1984 UHaul 13CT changes hands

[Sharon D]

Today Mike's UHaul has moved from western Mass to central Mass. It won't be far away and we will continue to consult on how to make more tweaks. I towed it home with my Honda CR-V and never got less than 26 miles per gallon, so I am pleased as punch.

Sharon D

[Kevin A]

Have fun! These are wonderful little trailers. We didn't get out as much this year with our VT (bigger cousin of the CT) due to other plans, but having a fiberglass egg has changed our lives for the better. Keep us posted with any tweaks!

[mary and bob]

We have met Mike, but never saw the camper. We also tow ours with a CRV, a 2003. You'll have to come to next years Northeast Rally, if we do one. Your first tweak, install the new windows?? I provided the weatherstrip for Mike, but as I understand he never installed the windows?

[Sharon D]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

We have met Mike, but never saw the camper. We also tow ours with a CRV, a 2003. You'll have to come to next years Northeast Rally, if we do one. Your first tweak, install the new windows?? I provided the weatherstrip for Mike, but as I understand he never installed the windows?

Thank you for the weatherstrip. He gave us all the parts, including the new windows and weatherstripping. Yes, we will be working on that, along with updating the solar and Tweaking the electrical so it will be easier for me. My personal project is to figure out a better way to handle the table. I want it up during the day, but maybe with a drop leaf so it is easier to bet in and out, and telescopic so I don't have to remove the leg.

Sharon

[mary and bob]

We keep the rear bed made up always, so no table. Removed the useless solar panel, removed stove and furnace. Installed shelves in closet, slide out storage baskets under bed, new power converter and all new 12 and 110 volt wiring, additional lights, counter extensions, drawer in place of furnace, casita chair and shorter couch cushions in front as bunk is gone, dorm fridge in place of ice box, outside light in place of furnace vent, bag awning, fantastic fan roof vent, scamp window in rear. Replaced body mount bolts as they rust away in the floor.Current project is a tongue mount storage box and a modified rear bike rack.

[DogHaus]

Congratulations!!!

[Mary F]

Cool!

[Sharon D]

Mike had new left and right windows, and I am grateful that he passed them along to me along with other pieces he had collected. I need to do some work on the door window as well. It looks like a piece of window broke and was replaced by a piece of plexiglass. The screen doesn't look quite right either. Any advice?

[Robin G]

Congrats! Enjoy it! Thanks for sharing pics............

[mary and bob]

Best option on the door window may be to get a custom made clamp type replacement. The original Uhaul door window is installed the same as the side windows with rubber weatherstrip. I only gave mike enough weatherstrip to do the side windows, each one takes just about 7 feet. The front and rear windows are held in with a clamp ring which is a better method. A glass shop may be able to repair your existing door window, but another member here found a supplier where you should be able to get a new window for around $125. When you install the side windows you will need the tool to install the lock strip, I used Lisle tool #47000, available at auto parts stores or Amazon, for around $15.

[Green Frog]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

We keep the rear bed made up always, so no table. Removed the useless solar panel, removed stove and furnace. Installed shelves in closet, slide out storage baskets under bed, new power converter and all new 12 and 110 volt wiring, additional lights, counter extensions, drawer in place of furnace, casita chair and shorter couch cushions in front as bunk is gone, dorm fridge in place of ice box, outside light in place of furnace vent, bag awning, fantastic fan roof vent, scamp window in rear. Replaced body mount bolts as they rust away in the floor.Current project is a tongue mount storage box and a modified rear bike rack.

Mary & Bob, I would love to see pix of your interior. My '83 Burro starts from the same basic layout, and like you I've eliminated the back table in favor of a permanent almost-queen sized bed with a one-piece foam mattress. I need to do some major rewiring as pretty much everything was disconnected when the body came off for a whole new floor and accompanying frame work. At this point, I'm thinking of a semi-permanent installation of a mini-dinette in the front so it's more solid and stable, then going back to the space in the rear and fabbing a sort of dresser with drawers in the space under the bed.

Much of my camping is in a location without electrical or water hook-ups, so I will be depending on an icebox and a lot of 12 volt stuff... I already have a good solar panel (portable to point where most effective) and a couple of semi-good car batteries to make my system work OK... I'll probably need to upgrade the battery set, though. I'm leaving the pump sink and 2 burner stove top as-is, although my "kitchen" tends to go outside when possible onto a folding table from Wally-World. The table is half wire top for my Camp Chef™ Oven and half plastic for everything else.

I've collected a ton of pix of the decor of these little trailers, but can't always determine the mechanics of the mods folks do to end up where they are when they show them off. I don't want to drift this thread too badly so maybe another thread to show off our interior set-ups would be in order. I'll try to get some in-progress stuff when I can.

Regards,
Froggie

[h.mike]

Hi Sharon: Its been a day since we talked. The weatherstrip tool is in the plastic bag with the strip. Sounds like your off to a great start. My driveway has a big empty space. Mike

[Chris and Ame]

Green Frog, . I also made some changes to the original interior. I completely separated the 110volt system and the 12volt system. The main reason being that if you are in a campground setting with electricity, then you can use the 110 system: lights, small refrigerator, small air conditioner, small microwave, a flat wall mounted (in this case under the bed) electric heater, etc. But I also have it set up where if you are dry camping with the 12volt system, it has a Fantastic Fan in the ceiling for ventilation with a Vent Cover over the fan to keep out rain, an Olympian 3000 BTU catalytic heater, 12" x 10" x 3 ½", for heat (propane), a new Kyocera KC 50 watt/3 amp solar panel, with a Go Power GPM-30 solar regulator/ controller, a new group 29 RV deep cycle battery. I replaced all the overhead car type light bulbs with new PBC series LED lamps, it has a built-in radio/cd player, a CB system, and I also installed some cigarette type plug-ins for various 12volt type needs. I tried to make it as self-sufficient as possible. Kind of a 72 hour emergency pack on wheels, as well as for camping.

[Lsdshrns59]

Do you still have the bunk beds? If so, do you have the dimensions of the cushions? Is the lower cushion in 4 pieces?

[Sharon D]

No, no bunk beds. Mike will have to chime in to correct me. But I believe the cushion I have is from the top bunk, and it sits on top of the two seats (with a board between the two). It is in one piece. Mike's wife recovered the cushion in a lovely suede fabric. I can give you that set of dimensions if you like. I have been pondering changing the cushions so that it is easier to get at the storage areas. Did the lower originally come in 4 pieces? I am curious.

[mary and bob]

Sharon; our Uhaul was missing all of the front bunk components, but there was two long, full width cushions that we used as a "couch" type seating. They must have been part of the front bunk. Wasn't that comfortable so now we have one captains chair that was salvaged from a Casita mounted just inside the door, then the rest of the front space is cushions that would have been from the rear seating/bed area. If you go to the document center here, all the way to the bottom of that page, under trailer manufacturers, click on Uhaul, and you can access the repair manual, parts manual, and some other info. In the parts manual on page56 there is a diagram showing the cushions. Not a very good diagram, but you can sort of make out how the cushions would be with the bunk made up. We have almost all of the cushions in their original covering. There are a couple that are quite small, apparently used as filler pieces on the bunk. I remember seeing here a long time ago, like maybe close to 2 years, a picture of how the cushions were to be placed for the rear bed. No idea how to find it again. Since our bed stays made up, we have a 5" thick piece of foam for a mattress, don't use the cushions to sleep on.

[h.mike]

Hi; The cushion in Sharons uhaul , I believe, was the mattress part of the upper bunk. I've noticed its a little oversized. There may be dimensions in tthe uhaul manuals in the document section. Mike

[rick.a]

Hi Sharon,

We have an '84 Burro-13 which we got in Central MA and moved to Western MA-moving in the opposite direction of yours. As you may know, the Burro and UHaul are first cousins.

We have done lots of upgrades to it, but we have learned, like many before us, the most valuable upgrade (for 2 campers only) is to make the bed permanent and change the front bunks into a dinette. Our dinette can be converted to a single bunk in a similar fashion to the conversion of the rear bed/table.

We rarely camp where there are hookups so the Burrito's electric is completely 12V. But we do carry a charger for when we have the opportunity to top off the battery. We don't use microwave or TV while camping (we camp to get away from those things), and the fridge runs on Propane when bookdocking, and all lighting is LED, so the battery lasts for a very long time.

Let me know if you want to chat about upgrades to your CT. I drive to Worcester 3 days a week and try to look at this forum about once per week.
Rick & Darcy

[Sharon D]

Rick and Darcy,
Thank you for your kind offer. I would love to take you up on your offer when life slows down a little. At the moment, the UHaul is resting comfortably under her winter jacket. I am slowly collecting supplies and thinking about things. I am watching the electrical and window discussions very carefully. I have no useful skills, and my husband says that his 3 year old overdue project comes before this one, so I want to be ready with all the schematics and information for when he is ready for a new project.

But my porta potty arrived yesterday along with a hand pump for the sink. I still want to be able to use the eating area, although I can barely squeeze past the fiberglass table, so designing a more usable table with an adjustable pedestal is top on my personal list.

Sharon

[rick.a]

Yes, Here in the soon to be frozen Northeast, it is time to put all good FG campers to bed for the winter. Although since our Burro sits in the driveway, it warms up nicely on a sunny day, and I can get small interior projects done on good days. Also, the addition of a small portable electric heater makes it toasty warm in just a few minutes.

Most of the pedestal tables, have cut corners in front to facilitate sliding past the table to get to the seat. In addition, rotating the table on the pedestal makes this move easier. When we made the front dinette, the right side did not require a corner cut as there is plenty of room to slide in. However the left side is another story because of the encroachment of the countertop. So we have a nice corner cut on that side, but not enough to prevent the top from being used as a middle cushion support when down in bed mode.

Rick.