Standard spec for Escondido Burro Widebodies! - Fiberglass RV
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Old 03-07-2011, 07:50 PM   #1
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Name: Jack
Trailer: '98 BURRO 17WB
Delaware
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Question Standard spec for Escondido Burro Widebodies!

Have recently acquired '98 17 Widebody. Was there a standard spec or were there options? I assume the big ones all had black, grey, and "better filter it" tanks except for the "Dance Hall" model to which Donna called my attention. Were handpumps installed or only electric? I have a plastic hot/cold faucet on kitchen sink and shower control and assume that the styrofoam insulated tank under the sink next the wheelwell is the water heater. It would be nice to have an "eyebrow" or status panel like the big boys have or maybe just a nice Dymo label on all the gizmos.

I haven't got further than installing a Fastec lockset, making a punch list and doing some cleanup and exploration. Have found my running light problem which was a simple matter of wire loose from a wire nut in the left hand seat locker aft. Guess those vibrate loose and should be lugged or soldered. Got a small leak rear window frame that doesn't involve blocked freeing ports so it will have to be removed and rebedded. Thinking about WDHs but have to find one with a big drop shank to get from the 4runner receiver to the lower level of the coupler. And the beat goes on.

jack
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Old 03-07-2011, 08:42 PM   #2
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Here is a possible solution to your receiver problem.

Trailer Hitches, Hitch Accessories, Hitch Wiring

Bill K


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Originally Posted by rabbit View Post
Have recently acquired '98 17 Widebody. Was there a standard spec or were there options? I assume the big ones all had black, grey, and "better filter it" tanks except for the "Dance Hall" model to which Donna called my attention. Were handpumps installed or only electric? I have a plastic hot/cold faucet on kitchen sink and shower control and assume that the styrofoam insulated tank under the sink next the wheelwell is the water heater. It would be nice to have an "eyebrow" or status panel like the big boys have or maybe just a nice Dymo label on all the gizmos.

I haven't got further than installing a Fastec lockset, making a punch list and doing some cleanup and exploration. Have found my running light problem which was a simple matter of wire loose from a wire nut in the left hand seat locker aft. Guess those vibrate loose and should be lugged or soldered. Got a small leak rear window frame that doesn't involve blocked freeing ports so it will have to be removed and rebedded. Thinking about WDHs but have to find one with a big drop shank to get from the 4runner receiver to the lower level of the coupler. And the beat goes on.

jack
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Old 03-09-2011, 11:13 PM   #3
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Jack:
Google "Burro Trailer" and you will find the never-die website that is still going after 10 or 11 years. Ours came with a host of options ordered by the previous owner of about 2 weeks. Aside from the standard with bathroom you could have the "dance-hall" edition or the front bath edition (very rare).
They would customize it quite a lot at your request and even supply it as a kit. You will find that several people have gnashed their teeth that management problems ended production. I for one plan to die with my Burro on.
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Old 03-10-2011, 05:13 PM   #4
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Trailer: '98 BURRO 17WB
Delaware
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I have visited the internet mausoleum and downloaded the '81 brochure and read the the instructions for kit builders. The kit builders are probably still itching. I understand glass as devoted 5 yrs. of my misspent youth to tool making and hand layup on fiberglass sailing cruisers but I am a babe in the woods when it comes to trailers. I have already discovered a couple of the Escondido "quality control" problems. The layup on the interior liner is very good and I detect no cracking or collapse in the gel coat from voids. There is a good deal of sag and distortion in the kitchen "counter which suggests a layer of balsa and another layup on top of that might have been in order there. The troubling thing on the exterior shell is the presence of numerous voids roof area of the driver's side clamshell. Most of these areas appear as a surface roughness in the get coat which has somehow managed not to collapse into the very small voids. Probably laid up on a blurry Monday by the descendents of Steinbeck's paisanos. There must also have been some curious assymetries on the plugs and molds as anyone examining the header ledge of the rear window area will notice that curves do not match left to right.

I am below average hgt and I still like the width of this thing but I could have lived with the simplicity of not having a head and shower.

jack
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Old 03-10-2011, 10:30 PM   #5
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Jack:
I have noted some of the same problems with the fiberglass quality that you have, but have learned just barely enough about repairs so I don't panic. Something I find bewildering is the apparent variety of molds that have been used, sometimes even in units made in the same year.

The mismatched shells which show up most glaringly around the front and rear windows are disturbing to me, but I have come to realize that in my unit there is no real practical penalty to this, so I have installed some curtains to cover this up. I have plans for some woodworking to complete the job underneath the window and over the front table.

Over the last 10+ years I have made modifications too numerous to remember, mostly because the basic concept and layout of the trailer fits us to a tee and we plan to keep it, as in "making it a hobby."

I have enjoyed learning to deal with one aspect or another and there is probably no end to this (I hope). As late as yesterday I finally cleaned out the weep holes for a couple of windows because a little water had entered during heavy rain. In the process it became clear to me the way the drain system is designed, etc. I needed to install a missing "vent guide" to keep a window firmly against the edge of the frame and in the process finally found a good supplier of Hehr windows and parts. Little by little it has become possible to improve and maintain the unit, so I'm happy.
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Old 03-14-2011, 06:46 PM   #6
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Name: Jack
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Those "drop receivers" are listed as "for towbars only. Could it be that they don't have the capacity of a forged drop shank?

jack
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Old 03-14-2011, 08:04 PM   #7
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That will teach me to read things when I look them up. ( maybe )

Bill K

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Those "drop receivers" are listed as "for towbars only. Could it be that they don't have the capacity of a forged drop shank?

jack
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