16' U-Haul VT 1985-New Owners Needs your help

[Darnold12]

Hi All. Have enjoyed all of your comments. Just purchased this trailer and need your expertise. We believe the heater was replaced by a badly built wooden cabinet, but since we rarely see pictures of the inside of the VT, we are not sure. I plan on posting all before/after pictures. So your recommendations and expertise on products, etc are welcome as we start our restoration. Thx

We've now decided against a heater and will probably build something in ourselves - and we are going to purchase an electrict refrig.

[deryk]

Congrads and Best of Luck! Post lots of pictures so we can watch what your doing... might give us some ideas!

deryk

[Thomas G.]

Welcome. Are you saying that you are looking for a replacement refrigerator, but you are just planning on using it for storage?

I'm not sure who supplied the original refrigerator, but you can get an idea of what fits here:

Refrigerator Conversion Chart

We have a few VT owners and I'm sure they will be along to comment on your pictures.

[CindyL]

Click on my name. You will see inside images of our VT. We use an electric refridgerator. We have wooden drawers below the sink, but we are not sure if they are original. The stove is not.

We recently removed the stove hood and added fans. Watch that hood. Poorly placed and hurts like h*** when you whack your head!

Congrats! We are pulling ours home after a trip to FL.


CindyL

[mmeyer]

Welcome! Your VT makes it about #15 or 16 of 200 if Cindy's count is correct so there are a few floating around out there still. I can get you pictures of about anything you need have enclosed a few. Major issues will be window rehab which is not that big a deal and check Frame bolts, wiring and plumbing which is from a safety issue.. I have replaced the lights with LED's ,the stove top, vent fan, solar panel, all frame to fiberglass bolts, all wiring and plumbing made a new table and tweaked several things to my liking. I run an ARB 120/12V fridge freezer either on shore power or battery bank. the previous owner replaced fridge and storage with drawers Hard to see in my picts.
Michael j.

[mmeyer]

Originally Posted by CindyL

Click on my name. You will see inside images of our VT. We use an electric refridgerator. We have wooden drawers below the sink, but we are not sure if they are original. The stove is not.

We recently removed the stove hood and added fans. Watch that hood. Poorly placed and hurts like h*** when you whack your head!

Congrats! We are pulling ours home after a trip to FL.

CindyL

How close to Columbus ? Remember the collusion pact?

[papas34]

Happy days.....hope you enjoy your new home.

Just what is the vt?

I have a burro and thought the U-haul was the same

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by papas34

Happy days.....hope you enjoy your new home.

Just what is the vt?

I have a burro and thought the U-haul was the same

VT is vacationer trailer, 16 feet. CT is camper trailer, 13 feet. Yes, they are very similar to a Burro.

[Darnold12]

Originally Posted by mmeyer

Welcome! Your VT makes it about #15 or 16 of 200 if Cindy's count is correct so there are a few floating around out there still. I can get you pictures of about anything you need have enclosed a few. Major issues will be window rehab which is not that big a deal and check Frame bolts, wiring and plumbing which is from a safety issue.. I have replaced the lights with LED's ,the stove top, vent fan, solar panel, all frame to fiberglass bolts, all wiring and plumbing made a new table and tweaked several things to my liking. I run an ARB 120/12V fridge freezer either on shore power or battery bank. the previous owner replaced fridge and storage with drawers Hard to see in my picts.
Michael j.

Great pictures - thank you. We just took it down to have the outside cleaned up and electric, wheels, etc checked. They suggested cutting the old U-Haul hitch off and updating it. Should we do that?

[mmeyer]

Depends on what they are talking about. If replacing surge brakes it is a matter of preference if they still work well. T,he ball connector that screws down is somewhat harder to use than lever actuated ones but is built like a tank. Once cleaned and relubed I have had little problems with it. Others will lobby for electric brakes because they can be backed uphill. I have not had that problem with my VT and assume it has special brakes that allow it. I do know that during the 1 emergency stop the trailer was squealing as the Trailblazer was in its pulsing mode. You will get a lot of comments about it if you keep the surge brake system but UHaul still uses them.
Michael J.

[Thomas G.]

I agree with Mike that you should make sure the brakes are working. The UHaul couplers are robust and designed for rental service. Is there something wrong with it or is it just not pretty?

[Kevin A]

While different, those hitches were made to stand up to the worst that renters could do to them. I wouldn't let someone cut it off to "update it". If you don't want the surge braking system, it can be left in place as you update to electric brakes. I believe Roger Kimble has a VT without the surge unit attached any longer. Perhaps he can offer some advice, too.

[CindyL]

I would not let anyone tell you to change the tongue who does not know about Uhaul campers!!!!! Ours works fine, and we love the length of the current hitch. We can carry a propane tank and still swing open our Eurovan tailgate. The surge brakes, now that Kevin got them fixed, work very smooth. Our previous Burro hitch was shorter, and we constantly banged the Eurovan gate against us as we had to hold it from opening too far. SAVE YOUR MONEY!

@Mike. Sorry, I forgot. I guess we still do not exist. Mary and Bob could have made us real, but Kevin either got the flu or, as we now think, got food poisoning at Universal Studios, so we had to miss seeing them. We putzed our way home, since I can't drive with my elbow surgery, and Kevin was sick.

CindyL

[David B.]

Originally Posted by Darnold12

Hi All. Have enjoyed all of your comments. Just purchased this trailer and need your expertise. We believe the heater was replaced by a badly built wooden cabinet, but since we rarely see pictures of the inside of the VT, we are not sure. I plan on posting all before/after pictures. So your recommendations and expertise on products, etc are welcome as we start our restoration. Thx

We've now decided against a heater and will probably build something in ourselves - and we are going to purchase an electrict refrig.

Good choise. We have a 12volt/24volt NovaKool refrigerator with a 100 watt solar panel to keep the battery charged up. I just ordered a Coleman Sport Cat heater to warm our 13' (1lb screw-on tank lasts 14hrs) as the Coleman Black Cat heater was waaaay to hot for such a small unit.
Dave & Paula

[Pam Garlow]

@Mike. Sorry, I forgot. I guess we still do not exist. Mary and Bob could have made us real, but Kevin either got the flu or, as we now think, got food poisoning at Universal Studios, so we had to miss seeing them. We putzed our way home, since I can't drive with my elbow surgery, and Kevin was sick.

CindyL[/QUOTE]


Well, Cindy, I don't know about you, but I do know that Kevin exists! We had a nice conversation at Algonac while I was admiring the VT. Hope to meet up with you sometime.

[Donna D.]

Hi Deb and Ron, we've already chatted by PM but I wanted to you here on the forum! You're at the right place to get your questions answered. Lots of knowledge and tons of information in the archives. Besides "meeting" all the kind and helpful people!

[CindyL]

OK, Pam, so you saw our VT. Except according to Francesca, it has to be seen moving. Did you see it moving?

CindyL

[CindyL]

Deb and Ron,

No one has remembered to tell you that if you leave the Uhaul stickers on or buy a new set from Goosler, you will constantly be told/asked, "I did not know that Uhaul rented campers. We had 5 of these at least on our trip to FL. One even offered to buy it.


CindyL

[mary and bob]

@Mike. Sorry, I forgot. I guess we still do not exist. Mary and Bob could have made us real, but Kevin either got the flu or, as we now think, got food poisoning at Universal Studios, so we had to miss seeing them. We putzed our way home, since I can't drive with my elbow surgery, and Kevin was sick.

CindyL[/QUOTE]

I talked to someone on the phone who claimed to be Cindy, but without actually seeing her can I be sure it was???? Another addition to our list of near misses!! Kevin and Cindy will have to make a Florida trip again next winter, we have reserved our "winter guest" site on Jekyll for next year already. And does the list of known VT's include the one we saw in upstate NY? Now working on connecting with Jane and Greg in SC that have a CT.

[CindyL]

I long ago lost count on VTs. Here's my recollection: one somewhere in OH; Ray Horner has surfaced and has his VT still; Mike's; one in Nebraska somewhere; Ami's in CA if he still has it; the new one in AZ now owned by Deb; Roger Kimble's; one in Idaho; mine. And now my mind fails me, but since I don't exist, who cares if I have no mind. Anyone think of one that someone who does not exist has forgotten?

CindyL or she who does not exist.