Bought My First RV!

This past week I bought my first RV.  I have to warn you though, it is not as exciting as you might be thinking.  While perusing an online marketplace, I came across a great deal on an older model pop-up trailer.  The ad said that it was a 1980 Starcraft pop-up and that it was in decent shape.  It had a couple of pictures and the family was overjoyed to go and look at it. 

When we showed up to view it, the owner walk us through what it had and how it worked.  He was also nice enough to point out all of the things that he new would require repair.  The biggest item was the lift system that raised the roof up.  The cables were broken on both posts on the left side.  He showed me how to get it up without the cables and indicated that there was new cables in the camper waiting to be installed.  He explained that the electrical system worked, but was unsure about the plumbing or refrigerator, as he had never used these items.

After some discussion (and some pushing from the family), we agreed to a price and took the trailer home that night.  Lucky for me I have a 2007 Chevy Colorado with a Class 3 towing package and it had no problem pulling the 11 foot trailer.  Backing up with an 11 foot trailer was a whole different adventure.  You see, I have a relatively long driveway that is about one car wide that opens up to a double car garage at the rear of my property.  After a number of tries (and a big help from the family) we finally got the trailer parked in the driveway.

I was anxious to start on the lift system repairs, however I wanted to put the trailer into the garage to work on it.  New problem.  The garage was FULL of junk.  After a couple of days of cleaning and organizing, I had enough room cleared to park the trailer and started a new adventure to get the trailer into the garage.  I used the truck to get the trailer as far into the garage as possible, then we worked on manually manoeuvring it into the proper position.  I commented on how it would be easier if there was a dolly type wheel on the front of the trailer, however there was only a pole.  Eventually we invented a system using a furniture dolly and got it parked.  After that, we just through some elbow grease into it and got it into the raised position.  You will never guess what I found in the camper after all of that...

The front WHEEL!

Seems it just wasn't attached.  Anyway, we started to gut the trailer to complete the repairs and I will create some future posts with pictures on just what we have done.  Can't wait for the first camping trip!