Hello awellis3,
I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can, actually I'm an electrician by trade but a Mr Fixit the rest of the time
We purchased the trailer from the original owner who used it for 1 summer and decided to buy a camp instead, the camper was very clean and it came with many extra extension cords, outdoor mat, winter cover plus more so it was a good deal for us however I don't think the previous owners where in any way mechanically inclined or aware of basic maintenance and therefore didn't see potential problems.
I didn't notice how loose the shower was until I gave it a shake while out on our first trip, it wasn't ready to detach from the wall yet but I'm sure that after a couple more bumpy trips and it would have been on the floor.
These showers are basically the same as the small corner showers you see in the local building center and come apart very easily by removing the screws and silicone that hold the frame together and the door in place. Remember, the glass is tempered so place it in another room so it doesn't fall. Oh, and you don't have to remove the base.
Once the frame and door are out of the way you will see the mounting screws that hold the 2 support rails to the walls at either side of the shower space. When I removed both rails and silicone I saw that the mounting screws didn't really hold anything.
I couldn't do much with the rail mounted on the outside wall so I used a few anker screws and a few more regular but larger screws to remount that rail to the paneled wall, I also applied a ton of silicone to make sure it will not move.
The mounting rail against the bedroom was different, I was able to remove the bedroom door, hinges and the trim and pull back the panel on the bedroom side of the wall to slip a 2x4 (cut to fit) in place against the bathroom wall behind the shower support rail. I then siliconed and screwed the rail in place and put the wall back together with the trim and door (you may need some finishing nails to replace the staples they used), put the shower back together, re-silicone everything and it's now firmly in place.
There are many different styles of mechanical Tipout motors/gearboxes, mine has the motor&gearbox together in one housing mounted on the main trailer frame midway between the 2 rails the Tiput sits on. It has 2 shafts that extend out to geared wheels which fit in the notches on the rails.
...Anyway, one day I was opening the Tipout and it started skipping a gear causing the whole trailer to rock, it started as a couple broken teeth inside the gearbox on one of the small gears then eventually after moving the Tipout in and out a few times it stopped moving altogether. So I removed the box, there's an access panel under the trailer with screws holding it in place. The gearbox is easily removed and once you have it out you can take it apart and then you will see how light duty it really is. I contacted the company who supplied the box and they sent me new gears free of charge.
The cause of the broken gears is unknown however it may have been anything from the previous owner not stopping early enough when the Tipout reached the end of its travel or it may have something to do with the Tipout not being properly adjusted in the factory...so after replacing the gears I adjusted the Tipout so it would slide easier and close in straight.
Under the Tipout on the outer rails there are a few adjustments that set all angles of it and will help make it fit better against the trailer. It takes some monkeying around but worth it in the end.
It was a bit of work but totally worth it for me and you'll see soon after starting any project that these new trailers no matter what brand are all quickly assembled at the factory using many similar parts between them but if you stay on the ball with general maintenance as well as keep an eye on possible problems these campers should last a while.
Also, if you purchase a new trailer or one still on warranty make sure you check everything out and have them fix, adjust or replace whats wrong right away.
Hope this helped and enjoy your camper
Tim
Linear Mode
