I have a 2007 25' rear queen and I have not noticed any flex in the floor. It is not possible to see how the floor is supported around the tanks because they are enclosed. There are quite a few cross members everywhere else under the trailer, so I would imagine they put one between each tank. That might be a bit wider than elsewhere, but the underside is
fiberglass with insulation and a plywood floor and should be fairly sturdy. The tanks sit below the
fiberglass underbelly. I highly doubt that there has been any kind of water damage that would have affected the floor.
We have had the
Bigfoot for about a year. Previously, we had a 1985, 16'
Scamp that I renovated and used for about 5 years. We plan to travel for longer periods in a few years and our
Scamp was a basic model without a bath, so we intended to upgrade eventually. We stumbled across the Bigfoot before we really needed it, but it was 10 minutes down the road and the price was right. I knew that if I passed it up I would have to work much harder to find one later on. (I drove across the state, from Port Angeles to Goldendale, just to buy a
Scamp that was much more beat up than it looked in the photos.) So far we really like the trailer. It is certainly much bigger and heavier than the Scamp, but it has everything. My wife loves it. After redoing the Scamp and seeing every aspect of how it is constructed, the Bigfoot is simply put together better. Of course, it weighs over twice as much and cost three times more, so it should be. If it were me, I would make the drive to MN to get one. Just get lots and lots of photos first so there are no surprises--you are not in a very good bargaining position after having driven that far if you find a problem. If the person thinks that the floor is an issue, maybe use it to negotiate a lower price, but I can't imagine there being any trouble.
One problem I did have was a water leak from the
fridge side vent--the plastic frame was slightly twisted and since there was no lip inside the vent door the water went right in, ran across the board underneath the
fridge, and into the trailer from just under the
fridge. I believe the fridge vent cover is a flawed design. I added a lip inside fabricated from weatherstripping and caulk. The framing around the cabinets is, unfortunately, vinyl covered wood and is slightly damaged from the water. I wish they used real wood for the frames like they do for the cabinet doors. Another problem was the
furnace refusing to kick on. The cause, after much trial and error, was due to one loose connection. One of the wheel bearings was damaged and had to be replaced, and the previous owners had blown a tire due to neglecting the tire pressure. I would be a little concerned with towing a trailer as far as you intend without checking it over myself. Hopefully they can prove the bearing have been done recently. When I
sold our Scamp, it took time to help the buyer set up the
weight distributing hitch to work with his vehicle. Particularly problematic was the ball height--be sure you have the right tools or know for certain that your hitch setup will work. By the way, my total
weight is around 5600 lbs. with nearly a 600 pound tongue
weight.
Other than that, I have been adding improvements rather than repairing. The trailer is solid, but it seems that all manufacturers skimp on things that aren't readily visible to a potential buyer or likely to increase the probability of a sale. I have added a few items I considered necessary and done a number of minor repairs:
hardwired surge protector
charge wizard (critical if wish to recharge the batter with a
generator in less than 12 hours)
Trimetric
battery monitor (without this you won't really know when to start the generator)
LED bulbs throughout (they use about 1/10th the electricity)
Fantastic vent outside cover (the vent is above the bed, so don't want to risk water intrusion here)
Antenna (the "hidden" antenna is a few strips of foil stuck to wood behind fridge--it never found a channel)
Heat strip for AC (just because the knob says "heat" doesn't mean that it will...)
stainless hardware (nuts, washers, and screws in misc. spots like spare tire,
propane cover, etc.)
hinge support for lid behind dinette (got tired of holding it up with my head)
painted bumper (poor
paint adhesion--scraped right off; I hope the frame
paint lasts longer)
I wish the trailer had room for two batteries, as we can only go about two days if we use the
furnace. Keep this in mind if you don't have hookups on your way home.
Well, that's probably more than you wanted to know. Feel free to ask if you have other questions.
Derek
Only girls name their trailers
Waltzin' Matrillda
..................
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