1982 Burro - updating - Fiberglass RV
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Old 11-04-2018, 08:47 PM   #1
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Name: Daniel
Trailer: Sold it
Northern VA
Posts: 278
1982 Burro - updating

Got a Burro a couple weeks ago. Initial look wasn't too great. I can't have it by the house so it's at a storage lot an hour away. Needless to say, I won't be working on it too often as I have other projects in the works. This will be slow going but I wanted to start this thread to keep things in one place.

I went to the camper this past weekend, moved things around, organized, and collected some trash to throw out. Only spent a half hour there as I was on the way home from a day working on my sailboat (another project).

I have this video I took, just getting a look around, thinking out loud some work likely to come.

https://youtu.be/Jb6-Dhs7DJ8

I appreciate any comments, suggestions along the way.

I'm also going to be documenting work on this blog:
https://82burro.blogspot.com


Thanks for stopping by
~Daniel
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Old 11-10-2018, 08:59 PM   #2
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Trailer: Sold it
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Visited the camper early this morning. Took out some of the wiring that I pointed out last visit. Got the water tank out from under the seating.

While I suspected some sort of accident had occured at some point in the past, I can't say whether it was during the previous owners time of ownership or the owner before. The guy I bought it from mentioned the owner before him had painted it, and perhaps the damage is the reason why.

While at the camper this morning, I looked in the damaged area closely and noticed how it had broken apart and how it was repaired. The following video shows some of the damage I noticed.

https://youtu.be/PdCzRX3f7P4
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Old 11-10-2018, 10:10 PM   #3
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Posted some pictures on the blog page. some before/after pictures while I removed stuff I didn't need.

https://82burro.blogspot.com/2018/11/discovery.html
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Old 11-26-2018, 01:03 PM   #4
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Since I'm looking at cutting the inner shell to repair the inside of the outer shell, I placed tape to get an idea of where I would make the cuts. Right now, I'm thinking to cut into the countertop where the sink sits, and the other cut I was thinking from the middle of the window but then looking at maybe cutting where the broken glass is just to the left since it needs work anyway.

Before doing any cutting, I'm thinking to add brackets that can be used to align the pieces when it's time to put back together.
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Old 11-26-2018, 01:06 PM   #5
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Trailer: Sold it
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I'm looking to replace these fittings. With it being a rainy day, I got to see where a lot of leaks were coming from. The middle fitting leaking here goes to the sink drain.
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Old 11-26-2018, 01:14 PM   #6
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Found some soft spots in the floor. This one I found by the dinette and table mount. I used a Dremel cutter on a cordless drill and cut away a piece of the fiberglass cover and the plywood underneath was soaking wet. Just pulled away like mush.

While I might be able to replace patches of plywood, I think best to do the whole floor.

Almost not sure if I should repair the shell first or replace the floor first. It'll have to be one or the other, and not at the same time for structural integrity.
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Old 11-26-2018, 01:16 PM   #7
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Trailer: Sold it
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Took out the floor mount for the table. All the screws were rusted. One was eaten away a little too.

Might be difficult to see in the picture but the screw on the right has missing threads.

The screws I found holding the floor to the frame all look rusted so that will be interesting to see how they look when removing them.
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Old 11-29-2018, 08:58 AM   #8
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Trailer: Sold it
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Made a realization today.

Looking over the Burro assembly manual in the documents section, I stated thinking that my trailer looks like it was put together just like it shows in the manual. Perhaps my trailer was a kit. Then it dawned on me that the VIN ends in a K. I looked on the forum and found post 19 in this thread with paperwork also showing the K for a kit.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...html#post60938

I'm pretty sure I saw a VIN of another trailer without the K so it gives me a little idea if its history as being completed at home.
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Old 12-01-2018, 09:09 AM   #9
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Name: Daniel
Trailer: Sold it
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Visited the trailer today.
Took the battery box and propane tank off the front and removed the diamond plate to get a look under it.

Tried looking for a VIN some more but saw no trace of it.
Good thing I have it on the title. I went to Harbor Freight and bought a letter punch kit that I'll use to put the VIN on the trailer. Maybe in another less obvious place too, just in case.
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Old 12-01-2018, 09:16 AM   #10
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Looked under the trailer and saw there was a lot of edges that wasn't glassed very well. This led to a bunch of rot. There was also a couple areas where someone tried to patch the bottom, at the front, but that didn't go well. More rot.
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Old 12-01-2018, 09:20 AM   #11
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Before finding the failed patch work under the trailer, I lifted the foam floor covering and saw under the bench area, the plywood is just rotted out. Not safe to stand there.

The more I look at it, seems the shell will have to come off to replace the floor.
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Old 12-01-2018, 09:28 AM   #12
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Decided to pull out the cover I found on the trailer. There's no manufacturers lable on it. Just a couple labels indicating front and back. Definitely not made for a molded fiberglass camper but it's about the right size. Covered the trailer well, even the tires. Not sure about water resistance but should help repel some rain.

Don't plan on any work over winter and it's certainly not going to be a quick job. So there, in the storage lot, it'll sit till I can get to it.
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Old 12-01-2018, 10:06 AM   #13
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https://youtu.be/NYD6NgVkG3w
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Old 12-03-2018, 12:16 PM   #14
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Name: Daniel
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Burro Axle

Thought this could be useful for anyone looking for Burro info. While I didn't find a VIN anywhere, I did find a plate on the axle.

It reads:
HENSCHEN INC.
CAP 1500 LBS.
SER NO. 2-142562
JACKSON CTR O. 45334

I looked it up. Seems the company was in Ohio and went under in 2009.

The plate was seen near the driver side wheel facing toward the front.
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Old 12-23-2018, 10:01 PM   #15
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Trailer: Sold it
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Went to take a closer look at the frame while I consider replacing the frame instead of adding reenforcement.

I looked at the side frame rails under the tongue coupler. I tried measuring the metal thickness and came to 3/32", which from what I could find, comes to 13 gauge. The side rails are 1.5" x 3" rectangular tubing with 2"x2" angle running across that the body screws into. Frame width, measured from the back, came to 49.5".

If I can find a welder, I'm thinking to replace the frame with 11 gauge (1/8") 2"x4" and angle.

I noticed the bent part of the frame near the door had some plate welded and looks like it might have been broken or rusted through. The driver side had no such reenforcement and I got to see just how deformed the frame is that allowed it to bend. I could put my finger into the bend farther than expected. Another reason why I'm leaning toward replacement.

I've read others replacing old axles, and looks like I'll be doing the same with this camper. I'm looking at getting the Flexiride full-beam axle and possibly getting 7" brakes and hubs with the 4-4" bolt pattern so I can keep my current 13" wheels. If I got the 5 bolt pattern hubs, I'd get a bigger 14" wheel.

That's what I'm thinking about right now.
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Old 12-24-2018, 08:45 AM   #16
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Name: bill
Trailer: 2013 Escape 19
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That interior cabinetry looks really nice. I would not cut it, but look for ways to repair on the outside instead.

Frame looks scary, not much holding the tongue to the frame. Where the frame is bent by design, there often is a caved in section on one side. So probably under that plate is a caved in frame rail, on the inside.

Square tubing is stronger than angle iron, thats probably the reason you see it on main frame rails on most trailers.
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Old 12-27-2018, 01:47 PM   #17
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Name: Daniel
Trailer: Sold it
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thrifty bill View Post
That interior cabinetry looks really nice. I would not cut it, but look for ways to repair on the outside instead.

Frame looks scary, not much holding the tongue to the frame. Where the frame is bent by design, there often is a caved in section on one side. So probably under that plate is a caved in frame rail, on the inside.

Square tubing is stronger than angle iron, thats probably the reason you see it on main frame rails on most trailers.
Thanks for the advice. I'll see how it looks when removing the window for fixing that area. I saw that caved in area on the driver side. Between that bend and the square tubing idea, I'll see what a welder or trailer place has to say about it. Instead of bends, maybe just welded steel at an angle will be plenty.

Using Square tubing makes sense for strength. I'm sure it'll work well. Instead of self-tapping screws, like what's on there now, I could just go with nuts/bolts to secure the body/floor to the frame.
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Old 12-27-2018, 04:54 PM   #18
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On attaching the body to the frame, have someone weld angle iron tabs on the side of the frame and attach bolts there. It weakens the frame if the bolts go all the way through the tubing.
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Old 03-16-2019, 08:06 PM   #19
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Name: Daniel
Trailer: Sold it
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Went to the camper today. I got to talk to the lady who runs the storage place and how I want to work on the trailer. She basically said so long as I clean up after myself, it shouldn't be a problem to do the work there.

The main purpose of my visit was to take some measurements of the frame to make plans for replacement. Also for replacement of the axle too. One measurement I didn't get to check/confirm was the hub-face. Another post I found, the burro owner listed the measurements for their own trailer but seems a few on mine may be different. Until I get my own sorted out, it helps to get an idea of what to expect.

I started off with measurements from the end of the side rail that butts up on the inside of the angle-iron used for the rear bumper. There was a small gap at the bottom where I was able to hook on a tape measure.



The following pictures show the measurements I took at the cross beams starting from the rear.





Getting an idea of where the center of the hub is located.








a few inches forward of this last beam, the side rail bent towards the coupler on the tongue. As of now, the only change I'd make for the cross beams were to move the back one forward 4 inches or so, where it would sit under the back dining seat better, where it currently sags from soft plywood. The overall width of the trailer is 49.5" but I'm thinking it could be 49" for an even number, where it might help when ordering a new axle.

While I've seen posts about axles, I've looked at the Dexter #9 and the Flexiride axles. The current axle arms are up from the axle beam and the next one, I'm thinking either a 10 or 22 degree down would be good. The bottom of the frame is 12" high and having the arms down a bit will give it a little more clearance. Even as it is, I'm able to crawl around under it, but not by much.
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Old 03-16-2019, 08:07 PM   #20
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Name: Daniel
Trailer: Sold it
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After getting these measurements, I went inside. I removed the water and drain fittings under the sink area and plan to patch the remaining holes with fiberglass and come up with a different plan. While I was taking things apart, I removed the white fabric covering the center seam. Now, I've heard builders used resin to fill in the gaps of the two halves but seeing it myself, I saw it had cracked. Front and back both have cracks. The one in the back goes from the floor all through to the window. The front one goes about half way up to the window. I was thinking to sand the surface to prep it anyway and now I see there's a bigger need. I'm now looking to add some fiberglass to help strengthen and bond the two halves together. Might be good to work on this before lifting the shell off the frame. With the two halves split, I wouldn't want to make it worse when there's less structure to the whole thing. I do have some fiberglass left over from a boat project that could do well with this project.

removed fittings:


harder to see the crack in the front but it's there:




The crack on the back is a bit more obvious:


I want to remove the old spare tire mounting bolts:


Crack continues through the floor:




A view of the top without the seam covering:


A look at the front workspace. Pulled up some of the fiberglass to get to one of the mounting bolts. The plywood was all mush.
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