vintage terry travel trailer help!!!

[emerge36]

i just bought a terry travel trailer that looks to be a 1975 model. i cannot find any identifying numbers or such. any help would be greatly appreciated! im new to campers, and im getting ready to do some remodeling and wanted to try and source some kind of manual for it so i can figure out how to set it up( sewage, hot water heater) and possibly redo some electrical wiring. thanks in advance!

[gdhillard]

Plumbing pretty much done today. TO finally tore out all the old stuff, years of patching and cobbling together, and ran pex all the way. Only a tiny bit of moisture at this point, at one joint. Next, the furnace, which cuts off the pilot every time the thermostat shuts down the burners.

[westend]

Thanks for the details. You've done an awesome job on it! BTW, the new Retro trailers use the same color scheme as yours on the exterior (maybe you knew that).

I've got some solar, too. Thinking of getting more wattage as free power is just too good to pass up.

[gdhillard]

The paint job is just Rustoleum, gloss white and light blue, laid on with a brush, after cleaning up the surface with a wire brush on a hand drill. Took a couple of days, and cost about $50. The decal on the back is a copy of the old one I found on eBay for about $20. This is my first trailer, although I have had three motor homes, and a camper van. The whole job is mostly about getting it usable and pretty enough, not really perfect, for as money as I can spare. I think I will have it all done for under $5,000, solar and tankless water heater includedand in good enough shape to use for the next several years with little repair or upkeep.

[gdhillard]

WHen I got the trailer, the roof was sagging, patched with tar and silicon, and kept under a tart for the last two owners. The inside was pretty dry, since the tarp had gone on early, rather than too late. There is a local sheet metal shop in Roanoke, B+M, with a bunch of old guys interested in problem solving, and I took the trailer there, and asked about metal roof. I had priced out a rubber roof at around $1500, but really wanted to make it stronger, as well as water proof. The had the sheet metal there, a single sheet of .040 aluminum, and together we planned out the fold over and rivet on job. I hope that this makes the roof both very strong, in terms of flying off, and very water tight, with a good over lap over the existing sides, as well as a strip of butyl rubber under the seam, squished out by the rivets. The roof is also secured by fan and the vent, as well as the fridge vent and the tank vent, both of which are thick metal covers that screw down through the roof into the wood of the trailer. I think it will last, and stay dry.

[westend]

Gotta' post one glamour shot of your baby--You've done a great job with her!



BTW, tell us more about that roof, please.

[gdhillard]

Inside pics http://imgur.com/a/bdmRA

[westend]

gdhillard wrote:
I just started fixing up a 1969 Terry, 18 feet. I put a very solid roof on, solar and am currently redoing the plumbing. Love this thing!

http://imgur.com/a/HZKGe

Metal roof, new vents, and a sweet new paint job. Outstanding!

Do you have any more pictures, the interior, maybe?

Wonder how the OP is getting along with his '75?

[gdhillard]

I just started fixing up a 1969 Terry, 18 feet. I put a very solid roof on, solar and am currently redoing the plumbing. Love this thing!

http://imgur.com/a/HZKGe

[BarneyS]

Diesel0027 wrote:
Hi I just bought a 1975 24' Terry Travel trailer.
It just happened to come with the original manuals.
If anyone needs any info please contact me and
I can pass on what I have with pics or scans.

You might consider opening a free Dropbox account and uploading the manual, pictures, and anything else you feel appropriate to it. Then you can just supply the link to anyone who would like it and they can then download what they need. That is what I have done for many hitch manuals, appliance manuals etc.
Barney

[Diesel0027]

Hi I just bought a 1975 24' Terry Travel trailer.
It just happened to come with the original manuals.
If anyone needs any info please contact me and
I can pass on what I have with pics or scans.

[OldTerryTom]

I realize this is a very old post, but do you still have the manuals for your 1975 Terry?

[way2roll]

Diesel0027 hasn't been on the forum in 10 years. 

[westend]

Welcome to the Forum. Your Terry looks to be a well built TT.

Yes, the compressor was probably for the original water system My '71 Starcraft had that system and I retained it. The diaphragm pumps like this are easy to maintain and repair. There are a few reasons i chose to keep the air pressure over water system: 1)quiet and doesn't cycle every time a faucet or toilet is used 2)if it fails while underway and can't be fixed, I carry an inflator that will put all back in order, immediately. If the inflator fails, I can drive to a filling station, fill with air, and be back in business. 3) Good reliability from these pumps (low part count) and is about as easy as it gets for winterization--drain tank, blow lines, etc.

You're probably better off by eliminating most of the 12v wiring that is accessible and starting from scratch--new converter, distribution panel, batteries, etc. and wiring it all the correct way. If you decide to gut the inside, your AC can be upgraded, too. If you want some pictures and ideas about how to go about some of this, you can click the link in my signature line, the Cowboy/Hilton.

Good luck with your Terry!

[Gdetrailer]

Sounds to me like your trailer used an old school method of an air compressor to pressurize the water tank.

While it did work it is less than ideal (think of what happens when a tank springs a leak) and someone may have simply disconnected the air pump and converted the system to a non pressurized tank as you would find on newer RVs. They may have just skipped having a water pump if they always camped in places with city water hookups.

Sounds like there was a lot of modifications done and you will need to really spend some time sorting out all the systems...