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New owner of 70's Alaskan (10 foot NCO)


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#1 Land-roamer

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Posted 24 September 2010 - 12:59 AM

Hello everyone!
I'm really glad I found this forum.

Since 2 days ago, I am now the proud owner of an early 70's Alaskan 10 foot NCO camper!
I had read about and heard about Alaskans for a few years, but living in the North-East, I never thought I'd have a chance to see let alone own one. Then out of the blue, someone had one for sale locally, and I went to see it out of curiosity. I was so impressed with the quality of construction and the condition of this specimen (no rot anywhere, always been stored inside when not used, very well cared for), that I bought it on the spot. It's going to be delivered to my place on the weekend, and I plan to store it in my garage over winter (will need to make room in there for it!!).

I put some pictures of it on this site:
My Alaskan 10 foot NCO
I will take better pictures once it's in my driveway.

Anyway, I started a thread on it on rv.net, to get some pointers on what to look for when inspecting it, etc. The people there were very helpful, and seemed to think this was a very nice specimen. THe other part of the discussion there was about a suitable truck to carry it. I had decided some time ago that I wanted to buy a diesel truck and slide-in camper, to take on extended road/camping trips after I retire from work next year. I have been looking for a good Gen 1 or Gen 2 Dodge Cummins for some time, figuring I would buy the truck first, then the camper. Now I have the camper and no truck! No problem, I'll save money and hunt for a nice truck in the Spring. I saw there was a thread here on this very subject, what size of truck to get, and 1 ton seemed recommended (same as rv.net).

I was very glad to find copies of user manuals on this site, because the one I bought doesn't seem to have one. Mind you, they are pretty simple campers, but the wiring diagram and such is very useful to have.

Ok, all that to say hi, and glad to be aboard! Does this mean I can get on the draw for the propane stove giveaway? :-)

Looking forward to chat Alaskan campers with you all over the coming months, getting tips and advice on getting mine in even better shape (replacing caulking, etc.).

I attach a couple of pics for your viewing pleasure.

Cheers!
--Robert (Ottawa, Canada)

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#2 Rusty

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Posted 24 September 2010 - 01:36 AM

Robert,

Consider yourself VERY LUCKY...that's the nicest one I've seen and ours has been in the family for 40 years. The wood work is almost perfect....do not let it get wet without re-sealing the front and rear gutters with acrylic butyl window glazing 1/8 inch tape....

and have a nice cover made for it when you need to protect it from rain....the old caulking is notorious for drying out and allowing water intrusion into the interior paneling.

That is one very special camper....

A one ton single rear wheel...you'll get the strength of the 1T and the advantage of the narrow body....diesel ;)

did the Melmac come with it?? :rolleyes:
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#3 marc

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Posted 24 September 2010 - 02:34 AM

Robert

Nice score. I have a soft spot for the old NCO's

marc
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#4 banderswipe

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Posted 24 September 2010 - 03:11 AM

Hi Robert, Great looking Alaskan., It Looks like new,they are hard to find in poor condition in the east,you got lucky. No wonder you brought it on the spot. Looking forward to hearing more from you fellow Canadian.
Welcome to the WTW forum and congratulations on becoming an Alaskan owner. :D

Cheers,

Kevin.
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Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel and always have some body help you load or unload your camper.

#5 Land-roamer

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Posted 24 September 2010 - 02:23 PM

Robert,

Consider yourself VERY LUCKY...that's the nicest one I've seen and ours has been in the family for 40 years. The wood work is almost perfect....do not let it get wet without re-sealing the front and rear gutters with acrylic butyl window glazing 1/8 inch tape....

and have a nice cover made for it when you need to protect it from rain....the old caulking is notorious for drying out and allowing water intrusion into the interior paneling.

That is one very special camper....

A one ton single rear wheel...you'll get the strength of the 1T and the advantage of the narrow body....diesel ;)

did the Melmac come with it?? :rolleyes:

Thanks to all for the welcoming words and positive comments on my camper. It's the first one I've ever seen so had no yardstick for comparison, but it did look in a well preserved state, so I decided to buy it because I told myself I might not see one again. The seller is the second owner, he bought it about 5 years ago from an older gentleman who was the original owner and had cared for it all these years. The seller's truck quit on him a few years ago so the camper sat in his garage since then. He decided to sell to make room in there.

Indeed, Rusty, re-sealing is one of the things I'll be doing to it this Fall/Winter/Spring, as it sits in my garage. So it's ready to tackle the elements next summer etc.

Yes, 1-ton single wheel will be on my radar. I passed on one about 5 years ago, but I wasn't decided on the truck camper route at that time. It was a Gen 1 Dodge Cummins (early 90's) that had spent its entire life in Southern US, and that the owner had recently brought back to Canada. Rust free, but it had well over 400,000 kms which scared me a bit. Not so much for the Cummins, but for the rest of the truck. Anyway, timing wasn't right, so hopefully I can score something like that again... I'd prefer 2wd, since I'll be doing mostly on-road travelling (not always paved, but still roads) and since I've heard they're also more comfortable to drive down the highway than a 4x4.

Looking forward to reading the posts here, learning from your experiences, and contributing whatever I can along the way. I've also found the yahoo group site, which seems to have great information too.

Cheers!
--Robert

p.s. oh yeah, I suppose the Melmac comes with it :) (also the other paraphernalia in there, pots and pans, hardware, etc.)
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#6 Rusty

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Posted 24 September 2010 - 03:43 PM

Something to keep in mind....those cable jacks are dangerous...I've seen Alaskans on the ground in poor shape from experiences with cables slipping and the two bars being slightly out of balance position...I don't know what corner jacks those are but screw jacks work well....Reico Titan's are good....just be very careful....

kid gloves are definitely in order. ;)

BTW....Welcome to the group :D

The yahoo site was set up by another member here...Mike Dahlager...very knowledgeable gentleman.....

This is a much better format for the information base...one location with all the goodies...
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2003 Ford 250 Superduty Crew.... 7.3L PowerStroke diesel 1970 10" NCO Alaskan Firestone airbags pulling a 18' Silver Streak runabout


#7 Land-roamer

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Posted 24 September 2010 - 06:51 PM

Something to keep in mind....those cable jacks are dangerous...I've seen Alaskans on the ground in poor shape from experiences with cables slipping and the two bars being slightly out of balance position...I don't know what corner jacks those are but screw jacks work well....Reico Titan's are good....just be very careful....

Thanks Rusty, I'll be on my guard re: those cable jacks! The seller told me those jacks didn't bring the camper high enough to fit on the truck he had (which was evidently quite high, with large tires), so he bought 4 corner jacks and installed the hardware under each camper corner. I'll see them at work on Sunday when he delivers the camper in a u-haul trailer, hopefully in one piece! :) Sounds like those cable jacks will likely go to the recycler, if they are not to be trusted... :unsure:

I've never lifted a truck camper using jacks before, so will let the seller handle them, to drop it onto the dollie so we can wheel it (or comealong-it!) into my garage. I assume those campers will fit inside an 8ft door with some room to spare :unsure:

Ok thanks for the info on the yahoo site. I saw some interesting threads there, such as the one about a product to treat wood mold.

Gotta run, talk to you later.
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#8 MikeDahlager

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Posted 24 September 2010 - 07:07 PM

Hello everyone!
I'm really glad I found this forum.

Since 2 days ago, I am now the proud owner of an early 70's Alaskan 10 foot NCO camper!
I had read about and heard about Alaskans for a few years, but living in the North-East, I never thought I'd have a chance to see let alone own one. Then out of the blue, someone had one for sale locally, and I went to see it out of curiosity. I was so impressed with the quality of construction and the condition of this specimen (no rot anywhere, always been stored inside when not used, very well cared for), that I bought it on the spot. It's going to be delivered to my place on the weekend, and I plan to store it in my garage over winter (will need to make room in there for it!!).

I put some pictures of it on this site:
My Alaskan 10 foot NCO
I will take better pictures once it's in my driveway.

Anyway, I started a thread on it on rv.net, to get some pointers on what to look for when inspecting it, etc. The people there were very helpful, and seemed to think this was a very nice specimen. THe other part of the discussion there was about a suitable truck to carry it. I had decided some time ago that I wanted to buy a diesel truck and slide-in camper, to take on extended road/camping trips after I retire from work next year. I have been looking for a good Gen 1 or Gen 2 Dodge Cummins for some time, figuring I would buy the truck first, then the camper. Now I have the camper and no truck! No problem, I'll save money and hunt for a nice truck in the Spring. I saw there was a thread here on this very subject, what size of truck to get, and 1 ton seemed recommended (same as rv.net).

I was very glad to find copies of user manuals on this site, because the one I bought doesn't seem to have one. Mind you, they are pretty simple campers, but the wiring diagram and such is very useful to have.

Ok, all that to say hi, and glad to be aboard! Does this mean I can get on the draw for the propane stove giveaway? :-)

Looking forward to chat Alaskan campers with you all over the coming months, getting tips and advice on getting mine in even better shape (replacing caulking, etc.).

I attach a couple of pics for your viewing pleasure.

Cheers!
--Robert (Ottawa, Canada)


Wow, Robert! You have discovered a real gem. I would like to formally welcome you to the forum and look forward to reading about your camper in future posts. Sorry it took so long to welcome you officially. I have been King Salmon and Steelhead fishing for the past 3 days and turned my iPhone off.


Mike
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#9 banderswipe

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Posted 25 September 2010 - 12:55 AM

Something to keep in mind....those cable jacks are dangerous...I've seen Alaskans on the ground in poor shape from experiences with cables slipping and the two bars being slightly out of balance position...I don't know what corner jacks those are but screw jacks work well....Reico Titan's are good....just be very careful....

kid gloves are definitely in order. ;)

BTW....Welcome to the group :D

The yahoo site was set up by another member here...Mike Dahlager...very knowledgeable gentleman.....

This is a much better format for the information base...one location with all the goodies...


Hi Robert, I echo Rusty's advice, "Kid Gloves" when loading or unloading the camper. The number one rule always put the camper on level ground preferably concrete. Number 2 always have someone guide you back into or pulling away from the camper.If you touch any part of the camper when backing in or out you run the risk of twisting your jack plates and allowing momentum to twist your jack legs through 90 degrees and dumping your camper either on its roof or just pancaked on the ground,believe me. I loaded mine on my own and just touched the side of the camper,it started falling back wards away from my truck it twisted all three of my jack plates and ended up teetering half on half off the bed of my truck. I lifted it up at the rear with a Farm (Jack-all) jack straightened out all the jack plates with some gentle swearing and brute force,backed under it again only this time with the farm jack at the back of the camper to prevent it from going back wards again.
This time I was successful and the rest they say is History or learning the hard way.I am going to replace all of my jack plates 3 of them and add a fourth and have them on the corners. I Will put my farm jack behind and have some body to guide me as well next time.
I wish somebody had given me this advice before I loaded my camper. I was a hairs breadth away from dumping my camper on its roof,you should have seen the air around me it was blue and not from the color of the sky.
This story might be entertaining now but it wasn't at the time.

Cheers,

Kevin.
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Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel and always have some body help you load or unload your camper.

#10 John D

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Posted 25 September 2010 - 02:50 AM

Kevin,

From my first hand experience, you are giving very good advice to Robert about jacking.

John D
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