Franklin 350 Royal Executive

[PRohr]

Well the wife and I just picked up a camper. We now own a 1988 Franklin Model 350 Royal Executive. We got it for free. Just had to haul it out of the camp ground. The previous owner's daughter works with my wife. The campground he had the camper at closed up and was auctioned off. He bought the camper brand new in '93 and the dealer took it to the grounds, set it up and it's never moved until yesterday. It needs a good bath and I have some running light issues... . my left turn signal on the truck lights up the right signal on the trailer..... etc. Other than that it's some cosmetic stuff as he took great care of it. Now my big question is..... The camper has two tip outs. I have never seen a tip out until I saw this camper. I have only seen sliders. When the tip outs are tipped in there is hole in the side of the camper. We tarped them off to get them home but have any of you made some block off panels that can be used for transport? Anyone have any good ideas or tips to help me with the brake, TS and running lights besides rolling up my sleeves and breaking out the test light? I'll get some pics tonight and post them up.

 

[PRohr]

Pics:

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Two tipouts:

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As you can see it needs a bath and some TLC:

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Kitchen area:

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Living Room area:

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We have the table and chairs out and in the garage as Christina is still cleaning them up and cleaning the inside... . I'll be more likely to go camping since this has A/C and I can sleep comfortably on a bed. I have some stuff to touch up but nothing a wire brush and some Rust Bullet or KBS Rustseal won't fix. I need to weld up a new propane tank holder/bracket up front so that will be fun as I get to fab something. I am dreading the wiring. I might pick up one of those Power Probe III's to help me with that.

I was noticing Dakota was really interested in the rear of the trailer... . sniffing around and I was smelling a faint scent of sewer. So I checked the valves and the one for the black water was half open so I shut it and started crawling under the trailer looking at the wiring. I found where the smell is coming from..... the corner of the holding tank is cracked. I'll see if I can get a pic but can it be patched or are these easy to swap out? Seems like it's not that hard to get to depending on how the inlet pipes are routed.

 

[PRohr]

No missing pieces... . it will close up if I push it back together... . Any ideas or an I replacing it:

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[SGBARRACUDA]

Trailers with tip out's were intended and better suited as park models. As you mentioned when you tip then in ,it leaves a big hole. If you were looking at using it for camping, you may be better off doin a little fixing on it and selling it to buy one more suited to your needs.

 

[HBarlow]

Looks good for the price you paid but Baracuda above is correct. That is a park model trailer not a travel trailer. It was designed and built to be set up semi-permanently at a site on stands or blocks (to support the somewhat weak frame) not towed on the highways.

I owned a 35' park model 30+ years ago when I was on active duty in San Diego and single. It had two hinged tip out room extensions similar to the one pictured above but it had hinged panels across the openings that flipped up or down (don't remember) to fill in the side wall openings when the tip outs were folded in for moving the trailer. The one I owned had residential plumbing fittings and no holding tanks.

 

[khalsey]

I had good luck repairing a blackwater tank that was busted like yours on a trailer I had a couple of years ago. I desolved some ABS plastic fitting shavings in some acetone until fairly thick then applied it to busted area of tank after cleaning it real good with abs cleaner then overlaping area with a fiberglass mat. I then applied ABS cement over the area three times letting it cure in between applications. Wife and I took the trailer on a 5000 mile 3 1/2 month trip immediately after that and it was still good when we sold it a couple of months later.

 

[PRohr]

Thanks guys. My wife wants to find a camp ground and park it so no worries there. I pulled the tank out and I'm glad I did as it had other cracks in it so I am going to get a new one. I found the P/N on the top of the tank and can get a replacement for $180... . The only issue is the old one had the toilet pipe and vent pipe glued to the original tank. Are there adapters or rubber gaskets for the new pipe to fit in the holes I have to cut on the top of the new holding tank?

 

[HBarlow]

I can't provide specific answers but generally speaking you should be able to find the plumbing parts you need at a home improvement store.

 

[PRohr]

I was wondering about that since it's just 3" ABS piping. I'll get the new tank and then head to Lowe's and see what they have.

 

[Jim W]

Are you a member of RVNET? Great site for answers on trailers and camping. I am sure someone on this site has replaced the black water tank on their camper.

Here is the web site RV. Net : RV. Net: RV Forums, an online community for RVers If you are not a member and did not know about it.

Jim

 

[PRohr]

Thanks Jim.