New UHaul CT13 owner

[Thomas G.]

Hi, new UHaul owner here. I just purchased a CT13 from a very nice couple in the Thumb of Michigan. The trailer is all original with a swamp cooler, furnace, ice box and battery condition meter. So far everything seems to work, but it came with the owner's manual, repair and parts manual. I will load copies of the owner's manual to the site when I get a few extra minutes. The trailer even came with the little stamped metal wheel chocks and a log book. It was manufactured in Dayton in 1985. The spare is dryrotted with UHaul molded into the sidewall - probably the original spare. The taillights look good, wheels have a little rust.

The windows need some TLC and I have already read the detailed instructions on removal and reflocking, so that is first on my list.

[Donna D.]

Hi Thomas, welcome to FiberglassRV... nice looking lil trailer! Thanks for sharing the pics

[itlives]

Nice! Now you have to update your profile. You are a trailer owner now!
I can't wait until I am, too!

[CindyL]

Welcome to Uhaul ownership! Please post detailed pix of these original parts. Uhaul chocks and sidewalls! Wow! I never heard of that. Some of us do have the original hubcaps, but we can't use ours, as we went to the newer uhaul rims.

Hubby Kevin and I have a 16' Uhaul, the VT. They were made in AZ.

Hope you like yours as much as we like our Uhaul!

CindyL

[CliveAlive]

Wow! Nice find.

More pics please!

[Kevin A]

Congratulations! What a sweet little unit. It kind of looks like our VT's little brother! As CindyL said, we haven't ever seen the metal chocks or the original tires. Be sure to check the soundness of the regular tires, too. They do deteriorate from the inside out, even if they look fine. About 5-6 years is generally the lifespan of the tires as noted by several folks on this site.

[Adrian W]

¡Hola! from Las Cruces, New Mexico. Welcome to the Forum. Congrats on the fine looking U-Haul. Seems like you made a great find. I am sure you will really get a lot of joy out of it.

By the way, Were would the swamp cooler be hiding in the pics?

[mary and bob]

We are snow birding in our CT13 right now in GA. Ours doesn't have the battery meter, as that was a later update. I know the repair manual is available on this site, but I haven't seen a copy of the owners manual, so that would be interesting if you can post that. Ours has the swamp cooler but the water tank and pump are missing. And of course the windows leak. We have a canopy over the trailer as a temporary solution to the leaking problem. You have a great find with all that original equipment. Bob

[djtriceflt]

Tom,
Great looking CT13, Congratulations! I have been refurbishing mine and just took it out for my first outing and had a GREAT time. I wish the same for you and yours. I have an original UHaul Spare, as well, but it looks brand new. However, I know it would only suitable for very limited use as they do dry rot after a number of years. Personally, I would rather have an old bias ply as a spare rather than a radial as the radials really don't like age in certain climates!

I would also love to get a copy of that owner's manual as it would complete the library I have put together on my CT13.
Thanks and Happy Camping

don '85 CT13
"sometimes the hunt is better than the catch"

[CindyL]

Don,

Have you looked at the documents section here? There is a copy of what might be an owner's manual. At least it has information about the camper and parts.

CindyL

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by CindyL

Don,

Have you looked at the documents section here? There is a copy of what might be an owner's manual. At least it has information about the camper and parts.

CindyL

What I have is the user's guide. page one attached.

[mary and bob]

The document center here has the repair manual, and I used it for info to get our furnace working. It also has info on some update repairs that were supposed to have been done to trailers that were already in service. One example is that the 110 volt ground fault outlet may be wired incorrectly. Ours was and that repair had never been done. It's certainly worth the time to read through it. Updates to the propane piping were also included. Bob

[Thomas G.]

Thanks for the welcomes. A little more about me, I'm a retired automotive engineer and love a well designed product. In the 1980's I rented UHaul campers which were perfect for taking into bear country in Algonquin Park in Ontario because they were hard sided, yet could be towed by my little Ranger pickup truck.

I didn't really want to buy a trailer, but I soon found out that you really can't rent something like a UHaul anymore, and most rental places are not pet friendly. So I bit the bullet and decided I needed to own, with all it's issues.

My tow vehicle is a 2007 Escape Hybrid. Technically it is rated for 1000#, but the V6 version is rated for 3500#, so I know that the chassis is up to the task, but realize that if I tow through the mountains, it will be slow going once the traction battery is exhausted. I towed it home 130 miles with a maximum speed of 55 mph and got 26 mpg. Acceleration was still good and braking a nonevent. Any other hybrid TVs out there?

[CindyL]

Welcome Thomas if I have not already said that! You are a rarity. Few people know that Uhaul once rented campers, including Uhaul dealers. If I had a dollar for every time I heard, "I didn't know Uhaul rented campers," I could buy a Dexter setup for our Uhaul. As a new owner, you will hear this again and again.

If anyone knows if a vehicle can tow a trailer, I guess it would be you. I would not be surprised if you get peppered with such questions on this forum, now that you are here. It is a frequent topic.

Welcome to the Uhaul owners club. Lots of us here. There is also a forum strictly for uhaul campers with lots of information, albeit not so much activity.

Post pix as you work with your new toy.

CindyL

[Roger Kimble]

Welcome to the club, What a nice looking camper, you will love it! Linda and I live in Coldwater MI, maby we could see it some time, our VT is in Wichita Ka.

[djtriceflt]

Tom, CindyL, Kevin and Bob,

First, I am pleased to hear another hardy soul is pulling the CT with
his lil tractor as I am! My Mini Clubman 'S' is doing a great job of it
and gets around 25mpg at 55mph. Tom, I am an ex-aviator and I enjoy
good designs and fuel flows too! Second, I do have all of the other docs but not the recent one Tom just attached but thank you anyway CindlyL. Thirdly, for Bob, I wish I was also in GA at Jekyll Island as I have been there before and it's beautiful. I checked my flojet pump and itregulates to 50psi/2.9 gpm so it should be no problem, but, I will advise if it is down the road. I will test the propane shower as soon as my frig. installation is completed. Happy Trails!

don '85 CT13
'sometimes the hunt is better than the catch'

[keekers]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

What I have is the user's guide. page one attached.

Tom,
Welcome and what a great looking rig. I know you will really enjoy your adventures. If possible, I hope you can get the USERS GUIDE in the document center. We all need help getting info and having our questions answered. I would like the GUIDE to add to my library too.
Thanks,
Patti

[Kevin A]

Boy, with all these CTs and VTs around, we should try to have a general gathering sometime each year. Perhaps we can do a look over Christmas Break to see where everyone is located and try to set up a central site for sometime in the future. What a picture op.... a campground full of UHauls!

[keekers]

Great idea Kevin! I would love to see other UHauls, look at mods others have made, get new ideas, and just learn more about my CT from others experiences. Come on summer! I'm freezing!

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by CindyL

Welcome to Uhaul ownership! Please post detailed pix of these original parts. Uhaul chocks and sidewalls! Wow! I never heard of that. Some of us do have the original hubcaps, but we can't use ours, as we went to the newer uhaul rims.

Hubby Kevin and I have a 16' Uhaul, the VT. They were made in AZ.

Hope you like yours as much as we like our Uhaul!

CindyL

Some pictures of original UHaul stuff - wheel chocks, portable toilet, Goodyear B78 -13 spare tire with made for UHaul molded in.