2016 279dbs Repo

Kosoku · 10-17-2017, 08:40 AM

Ok, so I bought a shadow cruiser 279dbs that was a repo. I checked it over, top to bottom first so I knew what I was roughly getting into. I bought a moisture meter and tested the walls, roof and floors. All good but here is what I am currently working on or have worked on.

- Outside kitchen. - Mouse poop. Cleaned it all up and spray foamed where the propane lines come up through body. Also stuffed steel wool down holes where ABS pipes run.

- Compartmentalized outdoor kitchen from rest of trailer so they cannot get into that area. Used plywood to do so with cutouts for pipes and wires.

- Inside, I had to remove all duct work as that is where they were running from. I reinstalled the rigid metal ducting. Not chewing through that.

- Mouse poop under cabinets, - Removed what I could and javex'd the area. Wore gloves and respirator. Also vacuumed up hard to reach areas and the sawdust.

- Ice damage. Found that trailer was not winterized by previous owner or when it was repo'd. Flush does not work, shower knobs leak and spray port connector broke. Found this out when I went to winterize it. Boy was there a lot of antifreeze around. Great time to install residential taps and oxygenic shower head.

- Grey tank - Tank has a leak and the waste valve pipe is split. Will replace or fix in the spring.

- General plumbing. - I think every connection was loose. Easy enough to tighten all of them properly. I capped lines off and pressure tested and no PEX leaks.

- Slide out lights don't work. - Have yet to track the source of this but I think it is going to be a bad ground or broken wire in the belly somewhere. Fuses are good as are power outlets

- Running light. One running light does not work due to corroded connection. Will replace in spring.

- Roof - one panel is lifting. Looks like it popped its screw or staple. Membrane is still intact. I negotiated 3G's off price to cover this repair and any others so I am going to get a trailer repair place to deal with the roof.

- Power awning speaker - Has a short so it comes on and off. Found that out when I walked into awning arm and speaker turned on. I can see chaffing on wire so will rewire speaker in spring. Might be a good time to upgrade both inside and outside ones with better quality speakers.

- Broken dinette bench - Cheap stapled wood holding it together. Will re-frame with thicker wood and will use screws. Will be much more solid afterwards.

- wasted space above TV. The glass front was stapled to unit but it was empty behind it. Removed it and am installing hidden hinges and magnetic latches and maybe a support shock. More storage is more storage.

- Installed 2 MaxxairII vent covers which were a must.

- Added dicor to spots on roof that needed it. Will get trailer repair place to also eternabond seams on roof, or I will do it in the spring as I have a roll from my last trailer.

- Bought sealant for screws to prevent them from rusting and leaking.

- Bought a reese dual cam setup that I will install next spring.

- The only real concern I have now is that I will be dammed if I can find a marine grade 30 amp connector for this trailer. Will contact Cruiser RV for one I guess.

- Only pet peeve is that when making trailers, can't they cut out the holes nicely instead of making it look like they put their foot through the wall to make a hole, and how hard it is to vacuum up sawdust and remove wood plugs. A little bit of pride in your work would go a long way.

Overall I am quite happy with the repo risk I took as you never know what you are getting. Trailer seems to be built well and a lot of nice upgrades like LED lighting, slam latches, huge pass through, etc. that make it seem like a much more expensive unit. Inside is beautiful and spacious.
I firmly believe you have to be fairly handy to own a RV. I am so anything short of structural or water damage does not concern me too much.
Multi-color LED lights, Power jack, double batteries and perhaps A-Frame box and probably a whole lot more yet to come. I can't leave well enough alone.

gmw photographics · 10-17-2017, 03:51 PM

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you got a nice deal and are willing to throw the needed effort into fixing and maintaining.

As to the roof repair, I'd do it myself if it were mine. A strategic cut with a razor of the roof membrane, then re-secure the decking down. Re-adhere the membrane with the appropriate adhesive, followed by eternabond tape. Doing it yourself would likely be a more careful job than hiring it done.

Kosoku · 10-17-2017, 06:44 PM

For the roof, i told the wife that had we owned it for several years, this is the route i would go. However, being "newish" and negoitating the price to cover repair, i think i will let the repair shop handle it, assuming we agree on how it gets done. They are a trailer repair shop only, they dont sell trailers. Local reviews are quite good. Plus, weather here is cold and i would like it done prior to snow, which here in the maritimes could be now or Janruary.
But if i understand correctly, i should carefully slit along truss line, open, screw plywood down, reglue and then reseal with eternabond and dicor around eternabond. This is how i am picturing it. Would you do truss or roof edge or both.
I actually enjoy working on trailers. It is my alone time to escape and work at something i enjoy and take pride in. Agreement is, trailer is mine to clean, maintain, modify and repair as i see fit. Wife and boys just want it to work for camping. I transcend that notion.

gmw photographics · 10-18-2017, 08:06 AM

My opinion is I would cut the roofing wherever is needed to be able to secure the underlayment back down. Once it it glued back down and the eternabond applied, it will be secure. It doesn't have to be pretty, nobody sees it anyway. My opinion only.

TTlover · 10-23-2017, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kosoku

Ok, so I bought a shadow cruiser 279dbs that was a repo. I checked it over, top to bottom first so I knew what I was roughly getting into. I bought a moisture meter and tested the walls, roof and floors. All good but here is what I am currently working on or have worked on.

- Outside kitchen. - Mouse poop. Cleaned it all up and spray foamed where the propane lines come up through body. Also stuffed steel wool down holes where ABS pipes run.

- Compartmentalized outdoor kitchen from rest of trailer so they cannot get into that area. Used plywood to do so with cutouts for pipes and wires.

- Inside, I had to remove all duct work as that is where they were running from. I reinstalled the rigid metal ducting. Not chewing through that.

- Mouse poop under cabinets, - Removed what I could and javex'd the area. Wore gloves and respirator. Also vacuumed up hard to reach areas and the sawdust.

- Ice damage. Found that trailer was not winterized by previous owner or when it was repo'd. Flush does not work, shower knobs leak and spray port connector broke. Found this out when I went to winterize it. Boy was there a lot of antifreeze around. Great time to install residential taps and oxygenic shower head.

- Grey tank - Tank has a leak and the waste valve pipe is split. Will replace or fix in the spring.

- General plumbing. - I think every connection was loose. Easy enough to tighten all of them properly. I capped lines off and pressure tested and no PEX leaks.

- Slide out lights don't work. - Have yet to track the source of this but I think it is going to be a bad ground or broken wire in the belly somewhere. Fuses are good as are power outlets

- Running light. One running light does not work due to corroded connection. Will replace in spring.

- Roof - one panel is lifting. Looks like it popped its screw or staple. Membrane is still intact. I negotiated 3G's off price to cover this repair and any others so I am going to get a trailer repair place to deal with the roof.

- Power awning speaker - Has a short so it comes on and off. Found that out when I walked into awning arm and speaker turned on. I can see chaffing on wire so will rewire speaker in spring. Might be a good time to upgrade both inside and outside ones with better quality speakers.

- Broken dinette bench - Cheap stapled wood holding it together. Will re-frame with thicker wood and will use screws. Will be much more solid afterwards.

- wasted space above TV. The glass front was stapled to unit but it was empty behind it. Removed it and am installing hidden hinges and magnetic latches and maybe a support shock. More storage is more storage.

- Installed 2 MaxxairII vent covers which were a must.

- Added dicor to spots on roof that needed it. Will get trailer repair place to also eternabond seams on roof, or I will do it in the spring as I have a roll from my last trailer.

- Bought sealant for screws to prevent them from rusting and leaking.

- Bought a reese dual cam setup that I will install next spring.

- The only real concern I have now is that I will be dammed if I can find a marine grade 30 amp connector for this trailer. Will contact Cruiser RV for one I guess.

- Only pet peeve is that when making trailers, can't they cut out the holes nicely instead of making it look like they put their foot through the wall to make a hole, and how hard it is to vacuum up sawdust and remove wood plugs. A little bit of pride in your work would go a long way.

Overall I am quite happy with the repo risk I took as you never know what you are getting. Trailer seems to be built well and a lot of nice upgrades like LED lighting, slam latches, huge pass through, etc. that make it seem like a much more expensive unit. Inside is beautiful and spacious.
I firmly believe you have to be fairly handy to own a RV. I am so anything short of structural or water damage does not concern me too much.
Multi-color LED lights, Power jack, double batteries and perhaps A-Frame box and probably a whole lot more yet to come. I can't leave well enough alone.

Hi, I was wondering if you had the prior owners name or vin number. with all the problems I have had I'm wondering if they had the same and just let it go. tsk so much Val

Kosoku · 10-23-2017, 02:26 PM

I did find a for sale placard in the trailer that was an out of province number so I did call to see if I could find the reason for the trailer being sold or any other tidbits of information. Unfortunately they would not talk to me at all.
I also suspected that the trailer may have been given up due to issues and just let go as it was. However, not sure how much was user vs how much was Cruiser quality.
I knew the roof panel would be quality, bathroom door handle I replaced, quality, wiring, not sure, dinette build, quality, lots of little quality issues that may have been overwhelming for a new trailer owner.
As for the ice damage, I can only assume that the user did not winterize it properly or it was repo'd prior to the winterizing being done. Really not sure.
It basically came down to a gamble that I was willing to take based off of price point and knowing I would have to put time and effort into making it my own.
So far, if these are the only issues and I can keep modding/fixing it to my liking, then I will consider myself lucky.
I hope once next spring roles around and I really start getting ready for the camping season, that I find that this was the right decision. Only time will tell.
Wish me luck.

Kosoku · 10-30-2017, 07:13 AM

I go lucky on the roof repair. Was quoted $1200+ if that section needed to be replaced. Since I used my moisture meter and assured myself that it was good and I figured that the staples popped, I went ahead with repair. Anyways, they called and repair was $394.57 Taxes in. 4 Hours labor. They removed trim, peeled it back to expose roof edge, removed staples and screwed the wood down properly and then re glued rubber and put trim back on. $3000 off to cover repair that ended up costing roughly $400. Not a bad deal. Leaves me some good cash to upgrade some parts like power tongue jack, pays for my Reese Dual Cam, update interior taps, speakers, and oh so much more.

Marti · 10-30-2017, 11:40 PM

That's good news Kosoku. We never want to hear about moisture problems.

About the sawdust, I totally agree. I saw a video recently where the factory built a Jayco in 7 hours. Of course it was shown at a fast speed, but you could tell those guys were running nonstop to put those trailers together. No time for cleaning anything except at the end, after it was finished when some went through with a dust cloth.

We finally got our FW out the other day and decided to park it on our new RV pad and try out the hookups. Well, we couldn't have picked a worse day. The wind blew 20-30 all night and the trailer rocked all night. And not a gentle rocking - I would have liked that. The next morning, there was sawdust everwhere. The wind blew it out from behind cabinets like someone came through with an air compressor.

twinster2 · 10-31-2017, 12:27 PM

Seems like a lot of issues for a 2016 trailer.

Kosoku · 11-01-2017, 07:00 AM

Not really a lot of issues considering it is a repo and not knowing the history. I fully expected to fix a few things considering I got it for less than half of what someone paid new.
Ice damage was user error, Mouse damage is not an issue really, loose fittings and shorts are not a big deal to me. Roof staple coming loose was the only real issue but the trailer was towed the equivalent of Los Angeles to New York on horrible Canadian roads and probably some snow in that mix along the way before it came into my possession. Same reason for having to add a bit of Dicor. I expected to re-frame the dinette no matter which trailer I bought. General tweaks here and there seem to be the name of the game. I don't think there was a time in my last trailer, a crossroads, that i didn't find a way to modify or upgrade something to suit my style or needs pretty much up until I sold it. LED lights, battery disconnects, upgrade thermostats, more storage, power jack(favorite), under awning colored LED's(kids favorite). Rewired electrical panel and shore power cord to make more storage room in a cabinet. Special locks and door latches for kids.Added pullouts shelves in cupboards, etc. Plan on doing these and more to the new one except LED's as it already has those. The fun for me is upgrading and modifying. Already looking at videos on stripping and painting the interior. Nice semi-white upper cabinets with darker lower and no carpet in slide out probably in 2019. will get one summer under my belt with it to see what I really want to focus on.

Kosoku · 05-28-2018, 08:35 AM

Quick Update
Completed almost all the repairs that I had set out to do.
- bought 30AMP cord from Amazon. Need the Cruiser one by Conntek.
- Replaced shower head with Oxygenics one.
- Replaced taps with nicer brushed nickel ones,
- calked the surround on the tub.
- Flush is now working. Changed the water valve kit
- No water leaks in plumbing.
- Installed new outside spray port.
- Dinette only needed minimal framing support. Better than I thought.
- Slowly soldering connections for outside lights.
- Started Eternabonding the roof.
- Tested propane, water heater, etc and everything checks out.
- removed most cupboards floors and vacuumed up all the leftover sawdust and used steel wool and spray foam to plug holes to belly. No mice intrusion since.
- Added LED light strip in outdoor kitchen. Now colors of my choice.
- Greased bearings.
- Need to adjust brakes and install Dual Cam. (Bought all new bolts for it)
- Dinette light is still a mystery. May just rewire it.
- Still need to fix broke gray tank pipe but not a 911.
All in all, about $500 in extra parts so trailer Repo gamble so far is looking good.
Anything I add now is my upgrade, not repo damage.
Can't wait for first outing.

Kosoku · 07-03-2018, 07:59 AM

- Installed Dual Cam and took my time to adjust it properly. Towed about 1-1/2 hour drive away on PEI and camped and it towed beautiful over and back. No sway- no white knuckles.. Roads sucked which is typical here in New Brunswick.
- Slide out lights - Pulled the wire and found where they nicked it during install and it had oxidized which broke it. Bought 20 feet and reran the wire and terminated it and now have working slide out lights.
- Added magnetic access to heater area.
- Cleaned up electrical wiring a bit more.
- Waste valve - Thought is was bad but when I took it apart, I found a small piece of plastic blocking the valve from fully closing, hence the leak. Removed it and now, no more leaks.
- Gray tank pipe - A bit of JB plastic weld and the split is patched and holding. No more leak.
- Gray tank itself - I though it had cracked but it actually hadn't.
- Added a magnetic holder for knives in outside kitchen and another in pass-through for screwdrivers.
- Placed an extra set of 2 ton scissor jacks, one by steps and one under slide out by tire, and that made a huge difference in stability when parked. No step bounce and very little movement when walking in trailer. May permanently attach them down the road but for now they are movable.
So all in all, repairs on the repo ended up being around $600. Anything else I replace here on in will just be an upgrade.
Happy with my purchase and the overall design and functionality of this 279dbs.
Will add some photos of some of the small changes I did. LED lights in outdoor kitchen, Hinged door above TV, Magnetic access to Heater area, etc.

profdant139 · 07-03-2018, 01:11 PM

Keep it up! Modding is one of my favorite activities, and it looks like you are a modder, too!