new Uhaul owner with a couple of questions

[zippityroodaa]

Hi. We live in central Iowa and just purchased a Uhaul camper after searching for quite awhile. We will be picking up the camper next month and will have a little drive to bring it home. I had a couple of questions I hoped some other Uhaul owners could help with:
1. All the cushions are missing but I found the measurements of the "bed" area one site to design a makeshift bed for the short term before having Restonic build a custom mattress to fit. But I have not found the measurements of the 2 moulded seats at the front. I thought I would cut a couple of pieces of plywood and find some patio type seat cushions to put on the plywood for now but wondered if someone could measure theirs for me so I had some idea of what size to cut and what size cushion would fit.
2. The frame has some rust near the front on one side. It appears like it is just before where the frame curves. Should I makeshift some type of support when towing it home or is that part of the frame really integral to the towing of it? Any ideas or thoughts?
3. I will be putting on new tires before bringing it home. It appears it may not have been used for awhile and is in a rural area. Not knowing the history I would like to do the bearings before the trip home and my last question is would it be safe to drive it on the new tires for a few miles to get it to a place where the bearings can be redone before the trip home?
Thanks all for any input you may have.

[Raspy]

zipp,


As far as the rust goes, it's hard to say without a pic. If it's just surface rust, no problem. Deeply pitted, or rusted clear through, not so much.

Jack up each wheel and give it a spin. Quiet? No play? If so, you should be good to go to where you can do more maintenance. The brakes may make a scraping sound, and that is OK after sitting for a while, but the bearings should be quiet and have little or no play.

[mary and bob]

You can't do anything with the bearings, they are sealed units. A certain GM product will fit if needed, but there have been only a couple known failures among hundreds of owners. Front cushions; originally the front area was like a couch, one long bottom cushion and the backrest cushion folded up to make a bunk. Not very comfortable seating I've heard. Our bunk unit was gone and we made other type seating. All the info you need is on the Uhaul Facebook group, plus a lot of info here too in the document center, including the parts manual and the repair manual. Be aware that everything on the Uhauls is unique to them, and most parts are not available. Join the Facebook group.

[mary and bob]

post #2, sorry Raspy, but the Uhauls are not like other trailers so much of the general advice does not apply. As for the frame rust, the Uhaul frame has a couple tubular sections at the front corners and it's not unusual for them to have rusted through. OK to tow like that but that section should be replaced. You'll have to find a welder/fabricator that can bend tubing. Good advice though to at least spin the wheels and check for bearing noise or play, but if there is you have to replace the sealed hub. The Uhaul 13 did not have brakes, the very rare Uhaul 16 has surge brakes. Probably not the trailer you're buying as there were only 49 made.

[groys02]

Welcome to the world of U-Haul campers! [both vehicles & people]

Don't know where you are in central Iowa, but I'm between Madrid & Boone, if you need some local contact. I have a CT13... just beginning to re-enter the camping world after considerable rebuilding. [and some more still to do]

Best wishes on your new camper!

Gary

[zippityroodaa]

Thanks all for responses.
We are in M'town so you are pretty close.

[mary and bob]

You need to research the common problems of Uhauls, as there are several and some need to be taken care of fairly soon. There is a list in the "files" section of the Facebook group. Of course as with any 30 plus year old trailer it's hard to say what has been done to it over the years.