in the Trill' family since the '70s

[josh kobrin]

Hey all, so glad I landed on your little gold mine. I just drug my family's Trillium 4500 out of the garage where it's been hiding since '92. It was responsible for quite a few childhood adventures, and I'm pretty excited to get a few more out of it.

So far the only thing replaced are the 25 year old Sears brand tires. Hard to let go of the white walls, but those aren't the kind of adventure I'm looking to have. Somehow no rodents discovered it, or at least left evidence. Though the padding and fabric are crusty and tired.

Biggie question: besides the obvious, what should I look for when shaking it down? Is there already a sticky hiding somewhere? And I'm getting it back on the road behind it's original tow vehicle, a '72 Bronco Half-cab.

Also, anyone have a closet door for sale?

[Carol H]

Josh, how lucky for you to find it in your own family garage!!!
It would be a good idea to change out your propane tank and battery before heading out as as well & check your wheel bearings and repack them. Try camping in the driveway before heading out - hook up water turn on the lights & fridge etc and see how it all works out.

[David Tilston]

Wow! Score! The only issue I see is a missing closet door. It's too bad you don't have it. The data sheet for the trailer is typically stuck to the inside of the closet door. Do you know what year it is? I would guess it is a 1977 Deluxe. The two 1978's that I have use a larger fridge and the window in the door opens, but that may have been options.
Something you may want to evaluate is the condition of the torsion axle. Does it look like it is sagging? The arms should be horizontal. Get the bearings inspected and repacked. It may be worth replacing the coupler.

[Larry C Hanson]

Hello,

Congrats getting the old rig back on the road.
Since the trailer has been in a garage probably
in pretty good shape. In addition to the previous
post, I would check to make sure the caulking around
the window frames is not cracked and deteriorated.
The old stuff usually eventually dries out and one
should take out the windows to install new caulking.
The roof vent is another potential problem. Same drill.

The foam on the cushions may be deteriorated.
Spend a night sleeping on them before you hit the
road to make sure they are OK.

Also, take a look at the mounting bolts that hold
the trailer body onto the frame. My '78 Trillium 1300
had one missing and several very rusty when I
bought it.

I am sure I am overlooking a few that some other owners
will point out.

Regards, Larry H

[mary and bob]

I'm more interested in the Bronco! I have a '69 that I bought new, by '76 it was really rusty so I bought a new body from Ford in '77, and haven't put it together yet!! You probably don't have the rust issues in California like we do in the Northeast.

[Donna D.]

Score!!

Ditto to Carol's post about checking and packing the wheel bearings... absolutely!

Welcome to FiberglassRV, we're glad you're here!

[josh kobrin]

Wow such a warm welcome, and thanks for the wise words!

Carol - Good tip on the propane tank and battery. Those just got bumped to the top of my list.

David - Attaching pics of the axles. Do I need to have an RV joint repack the bearings or can any mechanic do it?

Larry - Is it possible that the caulking around the windows has completely dried out and vanished? Having a hard time finding evidence of it. Best not to use silicone, yes? And I've got a foam pad that'll go on top of the bed foam, that is until I replace it all. Also good tip on the frame bolts, I'll crawl under and take a look.

Mary/Bob - Yeah, we're spoiled out here, just a touch of surface rust. Repainted twice but it's about due. It's actually the vehicle I learned to drive with when I was a little kid.

Donna -

[David Tilston]

You have a slight upward angle to the axle. It will likely be fine for at least a few years, just keep the 13" wheels. What I am surprised to see is no brakes. You have the mounting flanges for the brakes, and should look into getting them. If you have brakes, then you also need a brake controller in you tow vehicle (TV). Is the electrical connection between the trailer and the TV a four pin straight connector? If so, your TV probably wont charge your trailer battery.
Do you know the year?

[Larry C Hanson]

Hi Josh,

On the window caulking it is hard to tell if you need
to redo it until you find it leaking on a rainy hight.
My first trillium (1972) had a leaky front window.
I did not even notice it until the lady I sold it to pointed
it out. She lived in a rainy area. Consequently, when
I got my '78 I redid all the windows just to be sure that
leaks would not be a problem. It is a time consuming
operation but surely not rocket science. Often, one
does not know there have been leaks until the windows
are out and the wood backing that the screws go into
are found to be dry rotted. If you get that far into it
there are other threads regarding re-caulking the windows.
Also, I would be happy to discuss it with you.

NO, NO SILICONE!!!!!!!

I made a sleeping pad to go over the cushions out of
a memory foam mattress pad complete with a cover.
The cover was fabricated using two regular home style
mattress pads custom sewn into a two sided cover by
the local upholstery shop with a zipper on one side.
Both sides are usable.

Have fun! Larry H

[stevebaz]

Glad to see your into classic recycling. Have fun. I too am a Bronco Fan. I have a 1974 that I have owned since 1978.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

.........What I am surprised to see is no brakes. You have the mounting flanges for the brakes, and should look into getting them......

Great suggestion. Brakes are surprisingly inexpensive. Example:

Electric Trailer Brake Assemblies at Trailer Parts Superstore

http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/ite...c=0007&eq=&Tp=

10" brakes can be cheaper than 7" .

[Carol H]

[QUOTE=josh kobrin;362639 Do I need to have an RV joint repack the bearings or can any mechanic do it?

[/QUOTE]

Josh, you dont need an RV place to do them for you a mechanic can do it for you or you can do them yourself - lots of people here do them. They should be done every year or 12,000 miles which ever comes first.

Here is a video on

How to re-pack trailer wheel bearings

.

[josh kobrin]

Hey all, sorry for the radio silence, been swamped with work and just now found time to visit the Trillium.

Two new questions:

Battery - Do the electricals below look normal? This is a shot of inside the bench next to the sink where I'm assuming a battery normally goes. But looks like it was removed at some point and never replaced. You can see black and white wires that look like they could theoretically go to positive and negative terminals, but the gauge looks a lot thinner than I've ever seen for a battery.

Table - Is it normally held to the wall with dowels? It looks to me like something that was added later on. And also that the two tabs under the table should slip into those two slots on the wall, but the dowels are keeping it from swinging into place.

Also including an amusing pic of some of the vintage packaged goods I found in it. Like I said, it's been sitting for a few years

[calindor]

Originally Posted by josh kobrin

Also including an amusing pic of some of the vintage packaged goods I found in it. Like I said, it's been sitting for a few years

I love the flashlight! That needs to stay with the trailer

[David Tilston]

There is definitely something different about your table. You have a version of the table that has a removable leaf. The instructions for it are here:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/d...do=file&id=179
I have attached some pictures of my table.

It does look like someone put a battery under the gaucho. I don't see any tie downs though. I would put the battery on the tongue of the trailer. Less danger that way. Otherwise it looks exactly like the wiring in my trailer. The white and black tubes are your fuses.

[mary and bob]

That gauge wire, as best I can tell from the picture, would be OK for a few 12 volt lights. It looks like there are a couple inline fuse holders there which is good and indicates whatever was fed off the battery was a fused circuit. The wires that the fuses are in would connect to the positive terminal of a battery. Also looks like wire nuts were used for connections which is something I would not do, I use crimp on connectors that have heat shrink on them on all my 12 volt connections.

[Larry C Hanson]

Yes, the wiring looks 'normal'. The Trilliums had a very
basic AC/DC system. The fuses and joints in the front
left corner are typical. I measured the output of the
stock AC>DC power converter and found the output to
be unregulated at about 18/19 VDC = too high for many
electronic devices. Consequently, I chose to replace the
converter and rewire the DC system. The least expensive
alternative was a WFCO 8725P Power Center from
BestConverter - Converters, Inverters, Electrical Supplies, Electronics
It is a 'cheap' unit but adequate for the limited electrical
demands of a small simple trailer. The new converter project
might be a bit much for someone who has no experience with
wiring but not too bad if you have some experience and/or
some knowledgeable person to help when questions arise.

Regarding battery placement, both of my 1300s have
the battery on the trailer tongue near the propane tank.
It is simpler than putting it inside the trailer. I prefer the old
fashioned wet cell deep cycle type from Trojan Battery that
require maintenance. I find them to be robust if properly
taken care of.

Enjoy getting your Trill back in shape. It will be fun to
show off in campgrounds. I find people to be very curious
about these little guys. Best keep it very neat inside as
people love to see what can be inside such a small unit.

GL, Larry H

[josh kobrin]

g'morning y'all!

A little under 24 hours until our maiden voyage!

Plan is to head from San Francisco to Yosemite, then down to Joshua Tree, over to San Diego, up to Disneyland and finally Big Sur. Big California loop all in a week.

Only a few things left to do. I won't get the fridge or heater figured out in time, will have to bring a bag of ice and some extra blankets. But everything else is pretty much sorted.

Decided to go with an Optima battery so we wouldn't have to relocate to the tongue. New electric breaks, they work amazingly. Hopefully they'll keep me from toasting the Bronco's old drums.

Oh, and my mom stitched up some adorable new curtains. They have little mushrooms on them. Smurf style, seems appropriate

[RRJR]

The curtains look great w/mushrooms, sounds like a good name for your little"MUSHROOM".

[arlon]

Glad you're going to straighten it out and get some use out of it. I hate seeing things like that rotting in a garage (or the side of someones house).