Our maiden voyage in the new camper was Winter Break 2013 between xmas and New Years. Since then we have spent 116 nights in the ATC. These were travels to wonderful places, many far from the beaten track. We have traveled many rough roads and believe we have put our rig and camper to a good test, although we would never consider our adventures "tests."
On our last long trip to Death Valley National Park we noticed the plywood on our floor pack was looking a little dry, probably more in response to new plywood drying out, especially considering the many arid places we have visited. Also, if you remember our build thread, it was the Lady that painted our floor pack the first time (she did a very good job).
We picked up some Glidden Paint (as recommended by ATC) at a Home Depot in Carson City as we were driving by. Back home we unloaded the camper and gave the plywood two new coats of paint.
Along with checking staples and joints, we also inspected the eye bolts for the turnbuckles and found everything in perfect shape. We have had only a couple of minor issues, all that I would think of completely normal considering the number of trips we have taken and the roads traveled. The spring in the screen door latch vibrated loose as did one 8x32 machine screw that holds the latch plate on the door. Two of my screws into an L bracket that holds a cabinet to the floor came loose. Marty at ATC put a new latch on the screen door for us. I installed a new screw to the door latch from my supply here. I tightened up the two screws with the L bracket after adding a dap of epoxy to the threads. Most epoxies are heat sensitive so a little heat from a soldering gun will loosen them if needed. We also had a ground connection for the propane/CO monitor loosen up that was easily fixed.
We loaded the camper back on the truck yesterday afternoon and are ready for the next adventure. We take care of our equipment but we also use it extensively. After a little more than a year our ATC camper looks new and is great shape. We couldn't be more pleased.
On our last long trip to Death Valley National Park we noticed the plywood on our floor pack was looking a little dry, probably more in response to new plywood drying out, especially considering the many arid places we have visited. Also, if you remember our build thread, it was the Lady that painted our floor pack the first time (she did a very good job).
We picked up some Glidden Paint (as recommended by ATC) at a Home Depot in Carson City as we were driving by. Back home we unloaded the camper and gave the plywood two new coats of paint.
Along with checking staples and joints, we also inspected the eye bolts for the turnbuckles and found everything in perfect shape. We have had only a couple of minor issues, all that I would think of completely normal considering the number of trips we have taken and the roads traveled. The spring in the screen door latch vibrated loose as did one 8x32 machine screw that holds the latch plate on the door. Two of my screws into an L bracket that holds a cabinet to the floor came loose. Marty at ATC put a new latch on the screen door for us. I installed a new screw to the door latch from my supply here. I tightened up the two screws with the L bracket after adding a dap of epoxy to the threads. Most epoxies are heat sensitive so a little heat from a soldering gun will loosen them if needed. We also had a ground connection for the propane/CO monitor loosen up that was easily fixed.
We loaded the camper back on the truck yesterday afternoon and are ready for the next adventure. We take care of our equipment but we also use it extensively. After a little more than a year our ATC camper looks new and is great shape. We couldn't be more pleased.
