rebuilt Starcraft

[upflying]

Thought I would post a few photos of my '87 Starcraft Sportstar 8. Got it almost free and noticed a few soft areas at the corners. Pulled the skin back and found all four corners rotten. Rebuilt the frame and walls over the past 18 months and now ready to go camping, after I by a truck to haul it. The Colorado was sadly overloaded and has since been sold. Couple of the many photos I took during the restoration.

[rcintx]

Looks good! Quick question, what did you skin it with? I have a couple of related projects in my mind, but don't know what to skin it with.

Thanks!

[upflying]

It's aluminum siding I purchased from All-Rite Manufacturing.
http://www.all-rite.com/aluminum-siding-p-53.html

[eugene]

Yours looks like it might have been worse than mine. I've went through the roof and back wall, redoing most of the interior now.

[upflying]

It would seem the RV manufacturers, especially those who use wood framing and staple construction methods, plan obsolescence of their products to coincide with purchase upgrades. In other words, Stracraft didn't want to make their products too sturdy because they wouldn't have a market for new products in the future.
For instance, Starcraft used steel wood screws and staples when they put the camper together. Who could have predicted the steel would rust and the fastener fails?
I took the time to use stainless steel and coated deck fasteners during the rebuild. Lot's of cost cutting evidence manifests itself once you open up one of these things.
Faulty water and drip engineering off the roof is what killed the camper. The highest concentration of rain water falls to the corners where open molding with exposed 90 degree cuts lets moisture into the wood framing below. What happened to using silicone to seal up these openings? Minimal plastic rain water deflectors off the roof would have gone a long way to preserve the camper.

[eugene]

The roof corners of mine were the same way, it got so bad the springs in the rear of the lift arms broke the rear of the roof. Pervious owner patched it up and covered with aluminum flashing. Then the aluminum siding on either side of it combined with a U channel at the bottom trapped water. The sides of the roof were like mulch inside.
I rebuilt it using cedar since its an outdoor wood without all the chemicles that pressure treated would have that way it shouldn't rot.