Compact Jr. Roof Repair - Your Experiences

[John Truitt]

The roof is sagging - there are cracks that have been "fixed" but the wood has gotten wet and continues to get wet. I need to take it all apart. I'm suspecting the interior vinyl piece is glued to the wood and the wood is glued to the fiberglass top.

Suggestions for removing the vinyl piece so I can reuse it?
Suggestions for removing the wood so as not to further damage the fiberglass
Suggestions for using something other than 1/2 or 3/4 inch plywood?

Thank you..

[Tom Trostel]

After removing the upper roof, I stripped it to the fiberglass then glued a layer of painted 1/4" plywood. Then glued a layer of Marlite FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) on the exposed surface of the ceiling for a nice appearance and easy cleaning. Its held up nicely for 2 years.

[Rick Brown]

I had the same condition with my trailer. I removed the roof set it up side down, top facing ground, and pried and grinned the wood from the top, applied new fiber glass to fix the cracks in the roof then used cider paneling and wood beams to curve the top of the roof. these beams are bolted to the top and in 2 years we have not had a problem and the inside look great.



Before fix




After fix

This took about 2 week to do but I think it is worth it

[Lisa H.]

Rick, your roof mod looks terrific! I have a Trailswest Campster that needs a new lift apparatus and I have not been able to locate one like the original mechanism. I noticed that you have something completely different on your Compact. Is this the original mechanism or modification of your own? It appears to resemble a drawer track but I cannot make out exactly how it is assembled and how it works from the pictures in this post. Are there any springs involved that create tension? If it is at all possible, could you please post some pictures of your apparatus so that I might duplicate yours? I really need to get the roof back on my trailer so I can take it camping in 10 days!

Thanks a bunch,
Lisa

[Rick Brown]

Rick, your roof mod looks terrific! I have a Trailswest Campster that needs a new lift apparatus and I have not been able to locate one like the original mechanism. I noticed that you have something completely different on your Compact. Is this the original mechanism or modification of your own? It appears to resemble a drawer track but I cannot make out exactly how it is assembled and how it works from the pictures in this post. Are there any springs involved that create tension? If it is at all possible, could you please post some pictures of your apparatus so that I might duplicate yours? I really need to get the roof back on my trailer so I can take it camping in 10 days!

Thanks a bunch,
Lisa

It is the original mechanism and I don't think it would work on yours but I can take some pictures and send them to you. It does have a siding track that the supports run on and as you lift the top they slide up under the roof. If this mechanism were to break I'm going to use pipe in each corner of the top and lift the top on to the pipe. I would have to have some kind way to secure the pipe to the top and trailer. Maybe someone has some ideas for you

[Larry&Carrie]

The roof is sagging - there are cracks that have been "fixed" but the wood has gotten wet and continues to get wet. I need to take it all apart. I'm suspecting the interior vinyl piece is glued to the wood and the wood is glued to the fiberglass top.

Suggestions for removing the vinyl piece so I can reuse it?
Suggestions for removing the wood so as not to further damage the fiberglass
Suggestions for using something other than 1/2 or 3/4 inch plywood?

Thank you..

YUP---- the roof sags in the middle from old age and no built-in support to hold the arch. Mine was about an 1 1/2" lower in the middle... I removed the top on my rebuild, took it out on the lawn and ran water on it to soak up the 1/8" plywood that was glued to it with a cheesey vinyl top layer. Than scraped it down to bare fiberglass with a sharp putty knife. Back to the shop and square tubing arched to match the body and fiberglass mat and resin.... Some areas took a 100# to make it conform to the arches I bent. (I used cylinder heads for weight, since they were handy) So far, I haven't glued anything back to the roof (laziness and hunting season was close- but it needs it, cause it sweats) Also, I betcha you will find that your leaks come from the vent because of the standing water in the sag.... Larry

[Rick Brown]

Rick, your roof mod looks terrific! I have a Trailswest Campster that needs a new lift apparatus and I have not been able to locate one like the original mechanism. I noticed that you have something completely different on your Compact. Is this the original mechanism or modification of your own? It appears to resemble a drawer track but I cannot make out exactly how it is assembled and how it works from the pictures in this post. Are there any springs involved that create tension? If it is at all possible, could you please post some pictures of your apparatus so that I might duplicate yours? I really need to get the roof back on my trailer so I can take it camping in 10 days!

Thanks a bunch,
Lisa

Lisa
Sorry this took so long to answer. There is the picture is the lift mechanism you wanted, I hope this helps

[Tom Trostel]

Lisa,
I'm sure that the Compact Jr. roof mechanism will not work for a Campster. The CJ has 4 seperate pieces at each corner of the roof and these are inside the vinyl. The Campster has a scissor pair on the outside.

[ducklakedan]

I see the last post was a while ago...anyone still looking at this? I have the same problem and this looks like a reasonable solution though I am concerned about the