new 2006 T-139

[ColoradoShel]

I guess the FF is not new - I am! Then again, my birthdate indicates that's not accurate, either. So I guess the combination of me with a 2006 T-139 is what's really new.

I'm second owner; it was carefully maintained most of its life by a retired couple who probably kept it in their garage. That obviously changed sometime in the last year, because it suffered a leak in the passenger-side front corner (above the dinette area). I do believe the leak is fixed, but I have to figure out how best to correct the water damage.

I'll be asking for help and ideas - it appears that this forum will be more helpful than contacting CruiserRV. And there's SO much I don't know! (You would have either laughed or cried to watch me tow it 20 miles or so when I had no clue that the brake controller could be and needed to be adjusted from about 14 to 4!!! Yikes!)

I'm excited to have this little RV and to make it "mine".

Shelley
2006 T-139 FF
2005 Honda Pilot

 

[profdant139]

Shelley --

Welcome to the club! Where in Colorado are you located? My blog about our two 139s may have some useful ideas for you -- see below.

Dan

The LMIC (Look Mom I'm Camping)

 

[ColoradoShel]

Dan, I am in Monument - on the Front Range, between Denver and Colorado Springs.

Thanks for sending me your blog - useful ideas, indeed! I'm reading through problem-solution, one after the other. Fascinating! I'm impressed with your innovative ideas of how to solve each problem and then your application of those ideas. Pretty cool! I'm not the person who can follow through, but I do have one close friend who has a shop, skill, a desire to help and, occasionally, some available time. (And his wife is a very dear friend who doesn't mind him helping me.) So I am thankful in all directions as I take what you've shared, and pass it on to someone who can use it!

Several of your innovations indicate that you'll find out how well they work - unless I have missed it, I don't think you've added your followup assessments. That would be really great to know, too!

 

[PaintyLiz]

Welcome to the group! This is a great group, lots of knowledge and encouragement. I have a 2008 189FBR a little bigger than yours, great trailers! You can do many of the repairs and/or mods yourself. I am a 62 year old woman and I've done tons of mods, so don't feel intimidated! You can do it! You might enjoy going through my blog, I have posted a lot of pictures of the process of my mods. If you have any questions, please ask. https://WackyPup.blogspot.com/

Liz

 

[APD]

Welcome Shelley! The little rigs are big fun and they attract friendly waves and hellos everywhere you tow 'em.

Alan

 

[debbiej]

our 2006 t139 leaked in the same place. the bottom right corner of the front window had some rotten wood. my dear DH did a great job of cutting it out and repairing, replacing the framing wood with new wood of the same dimension. he cut out the old at an angle, and spliced in the new, used epoxy and screws to connect the splices. then he cut a new piece of furniture veneer to fit where he took off the original wall board, filled it with wood putty and sanded it all. I wall papered over it. the repair is strong and firm, no more rotten wood hiding behind the wall. good luck! we love ours, but sadly have recently traded it on something a bit bigger for several reasons. I'm sure we will often miss it!

 

[ColoradoShel]

Thanks, Hilda. I've read a lot of your posts, and they have been very informative.
Hope you like your newer, bigger RV!

 

[ColoradoShel]

Welcome to the group! This is a great group, lots of knowledge and encouragement. I have a 2008 189FBR a little bigger than yours, great trailers! You can do many of the repairs and/or mods yourself. I am a 62 year old woman and I've done tons of mods, so don't feel intimidated! You can do it! You might enjoy going through my blog, I have posted a lot of pictures of the process of my mods. If you have any questions, please ask. https://WackyPup.blogspot.com/

Liz

Liz, it looks like you have blogged a lot of helpful info. Thanks for sharing your blog.

 

[ColoradoShel]

Welcome Shelley! The little rigs are big fun and they attract friendly waves and hellos everywhere you tow 'em.

Alan

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[ColoradoShel]

our 2006 t139 leaked in the same place. the bottom right corner of the front window had some rotten wood. my dear DH did a great job of cutting it out and repairing, replacing the framing wood with new wood of the same dimension. he cut out the old at an angle, and spliced in the new, used epoxy and screws to connect the splices. then he cut a new piece of furniture veneer to fit where he took off the original wall board, filled it with wood putty and sanded it all. I wall papered over it. the repair is strong and firm, no more rotten wood hiding behind the wall. good luck! we love ours, but sadly have recently traded it on something a bit bigger for several reasons. I'm sure we will often miss it!

Hilda, we haven't pulled down the inside wall or ceiling yet. I wish we had (but it's sitting out at my friends' who will help me get this repaired). There are a couple of things I'm not sure we know yet, but I'll bet you do!

I think I read somewhere that the structural seams/supports are steel (but maybe that was on a later model or a larger model). But other than the main perimeter, what is the structure - 1x2 board? something else?

What did you do for insulation? Would 1" foam board work, or is there something better?

I think for interior, we're doing 1/4" sande (pine) plywood. Does that sound good? And, unless we're having so much fun that we want to redo the front side over the dinette that doesn't need it, I'll have to decide whether to wallpaper or paint the plywood.

I'm thankful for the pointers that you already gave me, and which I passed along, but knowing these things could help me purchase the right materials the first time!

How's your new trailer working out?

Shelley
2006 T-139
2005 Honda Pilot

 

[debbiej]

Hi Shelly! sorry for the delay in answering your questions. I think we had the same year and model fun finder, so I can sure tell you what we found. Ours was soft under the corner of the front window only. both sides had leaked, but the damage was only at the bottom "passenger" side. We cut away the wall board until all damaged framing wood was exposed, and until we got to the solid wood. the framing was 1x2 wood. there were no metal plates, seams or supports anywhere in there, just the wood. there was a piece of plywood that surrounded the window for strength, and was part of the framing. Luckily, the wood we needed to replace didn't extend very far beyond the one area, not into the corner of the wall. One product DH used that made all the frame replacement stronger and easier, was called Durham's rock hard water putty. It is amazing stuff, and he used it to reinforce all his splices in the wood. These joins were made with diagonal cuts, and toenailing wood screws in. this wood putty was both between and around the joints, and filled in irregularity in the connections. the insulation was fiberglass batting, and not abundant. most we were able to put back in place. it would be entirely possible to add more of any kind, although the fiberglass batt is easy to stuff in and around the area. As far as the 1/4" plywood, I think it would be too thick, unless you were replacing the entire front interior wall, you will have a seam with two different thicknesses. I found some very thin wood paneling at an estate sale, I think it was a veneer of some kind. It was the exact thickness (or thinness) of the existing wallboard, meaning there was no difference in height of the seam in the wall. DH traced a paper template of the shape of the piece he needed, and arc of the window, cut it out and fit the new piece of wall in just like a puzzle piece. then he used a wood filler and sanded it smooth. all the seams were invisible when papered over.

one thing to note. When the wood repair was done, we took out the window, and replaced the butyl tape sealant that goes around between the window and the exterior of the trailer, but the window still leaked. We realized the water was running down the glass and between the glass and frame to enter under the window glass. we had no luck finding a replacement window, or shop that could (or would) replace the seal in the window. so we carefully placed wedges between the glass and frame so that the glass was pressed in toward the inner seal and DH put a fine bead of silicone in that gap on the exterior of the window. (He is a wizard with calking, having been a contractor for many years.) then we did the same in the other direction, on the inside of the window. After it cured, we hosed it down mercilessly and it was leak proof. usually silicone is not good to use in sealing trailers, but glass against metal it is a good product, as it will remain flexible. If we could have had the seal replaced, or found a replacement window, we would have. I'm going to look for pictures we took and post them in the gallery, might take a little while.

so far, the new trailer is great, although we haven't been able to go camping in it yet!!
I can tell we will miss sitting at the big dinette, surrounded by the nice windows, but I'm sure we will think the trade off worth it.

 

[APD]

What Hinda said....
We removed and used butyl tape around the front window frame as well. We also found the same trouble with the glass seal. Used Prematex 65A between the glass and the rubber seal and have had no problems since.
https://www.permatex.com/products/a...ex-flowable-silicone-windshield-glass-sealer/

 

[debbiej]

that looks like a good product! especially the flowable nature.
I found pics of our repair and will post in the gallery. some are kind of hard to visualize in context, but hope they help.

 

[PaintyLiz]

... One product DH used that made all the frame replacement stronger and easier, was called Durham's rock hard water putty. It is amazing stuff, and he used it to reinforce all his splices in the wood. ...

I am a HUGE fan of Durham's water putty! I use it a lot, it makes a great nail-hole-filler. You can even cast little statues and things in it I used it to fill in the ends of the pvc table legs I made.

However, one thing to be aware of - even when it has set up and dried thoroughly, water will make it soft again. It is not waterproof! Unfortunately! If you have an opportunity, paint over the water putty repairs and it will help somewhat. But it is not weatherproof or waterproof. If it even just really humid, it can get soft again.

Liz