Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Avion truck campers

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Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Posted By: Dodgeavion on 10/19/13 10:25pm

Gary,

The bed will be about 80" so extending around 32".

I'm going to polish so I have not looked for anodized aluminum. I have some 2024 alclad on hand that I will be using. I have it and it will make polishing easier. So it's what I will use. Don't have enough, maybe half enough.

Making the ribs... Not sure yet. Salvage, have them rolled... We will see.

I put the camper on hold as I have been rebuilding a 4' shear and an 8' pan and box brake. They have ended up being very labor intensive to rebuild. aka major time consumers.

Ken

Posted By: garryk6 on 10/20/13 12:31am

Dodgeavion wrote:

Thanks Ken!
I understand those time consumers. I have too many myself. That is why we are using the Avion as-is, and just tweaking as we go to make it better. Still fighting the front window leaking when driving in down pours. Having a wet mattress really sucks...

Keep us all posted as you make progress, as I am really interested. I own a welded aluminum boat, and have done some welding on it myself, as well as I have had it extended, where I get a good chance to see how it is worked with.

My son has been talking welding and boat building at our high school, and holds several State of Alaska Welding Certificates already. So he has some good ideas too!

Garry in AK.

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: rfuerst911sc on 10/20/13 03:45am

Desertboy those " two little propane tanks " are no longer available there are many of us looking for these.

Posted By: Desertboy on 10/20/13 08:20am

rfuerst911sc wrote:

Desertboy those " two little propane tanks " are no longer available there are many of us looking for these.

Thanks for the heads up, Ill be on the lookout for more now that I know that. If I find more Ill save them for us here that like Avions. Did they come with these campers? I think the PO must have replaced the valves because they are full of propane.

* This post was edited 10/20/13 08:32am by Desertboy *

1969 AVION
3/4 12 VALVE

Freightliner/24' Flatbed 50,000 miles/ Titan 4000 receiver Hitch, no Mods needed.

Posted By: 67avion on 10/20/13 08:25am

I don't know if its possible on this thread to list parts available. I know that I have quite a few things such as a fridge and stove... (I don't recall what I did with the propane bottles)...that I would give away. I'll check with the Mod at some point about what is acceptable. My thinking is that it would be a very good thing to have a listing that is dealt with offsite, but referred to onsite. But, it may be that it would veer too quickly into a buy/sell/trade thing that is not appropriate.

Anybody have any ideas?

Posted By: Desertboy on 10/20/13 08:55am

If I could I would go back completely Original right down to the paint and curtains if they had any curtains lol, I like the old days, I cant even find a picture of the inside of these campers that is like from the factory. And Im searching for pictures of them and have been. I found a video of a 22 foot 69 TT , Mostly Original. I wanted a 69 Avion because that's the year I was born. That's why Im always asking if things are original. Because I like old stuff and think it should be taken care of. If the old oven can be fixed I would trade you for my new one in a heartbeat. I would like for my camper to be as close to original as it can be, But I don't even know if that's possible. I didn't know there was such a thing as a Avion until I saw 69Avions Handle on here and searched for them, And the Image I pulled up was burned in to my mind from that day on. I like them better than any other.

Posted By: 67avion on 10/20/13 09:57am

PM me your email and I'll send a pdf of a 1969 Avion Operation and Service manual that contains all of the wiring diagrams. A Bargman "Trail-lites" PDF from 1966 that may help with your tail light issues. Dometic refrigerator PDF 1968. Bowen gas heater PDF, and a Magic Chef stove Pdf. Somewhere I have brochures for the interiors of the Coach. I know that Ticki has this stuff as well.

With all this reading material you'll be good to go.

Here's a brochure of the 1969. A little hard to read, though there's no doubt about the meaning of the photo on the far right about "thermostatically controlled heat".

* This post was edited 10/20/13 10:17am by 67avion *

Posted By: D1trout on 10/20/13 10:18am

Gents, thanks for the good feedback on my aluminum tub query. Garry, your idea about supporting the camper thru the vent holes and dropping the bottom out is excellent, much better than my strap notion. As I have looked at DodgeAvion's pics, it appears one might even disassemble the wings, fwd bulkhead and that section of floor and replace them, working within the camper and fabricating as you go, with aluminum, w/o completely removing the shell from the floor. After stabilizing the whole camper with the new wing/sides/floor structure, then move back and deal with the rear half of the floor.
More will be revealed after I discuss this with a metal worker this week.

Regarding the use of plywood, which I may well come to if the aluminum tub idea gets out of hand, let me point out that epoxying sheets together and coating them with epoxy all around is an excellent approach but bear in mind that every place one penetrates the coated plywood with screws, bolts or rivet holes is an access point for moisture to get in. Granted, for most of us, by the time that moisture becomes an issue, our Avions will likely be on to their next owners, but it's worth mentioning.
In boats, when one wishes to put a fastener into or thru a cored section of deck, the hole is drilled out oversized, the hole filled with epoxy, and when set, the proper sized hole is drilled within the epoxy core. This protects the core (or plywood in the case of our coated epoxy sheets), from water intrusion and eventual rot. You can mitigate this moisture issue in uncored holes somewhat by using a good marine sealant when you put fasteners in and using a marine grade/solid core plywood in the first place.

Posted By: Desertboy on 10/20/13 10:25am

Thanks for the information and pic, That's really cool.

Posted By: D1trout on 10/20/13 12:08pm

Can anyone give me the dimensions of a rib section, including the metal thickness.
I have not exposed one yet. Thanks

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