Tramper 080S refurbish

[Paul Kemp]

I had been looking for a basic camper to remote camp in. I previously had a 26' bumper pull and it was okay but tough to bring toys or go into remote areas. A buddy sent me a link to a CL add and one thing lead to another. I drove several hours from home and as soon as I saw the camper I realized that the seller was less than forth-coming about the condition. The roof had a leak and the entire driver side of the roof had rotted away. Furthermore, he didn't have a way for me to test any of the electrical or gas accessories...even though I made that a condition of coming to look at it and he had agreed. He was really turning into the stereotypical CL seller...I was pretty disappointed with the lost time but I was already there. Might as well check the camper out. The canvas and the tub were in great shape and I thought I could salvage the roof. 45 minutes later a minimal amount of cash traded hands and the Tramper came home with me.

 

[Paul Kemp]

The first Saturday I had the Tramper home I had a beer and ran the numbers. I have a habit of going overboard on projects and this one was going to be simple...right. I removed the million screws holding the canvas to the roof, lowered the roof superstructure, and shoved the whole roof off into the yard. To my surprise the roof was a plywood perimeter and no joists at all! No wonder this thing failed. Tramper had essentially made a plywood perimeter and sandwiched 1" poly between a metal roof and some 1/8" cardboard. It was a structurally insulated panel. Once the cardboard got wet the tensile strength vanished an we got a junk roof. I was going to upgrade this...

Viola- new plywood perimeter with 1"x1" aluminum joists. I wanted to tig an aluminum frame together but resisted the urge and used screws, Simpson clips, and lots of Gorilla Glue. You'll notice that I tore out the old junk vent and added a new, powered vent. I thought the money would be well spent.

 

[Paul Kemp]

Now that the joists were in place I started cutting the poly-iso foam to size and gluing them between the joints. I at first resisted using Gorilla Glue thinking it was too expensive and just a good sales pitch. I was wrong. I bought multiple large jugs of this glue at bLowe's at the tune of ~$20 a pop. This was the best adhesion I could find for the foam. Additionally, even with my joists there is still a large structural value to having this roof structure as a "sandwich" versus three independent diaphragms.
Smear out a ton of glue and then start placing foam.


I stacked any heavy object on the foam so that it would be sure to have good contact with the glue/ metal roof below.
Hindsight being 20/20. I would have used the polystyrene versus the poly iso. I think if I ever get a leak the poly iso will hold the water whereas the polystyrene would shed it better.
Now to finish the roof off so it looks complete. I used 1/4" plywood underlayment. Resistive to moisture (or at least better than the original cardboard), excellent tensile strength, and light weight.

I glued this roof to the insulation and used a million screws into the joists. Then painted it. I'm glad I took the extra time to provide a screw layout versus set them randomly. That would have really annoyed me...

 

[Paul Kemp]

There has been a lot of discussion about the torsion lift system on this forum so I won't go into detail here about how it works- but I'll tell you how I think I fixed the problem.
The roof got wet because when stored in a closed position the lift system torqued the back part of the roof. Over time it wallowed out the bolt holes in the plywood, and water intrusion began. After that it was just a waiting game until I came into the Trampers life.
I already rebuilt the entire roof and had it on the garage floor. While there I laminated a piece of 1/8"x2" steel flat bar to the back part of the roof (inboard, not exposed to the elements.) Toss the roof onto the lift mechanism and you'll realize that you'll need a mechanical advantage to the torsion bars into the proper position. A few brain oils later I decided C clamps would be just the trick. It worked so well that I had another beer to celebrate.

Reattaching the canvas is something that I've seen a lot of complaints about on this forum. It wasn't pleasant by any means but nowhere what I had been lead to believe. This was in no way due to me being amazing but instead just having the right tools. A 12" chuck and new screws versus using the old ones was $4 well spent. The screws I choose were just the bulk screws at any hardware store or bLowe's. 3/4" machine heads but instead of fighting a Phillips stripping out I got the Phillips/ 1/4" hex head combo. The screw can't strip out using the 1/4" head. After about 45 minutes it was all just a memory. More beers to celebrate!

 

[Paul Kemp]

Victory lap photo's

 

[Paul Kemp]

I struggled for several weeks trying to find a cab corner. The forum is full of people saying they weren't made any longer so I knew this would be an obstacle. Furthermore, any corner I would have to install would need to contend with the new bolts that I installed through the lift mechanism, through my steel plate, and out the back of the roof. After wringing my hands for several weeks I finally came to the conclusion that the Tramper is old enough to drink and even from the factory wasn't really a prom queen. I embraced the essence of the Tramper and tossed some fiberglass at that corner. When I rebuilt the roof I braced it every way possible so no tension will ever be placed on the fiberglass but...it does look hokey.
Function over Form! Plus it's waterproof after I coated the fiberglass with the roofing "paint".

 

[Paul Kemp]

The interior had been painted by the PO. It was a mixture of hideous blue and off white- all applied with the same reckless abandon of someone not caring about quality. (I hope I didn't loose too many people with my own fiberglass corner...I don't want to live on that island)
I popped all of the countertops and they live in the landfill now. Same as that worthless ice box. It took up a bunch of room and had minimal capacity. Besides, I was coming along with this project way too fast and under budget. Gotta toss in a few extra items to eat up money and time...

 

[Paul Kemp]

I went down to bLowe's and picked out the least offensive plam I could find. I went with the one called, "cheap, easily recognizably fake marble." I thought it fit the Tramper and her utilitarian life style that she would soon embark on.






While giving the Tramper an update I noticed some wasted space in the "clothes closet" at the back drivers side. I added in a flip up area that you can see in the last picture. Roughly 18"x12"x8" deep if memory serves me correctly. You'll also see that I added a spot for a car stereo and multiple car chargers. This thing is for the woods and it will be 100% 12v. I don't envision ever being hooked to "shore" power.

 

[bill harr]

Looking good. Going to follow your build. Need to add a compressor fridge and solar.

 

[NivekD]

Doin' a nice job Paul, looks good. I'll be slippin' my SunLite into the garage for some major overhauling this winter...so much fun to make these things the way you want them...:victory:

 

[Fugly]

Paul
The rebuild/refurb...
Is looking good...
Thanks for posting the pic's

Cheers
Fugly

 

[Paul Kemp]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll post some more tomorrow when I get to the office. Never contributed to a forum but I use them all of the time. Thought this might help someone else...maybe. Water tank showed up so I need to get back after it!
Here's a better picture of added storage I spoke of...
And here's my counsel. He's the brains of the outfit!

 

[gingerK]

Good job on the refurb and love your dog! I have 3 chocs and they like getting in the tc.

 

[NivekD]

Hey Paul, about your roof corners. It looks like the same corners that Northstar uses, may want to give them a call. (319) 233-3461.

 

[Paul Kemp]

NivekD-
Thanks for the heads up. I put in a call and e-mail this morning. This sounds pretty promising and will dress the ol' girl up. I did the fiberglass cloth because we're getting deep into Fall in the NW. I didn't want eight months of rain going into that corner...Thanks again!