New Camper, Just In Time For Our Week At The Tractor Show

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,404]

Was talking to a good friend of mine last weekend at the coffee shop we meet up at every weekend, his son (also a good friend of mine) sadly passed away about three months ago, so he has been busy settling all of that. Anyway he brought it up to me last weekend that he was ready to sell some things, and was wondering if I might be interested in the camper his son had. We have been talking about buying one for a while, for years I have attended various tractor shows and just camped in a tent for the weekend, or a whole week in the case of our show that’s right around the corner. Never has bothered me to sleep in a tent, but Courtney can’t stand sleeping in a tent and informed me after our show last year that if she was going to go this year we were either renting a motel room for a week or buying a camper. That combined with the fact that I knew Rick was going through a rough enough time and not wanting him to have to deal with all the tire kickers and idiots that come with selling something these days, I went ahead and wrote him a check for it this morning. 

It’s a 2006 Forest River Wildwood LE 27’. We went and picked it up tonight after work, needs some cleaning from sitting for a while, Courtney is going to start on that tomorrow while I put 4 new tires on it and check bearings and all that good stuff before we drag it 100 miles to the show grounds next weekend. Will get more pictures of the inside tomorrow. 
 

 

Almost forgot the free boat that came with it too, he told me to get it out of there as well, no title and the floor is pretty well rotted out, but has a lot of good scrap aluminum in the framework, and two good pontoons I’m going to try and sell to someone wanting to build a floating dock. All I really wanted or had a use for was the trailer. Offered to buy it from him but he insisted that I drag it out to the farm and dispose of it. 
 

 

[ri702bill 9,652]

Nice!! An Aluminum Room & Party Barge package deal...

[ebinmaine 73,580]

Nice catch on the camper Bryce. 

Trina's been looking for a small one up here. 

[953 nut 60,893]

8 hours ago, ClassicTractorProfessor said:

Forest River Wildwood LE 27’.

After having camped out in a tent the travel trailer will seem like a mansion on wheels.            

[c-series don 10,254]

Funny you should post this @ClassicTractorProfessor ! My wife and I just bought a 27’ Forest River too! We got it in August and have used it three times already. Here’s our first trip to the ocean on Eastern Long Island. It’s a short trip from home,20-30 minutes but felt like a real getaway! Have to air down to 15psi in the truck and trailer or you will get stuck in the soft sand. 

[Beap52 1,535]

Sorry for your friend's loss of his son and your loss of a good friend.  Loss of a child is a difficult part of life and dispersing their possessions is hard as well.

 

While checking the bearing and getting new wheels, you might take a look at the shackles and their bolts.  

 

When jacking the trailer up, in order to repack our wheel bearings, a couple weeks ago and saw some movement on equalizer and shackle bolts.  Below is what I found.  Local farm and home supply had everything (~$97) except for equalizer (~$28 from online).

 

As you can see the bolt is grooved,  The plastic bushing is worn through and the bolt hole on one end of the shackle is egg shaped.  Of course this is a 1983 model and I don't think they have been replaced.  Many suggest bronze bushing and wet bolts for longevity.  Now that I have new bolts, I'll just keep an eye on the plastic bushings for wear and  tear.  We don't pull this trailer over 1,000 miles a year.

 

As we age, we appreciate the air conditioner but especially the "plastic throne" in the little room  for the midnight visit. 

Edited Saturday at 11:52 PM by Beap52
updating

[Pullstart 67,383]

Awesome Bryce!  Glad to hear from you, hope all is well!  We are planning to upgrade to a different camper soon.  Flights are booked to hopefully get it next week!  It’s only 2100 miles away, what could possibly go wrong?

 

Instead of pulling the 5th wheel toy hauler, we plan to get an enclosed trailer to haul our toys.  
 

8.3 Cummins and 6 speed Allison, new tires are on order in Reno as well.

[wallfish 18,416]

21 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

new tires are on order in Reno as well.

Good, you seem to have a black cloud over your head when it comes to blowing tires on the road trips! 

That looks like a really sweat set up. Talk about Glamping

[Pullstart 67,383]

1 minute ago, wallfish said:

Talk about Glamping

Just trying to keep up with the Bo’ses!  @stevebo 

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,404]

Nice rig Kevin, we wouldn’t know what to do with something that big, or where to put it  I still haven’t figured out the exact combination of JunkTetris I’m playing to be able to fit ours in the shop when we’re not using it, and still be able to use the shop for other projects. Not sure if I need a bigger shop, or less junk 

 

Spent most of the day today working on getting things ready to go next weekend. Courtney made a pretty good sized dent in getting everything cleaned out and deep cleaning the trailer, while I spent the afternoon replacing tires and all new bearings in all 4 hubs. Had one that was questionable, and since it’s a 60 mile round trip to the nearest parts store I just went ahead and replaced them all while I was there. Still have to figure out why I didn’t have any trailer brakes on the trip home Friday night, not sure if it’s a problem with the trailer or the brake controller in my truck, so plan on figuring that out tomorrow, as well as installing new batteries and propane tanks and hooking up to utilities to test everything. Also need to get the weight distribution hitch that came with it set up, then we should be ready to drag it to the show grounds and get it set up to be our home for a week while we are setting up for the show. If it pulls anything like our stock trailer I might need to take a couple gas cans along to feed the thirsty 6.0 

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,557]

4 hours ago, Pullstart said:

Just trying to keep up with the Bo’ses!  @stevebo 

Yep. Only trip we made so far with this big girl is to the big show. Planning on a 4 nighter to visit Brennanbo this fall in Newport RI at college. 

[SylvanLakeWH 28,931]

7 hours ago, Pullstart said:

 

When it's ready for field trials have Coleen stand by to tow it out of the mud...!!! 

[squonk 44,091]

You guys go through campers like most of us go thru socks! 

[squonk 44,091]

Someone needs to find out who actually owns that car warsh in PA and inform them they need to expand their lot! 

Edited Sunday at 03:01 PM by squonk

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,404]

Went back out to the shop after coffee this morning and hooked up a battery. Everything on the 12V side works except for one light, which I assume just needs a bulb as the one right next to it works fine. Plugged in with an adapter to the electric at the shop and the ac blows cold, microwave works and inverter charges the battery. Still have to go to the farm and get a propane tank to try all that out. Getting ready to call the city and rent a space in the rv park for the day so we can plug in to a full 30A service and have a/c while we finish deep cleaning. 
 

now for the bad, filled up the fresh water tank and kicked the pump in, heard water running in the bathroom. Figured it was just the sink left on but nope, fitting on the back of the toilet is cracked, wasn’t planning on using the toilet for this trip anyway so will go to the hardware store tomorrow and get a valve to shut off water to the toilet, then should be good to go water wise. Also by hooking up at the rv park for the day will allow us to see if the refrigerator is going to cool. 

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,404]

Cleaning is done. Only other issue I found besides the busted toilet and peeling floor was a bit of seepage coming out of the water heater. Tank looks pretty rusty. Will have to replace that too, luckily where we are taking it next week we don’t need the water hooked up. Have full shower and bathroom facilities right around the corner from where we will be parked at. Fixing the toilet and water heater will be a good project this winter when I get a spot cleaned out in the shop for it. 

[Beap52 1,535]

3 hours ago, ClassicTractorProfessor said:

when I get a spot cleaned out in the shop for it. 

In my opinion, the longevity for any rv (and most anything else) is to keep them under roof.  Ours is under a carport.  Even still, every year I wash and closely inspect the roof.  Eternabond tape is the "duct tape" for rv roofs.  This camper is 42 years old and has never had a roof leak.  I intend to keep it that way.  Even a carport doesn't protect from  hail.  We got dinged pretty badly the bottom four feet of the siding.  Following our last camping trip of the year, the camper will be pulled in.  I figure the paint will weather the same that way. 

 

The box mounted on the back bumper is a 900 watt generator dedicated to keeping the factory installed refrigerator cold while traveling.  A half gallon of fuel runs for several hours. The spare tire used to be mounted on the rear bumper but I relocated it inside under a bed. The generator weighs much less than the tire. 


 

 

[Handy Don 14,255]

21 hours ago, ClassicTractorProfessor said:

Fixing the toilet and water heater will be a good project this winter

I’m sure you’ll remember to put RV antifreeze thoughout the water system. I hear it can get a mite chilly in OK. 😄

[nylyon-(Admin) 8,123]

Any time I have to fix a plumbing circuit, I also put in a shutoff valve near the wet bay so should there be another issue I can turn off that circuit.  Good deal on the camper, love camping myself

[nylyon-(Admin) 8,123]

On 9/14/2025 at 2:52 AM, stevebo said:

Yep. Only trip we made so far with this big girl is to the big show. Planning on a 4 nighter to visit Brennanbo this fall in Newport RI at college. 

 

There’s a cute little campground in Copake, NY.  Have mine there for the rest of the season, come on up we can enjoy a couple cold ones.

[ebinmaine 73,580]

We got plenty of parking for a couple HUGE trailers here....

[Razorback 1,136]

Congratulations on your new RV! We really enjoy ours.... a 1987 Avion 34W that we got in 2013. Went WAY north to Hancock, MI to pick it up.... we've had a great time with it, and can provide some input, depending on what you are needing info about....

 

Happy trails!!

[oliver2-44 10,830]

@ClassicTractorProfessor Where is your local show, and what club or group puts it on?

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,404]

13 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

@ClassicTractorProfessor Where is your local show, and what club or group puts it on?

Fairview OK, put on by the Major County Historical Society. Last full weekend of September every year.