Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Avion truck campers

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Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Posted By: 67avion on 05/09/15 02:20pm

66C10, that is a really interesting conversion of a 1968 C10 into a boat. Actually, I've long wondered about doing something like that. I have 20' river going jonboat that could use a camper like that :-)

I also found the complete tv episode on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbI6LjQWt7E

I had mentioned that my coach was in the shop for electrical issues. Well I got it back today and it was just fine. Some problems with one or two of the fuses. But nothing major at all. I had worried that I trashed my three AGM's over the winter. But, they were fine having been charged by the solar.

Posted By: cajunavion on 05/11/15 05:08am

Howdy!
Wow shows like "Flipping Ships" is bound to make Avion
Campers more noticed. I did note they mentioned less than
700 C10s were made. I wonder where that figure came from?
Does anyone know of hard data for the numbers coming out
of various factories?
I finished up our TV install, if anyone is interested I can
post pics. We went with an 80/20 made bracket, adjustable arm extention,
travel plate, 18 LED set, and an apple tv/airport. It would be nice
to convert the entire setup to 12 V, completely doable, but a future
project.
How about awnings? Any ideas? I really like Dennis setup, but
I do not want to put hooks into the side of the camper.

Posted By: Dave Pete on 05/11/15 06:27am

I'd be interested in the TV install pics.

I'd also like awnings ideas. Be interesting to see other's ideas as my camper has a rounded side wall too and like cajun, I'm hesitant to add holes in the skin. While rebuilding mine I've been considering support framing underneath and brackets mounted above, for not only an awning, but four corners for a canoe or something. Again - more holes? Maybe not. Yeah. What are others doing?

Posted By: cajunavion on 05/11/15 08:01pm

Howdy!

Posted By: Desertboy on 05/23/15 09:35pm

I wonder where a man could buy a set of keys for a Avion? Mine didn't come with any, has anyone else had this problem yet?

1969 AVION
3/4 12 VALVE

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

Posted By: 69 Avion on 05/23/15 09:47pm

Desertboy wrote:

I wonder where a man could buy a set of keys for a Avion? Mine didn't come with any, has anyone else had this problem yet?

I had the keys to mine, but I changed the entire door lock and the outside refrigerator compartment lock because they were old and worn.

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

Posted By: cajunavion on 05/24/15 10:01am

Howdy!
Any good locksmith can rekey those locks, just bring the
whole lock in. Often it is easier to change out the tumbler,
instead of fitting a new key. Either way, you get to keep the
original door lock and knob! Do not forget frig access door
while you are at it.
My Xantrex Prowatt 2000 inverter is blinking 0.01 with
13v at the lugs. Any suggestions?

Posted By: 67avion on 05/24/15 12:55pm

Glad to see folks chatting a bit. Cajun, you're carrying the string it turns out....good for us.

On the awnings: I thought long and hard about adding the exterior hooks to the coach. But, I decided that it would not damage the walls if I were really careful with the seals. Bearing in mind that a live load like an awning tends to tug at the attachments, you have to keep a close watch. But the ease of my installation is really nice. I have the triangle fly wrapped around an extendable pole, and I have a length of rope and two stobs. Its up in 2 minutes - and just as important its down real quick. This photo was taken at the Texas Truckcamper Rally last year. There were tornadoes nearby so pulling down an awning in bad weather can be a task.

I don't know if I posted about it, but I have installed a handgrip just inside the camper's door. I tend to turn backwards when exiting, so it helps to have a handgrip.

I have had some really rocky nights on my mattress. I sleep on the pull out sofa and the "mattress" we had made was entirely too hard. There was a fear that since we only had about 5 inches + or so in the cushion, that we had to be careful about not "bottoming out". After a year or so, I decided to redo the cushions.

I worked with mattress designer Mike Wicoff at the Sterling Mattress Factory in Herrin, Illinois. He understood exactly the issues we face in truck campers.

Here is Mike constructing the cushion:

He's working with 1" Memory Foam on top, 2" pocketed micro coils, and 2 pieces of 1"foam with a density of 2.4 and a firmness of 30.

Here's a look at the finished construction (the cushion is upside down)

It feels great. I think I can sleep a lot better. That was the final thing on my list for this summer.

Jane and I plan on traveling in the next few week in the region. Perhaps to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville,Arkansas. Its supported by the Walmart fortune.....

* This post was edited 05/24/15 02:15pm by 67avion *

Posted By: D1trout on 05/25/15 03:35pm

Gents, I have been remiss in posting my progress on Argo, the all-aluminum Avion. Allow me to make up for that now. A lengthy post. I hope you will find it interesting.
I had Argo suspended from a steel A-frame at the boat shop of a friend for eight months while I removed the badly rotted wooden parts of the camper and built an all-aluminum frame to remount the shell on.

I reattached the shell to the new frame by October 2014. About that same time, I sold the mid-80s Ford pick up that the camper was mounted on when I bought it in Minnesota in the fall of ’13… here’s Argo on his new truck. You’ll notice I have installed Torklifts on the new Ford. They appear to me to be the most secure manner of attaching a camper to a truck. More pics of the Torklifts later.

At that point, I brought the rig home and parked in the driveway to begin the next phase of the renovation. I began by removing all the inner skin, with a lot of encouragement from 69Cayo (aka Dennis). I’ve stashed the old inner skin panels to use as patterns when I begin installing the new satin finish aluminum inner skin. Then I scraped out all the sprayed-in foam. I used a big plastic scraper I fabricated from some plastic cutting board material. This left some ridges on the outer skin as I discovered later. A better, though messier, solution is a wire cup brush on an angle grinder. I used a rheostat to slow the grinder down to a reasonable speed. It worked admirably but - yikes, what a mess! Pulled out all the old wiring, much of it standard Romex house wiring. Then I replaced all the insulation using 1/2'” sheets of high R value polyiso foam board, attached to the inner skin with heavy duty 3M spray contact cement. After two layers of foam board, I began replacing the wiring, using all marine-grade materials: tinned copper wire, copper connectors, etc. An online site called bestboatwire offers a good selection at good prices. I made up an electrical budget worksheet based on my proposed uses.

All the lighting is LED and the 24 hour electrical use looks to be around 90 Amps.
I’ve replaced the marker and tail lights with LEDs, plus a porch light and back ups. Here’s a pic of the back end with the lights installed and the Torklift folding steps clamped on. They’ll get mounted on a swivel to allow them to be extended when I have the sailboat trailer attached to the truck.

At the same time I’ve been working on the outside of the shell. I’ve eliminated all thru-shell penetrations except for lights. And eventually the vent cap for the propane heater, out the backside to the right of the door. The roof will have two Fantastic vents in the original locations. Plus an aluminum marine hatch with a clear Lexan cover, about a 15”x15” opening, above the dinette, for ventilation, light, access to the roof, and escape.

The windows were leaky, with worn-out weatherseal and old, tired smoked acrylic glazing. Clear 1/8” tempered glass was easily ordered from my glass shop. Seals were something of a hunt. Thanks to some direction from ticki2, I sourced a variety of types and settled on ones from Vintage, mostly. I never found a seal that would fit the fixed panes in the side windows so I just bedded them in silicone sealant. They appear to be tight. It’s amazing how much brighter and lighter the inside seems with the clear glass! Curtains or blinds will create whatever shade and privacy we require.

I mentioned Torklifts. They seem the best tiedown arrangement available. Notice the spacer HDPE spacer blocks to allow the front jacks to clear the side of the truck bed.

That’s where things stand at the moment. Next step is to complete the wiring and get the new aluminum inner skin installed. Then we’re going on a trip to spend time inside and determine just how to tweak the interior arrangements.

If I had known when I started what I know now…well, you all know the rest. Just one foot in front of the other and I’ll be on the road with the family!

Here’s the latest layout. And I’ve figured out a way to make a north-south bed with a removable extension over the Dinette. Kind of pulls out from the aluminum frame of the cabover bed. More on this later.

And when I get discouraged, I look at these two follies together and visualize driving down the road and I feel better about the whole thing!

Onward!

Dick

Posted By: 69 Avion on 05/25/15 04:04pm

Nice progress. Exaxtly what did you do to your side windows?

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