May 2013:
Here I go .. but not so crazy this time.. at least I think so.. As you may know.. I had a very good offer on the GMC motor home and we realized the lack of use it would get so ..take the offer.. and off the GMC went. No RV but a whack of money in the bank…Good Suited me fine, if the guys at work bought one I could borrow it.. But nether of them were really keen on that.. Oh well.. But I was always scanning the ads for ..well everything.. even RV’s and I saw this trailer for sale ..Christina Lake… hmm close enough to have a look.. Dave & I did just that.. And to my surprise it was the best trailer I could have ever hoped for.. So I threw out a low offer and they accepted ! Wow.. What a deal.. This is a 1990 Jayco J-Series 2450. With the best floor plan I’ve seen.. better than what I saw at the RV show last fall…and those were new ones.. For 23 years old it’s as sturdy as the day it left the factory.. No signs of ever leaking.. and we know were to look.. Completely original inside & out.. No damage at all.. So home it came..
We used Dave’s Avy because I don’t have a brake controller yet. We did have to stop at the bottom of Fife Road hill just to make sure the bearings were ok and give the tail light bulbs a twist to get the connection better.. This trailer has not been towed for a few years.. but used as a extra home.. I was worried about the tires making the short trip.. They are rough.. and the spare is used on one side. But it all went ok .. in fact even without a proper equalizer hitch it towed great.. Wow very positive.. I believe this to be a good size trailer for our Avalanche’s to handle without worries.
Now it’s home have a good look test some things out .. make a list….
It’s not without issues… mostly outside.. that is where the weather has worked it’s magic over the years. The obvious things are:
The Tires: Bad enough that four new ones have been bought and the spare will return to it’s holder on the back..with a new cover. This gives piece of mind when traveling.. most likely the last tires I’ll buy..
The Awning: We could see cracks in the fabric.. and sure-nuf it’s dirty, wet and there is wasp nests up there..and they damaged one part.. you can see in the photo. too bad because it’s a nice one..or was. it’s a 14ft one..the plan is too install the 18 ft one from Dave’s old Award trailer.. it’s still good and that will give us one that covers the whole lenth of the trailer..
The Fridge Vent Cover: It was toast ! Cracked and on the verge of being a leak.. We’ve replaced it with the one from the Award.
Note Here.. that we are wrecking out Dave’s old Award trailer.. it has already donated parts and pieces to other’s including the fridge that went into the GMC.. Going to be handy for a few more goodies..
The 30 amp connection box door: It’s cracked and won’t close anymore.. See above photo.. I’ll have to buy a new one.
The Range Hood Vent: It was / is missing the flap that keeps the critters out.. The Award had a good one..
The Bathroom Door Latch: The only thing (for now) in need of replacing inside.. The Award has a good one..
The Not Bad Stuff !
The pump and the water tank are under the bed and accessed by this door on the rear of the trailer.. Handy for repairs and winterizing ! Just remember to turn it off at night ! Check out the carpet color.. yup same as our Award trailer.. Dusty Rose.
This is the most desirable feature of the trailer.. a walk-around bed.. no more crawling over each other.. There’s a 60″ wide mattress there now but a bigger one will fit.. Opening windows on three sides ..Sooo good cause we like fresh air.. And I’d like to point out that those windows are my favorite louvered ones.. when they are open the rain can’t come in.. Why don’t they still use them ??
A kitchen with everything you’d expect. Double sink, 4 burner stove with oven, two door fridge.. lots of storage, and the all important counter space for the coffee maker. all the upholstery and window dressings is in perfect condition. Every light works ! And yes the clock too.. One of the first things we did was to plug the power in.. The A/C works great.. The fridge got cold ! The info panel works ! A quick clean and we are moving in..
Ahh the Bathroom.. There’s a tub /shower that I could actually use ! And you can brush your teeth and crap with the door closed ! It’s a bit bigger than what we had in the Award. It will work just fine.
Now We need to test the plumbing:
NO leaks ! I put some water in the tank and the pump fired up and flushed the left over anti-freeze out of the lines… But the pump would not shut down after the pressure was up.. We put our pressure gauge tester on the pump and it would go to the 32 psi like it should.. so Dave lubed the sensor up and adjusted it and boom worked as it should.. So then I hooked up the city water and that was good too.. NO Leaks ! Not even the faucets.. WE HAVE WATER..
Let’s Check the Propane !
The trailer came with two 20 lb tanks.. they don’t look old but one is out dated .As well one was empty the other feels like it was half full. It’s a simple and typical trailer system.. The stove lit up perfectly and the furnace fired up and the heat was coming out.. no problems .. The hot water tank was a little more work though.. The main burner worked but the pilot would not light.. Due to some critter making a home in there .. the air hose evicted the little guy.. Now the heater works perfectly.. So all is good with the propane.. will need at least one new tank though.
The Shopping trip !
During our trip to Calgary and Edmonton I stopped at several RV parts stores and bought all the necessary bits & pieces. Including: two Max Air vent covers.(we like to leave the roof vents open). Spare Tire cover. ( cause I’m a neat freak). New sewer hose & fittings. New Electrical cord door. New Water tank fill door. (old one looks gross). New Tail Lights.. ( just like old ones but not broken) . Some RV caulking / sealant.. And a few other bits.
Time To get Started :
The first thing I got done was to change out the tail lights. Easy when you use the same but newer..I then sealed them with the new stuff. Next I need to get up on the roof and clean up the old sealant.. But it started to rain. So… I’ll talk about some of the things I plan to do..
Cleaning the Exterior :
So in these two photos you can see what Mother Nature has done to the caulking.. Yup things are growing.. in the top photo I went to town on a part.. a little too much.. started to remove the paint Yikes ! I’ll have to be more careful. But it’s how this trailer will be after a good bath..Then I’ll use the new clear sealant and cleaning will be easier. But first I’ll need to fix up the roof..
The Batteries :
The way they had it was with the extra battery in under the dinette seat.. I’m not fond of having batteries inside.. The battery tray you see in the photo will only hold one battery.. So the plan here is to remove the rear cross piece and weld four of them back to the trailer frame so the two can sit side by side.. That works better. These are large batteries which makes camping without plug-in power for a week possible. Of the two batteries that came with the trailer .. only one was good..
The Bath :
The weather kinda turned for the worst here.. So I decided to use the shop at work to do the roof and the cleaning.. so tonight I towed the Jayco over there and gave it a bath.. I used degreaser on the harsh spots.. Rust jelly on the rust.. and the whole trailer got a wash with “Super Clean” my favorite RV cleaner.. It is of coarse diluted half & half.. Brings the shine back to the siding..
Fixin.. the Roof:
Well I got the whole roof all re-caulked.. The sun had curled some of the roof coating.. See photo below..
Although it had not leaked yet it would if left this way.. I also got to reattach the fridge vent cover.. in a better way.. While I was working on the roof Maureen was inside giving the Jayco a wipe down and vacuum.
Some New Parts :
While in the shop I replaced the power cord door and the stove hood vent.
Now doesn’t that look better.. works better too..
Also while in the shop I did a very thorough cleaning of the windows.. The louvered windows are great but they are tricky to clean and the opening mechanism needs some lube now and then.. Then I brought it back home..
In this photo that brown spare is still on the rear of the trailer.. The proper white spoke is back now and I’ve since painted the spare RV white…
Cleaning The Awning:
The Norseman Awning has some good features.. So maybe thinking of keeping it.. I’ll see if it can be repaired. So I gave the awning a MUCH needed bath.. Looks way better but those tears bug me.. Mostly (We Hope) the awning is needed for shade not rain.. So I’m thinking just use it this year.
Wheels & Brakes:
Finally got the trailer over to Peter’s to change over the tires and do the service on the bearings and brakes. Everything looked in good order.. except the wiring connection to the brakes on the rear wheels was corroded, and needed to be repaired. No wonder it seemed like there were no brakes…only half were working. We installed new grease seals and repacked the bearings. And of coarse mounted the four new tires. The spare was still good and two of the old tires are worth keeping.
Fixing The small Things:
There were a few things that needed fixing inside.. The fridge light (fixed) , The bed room door was of it’s track (fixed) I installed a new (closable) heat vent in the kitchen.. they had taped a piece of cardboard over it !
I have also changed out three of the lights for LED ones that I had. Just the ones we think would get left on to see in the dark.. The hall light, and the two over the head of the bed. I have more should we decide they are better. They certainly use less power when your running on battery alone.
The messes are done.. including cleaning the two roof vents.. and they now have the covers installed on them so they can be left open. Time to move in.. Now that all these things are in good order.. the Jayco looks much newer that it is. It truly does not seem like a 23 year old trailer. It’s clean and everything works as it should.
I’m just putting the finishing touches on some of the exterior now.. Painted the hot water & furnace covers, they were grey and looked out of place.. they are now RV white and look like they belong..
I’ve also welded the spare tire carrier to the bumper.. it was clamped and had a mechanism for folding it down ?? I could maybe see the need for that if it was in front of the access door but it’s not…so it’s much stronger now.. And the bumper got a new Brown paint job. This was the factory color for the frame. I also repainted the step and I’m in the process of painting the Hitch end too.
I’ve now finished the trays for the two batteries. And everything got a new coat of brown paint.. Just need to put things back and we are done.. Time for a “Shake Down” run..
The Jayco spent some time in the Franknport but mostly it’s been in the driveway and being used as a spare room.. It’s been hot and when we used the AC it worked great. And I’ve been running the fridge for weeks now and that’s working great too.. We are looking forward to spending the first week in August in the Jayco.. That will be it’s second trip.
in the Jayco now.. three years to the family camp.. Now has new awing Fabric installed on the frame. We got a foam topper on the bed so it’s a bit more comfy… This spring while testing things after winter storage.. the fridge decided to give up it’s duties. A newer one was found and we are good, everything works as it should..
Sadly though a Fifth wheel 31 ft Challenger has come to live with us.. and it’s time to move up. bigger newer and Deluxe! So the fate of the Jayco is unknown for now.
Update : We did sell the trailer and I delivered it to a new home not far away.
