Hello from Bay City, Michigan!

[grantgreenwood3315]

Hi everyone! Paige and Grant here from Bay City, Michigan. We are fresh out of college, and ready to start our adventure in a new fiberglass RV

Here's the story about our first trailer experience: We bought a 1971 "Wheel Lo-Pro" stickie Camper, and we were eager to renovate it. We were full of big ideas and optimism! However, once we began the demolishing process, we received a valuable lesson in just why fiberglass trailers are the superior trailer. An alarming amount of the wood frame and floor had been damaged by water and carpenter ants. With this being said, we will not be able to travel the distances with this camper that we had intended to.

So, this brings us to this forum! We are looking for any insights/stories for how you all located your first fiberglass campers (and any leads would be greatly appreciated as well!)

Thanks for reading, and we look forward to hearing from y'all!

[David B.]

Welcome to the FGRV forum family. Right here in the classified section, and over in FiberglassRV4sale.com are two great places to look for an all molded fiberglass trailer, as well as Craigslist. What exactly are you looking for? You should make a list of what you can safely tow with your vehicle per the owners manual (keep in mind what your limits are for hitch weight or tongue weight). How many people will you be looking to sleep in the trailer? List your needs and wants and what would be nice but what you could live without. How do you plan to camp (in campgrounds only where electricity is available along with showers & toilets), so you may not need to have furnace, toilet, or shower. How far are you willing to travel to purchase, and what is your budget? You may not be able to get financing on older trailers.
Best of luck with your search.
Dave & Paula

[Borrego Dave]

Welcome to FGRV Grant. Just to add to Dave's info, you should try to get to a FG Rally to get some hands/eyeballs on the different makes and models out there. Owners are always ready to show their rigs and answer questions. I always tell folks that they all look good on paper but getting inside one may eliminate that model from your list. These FG TTs tend to sell fast, sometimes within hours so after you can narrow down your wants, be ready to jump on it. The hunt is part of the fun, good luck to you .

[EricAllyn]

Welcome! Are you looking for one to rebuild or something already to go? From the idea of rebuilding the one you started with, you might find a "project camper" that is worth rebuilding. Sometimes the floors need work, but that is do-able. Lots of threads here about those who have done complete rebuilds. I was new to FG, but learned a lot as I went along, and there are lots of threads that give guidance, and people who are willing to help.

[rgrugg]

Echoing the suggestion to attend a rally, go to the Michigan rally at Algonac state park the weekend after Labor Day. There are already around 30 trailers with reserved campsites. That Saturday is open house or open trailer where you have the opportunity to see different trailers both inside and outside and a great opportunity to talk with the owners.

[WaltP]

Welcome and good luck on your search
Another good source to watch is casitaforum.com. Mostly Casitas of course, but others too.

Let us know when you find the one with your name on it.

Walt

[Jon in AZ]

Nothing to add but another welcome!

[Tom 72]

Grant, I'm still looking myself, so, uh, like those drivers (not me) that believe using your turn signal is like giving information to the enemy, I'm not sure how much to share.

OK, here's a hot tip: There is not (currently) a 1 year wait to buy Airstream's new Nest fiberglass model, so that's my suggestion.

Hah, only kidding, welcome! My advice is, be prepared to act fast and travel when you see an acceptable model. Don't expect them to hold it until Saturday. Good memories.

[Mike Magee]

Hi! Sounds like that experience supplied the part of the education they don't teach at Delta or SVSU... you just got back from "the school of hard knocks"! Welcome to the club. And good luck in your search.

[emij]

Oh goodness! We had the same experience...bought a 1969 vintage camper with the idea to make it cute and camp....rotting wood and a broken framed quickly changed our minds and we ended up with a 1982 Scamp 13. We used it for a couple of years and just upgraded to a 2005 16 foot for our growing family. Best of luck on your searches and welcome to the forums.

[Thinh]

I got my 1980 Trillium1300 within few hours of posting. Cash in hand and 1/2hr driving, beating another buyer who was on her way which is 3-hour driving. Turn out a good deal.Share

[thrifty bill]

We bought our first one, it was just an hour away. Called immediately, drove right over. While we were looking at the trailer, seller got at least FIVE calls on it. I'm overhearing half the conversations, "Yes its still for sale. I've got a couple looking at it right now. I'll call you back if they don't buy it." Talk about pressure!!!!

Our "mistake" was not attending a rally first, and seeing the various brands and floorplans. So we ended up with a nice trailer, but one that did not fit us well. Later we attended a rally. Wow! We saw a lot of brands and floorplans, and figured out we needed to make a change.


Went to a vintage trailer rally once. All the stickie owners had photo albums detailing their restorations. Lots of work! Lots of money spent! Their work all looked great, but many spent a couple of years or more doing it.

[Kai in Seattle]

Originally Posted by grantgreenwood3315

Hi everyone! Paige and Grant here from Bay City, Michigan. We are fresh out of college, and ready to start our adventure in a new fiberglass RV

Here's the story about our first trailer experience: We bought a 1971 "Wheel Lo-Pro" stickie Camper, and we were eager to renovate it. We were full of big ideas and optimism! However, once we began the demolishing process, we received a valuable lesson in just why fiberglass trailers are the superior trailer. An alarming amount of the wood frame and floor had been damaged by water and carpenter ants. With this being said, we will not be able to travel the distances with this camper that we had intended to.

So, this brings us to this forum! We are looking for any insights/stories for how you all located your first fiberglass campers (and any leads would be greatly appreciated as well!)

Thanks for reading, and we look forward to hearing from y'all!

Our story is partly on threads about "Brown Amerigo" and "Fear of Fiberglassing" Sorry I can't post links. They are on FGRV.

Wishing you all the very
BEST
Kai