Quilted insulation interior Trails West Campster - Fiberglass RV
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Old 08-07-2018, 09:46 AM   #1
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Name: Sally
Trailer: looking for
Washington
Posts: 5
Quilted insulation interior Trails West Campster

Hello!
I have opportunity to buy a Trails West at, what I consider, a decent price. Issues I see so far are that there is no insulation on the walls. They are painted instead. I've seen some of your interior pics and there are some very nice quilted fabric on the walls. Is that original or refurbished. If it's new, how costly was it and where did you find the product?
The pop top is missing it's mechanism. Someone rather cleverly added short pieces of threaded pipe and flanges. You simply push up on the top and screw in the pipes. The "lid" then rests on them like a very short table. It seems functional, but I would imagine it would be nice to fix it properly. So, how impossible is it to find the mechanism? I've already read a ton of posts regarding sewing a new boot, I'm good with that.
Last issue would be that the PO painted the exterior with roll on house paint. Do I pull that off and try the Rustoleum Marine type paint? How do I get the house paint off?
Thanks much for any advice!
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Old 08-07-2018, 10:00 AM   #2
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Trailer: 2009 17 ft Casita Freedom Deluxe
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Buy it if the price is right. We love our little, quirky box on wheels that we call butter ball. I suspect that the quilted insulation is the original, but the brochure in the documents section advertises wood grain. That may be referring to the cabinets.

Ours is painted fiberglass inside with zero insulation. In cold rainy weather, it turns into a terrarium. So, some kind of insulation would really help.

You might be able to find a lift mechanism someplace. They were used on other fiberglass trailers as well as some of the VW campers.

There is plenty of knowledge here to help you out.
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Old 08-07-2018, 07:27 PM   #3
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Name: Sally
Trailer: looking for
Washington
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Thank you, Dave. I appreciate the info. I am going to go ahead and make an offer and see if they go for it. Figuring out a reasonable price is tricky, even fixers can be priced all over the place!
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Old 08-07-2018, 07:47 PM   #4
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Trailer: 2009 17 ft Casita Freedom Deluxe
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Originally Posted by sallyrose View Post
Thank you, Dave. I appreciate the info. I am going to go ahead and make an offer and see if they go for it. Figuring out a reasonable price is tricky, even fixers can be priced all over the place!
Pm me and I'll share the pricing and condition when I bought mine but 2 years ago.
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Old 08-07-2018, 07:55 PM   #5
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Name: Kelly
Trailer: Trails West
Oregon
Posts: 3,046
Sally the popup top mechanism was a product from the late 1960's and it is no longer available, it was an adaptation based on a hardware product for a door roller track. Essentially a wheel with a bearing center that was captured inside of a piece of aluminum T-track.

However the company that is producing the Fiberglass "Dub Box" in Oregon is making popups for that trailer. They do have a popup mechanism that might potentially be a solution you could use. But you will have to call and ask about it, that is not an item available from the internet web site. https://dub-box-usa.com/

The original popup mechanism was also used on VW camper vans of that era. The Trailwest Campster company was the supplier of those VW camper van popup tops. So it could be possible to find a salvaged pair from a vintage VW camper van. You might check with the Samba.com forum for a list of salvage yards. Of course there will be competition for them but it is an alternative place to search.

Somewhere on this forum is a thread where a person created a replacement for the popup mechanism using cabinet drawer roller slides. I myself would be a bit hesitant to do that with the drawer rollers that contain very small ball bearings in the rollers due to the issue of dirt and dust as those rollers are going to be on the exterior side of the trailer. But just rollers and arms won't be enough, there are also large springs top and bottom that apply the tension for keeping the roof up but stretch to allow the roof to close. The key elements, rollers captured in a T-track channel, X-bracing and heavy duty springs.
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Old 08-07-2018, 10:50 PM   #6
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Name: Sally
Trailer: looking for
Washington
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Thank you, that's very helpful!
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Old 08-08-2018, 10:32 AM   #7
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Name: Kathleen (Kai: ai as in wait)
Trailer: Amerigo FG-16 1973 "Peanut"
Greater Seattle Metropolitan Area, Washington
Posts: 2,566
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Exterior latex house paint? It'll come off...but you can leave it for now as it won't hurt the camping any.


When it is convenient to repaint it, we liked the Rustoleum marine paint and primer, but you can get Brightside or other brand marine paints as well. Paul used a hot dog roller only, just rolled thin coats seriously until all the little bubbles were broken and the paint began to self-level. You work from the dry area INTO the wet area when rolling, and sand before and between coats with fine grit. 1-2 thin coats of primer and 2 coats of finish. We did the whole thing with less than a gallon of each. Both were white. You can mix the colors, though.

Repainting your trailer is very doable and makes a lot of difference. If you make a separate post for something like, "Remove house paint from trailer exterior" you'll probably get more advice than you need, most of it great, all on that specific topic.

If you buy this, may you have great joy with it! Happy travels, happy camping.

PS we LOVE pics and updates.

BEST
Kai
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Old 08-08-2018, 03:08 PM   #8
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Name: Kelly
Trailer: Trails West
Oregon
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The original wall finish on the Campsters was indoor outdoor carpet. It is adhered to the walls with the standard type of yellow contact cement. That carpeting was installed before the cabinets so if you want to remove all of it then you have to also take out the cabinets.

The quilted wall material was used in the Compaq trailers. They are similar sized popup trailers but were not made by the same company. I believe there is a place to obtain a very similar to the original quilted wall covering. Look for that information in the threads about those trailers.

The Campster I own (a $1,500 fixer purchase) needed an all new interior, the cabinets were in very bad shape and the carpet on the walls was saturated with mildew and mold well beyond the point of no return, no hope of ever getting it cleaned out of the material. It had lots of leaks and was being used as a storage shed for a lot of years in the rainy Pacific NW. So I ripped out the interior, added some furring strips, put in insulation, did moisture barriers then put up 1/8" birch plywood panels. That takes a lot of labor hours but it was worth it for getting some effective heat control, warmer in winter, cooler in summer. I needed that extra insulation because I will be in it full time for several years starting later this fall.

My remodel was not quick, easy or inexpensive. But I would make back the financial investment if I were to sell it. But I would not come out ahead if you counted in my labor hours. The only way for me to get that back is to use it and enjoy it for a lot of years.
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Old 08-09-2018, 11:05 AM   #9
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Name: Sally
Trailer: looking for
Washington
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Thanks so much for the information ! It does sound like the price I'm looking at is too much for its condition. I'll make an offer and see if they take it. I don't mind the work, if there's value there, but I don't want to over pay!
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