1982 1500 Play-Mor questions

[papmom35]

Awww thanks Frank! You've been a bigger help than you know! At least now I can speak somewhat intelligently with the RV dealer guy!

[frank_a]

No problem, isn't the web (in general) a great thing? I'm glad to help, been fooling around with trailers most of my long life. Still learning too. In fact, I think I know more now then when I was a teenager and pretty much knew everything!

Frank

[papmom35]

Whoo Hoo!! Great news! The RV shop called and said they found a brake drum that will fit my axle, hanging around their shop, AND Dexter said they have 2 drumbrakes left that will fit my axle and they are shipping one of them to the RV shop!! This means NO NEW AXLE NEEDED!!!
Also, Dave says my wheels are fine! NO new wheels needed (for now). He'll check out the tires and let me know if he thinks they can make the trip back to MA. He also has to figure out what is going on with the tow lights but all in all I'm betting the bill will be way lower than the $1000 I was freaking out over yesterday!! I feel sooooo much better!!

My mechanic back here is all set with the tow kit and it will be installed tomorrow. I think I might even splurge on 4 new brakes even if he says I only need two. He doesn't have a brake controller available so I will have to bring the car in again to get that installed.

All in all I'm a very happy camper!!

[Cliffmeister2000]

I think I might even splurge on 4 new brakes even if he says I only need two.

If the trailer has only one axle, it can only accept 2 brakes. One brake per wheel, that's the max.

[frank_a]

What that means is that your axle was already setup for brakes. That is very cool, good for you. A lot of time when I buy new trailer tires, I get them with the wheel anyways. You'd be surprised, there is not much difference in price sometimes.

A word about drums. Are they new? If so, great. If not they need to be turned. Now how about shoes and all? Like this:



Those 4 holes in a square pattern around the middle you see are what attach the shoes setup to the bracket on your axle. The drum is also the hub and is what your wheel attaches to:



Lights are easy to do, and should take no time. Generally if they're "messed up" it's because of a bad ground. I am somewhat unusual in that I run a ground to all my lights on every trailer I wire. Generally it insures operation.

Good luck!

Frank

[papmom35]

Oh Cliff-I'm so sorry for the confusion!! I meant splurge on 4 brakes instead of 2 for my TV!!
Frank-I'm leaving it up to the RV guy to figure out the brake situation. I know at least one of them is brandy new, coming straight from Dexter. I assumed the brake drum he has in the shop is new as he's selling it to me for a small discount and less the cost of shipping from Dexter. I'm not really sure if the axle was ever set up for the brakes but I have to say yes as his diagnosis to me yesterday was that the axle was so obsolete it wouldn't accept any of the new brakes you buy today. He was definitely surprised to find one in the shop that fit and I give credit to Dexter for telling him they had 2 brakes left that would fit my axle when they could have sold him a new axle.
As far as the wiring goes, he said it was actually cut and no longer connected to the trailer but yes, should be an easy fix.
He also said the tires seem to be automotive tires whatever that means.

I love the pics and diagrams!! I'm learning so much on here! Pretty soon I'll be able to turn my own drums and replace my own tires/wheels! Hey, my dad made me learn how a car works and how to change the oil and tires before he let me behind the wheel back when I was 16!!

One thing I forgot to ask Dave was if the bearings needed repacking-I'll ask him when he calls me with the final estimate.

[frank_a]

Drums won't do you any good if there is not a bracket (like I mentioned above) to accept the shoe assembly. There are only a few bolt configurations, mostly 4 but some 5. So did he find shoe assemblies on the axle? The drum fits over the shoe assembly when everything is bolted together and the shoes expand by changes in magnetic charge. The magnetic charge is activated by you braking when an brake controller for the trailer is hooked up.

Drums are also usually hubs. Hubs generally have an inner seal, and an inner and outer bearing (actually a set of cup or race and cone, the bearing). If there are any imperfections on the cups, everything should be swapped out. Usually kits to replace all the bearings and seals are very reasonably priced, like 15-30 bucks. It's just icky work.

If you learned how to change your oil and filter, you can learn this stuff, plus wiring is easy enough. It truly is the wonder of the web that allows this wonderful dissemination of information. It has helped me immeasurably in a number of pursuits. One of the great things is videos on youtube like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOKsU9fhbZ8

Keep up the good work!

Frank

[robertaw]

Congrats on your new trailer, it's absolutely adorable! I'm sure it will make life much easier as you can keep many doggie (and mom) supplies packed inside, leaving much less to do on trips.

I've been following along and was really bummed for you when I thought you had to resell right away. It's so great that it all worked out. You were really smart to have it taken to an RV place right away to have all the hard stuff done. Now you can just concentrate on the fun part - decorating!

I also wanted to chime in that if you ever decide to get a stronger TV, you don't need to get something new or go into debt over it. We have a '93 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo and it's a beast. It has a factory 5,000 lb tow package and tows very easily. It got us through many snow storms when we lived in the WV mountains also.

Even though we live in FL now and have a 2002 car and 2007 van, we still always tow with Jeep and drive it most often. The book value on it is likely next to nothing now. I'm sure there are lots of other good older TV's out there cheap if you ever decide you need one. Pay cash and then keep your current vehicle for everyday use.

Anyway, good luck to you and looking forward to seeing more pics when you get your new toy home.

[papmom35]

Hi Robertaw,
You have no idea how much I needed to hear your words right now. I just got the estimate from my mechanic on getting my TV ready to tow and it's going to cost $4800!! I only paid 5K for it a year ago. I can't believe all that's gone wrong in the past year:
1. Steering Rack and Pump need to be replaced
2. Exhaust is leaky
3. Tune up and ignition coil
4. Cracked head
5. All 4 brakes (expected)

This doesn't even include the tow package which I cancelled when I heard all this. I just put in $800 last month on 4 new tires and a whole new suspension. Another $800 when I first got the car for a timing belt (we knew this going in to the purchase) and I think there were some other things in between. Right now I commute 55 mi a day and live in New England so need AWD or 4WD and a reliable vehicle.

I am so bummed right now you can't even imagine! But, you have given me some hope.
Pam

[robertaw]

I'm so sorry to hear about your TV.

We have never had any serious problems with our Jeep. In the past decade or so we have only had to replace the water pump. Other than that just expected things like brakes, battery, and other routine maintenence. I don't know much about cars but I can highly recommend the same year and model Jeep that we own. I know nothing about other years or models, only my personal experience. As old as this car is, I see them of equal age on the road nearly everyday.

It sounds like it would be much cheaper for you to look for an older TV. Just have a mechanic give it a once over like you did the trailer. I sure hope everything works out for you!

EDIT: I should add that my cousin, who is a surgeon and could drive whatever he wants, drives a 70's something Jeep Cherokee. I guess other year models must be good cars too.

[frank_a]

I just got the estimate from my mechanic on getting my TV ready to tow and it's going to cost $4800!! I only paid 5K for it a year ago. I can't believe all that's gone wrong in the past year:
1. Steering Rack and Pump need to be replaced
2. Exhaust is leaky
3. Tune up and ignition coil
4. Cracked head
5. All 4 brakes (expected)

This doesn't even include the tow package which I cancelled when I heard all this. I just put in $800 last month on 4 new tires and a whole new suspension. Another $800 when I first got the car for a timing belt (we knew this going in to the purchase) and I think there were some other things in between. Right now I commute 55 mi a day and live in New England so need AWD or 4WD and a reliable vehicle.

Gee Pam, for that kinda money buy another vehicle! Tell me again what kind of vehicle you have? Is this mechanic somebody you have known a long time? Almost sounds like they're taking advantage of you, but I may very well be completely off-base there too.

Frank

[papmom35]

Hi Frank-my car is a 2001 Sub Outback wagon. 4 cyl.
Yes, I've been going to these guys for years, so has my dad and they have never steered us wrong. They've goofed up a couple of times but always made good. I trust them completely. I told them to do a really good inspection and to make sure this car was tow worthy and they did. He didn't like giving me the bad news, that's for sure. He's being very honest as to what is needed as a TV and what is needed to just use it everyday like I normally do. I've been looking on CL at the Jeep Laredos that Robertaw suggested and likes and there are quite a few in the area under 5K. Some are older, late 90's and some are early 2000's with varying miles. Most are at dealers. I'll lbe talking to my dad tonite and we will discussing options. I feel so bad as he was the one who bought me the outback last year and I am paying him back because I didn't think I would get financing. If I get rid of the OB in trade, I will still owe him $4K. in addition to what I pay for the new TV. Oiy.
Pam

[robertaw]

So you don't over pay.

http://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/Research-Center


Make sure you get something that has a factory tow package, that way you will know it has everything it needs as opposed to someone just throwing a hitch on it.

Our Jeep has around 150,000 miles on it and I honestly thought it would be valued under $1,000. I was suprised to look it up and see $2,975. Still cheaper than converting your current vehicle.

[Engineer Guy]

Well, shucks, to choose a Forum-compatible expletive...

I helped our Gal Pal, 'flying solo' at the time, buy a new Camry. We done well. I was amazed at how accurate the info below was on new Cars, and on each Option. Accurate to the dollar...

See the Used Car section w/Reviews to add to your arsenal of Shopping info...

MSN Autos

You've acquired one of the lightest Hardsides there is, so that's the good news. Towing 'needs' will be about as reasonable as they get.

[frank_a]

I agree, if ya got $4800, spend that money on a used vehicle with a tow package. There's gotta be lots of stuff on craigslist like that. Spend maybe 3 grand, and save the remainder for initial repairs. A TV with a tow package will have the right gearing, electrical hook-up, tranny cooler, stuff like that.

Good luck Pam!

Frank