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Old 10-27-2015, 11:26 AM   #1
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Name: Tandy
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Hi, I am Tandy. I'm new to fiberglassrv.

This my first time to be a part of any online discussion group/forum and I feel a bit challenged just by the intricacies of this website, so thanks for the automatic welcome! I just retired after more than 40 years as a teacher, writer, and museum educator. My dream is to own a small RV trailer and hit the road with my husband, Dan Keding, a professional storyteller, educator, and writer, and our aussie, Mac. We are shopping for the right trailer (small, lightweight, comfortable) and SUV to pull it. I've never pulled a camper trailer before but I have pulled a small horse trailer and I'm eager to learn. I've done some backpacking outside the USA, but now I'm ready to explore our national and state parks and spend time in Canada. I hope I'll get to know some of you as I enjoy the years ahead!
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Old 10-27-2015, 11:29 AM   #2
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Welcome Tandy. You will find a wealth of information, and opinions here.
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Old 10-27-2015, 11:49 AM   #3
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I would like to hear comments on an egg camper (15-17' long).
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Old 10-27-2015, 11:58 AM   #4
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Welcome, Tandy!

"Small" and "lightweight" are relative terms. There's a great variety in molded fiberglass trailers. The smallest are around 13' long (total length, the cabin is about 10') and they range up to about 25'. Weights range from under 1500 pounds loaded for camping up to 6000 pounds or more.

"Comfortable," of course, is entirely subjective. Lots of us have graduated from tents to tiny trailers, and we consider four people in a 10' by 6.5' cabin pure luxury!

Molded fiberglass manufacturers do not sell through dealers (with one limited exception), nor do they typically exhibit at RV shows. One of the best ways to see a variety of different makes, models, and sizes is to visit a rally. Unfortunately, we're entering the slow season right now. I don't know what your timetable might be, but you can check out the "Rallies" forum to see what might be coming your way next spring.

In the meantime, you can follow the classified ads here and at Molded Fiberglass Travel Trailers For Sale | Fiberglass RV's For Sale, check out the thread http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...rld-43010.html (post #297 links to a spreadsheet of the data), and investigate the towing capacities of some vehicles that might interest you. It's good that you're considering both trailer and vehicle as a package.

Ask lots of questions, and be prepared for plenty of divergent answers and conflicting opinions. We're a diverse group. Best wishes in your new trailering adventure!
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Old 10-27-2015, 12:01 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by tandy View Post
I would like to hear comments on an egg camper (15-17' long).
Do you mean "egg camper" in the generic sense, as in any all-molded fiberglass trailer? Or do you mean "EggCamper," as in the MI-based company that makes a 17' all-electric molded fiberglass trailer?
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Old 10-27-2015, 12:27 PM   #6
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Yep, When Eggs are Not Eggs you have to tell us which Eggs you want and, no, we are not just Egging you on, and that's Eggsactly correct.


BTW: Do we have a "Square Egg" ?



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Old 10-27-2015, 12:30 PM   #7
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BTW: Do we have a "Square Egg" ?
Yours looks pretty square to me…
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Old 10-27-2015, 12:44 PM   #8
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EggCamper in MI is the one!

Thanks for all the great comments and sense of humor. This sure is an active group!

We've been looking online at 15-17ft. Egg Camper made in MI. I saw advice to someone about calling the factory to see if folks within easy driving distance might own one that they would be willing to show us. Will do.

Enjoying all of the discussion, esp. about Casita versus Scamp.

T
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Old 10-27-2015, 12:58 PM   #9
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Hi, I am Tandy. I'm new to fiberglassrv.

EggCamper just upped their base price from $20K to $25K. In my mind that puts them a bit out of line with the competition, especially since they are all-electric. That means you have to have electricity to cook, heat, make hot water, and run the fridge, or else you have to deal with the hassle of a generator. The upholstery has always looked a bit meager to my eye, but I've never seen one in person. Upsides are that they are very spacious for the weight and the bed is a good size.

It's a "double hull" design, so the interior cabinetry is molded into the inner shell. It eliminates rivets and gives the interior a sleek, white look, which some love and some hate. It also means you can't do as much to customize the interior, and it complicates repairs.

Used EggCampers are hard to come by. Several other posters have indicated they are looking for one, so if this is what you want and one comes on the market, you better move fast!
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Old 10-27-2015, 05:13 PM   #10
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As Jon mentioned, be sure to understand the pros and cons of an all electric FGRV before you buy. What works well for a few is a big negative for most.



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Old 10-28-2015, 12:07 PM   #11
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Hi, tandy, welcome.
You might look at the "Happier Camper" online (new rigs made in California) as well as the "Nest Caravan" (also new rigs, made in Oregon). AND...all electric-- if you get a rig such as the Happier Camper that has a solar panel designed for the roof and components designed to work with it-- mean that you can have essentially limitless power without the drawbacks of propane. BUT...that's you call.
If you can, buy a new or much newer one. SOME of the vintage rigs have some occasionally hard-to spot but very real drawbacks, unless you want to spend the first months (years?) of ownership gutting and redoing the entire inside.
NOT saying they're all bad--but if camping right away is a goal, buy new or newer. Just a take from our perspective.


Square egg? Well, the Amerigos are pretty "square..." See Leonie Belcher with her Galileo in progress, for example!
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Old 10-28-2015, 01:48 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tandy View Post
. I've done some backpacking outside the USA, but now I'm ready to explore our national and state parks and spend time in Canada. I hope I'll get to know some of you as I enjoy the years ahead!
Welcome Trudy, based on your stated agenda I would suggest an all electric Egg Camper may not fit well with your plans.

Many national parks have limited power sites and in Canada power sites at Provincial and National Parks are fairly uncommon.
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Old 10-28-2015, 01:55 PM   #13
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Clip: "... mean that you can have essentially limitless power without the drawbacks of propane. BUT...that's you call."


That just doesn't happen. There isn't an FGRV big enough to carry that big a solar array or that many storage batteries. Solar will provide lighting and battery charging, and power for some accessories, but cooking, heating, a/c, and perhaps refrigeration, will still require being attached most of the time to a fixed power supply or a (yuk) generator.


And any FGRV can have surprises in terms of repair needs, even some new ones (Parkliner & Lil' Snoozy to mention two) have required after purchase repairs.


If someone starts out buying an older FGRV, and wasn't able to fully to evaluate the purchase, it can indeed, seem problematic. You have to know what you are buying up front. That said, I don't think that there are any specific models that come with a surprise easter egg waiting for the buyer. But it pays big time to do due diligence before buying.


In rebuilding my 42 y.o. Hunter, about all I found, vs. a newer Scamp & a Lil' Bigfoot that we also owned, was much better construction quality in the older unit.



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Old 10-28-2015, 02:46 PM   #14
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Essentially limitless--meaning if the rig is balanced properly with solar panel, battery, and appliances, the supply can be ONGOING, not enough to power Chicago.


Naturally if one uses propane, one is going to be able to run far more and bigger bells and whistles all at the same time.


Due diligence. Good for you. Very good advice for everyone. Now if one can only be sure to guess ahead of time exactly what ALL to discover and how one is supposed to look under attached surfaces, such as Pergo flooring! Just rip it up, maybe, while the owner is standing on it.


Interesting that some new rigs have real problems, it would be hoped the manufacturer would take care of those within a warranty period?
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Old 10-28-2015, 02:51 PM   #15
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PS--surprise easter egg--meaning something good, or something bad? We can point out that the old toilet hole in the amerigo's front "bathroom" / closet is a real weak spot, susceptible to bad rot and if covered by thin ply and other flooring, can be surprisingly hard to detect until one really digs into it.
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Old 10-28-2015, 03:43 PM   #16
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Depending on what kind of a tow vehicle you have or plan to acquire, do not forget about those few small 5th wheel FG trailers in this category. They tow quite differently (better than) the normal trailers.
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Old 10-28-2015, 08:12 PM   #17
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I don't know of anyone in this group that is even coming close to running an all electric FGRV, including cooking, heating, hot water and refrigeration, solely off of solar power. The capacity just isn't there.


A buyers lack of skill and knowledge about inspecting a used FGRV should hardly hardly a indictment of any brand of new or vintage FGRV. And dealing with a dishonest seller... that's off the table.


We get about an even number of new members that say "I am looking for an FGRV tell me about it" and those that say "We just bought an FGRV, what do we need to know now". Needless to say, in the latter case the horse is already out of the barn and down the road, but in the former case, a lot of horses will be left in the barn.


But you are right, no one here would have told you to pull up the flooring, the ability to be able to sniff out items like that takes experience, experience and experience.


And manufacturers should take care of warranty and design fault issues, but the record for that isn't perfect either.



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Old 10-29-2015, 07:40 AM   #18
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There is a very helpful Buyer's Checklist available in the document center. It may help you avoid unpleasant surprises in a used unit. There are two documents in the link. The first is specific to vintage Bolers. The second is generic for any molded fiberglass trailer.

Used is actually a great way to start. Very few people know exactly what sort of trailer will work best for their own style of travel until they've gotten some experience. The market for used fiberglass trailers is such that you can often buy and sell with little loss (and sometimes even a tidy profit) if you find your first trailer isn't THE trailer.
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Old 10-29-2015, 09:24 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle View Post
PS--surprise easter egg--meaning something good, or something bad? We can point out that the old toilet hole in the amerigo's front "bathroom" / closet is a real weak spot, susceptible to bad rot and if covered by thin ply and other flooring, can be surprisingly hard to detect until one really digs into it.
Just don't blame that "weak spot" problem on the original design or build. Amerigo only listed a "Portable Toilet" as an option. The selling dealer or a subsequent owner must have added a fixed loo of some sort. Probably something like the SeaLand toilet with holding tank Scamp uses, or a shorty loo on a holding tank base. like this:



In any case it sounds like it wasn't properly installed, allowing splashed up water or leaks to come up into the flooring over a period of some 40 years.

Even in the 70's, dealers would often do a quicky install of accessories, with the attitude that the rig would only last 5-7 years anyway, as was the case with many RV's of the time period.

I guess the real question is if the person that put down the new flooring also closed off the hole from below to protect the new flooring. I did on mine when I removed the inside mounted holding tank. I found zero damage to the floor because it had been properly installed by the factory in the first place, also in 1973.



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Old 10-29-2015, 09:59 AM   #20
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Hi, Bob Miller--you're answered a big question--why the original specs online for amerigo indicated there was no bathroom/toilet in the FG-16, yet so many people have had a toilet removed. Mystery solved. Aftermarket--and apparently often not done properly. Thanks. NO, the person closing it off did NOT close up the hole below. Mr.Stu here had a toilet hole to fill, too, with rot in the plywood above. That little front closet is quite tempting to convert to a loo...but with only 12" of ground clearance under the rig, the holding tanks had to be "loose" and in at least one case someone merely used a very long drainage tube coiled up underneath as the holding tank, which seems close to impossible and quite nasty.


For the trailer camping thread here, the issue of how to deal with toileting is an important one...as a tenter, one uses certain procedures that can be continued with a trailer, but one then has other options, sometimes, as well. There's a long thread here starting with the question of a sawdust port-a-potty, and other threads equally interesting. Lots of products out there if you choose a porta-potty, but I can highly recommend you not just drill a hole in the floor and shove a tube down it! LOTS of better ideas. It's even fun to read those threads and then go shopping.


By the way, on the sawdust-porta-potti thread, one poster said she just used a bare bucket, dumped it down the campground toilet, then washed out her bucket. Nice and easy. Hmmmm!


WHERE did she wash it out? Didn't think of that for several days, then woke up thinking, "Oh, please, NOT in the campground bathroom sink, where I've often brushed my teeth!" And also, "Not next to the trailer, with shore water, where I walk around barefoot!" And, "Hope she didn't drag that bucket all the way home in her rig or car, in case it tipped over..." so the question remains.


Tandy, wishing you lots of fun camping! Very interested in your rig, if you've got it now, how you like it so far, etc!
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