When we bought our trailer off of Craigslist (a 1969 Shasta Loflyte), we thought we were getting a deal! Only 600 bucks! Awesome! It was in decent shape, and we figured with a little bit of work we could fix it up to a pretty nice trailer for a few thousand dollars and a month or two of work. How wrong we were! The cost in both dollars and hours turned out to be way more than we ever expected!
This (left) to this (right) equals $$$
Including the purchase price, we ended up putting a little over $10,000 and 500 hours of labor into our trailer over 3 summers (and that doesn’t include the new tools we also had to purchase or the number of hours spent driving to Home Depot and Menards!)
We’re really happy how it turned out, but went in a bit blind regarding the actual costs. Granted, if we had actually known what we were doing and had spent more time shopping for deals, we probably could’ve saved $1-2k. Thankfully, we now know how to fix almost anything on the trailer if things break while on the road!
We’ve included links to many of the parts we used. None of these are affiliate links – we’re just sharing what we found helpful! Links are from Amazon (amz), Vintage Trailer Supply (vts), Menards (m), Home Depot (hd) and etrailer (et). Let us know if you want details on anything that doesn’t have a link.
That said, here’s total breakdown of our expenses, hours of labor we put in, and what we did to update the trailer:
Aluminum Skin, Paint, and Framing
- Removed exterior skin and replaced rotten wood around skirt and rear/front windows – $138
- Removed all j-rail and cleaned & polished – $38
- Cleaned exterior, painted using HVLP sprayer and tractor paint (see our post about painting here) – $365
- Removed old butyl tape and replaced it with new butyl (used both amz and vts) around the windows, j-rail, and door- $164
- Replaced over 1,000! exterior screws with stainless steel screws (vts), used stainless steel staples (amz) where skin was stapled on – $136
- Replaced entire roof skin with single piece of .040 aluminum – $229
- Replaced damaged skin on front of trailer – $40
Total aluminum skin, paint, and framing cost – $1,110
Estimated labor – 125 hours
Windows
- Cleaned and polished all windows – $52
- Replaced old fridge vent with window cut to size – $106
- Replaced window pile with new pile (amz) on all windows – $16
- Replaced all of the rubber glass retainer discs (vts) – $13
- Replaced top and bottom jalousie rubber seal – $41
- One window had been replaced with plexiglass – replaced this with glass to match other windows – $90
- Removed worn rock guard plexiglass and replaced with transparent polycarbonate sheet (m) – $26
- Replaced all screens (m) and spline in windows and door – $62
- Added clear vinyl louver gaskets (amz) – $20
Total window cost – $426
Estimated labor – 60 hours
Exterior (Misc)
- Removed old deteriorating weatherstripping on trunk and door and replaced with new weatherstripping (m) – $28
- Took apart Bargman door lock and cleaned the inside. Had new keys (vts) cut by a locksmith. – $28
- Replaced trunk handle/lock (amz) – $6
- Added new license plate holder bracket (amz), chrome frame (amz), added LED light (amz) above – $30
- Replaced missing door plunger holder (amz) – $16
- Bought new awning, stakes, and ropes – $360
Total exterior (misc) cost – $468
Estimated labor – 15 hours
Underside and Tongue
- Cleaned underside and coated with sealer/waterproofer – $35
- Scraped and painted tongue and bumper with black tractor paint (amz) – $100
- Installed new tongue jack (amz) – $53
- Installed breakaway switch (amz) – $10
- Installed weight distribution/sway control system (amz) – $618
- Installed stabilizer jacks – $60
- Hired a welder to add hitch receiver and safety chain brackets – $450
Total underside and tongue cost – $1,326
Estimated labor – 27 hours
Brakes and Wheels
- Installed new electric self-adjusting brakes and hubs – $199
- Replacing the wiring (amz) running to the brakes – $37
- New wheels (et), tires (et), and baby moon wheel caps (et) (including spare) – $350
- Replaced 4-way vehicle connector with 7-way connector (et) – $25
Total brakes and wheels cost – $581
Estimated labor – 16 hours
12v Electrical
- Replaced all exterior lights oval (amz), round LED marker lights, and LED tail lights (et) – $133
- Added ground wire for all 12v devices and lights – $12
- New wiring throughout (with exception of 2 wires in good condition for exterior lights) – $57
- Added two 12v USB outlets (amz) – $45
- Installed battery box on the tongue and two 6-amp 225AH golf cart batteries – $402
- Added 12v fuse block (amz), switch (amz)/wiring to battery/lights/pump, temperature-sensitive (amz) cooling fan (amz), and power converter (amz) – $437
- Installed Trimetric battery monitor – $173
- Replaced interior lights (amz) with decorative medalions (m) and added 2 additional 12v lights (amz) – $60
- Installed smoke/CO2 detector (amz) (battery powered) – $27
Total 12v electrical cost – $1,346
Estimated labor – 39 hours
110v Electrical
- Installed new breaker box (m) and breakers – $34
- Upgraded to 30a service from 20a (new wiring, new plug) – $92
- Installed new interior outlets – $92
- Installed exterior outlet and new exterior covers (amz) – $50
Total 110v electrical cost – $268
Estimated labor – 13 hours
Propane
- Added new copper propane line going to the heater – $37
- Installed Camco Wave 3 propane heater (amz) – $230
- Installed new flexible hose from pipe to regulator – $21
- Replaced the regulator (amz)– $52
- Installed 12v propane detector (amz) – $59
- Installed new propane rack (amz) – $34
Total propane cost – $433
Estimated labor – 12 hours
Plumbing
- Installed new 21 gallon holding tank (amz) on the underside of the trailer (built steel frame (m) mounted to the trailer frame behind axle) – $356
- Ran new ABS waste pipe from sink to holding tank – $17
- Replaced missing freshwater tank with new 15-gallon tank (vts), hose (vts), and fittings – $159
- Added new Thetford porta-potti (amz) – $167
- Replaced entire freshwater system – $367
- New PEX lines
- New water pump (amz) and strainer (amz)
- New pressurized faucet and pump faucet (amz)
- New water inlet (amz)
- New exterior water hose spigot
Total plumbing cost – $1,066
Estimated labor – 25 hours
Interior (Walls)
- Cleaned interior, removed peeling veneer, repaired damaged areas, sanded all surfaces to be painted – $169
- Painted interior with Killz2 Primer (hd) and Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint (hd) – $332
- Added wallpaper around dinette and in bathroom – $105
Total interior (walls) cost – $606
Estimated labor – 53 hours
Interior (Kitchen)
- Rebuilt dinette table with new laminate (hd) and aluminum trim – $163
- Replaced laminate (hd) on kitchen counter – $81
- Added Smart Tiles to backsplash – $90
- New aluminum trim between counter and backsplash – $35
- Cleaned oven – $5
Total interior (kitchen) cost – $374
Estimated labor – 30 hours
Interior (Cabinets, Curtains, Cushions)
- Rebuilt two new cabinet doors to replace missing doors under the kitchen counter – $62
- Rebuilt cabinet where fridge used to be (water damage from the roof above) – $80
- Expanded closet/fridge space to create small bathroom. Built new door – $107
- Installed new handles. Cleaned and painted old hinges. New hinges on seats – $134
- Bought new high density foam and sewed new cushion covers for dinette and couch – $672
- Sewed new curtains for windows, new curtain rods – $285
Total interior (cabinets, curtains, cushions) cost – $1,340
Estimated labor – 88 hours
Interior (Floor)
- Removed old vinyl flooring. Replaced with new vinyl wood interlocking planks – $194
- Removed and cleaned old aluminum edging, added new aluminum edging and quarter round – $57
Total interior (floor) cost – $251
Estimated labor – 29 hours
