1982 1500 Play-Mor questions

[Engineer Guy]

See a very comfy Play-Mor 1500 in action linked here:

Flaming Gorge UT Play-Mor Trip

Once I got the 'usual' combustion-impairing Spider Webs out of the Water Heater, Hot Showers made Life mighty good!

We named her after our fav 'Art' Film linked below. Not for everyone, but a really funny and touching Film IMO... Spectacular scenery down in OZ.

'Priscilla - Queen Of The Desert'

[frank_a]

Nice pics, and an awesome looking trailer!

Frank

[papmom35]

EG-What? No inside pics??? Or did I miss them somehow? Nice journal of your trip tho. It looks like the design changed a bit in the 7 years between yours and mine. Door is differnt and in a different spot. Mine is towards the front. I would LOVE to see the inside of yours if you can manage pics! Yours in fully loaded with gas and water and appliances. Any idea of the loaded weight and what do you tow it with?
Thanks for sharing!!

A little update on my saga:

After speaking with the local RV service place and checking out different avenues of used tow vehicles, it looks like the Paphut will be dry docked in my driveway for another year. Completely replacing the axel and wheels and putting on brakes and new electrical will be over $1500. No new axel but everything else will be about $1200. I would love to try to put on the new wheels and brakes etc myself but I don't have the facilities or skills and even my brother isn't sure about the electrical. So the Paphut will be a simple spare bedroom until I can save up some money to get up in running.

[frank_a]

Well Pam, a simple spare bedroom is not a bad idea. It's crazy how much everything costs, but just keep looking for a good TV, and eventually things WILL work out!

Frank

[papmom35]

Thanks Frank-I just have to keep the faith I guess. In the meantime I'm continuing to tweak the stripes on the outside, my friend is making my cushion covers and my nephew and I will be painting the cabinet doors white with some kind of accent trim very soon. Can't afford to do any agility this summer anyway so I guess everything happens for a reason!!

I'm enjoying your journal of the Sunspot. Driving through the next town over from me on Sat I spotted a Sunspot in a driveway. Made a U-turn hoping someone would be out in the yard so I could get a peak inside but no such luck.

[frank_a]

Gee, another Sunspot spotting! Interesting.

Gail ordered some high density foam for our new bed over the weekend, and we went to Joanne Fabrics and got pretty flowered material to cover them. I will do some more work on the back tonight to get ready for putting everything back together. I found the butyl tape I need, and pretty much have things in hand.

It's good to be taking your time and working on getting the interior the way you want it. Next year I bet you'll be camping and run out of time!

Frank

[papmom35]

Let's hope so!! Wouldn't it be funny if Gail and I picked out the same material? I got mine at Joanne's too!!
What is the Butyl tape for? Are you going to be able to repair all the wood rot?

[frank_a]

Butyl tape is used to seal aluminum window and door frames to rv and mobile home trailers. You pull the tape off one side, stick it where you're going to attach the frame, and it provides a pliable waterproof seal.

I'm repairing the worst of the wood rot Pam. There's other spots that could use attention, but are not critical. This has been like this a LONG time. Pat kept this trailer in a garage all the time, so it was some previous owner that kept it outside and didn't keep it covered that led to this condition. When I'm done with it, it will be almost like new, and probably better than it's been in a long, long time!

Frank

[papmom35]

Ooooh, good reminder that I will need to find a suitable cover for the Paphut for the winter time as I have no garage. So far no leaks even with the torrential downpours we've had lately but that doesn't mean there isn't something hiding between the interior plywood and the frame. Fingers crossed.

[frank_a]

There were no leaks in Spot either Pam, it was all hid, for the most part!

Gotta go get to work.

Frank

[Engineer Guy]

Here's some Interior pix in my Album from a few months ago. The Interior was about ding-free, and I really liked that aspect of this acquisition:

TT Interior Pix

I do want to get the TT on a Truck Scale, but haven't been motivated to do so. I'm guessing ~4k lbs. tops w/30 Gals. of Water under the Couch + Guy 'stuff', like 2 heavy Tool Boxes, loaded in. I also carried 10 'extra' Gallons of Mtn. Water in 2 Jerry Cans [~90 lbs.] I stored them vertically [of course] - nicely tucked in - under the rear Dinette Seat Cushion that was set elsewhere. This put Tool Boxes + Jerry Cans weight just in back of the TT Axle to moderate Tongue weight.

My TV is a 2000 Mitsubishi Montero Sport V6 3.5 Liter w/~200k Miles on it. See it here on a Microwave Tower site. Spec'd Tow capacity is 5k lbs.. It's been replaced in their Product Line by the 'Endeavor' [no opinion on it]. I just rebuilt the Tranny and put on new Load Range 'E' Tires each capable of >3,000 lbs. capacity. They're what was in stock, and have greater Tread depth to last longer. Nice ride.



The tow went well, and I spent a lot of time in lower Gears. The climb North out of Vernal UT is really something! I'm used to that over the years. The Rear Suspension is Coil Springs, and I put in inflatable, Spring-interior Air 'Bags' years ago. I can pump them up to 35 PSI max pronto, and that makes a huge difference in level.

These Towing Mirrors, purchased after reading many Reviews, worked nicely with the 8'-wide Play-Mor. We got a price break on Shipping, since both my TT Partner-in-Crime and I ordered them:

Serious Towing Mirrors

My TT came with a 30 lb. Propane Tank and A/C, amongst other additional weight loads. 6 Gals. in the WH + that Appliance weight might add 70 lbs., for example.

In 'ringing out' the left rear Tail Light issue mentioned, I confirmed that the 3 Fuses under the Couch mentioned prior were, indeed, for Running Lights; Left Turn; and Right Turn Light protection.

I left the Genny at Home. Pre-Flight tests indicated the 13.5k BTU Carrier A/C has a 'Soft Start' function built-in, via a dedicated Switch. This assumption was based on the fact it will start and run on 1 of the 2 - 15 Amp Circuits in the TT Power Center. If this were not the case, there's no way the A/C wouldn't trip a 15 Amp Circuit Breaker [~1,800 Watts]. Critical 115 VAC functions, like grinding Coffee, were run from my 400 Watt 'Cobra' Inverter.

2 - 6 VDC Deka Golf Cart Batteries added in the future, and a Relay'ed mod to charge while Towing, will allow for very decent Boondocking times.

[papmom35]

I had to take a hiatus for a year due to not having an appropriate Tow Vehicle to tow my precious Paphut but, as of Wednesday evening I am the proud owner of a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo Limited with a V8 engine (4.7 L)!!! (may my Outback RIP in South America). Its beautiful and I'm so excited that I'll finally be able to use my TTT. Now, the jeep doesn't have a tow package, but it was such a great deal I decided to go for it. My brother says I can get what I need at Walmart or CAP and he will put it on. He can probably even do the wiring according to the video I saw on etrailer.com. I think I can get everything for less than $200. I've been going back and forth about putting brakes on the trailer or not for now. Probably not due to money. I know I know, but the jeep is big enough to be able to handle this light trailer (remember it's only about 1500 lbs). I only plan on making 3 trips this year, 2 local and one up to Maine in October.

I still have to paint the cabinets inside and get the cushions recovered but now that I have an appropriate vehicle, everything is stepping into high gear. I've contacted etrailer to find out if they can get me a spare that matches the other two wheels/tires.

I will definitely have to have someone rewire the rig travelling lites so that will be a money issue but has to be done.

the Paphut made it through the winter (if you call what we had a real winter!) with no problems. I didn't cover it and we did have some torrential downpours but it seems to be water tight.

I'll have to take some time and read through the posts to catch up with you all.

Frank-if you are still around I hope the Sunline is doing well. I'll look for your thread to see the finished product!

HI EG and Gus!!

[frank_a]

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS! A V8 Grand Cherokee ought to do the trick (and more). I would still think about getting trailer brakes at some point, just because we love you and want you to be safe. Having said that, without brakes, if you just want to hook the running lights up so people know when you're braking, turning or have your headlights on, that is very, very easy to do. I would still install a standard 7 pole RV connector on your TV mostly so it's there for brakes and such in the future. All the RV connector needs initially from the TV is the 4 wires necessary for running lights - white for ground, brown for tail, yellow for left turn and green for right. You can get flat 4 pole adapters for them that would then connect to a flat 4 for your trailer. Most people only ground the white to the frame of the trailer, whereas I always run a ground to each light. Otherwise, I have been known to just use good duct tape (like Gorilla) to hold wires in place to run down the road. This stuff is NOT rocket science, otherwise I would be out in the cold.

Spot is doing just fine sitting under cover in my newly expanded pole barn right alongside my classic speedboat. Haven't done much with Spot over the winter, but I did install brakes on my boat trailer, and got some new larger (15") aluminum tires and wheels for it. A week ago today I landed a new project, namely a larger motor for my boat. I have a classic 100 hp motor on it now, and am in the beginning stages of tearing down two old 135 hp outboards and making one good one from the pieces.

Today is a big day, as we pick up our new puppy, a schnoodle named Buckley. We bought him about 5 weeks ago. He'll be 8 weeks next Tuesday. So we'll have a new camping companion!

Good luck with the new toy, and happy camping!

Frank

[papmom35]

Hey Frank! Congrats on the new addition!! I hope you'll post pics of your new puppy-the combo of schnauzer/poodle sounds great! The best of both breeds and a nice size for keeping you guys company!

Thanks for the info on the electical-i'll give it to my brother and together we should be able to install both the hitch and wiring in the next month.

I'm going to go into your album and see what I've missed since June, if anything. I'm so excited that one of my dreams actually came true and I didn't have to win the lottery (which I didn't LOL) to make it so. Of course that would have helped!

Have a great weekend. Snow here today and work tomorrow. Can't wait for May!!

[frank_a]

Thanks! Busy day today. Snow/sleet/rain here, crummy day to pick up a puppy, but it's always a good day when you pick up a puppy!

Yeah, somebody in Maryland won $640 million. while I had a ticket, I almost live in fear of winning that kind of money...

Good luck, pics later!

Frank