Fleetwood Gearbox Toy Hauler Refresh

[J.Cole]

About 3 weeks ago a friend of mine said he wanted to sell his toy hauler. I was kinda in the market for one. Not too seriously, but kept an eye on the market just in case i found one for a good deal. I ended up buying it from him with it for what i think was a good deal and this way it will stay in our group. The trailer is a 2004 Fleetwood Gearbox 300FS. I knew a basic history of the trailer, what he had done to it since owning it, and we both know the original owners of the thing. I've camped in it with him a few times so i knew that every thing in and about the trailer works. I knew the front of it was starting to delaminate some but i wasn't too concerned about that. For the price i knew i could fix it and still be ahead value wise. Once i cleaned the inside and washed the out side of it, i started to come up with a plan for it. The reason I liked and wanted a Gearbox trailer instead of other brands is because i can fit my 4runner inside and it is within the weight rating. No changing tires to rollers or having to do anything special. Just drive in and strap it down.

Overall I want to:
1. Fix the front wall thats starting to delaminate
2. Replace all the lights inside and out with LED's
3. New escape hatch cover over rear bunk bed
4. New fender skirt on the outside passenger side
5. New outside awning
6. New cargo hooks on the ground
7. New wall outlets with USB ports
8. New mattresses in the front bed and bunk bed in the rear
9. New screen and lock for front door
10. New stereo deck inside (it has outdoor speakers already)

 

[J.Cole]

First thing up is the front wall. I starting reading about Gearbox's online and realized these things are known for de-lamination problems. The front wall is by far the worst. There is a couple small spots on the driver side but i don't think its worth it to try to fix it yet. I'll keep an eye on it and see if it worsens over the next year. The driver side doesn't seem to have any spots. I started to take the front wall apart and realized it leaked pretty bad. It didn't leak into the interior (yet) but the whole front wall was pretty rotted along with the two front corners of the roof.

 

[J.Cole]

More pics of tearing the front apart and finding all the rot.

This is the front fiberglass piece. It was only being held on by the molding and the running lights that were screwed in.

 

[Leadfoot21]

Please post lots of pictures I have an application I can apply it to !

 

[J.Cole]

After all the tear down it was time to start piecing it back together. I got new 5mm plywood and primed it to try to prevent any mold or rot in the future. The roof was better in some spots than other on the top side but still looked fine on the inside. So instead of cutting out and patching in new roof piece, 5mm plywood was laid down on the top side and glued down. That surprised me how much stronger it made the whole roof of the front bed area.

 

[J.Cole]

And here was what i got done today. Pretty much finished the roof portion. The patch pieces are all in place and screwed down with new insulation stuffed under. I still need to make some curved blocks that match the shape of the curve from the roof to the front wall. Tomorrow i plan on starting on building the front wall. The plan is to lay 5mm plywood down first, frame it, put foam insulation in, then lay 5mm plywood over to cover the insulation. From the factory they didn't put the second sheet of plywood over the framed potion, and i think thats half the reason the front de laminated so bad. All it had to hold onto was the skinny 2x2 studs. Which now makes sense why the trim molding and running lights were the only thing holding the piece on. Anyway heres some pictures from today.

 

[J.Cole]

Please post lots of pictures I have an application I can apply it to !

Sweet. I'll try to explain the pictures as i go too. This whole Toy hauler / RV world is new to me 😂

 

[Leadfoot21]

My brother has a beautiful 5th wheel my old boss sold him for 1500 ( yes for real) and it had never been used but sat outside for a decade . They cleaned it up real good and have just kept siliconing the area that had leaked but it is to a point the kitchen wall feels like a sponge !

 

[J.Cole]

I have a feeling this one would have been pretty soft after it got soaked. You can tell where this one was re siliconed in attempt to stop the leaking. I'm happy I got it in the summer time and not in the dead of winter lol

 

[welndmn]

For RV's, I always like spray foam for insulation over normal Fiberglass.

 

[J.Cole]

For RV's, I always like spray foam for insulation over normal Fiberglass.

I didn’t even think about spray foam insulation. I did a little reading on other sites and saw some people using rigid foam instead of the fiberglass.

 

[J.Cole]

Update from the past couple of weeks. I started back on the font wall and realized I needed new corner molding to go in the inside corner where the side walls and front walls meet. I ordered the molding and it took a week to be delivered. In the mean time I put a new door handle / lock on the front door (old one was missing the deadbolt lock) and put new handles on the fridge / freezer (old ones were cracked). Once the molding came in the mail it was cut and taped into place using double stick tape. Took most of a day to get the bottom portion buttoned up. On the inside of the cargo area I cut and fit a piece of thicker plywood i had laying around. Reason for that is i was scared i would blow a hole in the thin luan plywood by throwing wood blocks or chairs or something into the cargo area. Then the 5mm luan plywood laid over that, then the studs.

The total width of the trailer inside diameter is 99 1/2". Being I can only find the 5mm luan in 4x8 sheets, two pieces were needed to make the bottom portion. First piece was 96" and the second piece was 3 1/2". Thats the reason for the two studs super close on the passenger side. The same thing was done on the upper wall portion.

I did the top wall portion with 3 pieces. A full 4x8 sheet on the bottom right, another 3 1/2" wide strip the remaining length on the left, and a 4 ft by something strip along the top right.

This is what it looks like at the moment. I cut the rest of studs to width on the table saw and got them painted. Now i just need to cut them to length and screw them in.

 

[Projectjunkie]

Very cool, I appreciate the pics and tech

 

[J.Cole]

Worked on this for a majority of the day yesterday until it got too hot. When I went inside the shop clock said 104* 😂 I was able to finish all the studs for the upper portion of the wall, some cross supports for the walls, and some curved blocks along the rood line to help follow the curve where the roof comes down to the front wall. Then once all those pieces were in place I drilled holes in the necessary places to run all the wires through.

Set up to start cutting the studs to length.

Working on drilling holes and running the wires to the correct places.

The curved blocks along the roofs edge to help support the new fiberglass. The factory had 3 total for the whole thing. 2 on each end and 1 in the middle. This should add better / more support.

Then two strips of OSB were cut and screwed in place. I'm going to stuff some insulation in there before it gets covered up for good.

And this is where I wrapped up yesterday. The cross studs that are offset were done so to make screwing them in easier. The top ones are all in line to cover / support to seam where the two pieces of 5mm luan meet up. I'll put some screws in from the inside to pull it together the last bit. After that it will be onto insulation. I had bought 1.5" rigid foam insulation but i think thats going to be too thick. I'll probably be returning that for 1" thick this week.

 

[J.Cole]

Very cool, I appreciate the pics and tech

Thanks. I'm hoping it will help at least 1 person 😂

 

[arse_sidewards]

Thanks. I'm hoping it will help at least 1 person 😂

Yeah, helps me appreciate how well built bus bodies are.

 

[aczlan]

Get a couple cans of great stuff professional (with a foam gun) and use that to fill in that gap at the roof and to seal around the sheets you put in the flat part on the front.
It will keep heat/colt out much better that way.

Aaron Z

 

[CarterKraft]

I hoe it got finished.

 

[chaplinfj60]

loctight marine grade adhesive works like a champ to seal and glue shit together too. omg good

 

[J.Cole]

Its been a while since I've updated this. I've got the front wall insulated and luan plywood laid over the top. The biggest hang up was waiting on the glue for the fiberglass. I bought a gallon of 3M 1357 contact adhesive and it took a month to show up lol. The first place said they couldn't ship to my address, ordered from a second place same thing, third place i ordered from worked and i got the glue last week. In the mean time I've put all new LED lights inside and a new fender skirt on the passenger side. I'll post pictures of everything a little later.

 

[J.Cole]

I hoe it got finished.

It's getting there slowly

loctight marine grade adhesive works like a champ to seal and glue shit together too. omg good

I used Loctight PL Max in places while building the front wall. I thought it worked crazy good.

 

[chaplinfj60]

It's getting there slowly




I used Loctight PL Max in places while building the front wall. I thought it worked crazy good.

 

[CarterKraft]

It's getting there slowly




I used Loctight PL Max in places while building the front wall. I thought it worked crazy good.

I use PL on speaker boxes and it is awesome. It expands and has excellent strength.

 

[J.Cole]

It's time for a real update. I was waiting to do one big update rather than a bunch of small ones.

I went to the DMV last week and got the registration taken care of. My friend who I bought it from never put it in his name, so I needed some info from the person he bought it from. That guy was a friend of a friend kinda thing so it was just a matter of getting ahold of him. Got the title in the mail Friday so now it's registered an insured in my name.

So now picking up where I left off, I have the front wall all built so it was time for insulation. I used R7.5 1.5". I shot spray foam in between the gap between the two horizontal pieces and in some places where I didn't cut the insulation straight or too short.

Next it was time to cover the insulation. I used 5mm luan again for the outer layer. It was still the thinnest i could find locally in 4x8 sheets. I originally wanted 1/8 but couldn't seem to find it. The wall studs were cut to the correct thickness on the table saw so once the 5mm plywood goes over the insulation, it will be just a hair under flush with the side fiberglass wall. Which will make the new fiberglass layer on the front wall flush with the side walls.

For the curved piece at the top where the roof meets, I used a piece of coroplast plastic. I tried to get the plywood to bend and curve to the shape but I could't get it to take shape without it cracking. I tried to cut slits in the wood as a relief cut and tried a couple different kinds of thin plywood but still couldn't get it. I saw anther guy on a different forum used the coroplast in the same spot and had god results so I decided to go that route.

Next was the diamond plate. I put butyl tape along the edges and stapled it on. Once the diamond plate was on I could start to see the light at the end of the tunnel 😂

Next thing I need to do is glue the front fiberglass sheet on. I'm going to have some friends come over and help with that part. The fiberglass sheet is super flimsy and I'm afraid if just my dad and I try to do it, it will fold over and crack.

I also put LED lights all throughout the inside and the outside porch lights. They are brighter but not so bright inside that its annoying. The old lights would start to dim when you turn them all on so I'm sure the LED's are more efficient.

Nest time I post an update I'll get pictures of the new fender skirt on the passenger side. It was missing the fender when I got it so I ordered a new one. Looks way better with it on there.