Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Avion truck campers

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Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Posted By: garryk6 on 08/26/13 12:21pm

Somewhere in this thread someone posted some of this info up. When I talked to Mr. Cayo finding out the year of my C10, he told me the family sold the trailer rights in 1972/73. But that Fleetood didn't want the Camper Rights, so under the "Cayo" name brand campers were built for a few more years. Some say as late as 1976, but it seems a bit foggy, depending who you talk to. The Cayo campers have a few more innovative features, but not many seem to have survived...

Garry

Garry K
Wife + 4 kids
Retired Military Family.... Alway's on the move....
2002 F350 CCSB 5.4 6spd 4x4 in AK
1966 Avion C-10 Truck Camper

Posted By: 69 Avion on 08/26/13 02:53pm

I haven't seen a Cayo camper past 1972. If there is one, I don't know about it.

As far as Fleetwood goes, they made some decent trailers with the Avion name. They still used a heavy frame and a decent aluminum shell, even though they used fewer rivets. Without Fleetwood, the Avion history would have been much shorter. In fact some of the things on a Fleetwood Avion were nicer than the old ones, like the one piece formed upper corners instead of the "pie" slices. The interiors seem to be just as nice and they never skimped on the structure. In the last couple of years they went to rubber torsion axles like an Airstream, but I think the labor costs (time to build) finally killed them. The last aluminum Avions were in 1990 as I recall. Fleetwood still used the Avion name on some fiberglass covered trailers after 1990, and those didn't have the same reputation as the aluminum Avions.

My bet is that the Fleetwood Avion aluminum shell trailers will last as long as the Cayo built Avion trailers. I have both and so far I'm sure that this will be the case. Actually, the windows in the Fleetwood product will probably last much longer.

Ford F-350 4x4 Diesel
1988 Avion Triple Axle Trailer
1969 Avion C-11 Camper

Posted By: JoeChiOhki on 08/26/13 03:06pm

67avion wrote:

I just did a quick internet search and sure enough there are "Fleetwood Avions". I have been completely fixated on the truck campers having never had a TT or any other type of RV. So, I really know very little about the Avion trailers. It appears that Fleetwood acquired the Avion name in the early 1980s. They never made a slide in TC I don't think.

rfuerst911sc wrote:

67avion wrote:

JoeChiOhki wrote:

You guys are all doing such beautiful work, it's just sad that the later Avion name was stained by being owned by Fleetwood.

I did not know that Avion was bought by Fleetwood. Do you have any details? It would be interesting to know.

Fleetwood bought the naming rights to " Avion " and proceeded to make cookie cutter crappy trailers with the name. Just my opinion.

This pretty much sums it up, I just hauled a 1985 Triple axle 36' Avion Trailer for the park manager back from Hood River and they are pretty much cookie cutter clones of Airstreams, though the bathroom design was vastly better.

Fleetwood never made a truck camper under the avion line, only the trailers, they were too busy making their own brand name of shodily built campers that suffered from wall sag.

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Posted By: 67avion on 08/29/13 09:54am

I noticed one of the photos of the 1966 AVION C10 that Tony is working on in Florida. First of all, that is one hard core combination! However, I'm a bit concerned about the tie downs. Looks to me like there is a possibility of the camper sliding significantly. The locations of the tie downs as well as the fabric material with some tendency to stretch would argue for a better solution.

Tony, whats been your experience?

Posted By: tonyj54 on 08/29/13 10:03am

67avion wrote:

I noticed one of the photos of the 1966 AVION C10 that Tony is working on in Florida. First of all, that is one hard core combination! However, I'm a concerned about the tie downs. Looks to me like there is a possibility of the camper sliding significantly. The locations of the tie downs as well as the fabric material with some tendency to stretch would argue for a better solution.

Tony, whats been your experience?

That was the original scheme, due to budgetary constraints. I did use it like that for a couple of close-to-home events (HAM radio Field-days), but have just this week finished the new tie-downs.

While the original allowed me to move it around some, like the new system much better.

And, while it may appear 'hard-core' on the outside, never judge a book by its cover.

* This post was edited 08/29/13 10:26am by tonyj54 *

See y'all on the roads, or in the parks.

tonyj & Shirley
'66 AVION C-10
'86 F-250 6.9 DIESEL
KJ4OEQ 146.520MHz
CB Channel 7

Posted By: 67avion on 08/29/13 10:20am

Well the new turnbolts are certainly stronger, I am still concerned that the "angle" of the tie downs may not prevent sliding of the camper. I have the front tie downs "forwards" on the bottom to check movement to the rear, and "backwards" on the rear to prevent movement forward. I hope that makes sense. The other thing is that stiff tie downs mean that there is no give - putting enormous pressure on the through plates on the camper.

Posted By: tonyj54 on 08/29/13 10:38am

Yeah, understood.

Considered that when doing the work, but then we're pretty much flatlanders, so sliding and such is not a major concern right now, especially on the aforementioned fixed budget. I would like to add some springs to tensioners, but not exactly sure how to do that just yet. And, as we do some moving around in primarily the Southeast, I'll keep close tabs and reconfigure as needed, and financially feasible.

Posted By: garryk6 on 08/29/13 11:25am

That's a good looking C10 camper Tony. I think the tied owns will work for the short term, just steer clear of pot holes and slow down for speed bumps.... These two can cause as much stress as the roads in Alaska. I like the arrangement , though you don't see this floor plan to often in the C10's. Did you get all the appliances and systems working? Also is that a Black Laminate as the countertop? Did you get the original table with it? Keep up the good work! Also make sure the tires on your Ford are load rang E, and if you look at the pound per tire rating, most 265x75x16 tires have a higher rating than the same diameter 235x85x16.
Take care!
Garry

Posted By: 67avion on 08/29/13 01:04pm

Hey Tony, around here "hard core" is a compliment [emoticon]

Posted By: tonyj54 on 08/29/13 01:23pm

67avion wrote:

Hey Tony, around here "hard core" is a compliment [emoticon]

Oh, I totally comprehend that. But my wife do love her creature comforts, so the soft side will win out. lol

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