D1trout wrote:
I have purchased a Ford 2013 F250 4WD diesel Supercab to carry my Avion around on.
I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences with various tiedowns. The '82 Ford the Avion came on had Torklifts up front and Happijac tabs bolted to the side of the bed for the rear tiedowns. I'm thinking perhaps Torklifts all around might be the most secure solution. Your thoughts?
BTW, I have gone back to Plan A, wherein I rebuild the camper as an independent, slide in and out unit, without the access hatch cut into the back of the cab and the front of the camper to allow actual passage between the two units.I was just too far down the road for the major course correction that required.
The dogs are just going to have to find happiness sticking their noses thru the sliding windows in the two rigs.
The reattaching of the shell to the aluminum frame is proceeding slowly but in a fairly straightforward manner. Back into the swing of Avion restoration! Pics soon.
Thanks
Dick
I have purchased a Ford 2013 F250 4WD diesel Supercab to carry my Avion around on.
I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences with various tiedowns. The '82 Ford the Avion came on had Torklifts up front and Happijac tabs bolted to the side of the bed for the rear tiedowns. I'm thinking perhaps Torklifts all around might be the most secure solution. Your thoughts?
BTW, I have gone back to Plan A, wherein I rebuild the camper as an independent, slide in and out unit, without the access hatch cut into the back of the cab and the front of the camper to allow actual passage between the two units.I was just too far down the road for the major course correction that required.
The dogs are just going to have to find happiness sticking their noses thru the sliding windows in the two rigs.
The reattaching of the shell to the aluminum frame is proceeding slowly but in a fairly straightforward manner. Back into the swing of Avion restoration! Pics soon.
Thanks
Dick
I have the torque lift. They are great! But if you need to buy, buy the super hitch first with the tie downs, since the standard do not interchange with the superhitch ones...
Good luck!
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
![[image]](http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/reachoomedia/asset_images/original/116/871/075/00b0b_1cDib8im7yN_600x450.jpg)
http://www.reachoo.com/ads/235835168- I really dont know about the site its listed on.
Don't know anything about it, but by description sounds to be in worth a look condition. Didn't note if the truck came with it, couple of hours from home, likely not or Id be driving over there.
01 Ford F250 4x4 DRW Diesel, 01 Elkhorn 9U
Our camper projects page
I have the Torklift "fastguns" on the front and the Torklift Springload XL for the rear. I originally bought the "fastguns" (what a name!) to tie to my old school belly bar on my F350. I reasoned that I wanted some give and take since the belly bar was definitely not going anywhere, and there was some chance of tearing out the fastener on the coach. I wasn't worried about rear tie downs. Then we went happily camping along until I went through some washboard roads here in flyover country. The camper would do the most remarkable lift and slap down - bamm! I'm sure you would have traumatized dogs if you went my route.
As I've said before, I'm not the smartest guy in the room.
So, I got Springload XL for the rear along with the Torklift frame kit. For some reason the XL's didn't tighten properly. They would sort of stay on the top and bottom tie downs, but a little loose. I became slightly obsessive about it, and whenever we stopped I would go around like a long distance trucker and tighten down the things.
It just got worse. One of them was jamming and I had to really wrench it to get it anywhere near tight.
Then came Muley Point in Utah.
We went toddling into there without noticing the rock outcroppings. The belly bar hit and the back wrenched around. When we set up for camping I found the XL totally damaged and not capable of attachment to the coach on the left side. The other one was fine. The belly bar was a little worse for wear, but the Fastguns were not damaged.
When I got back I made contact with Torklift. They were real surprised at my story, but they have legendary customer service. They sent me a new XL and I sent them mine for their forensics.
I would not put a belly bar on the truck again. In fact I'll remove it next Spring. It is a monster piece of steel and causes issues with ground clearance. OTOH, if I wanted to keep the coach on the truck bed during a roll over - then the BB is the way to go.
Glad to hear that you are still an active part of the Avion Restoration Gang (the ARG's). You have a highly ambitious build going on that people are clamoring to see more photos of....
AnEv942 that is one wonderful truck camper combo. Thanks for sending it along. I once had a fantasy of starting a small scale restoration business with Avions. That is the sort of combo I had in mind.
I noticed on a resent photo of your Avion the door appears to be a different shade of grey . Was it painted , replaced or just the light ?
'68 Avion C-11
'02 GMC DRW D/A flatbed
Not exactly fun stuff, but necessary.
Garry
garryk6 wrote:
I just pulled the C-10 off so that I can get some much needed maintenance done to my F350. It needs ball joints, U-joints, and inspect bearings. It needs brakes checked out, e-brake fixed, and then just normal oil/fluids changed... I also found the front axle u-bolts a bit loose, but can't loosen or tighten... So I am ordering up new front U-bolts. I am getting this stuff all fixed since snow may be flying soon, so along with all that, I need to get the plow all ready too...
Not exactly fun stuff, but necessary.
Garry
I just pulled the C-10 off so that I can get some much needed maintenance done to my F350. It needs ball joints, U-joints, and inspect bearings. It needs brakes checked out, e-brake fixed, and then just normal oil/fluids changed... I also found the front axle u-bolts a bit loose, but can't loosen or tighten... So I am ordering up new front U-bolts. I am getting this stuff all fixed since snow may be flying soon, so along with all that, I need to get the plow all ready too...
Not exactly fun stuff, but necessary.
Garry
The floor by the door is a real mess, I'll have to find the leak path that the previous owner ignored. They " fixed " it by putting a piece of masonite over the existing linoleum floor and installing carriage bolts through the floor !!! What a mess. And NONE of the carriage bolts held they all spun so I had to dig out the floor under the heads so I could grip with Vise grips. Good time ! But they are out now I still have some stubborn screws to remove around the perimeter of the bustle. Also the dump valve looks like I have to cut it off before the opening in the bustle would pass by. Not a big deal as I plan on all new plumbing tanks,lines and fittings.