Maintenance & Restoration

KristiS · 04-04-2022, 11:41 PM

We own an Ultra Lite fiberglass 5th wheel. We love it. We lost our tow vehicle a while back and purchased another. Unfortunately our mechanic said we should not tow the 5th wheel with a shortbed truck. We put the 5th wheel up for sale and purchased a 1993 Casita Freedom Deluxe. We have owned it for a few weeks. I have spent many hours trying to decide what to do to extend the bed. Where can we put the dog kennels? I was prepared to change the whole floorplan when we went back to our 5th wheel to get it ready to show for sale. It is perfect for us. No changes needed...except a new tow vehicle. Done. We are buying a Tundra in a few days and decided to keep our 5th wheel and sell the Casita we just purchased.
Now the new problem. The floor is a bit warpy in front of the refrigerator. We need to replace a warped board under the micro. The AC and refrigerator are original but both work. The awning ripped off in a sand storm when we were bringing it home. The plumbing seems to be fine. It cleans up nice. Very cute but too small for us. Now it needs to go up for sale.
Here are the questions I need help with. Should we sell it as is and what is a good price? We could repair the floor and install a nice vinyl plank and replace the warped board. I really don't want to purchase an awning but does everyone want one? I have read of so many who don't use them. New AC? New refrig? Packing wheel bearings and new tires. What is a good price with the repairs? Just weighing our options.

ShelbyM · 04-05-2022, 06:38 AM

IMO, sell it "as is." You won't recover what you spend for repairs and you'll waste a lot of time, energy and worry. I'd be happy to get back 75% of what I paid but that might be optimistic.

Dudley · 04-05-2022, 08:21 AM

The Casita 17 floor is not supported well in front of the fridge. That area is above the grey tank. The floor tends to sage and appears to be bad but its just usually the lack of support. I have looked at dropping the tank and weld a angle iron supprot in that area but someone liberated my mig welder from the garage a few years ago. I though our floor was rotten but drilled some holes and found that it was dry as a bone.

Sorry, just noticed your is a 1993 so it would be the 16' Freedom Deluxe so it may not be the same problem but worth checking it out. The 17's didn't show up till 1996/97.

John in Michigan · 04-05-2022, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dudley

The Casita 17 floor is not supported well in front of the fridge. That area is above the grey tank. The floor tends to sage and appears to be bad but its just usually the lack of support. I have looked at dropping the tank and weld a angle iron supprot in that area but someone liberated my mig welder from the garage a few years ago. I though our floor was rotten but drilled some holes and found that it was dry as a bone.

That's interesting. My 44 year old Boler 17 has the same problem. Dip in the floor in front of the fridge, above the fresh water tank. Assumed the subfloor was wet or rotten, but when we removed the floor covering, we found the subfloor to be in fine condition, just slightly dipped.

Alex in LA · 04-05-2022, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShelbyM

IMO, sell it "as is." You won't recover what you spend for repairs and you'll waste a lot of time, energy and worry. I'd be happy to get back 75% of what I paid but that might be optimistic.

I'd say you should get back 100% or more - there is so much demand!

KristiS · 04-05-2022, 08:02 PM

Thank you. We will likely put this up for sale as is at first. If we don't get interest we can make a few repairs or upgrades.

JaxDan · 04-09-2022, 10:25 AM

Sell as is...the next owner may have other ideas for the areas you mentioned. If the awning material is the problem it can be replaced for about $120 in materials and about 3 hours labor. I did it myself after a shop messed me up.
I'm sure you will find a new owner with the skills to fix and modify to their taste.