Stella, Queen of the GMCs, has arrived!

[Stella Queen of the GMCs]

Hi! I just bought Stella, a 1973 Canyon Lands 26 footer, and am so in love with her yet a total newbie to this. Any advice is welcome. Issues- Looks like multiple roof leaks, have an appointment to get her resealed mid May. Ceiling panels are stained throughout. All window seals look like they need replacing and the Onan generator is cranky. Couch looks like a replacement. Would love bunks instead- if anyone has a blueprint to share I would be up for getting them built. I’ve got a passel of little ones and multiple beds would come in handy!
I would also feel more comfortable with new tires if anyone has recommendations for type. Saturday is our maiden voyage- 2 hours from Virginia to Maryland- fingers crossed and motor home towing acquired! Fly, Stella, fly.

 

[Bhart]

Wow!! looks great.
Happy Motoring.

 

[Kendra]

Congratulations!

> new tires if anyone has recommendations for type

Depends on your wheel size. Hopefully not the original 1973 16.5" wheels, those aren't designed for radials. Later year 16.5" were updated to fit radials, but 16" (or 17") wheels pay for themselves after a few tire changes. 16" provides the best choice of tire brands and sizes - especially important if you need to buy a tire on the road.. Aluminum wheels save unsprung weight for a noticeable improvement in ride and handling.

 

[GMC Cruse]

Hopefully the place you have the appointment with, for the roof leaks, is familiar with the GMC and the areas known to be problems, if not, there is information available online discussing them. Search it out and give the info to the place doing the work.

 

[GMC Cruse]

Her's a Jim Bounds video about one common leak area":

 

[werewilfs]

Welcome! Where in VA are you picking her up and what route are you taking to get to Maryland?

 

[tyler]

Welcome. The search function of this forum in the upper right corner might become your new best friend, lots of good info going back many years. Joining the Tidewater Crabs might have the same effect. Jared who posted above is a good person to help you connect with them.

Most important tire knowledge you may or may not have is how to read the age of the tires you have. A little oval after the manufacture info with four digits is coded for age. two digits week of year, and two digit year. As in, 3418 would be the 34th week of 2018. Age matters on our tires as much or more than tread wear. Five years is the preferred age to cycle them out of use, ten years is typically max recommended by most manufacturers. Storage and exposure are big factors on how long they safely last. You will want load range E, which in the tires rated by numbers are load range 115-120 usually.

 

[tmsnyder]

I'm not sure you can not pay someone enough to do a proper job on a roof unfortunately. You might get someone to squirt a bunch of silicone on it and charge you a bunch of money, but they won't fix it properly.

You are better off doing it yourself or finding a handy-person type local that will give your roof some attention. Take everything off the roof. Remove the rails/drip edge. Those were sealed with foam tape and the foam is now dust. Search 'removing rails' on this forum for pictures and help. I have photos in my build thread.

Take off all the roof lights and reseal them or replace with new ones that have new seals.

Seal the end caps to the roof.

You shouldn't need to coat the whole roof, it's mostly a solid sheet of aluminum and can't leak, it can only leak where the penetrations are, at the rails, lights, vents, A/C openings.

But you are on the right track, no sense in working on the interior if you have water coming in from the roof, that's smart!

 

[Stella Queen of the GMCs]

Thank you!!!!

 

[Stella Queen of the GMCs]

Welcome! Where in VA are you picking her up and what route are you taking to get to Maryland?

Picked up from Affordable RVs in King George, VA and headed into Baltimore via 301. It was a great maiden voyage!

 

[Stella Queen of the GMCs]

Hopefully the place you have the appointment with, for the roof leaks, is familiar with the GMC and the areas known to be problems, if not, there is information available online discussing them. Search it out and give the info to the place doing the work.

Great idea!