# Rust



## Angelfire (Aug 27, 2010)

As we will have a limited budget for our motorhome purchase, an older type Hymer may be an alternative for us. Any body out there know about the chassis of these older motorhomes. I see many on Ebay almost 20 years old. Knowing the state of landrover chassis at this age, it makes me wonder about the Hymer. 

Angelfire./Phil*


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## JeanLuc (Jan 13, 2007)

Hi Angelfire,

Provided they have been looked after and you get a professional check done first, I see no reason why an old Hymer should not do many more miles. At that age, they were built on Fiat, Citroën and Mercedes chassis (and I believe a few others). They pre-date the galvanised Alko chassis that are used on some versions today (from the cab rearwards that is).

Regarding price, I think you need to shop around a bit; here is an example. Last month in SW France, we met a British couple with a Hymer S660 from the early 90's. It was a beautiful beast for its age and he had looked after it carefully. In its day it was a top of the range Hymer and would be a good buy for anyone looking to keep the cost down. Based on a Merc chassis (pre-Sprinter) with a 2.9 litre engine - not the fastest machine, but it will go on forever.

It had a large rear lounge, but they had turned it into a huge fixed bed. Also, good sized middle dinette.

He was in the process of buying a house down there and was considering whether to sell the Hymer. He thought that a price of a bit over £12k would be fair - should he decide to sell.

They are out there, but you have to keep looking.

Philip


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## dealgan (Jun 26, 2006)

As far as I know, the good old tin worm is not fussy. It will happily digest a MH chassis the same as anything else.


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## grenwelly (Aug 7, 2007)

A lot depends on the life they have lead
Most MH don't do a lot of miles in the winter when there is lots of salt about. The tin worn loves salt to make metal work more palatable
You have to go and hunt and get a good look under any you think you may buy.
There are a lot of old MH out there that are in decent nick but there are also ones that have had a hard life


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## Angelfire (Aug 27, 2010)

Aye, thanks for the reply's. I suppose caution and look at the chassis is a good idea. Any one know what year they started to galvanise their Chassis. Maybe a good move to start looking from that point on.

Regards

Angelfire/Phil*


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## JeanLuc (Jan 13, 2007)

The galvanised bit is only the ALKO conversion. That is a new section that is bolted onto the base chassis behind the cab. It is only used on front wheel drive Fiat-based models and not all of those. It is used on B class / B SL models, but not on B Classic / B CL versions.
I think the ALKO chassis conversion came in around 2000 or just before.

Philip


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