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Manufactured by " J.T.B Industries Inc."


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#1 Treadlight42

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Posted 28 January 2019 - 06:07 AM

I recently bought a "Ranger II" , date on the picture says 05/18/1989 as best as I can read it.

 

Also the manufacturer is " J.T.B Industries Inc" I thought it would say four wheel camper on it ? I did not think to use a Crayon until I got home and already bought the camper hence asking after the fact of buying it.

 

Any info regarding the age of it would also be helpful, did they make a Ranger II in 89 ? 

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  • PLATE.jpg
  • TRUCK CAMPER.jpg

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#2 Stan@FourWheel

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Posted 28 January 2019 - 07:23 PM

That looks like a "Four Wheel Camper" and could very well be a Ranger or Ranger II Model.

 

Propane box forward like your usually means the camper was built in the 1980's.

 

Looks to be in pretty good condition !

 

The sticker on the rear wall looks like the factory sticker from Colorado, which would mean the camper was probably built before mid 1989 when they started a factory out here in Woodland, CA.

 

 

 

.


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Stan Kennedy --- Four Wheel Pop-up Campers
1400 Churchill Downs Avenue, Suite A

Woodland, CA 95776
(800) 242-1442 or (530) 666-1442
www.fourwh.com  ---  e-mail = stan@fourwh.com


#3 Old Crow

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Posted 29 January 2019 - 03:59 AM

According to this info from a history of Four Wheel Campers on the Equipt web site, Jack Billings owned FWC in the late Eighties.... 

 

"The Seventies and into the Eighties were a heyday for Four Wheel and the RV industry. A major change in ownership occurred, and Jack Billings eventually became the owner of Four Wheel Campers in 1987. A couple of years later, the company moved to Woodland, California, and has been there since. Production bumped along, and then Ben Burnett bought the company in 1996."

 

Jack Billings is Jack T. Billings, thus the J.T.B. Industries business name on the plate.  So in effect the company that manufactured the camper is J.T.B. Industries who at the time owned the Four Wheel Campers brand (and therefore your camper is indeed an FWC one).

 

According to this Bloomberg page, the company Four Wheel Campers, Incorporated was founded in 2001.  It would be interesting to see what plates show on campers built during Ben Burnett's ownership (i.e., between 1996 and 2001).

 

You may also be interested in this 1989 Ranger II restoration thread.   (click on the Expedition Portal link in post 1 for more details)   Nice!

 

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Edited by Old Crow, 29 January 2019 - 05:41 PM.

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#4 ckent323

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Posted 29 January 2019 - 07:57 PM

I am certain the name "Four Wheel Campers" was in use prior to 2001. I had a 1984 Four Wheel Keystone model  and it had a tag on it with that name not JTB Industries.  It also said Four Wheel Campers and Keystone on the side of the camper similar to the way the name is on the campers made since 2001.

 

In addition, I have a friend who presently owns a 1985 Keystone (since the late 1980's) and it has a Four Wheel Campers tag on it with a Lakewood, Colorado address.  I have a picture of it.

 


Edited by ckent323, 30 January 2019 - 10:26 AM.

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#5 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 29 January 2019 - 11:54 PM

Pretty cool you have some history there.

Enjoy your "new" toy. Post some pictures of the inside.

Frank


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#6 Treadlight42

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Posted 30 January 2019 - 01:48 AM

Thanks for all the info guys! It definitely has a Ranger II on the back of it, but with the sides cut off and with the JTB tag I was worried after I brought it home. 

 

Inside needs a bit of work but plan on doing a restoration page for it soon! 


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#7 Old Crow

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Posted 30 January 2019 - 10:26 PM

I am certain the name "Four Wheel Campers" was in use prior to 2001. I had a 1984 Four Wheel Keystone model  and it had a tag on it with that name not JTB Industries.  It also said Four Wheel Campers and Keystone on the side of the camper similar to the way the name is on the campers made since 2001.

 

In addition, I have a friend who presently owns a 1985 Keystone (since the late 1980's) and it has a Four Wheel Campers tag on it with a Lakewood, Colorado address.  I have a picture of it.

 

 

Thanks for that info, Craig. 

 

It's unclear how the "Manufactured By" space was used by the several owners of FWC over the years.  If we had more examples like yours, we might be able to figure it out.   (If any of you vintage camper owners have that info from your camper, please post!)

 

I see the plate/sticker appears to be required by 49 CFR 575.103  (which calls it a 'label') and that appears to require the full corporate or individual name of the actual assembler of the camper to be spelled out.

 

I believe some of the confusion may come from multiple corporate names for the company.  The Bloomberg page I linked to was for 'Four Wheel Campers, Inc'.  But I see from this manual that they also identified as "Four Wheel Pop-Up Campers, Inc".  And I know there's a "Four Wheel Campers, LLC" in later years.

 

Is there anything following the words 'Four Wheel Campers' on the labels you refer to?

 

.


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#8 JaSAn

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Posted 30 January 2019 - 11:43 PM

The earliest date for 49CFR 575.103 I could find is July 12, 1996 (amended in 2005).

 

This is the decal from my '77 Grandby:

 

fwc.jpg


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#9 Old Crow

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Posted 31 January 2019 - 12:49 AM

The earliest date for 49CFR 575.103 I could find is July 12, 1996 (amended in 2005).

 

This is the decal from my '77 Grandby:

 

attachicon.giffwc.jpg

 

Thanks!

 

I'm not sure why but I find the same label regulations in 49CFR 571.126 in what appears to be an October 1, 1973 version (page 509) (I hope the link works correctly.  Oddly, the e-book title shows as "Code of Federal Regulations: 1949-1984" but page 1 indicates it's 49 CFR parts 200 to 999 as of October 1, 1973).

 

Does your camper also have a label with a legible manufactured-by company name on it?  (my 01 shell doesn't even have a label, much less a legible one)

 

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Edited by Old Crow, 31 January 2019 - 12:50 AM.

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'01 FWC Hawk shell on a '13 Tundra Double-Cab  + '19 Ford Transit van with Quigley 4x4 option


#10 JaSAn

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Posted 31 January 2019 - 03:27 AM

The only data label (left?) on my camper is the serial number label shown as shown:

 

Screen Shot 2019-01-30 at 9.24.09 PM copy.png


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Sköldpaddan, a 1977 FWC Grandby
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