape".... His words not mine, it looked suspiciously just like duct tape. The best part was that he never removed the blue protective film, so when I bought it, I thought it was blue plexiglas, but it ended up being clear. I couldn't bring myself to take any pictures of it.

[blkmagikca]

Before getting the trailer I now have, I had a 34-foot diesel pusher Land Yacht, where, AFAIK I was at least the 3rd owner. Some of the kludges I found were:

1 - the cotter pin which is the hinge pin on the Fantastic Fan vent was replaced with a bent nail -- cool??? and FF has a lifetime warranty;

2 - checking the 110-volt outlets, I noticed that they were crosswired - it seems the PO replaced the GFI breaker and crossed the neutral with the ground wires.

3 - PO used Silicone bathroom caulk on the roof seams - that stuff doesn't adhere at all, so in the spring when the snow melted on the roof, water was pouring in.

4 - PO (who was a garage mechanic) knew that in Canada we have to have daytime running lights. So he used a simple wire (known as a fusible link) to connect the headlights to the switched buss. The result was a circularity in the circuit which would allow the engine to continue to run when the key was removed. The fix was to remove the fusible link and to replace it with a headlight relay and daytime running module. Nothing was documented, so the garage charged on a per-hour basis - $2,500.