Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Avion truck campers

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Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Posted By: c11motorhome on 10/27/16 08:31am

Krustydog, I know I've read somewhere (in this thread perhaps?) about removing the rooftop antenna, mine also came with it. We are going to remove antenna and use sealant on cable hole until I can figure out if the bracket will be useful for solar panels. I'll put a marine cable gland on the wiring hole for the PV wiring, unless I can route it down through the refrigerator rooftop vent.

Posted By: garryk6 on 10/29/16 09:39pm

Been working all day on the Avion. Just came in to colapse. Very bummed. Moved stuff out of the dinette area to place some foam board in the plate covering the old HWH as it is a source of condensation. Went to pull up the reflectix insulation that is over the wing and was met with completely soaked plywood....argh..... Had just sealed the drivers window when I noticed the caulking had pulled away from the skin. Sure enough the same had happened awhile ago on the passengers side and had gone unnoticed partially due to the reflectix. It is approved at a moisture barrier. I can attest it works well for that as this had gone unnoticed for awhile. The rain would leak into the wall and then come out on top the wing under the reflectix.

I had enough dry weather today to clean out the caulking and just enough parabond to seal everything up. Now I am running the new furnace at 80F with two fans blowing heat on the plywood to dry everything out.

I did make other progress today of a good nature. Installed the 1" foam board on the upper bunk and then reinstalled the memory foam mattress. Then reassembled my propane light fixture I painted semigloss black with high heat paint. Then drilled many holes and snaked 10 ft of 1/4" copper tubing from the dinette area into the bathroom wall then under the camper through the floor joists then up into the closet floor where all the gas is for the Wave 3 and the new Atwood furnace. Still need to buy a mantel to test but all leak tests on the fittings are good. Still have to finish the cabinetry under the sink and around the closet too. But little by little it is gettiid my better. Pics later on.
Good night all, 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: ticki2 on 10/30/16 12:22pm

garryk6 wrote:

Gary it may also be condensation . Just got back from a rainy weekend , temps 30 to 40f . Things stayed pretty dry with some venting at the roof and the range hood when cooking . Where it wasn't dry was all around the dinette where the cushions were against the wall and the same for the mattress , When I pulled them away for a while they dried out . I have to come up with a solution because I want to be able to camp in the cold and wet . I can see why many Avions rot out the wings and bunks .

'68 Avion C-11
'02 GMC DRW D/A flatbed

Posted By: krustydog on 10/31/16 02:52pm

Garry & Ticki: I fear what you are experiencing and may even go a season with no interior skin just to monitor leaks.

Anyone able to get the measurement from the top of the floor to the top of the bunk? Plywood to plywood. I seem to have some droop at the sides of the bunk and it may be rotten wood sagging or maybe it is the front part of the bed being 1/4" too tall.

Got the camper into the truck to make sure it would be OK. Still need to do some riveting and then will be sealed in for winter work.

Yikes....the price of steps is not cheap.

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Posted By: garryk6 on 10/31/16 03:18pm

Your C-9 is looking really good!!

Posted By: D1trout on 11/01/16 09:13am

Krustydog, I have the original folding steel steps. They're yours for shipping costs.
Dick

Posted By: SilverPompadour on 11/03/16 04:25pm

If Avion were still producing TCs, I'd bet the C-9 would be their best selling model due to the popularity of short bed trucks. That really came together nicely Krustydog! I left my interior skin out for a couple months till I had all the leaks tamed but built the camper under the assumption that the leaking would resume shortly.
For what its worth my floor to top of bunk is 44" but I modified a few things during my rebuild and cant say that 44 is the correct number.
I paid $180 shipped for my Brophy 3 step folding aluminum steps, been very happy with them so far. Advantage of low to the ground 2wd truck.

1968 Avion C-11
1993 Dodge D250 LE Cummins

Posted By: cajunavion on 11/13/16 11:36am

Howdy!
I want to chime in, I like the C-9! (I want one!)

Posted By: IH Collector on 11/14/16 06:02pm

Hello Ticki2

Good to see you and your Avion Camper at Echo Lake a few weeks ago. I finally registered on this forum to follow what folks are doing with their campers.

As we spoke a truck camper mated up with a 4-wheel drive pickup is ideal for camping on the beach where few can get to. We took our Cayo/Avion to East Beach in Rhode Island this past July. While the beaches were packed we had East Beach (4-wheel only) to ourselves for the week. I've attached pictures.

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This is my first post so I hope everything comes out right. Talk soon. Paul

Posted By: garryk6 on 11/14/16 07:25pm

Welcome IH!!
I love old Binders! Just helped a fella Friday when his 1967 Travelall ran out of gas while I was loading the Avion to get ready for our trip.

Here are the recent pics from this weekends work and preps for our Thanksgiving in Anchorage.

The new Alure-Ultra Travertine flooring.
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The new restructured heater/closet/storage area.

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The revised dinette,

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Bathroom with the new flooring.

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The view forward.

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This is the rear view of the dinette, and against the wall, I have a friend that does upholstery, so he wrapped a piece of 1" foam insulation with a similar fabric to my seats, and it now is between the wall ans the cushions to provide insulation and padding when seated or when sleeping.

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Here is the re-worked area of the heater and the closet. At the bottom is a new compartment for the sewer hose and other odds and ends, since external storage is limited. (Stays wrapped in plastic after thorough rinsing ;-))

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Here is the ugly interior of the closet. The previous owner ripped out the fiberglass corner to fix a dented shell, so I do not have an interior lining, and I have foamed it in to keep it warm. Also find the covering for the Atwood Everest 12000 btu furnace. All works really well.

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BAthroom door yet to be skinned on the inside...

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and a final view forward showing the new upholstery by the dinette. the new round LED light fixture on the ceiling that replaces the previous round fluorescent fixture. (Now I don't hit my head on the light!)

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Thats all for now, just need to continue loading for our trip, even though it's pouring down rain here, it is going to be low 20's during the day in Anchorage, and low teens to single digit at night...
Garry in very wet Kodiak...

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