New old Four wheel camper questions

[malander]

Hello all,

I’ve got a lot of little specific questions for my new to me 90s(?) grandby. If anyone could point me in the direction of any resources I can read and learn about this I’d greatly appreciate it!

First question I have is the method of attachment. Previous owner had bolted through the plywood floor and bed rails. I know that the new ones use turn buckles but I couldn’t find any attachement points on the exterior of the tub. I’m assuming either the older models didn’t attach this way or the previous owner rebuilt his without.

Second question, how important is the trim on the bottom of the aluminum siding? It looks to me that the previous owner removed this intentionally, but either way it isn’t a clean cover over the lip of the wood.

Third, how hard is it to clean up and reseal stuff like windows? These function fine but are a little grimy with age. Not a high priority but something I’d like to clean up eventually.

I’m sure I will think of more but that’s it for now!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Hi Malander!

Welcome to Wander the West, and congratulations on the new to you camper!

A number of owners still bolt their campers through the camper floor and truck bed, but these are the folks who rarely remove their campers. Most do use the turnbuckle method, and that requires eyebolts in the bed of the truck, and some type of a plate or eyebolt attached to the part of the camper that extends over the side of the bed. If you do a search in the FWC or ATC forums for terms like “tie down” or “turnbuckle”, you will find a number of threads on the topic. I’ll see if I can’t find a good thread, and post the link for you.

The trim, helps protect the wood from water intrusion and subsequent rot, and often has sealant or butyl tape under it to keep things dry (same with window trim). It’s something you’ll want to fix.

Any openings in the camper like vents, or penetrations like roof screws should be checked at least annually, and resealed as needed. The vinyl tent material should be treated annually with 3M 303 Aerospace Protectant to keep it in good supple condition.

For repairs or maintenance that you can’t do yourself, FWC is an option, but many members (myself included) go to ATC in Sacramento. The owner of ATC was at FWC, and there is a good chance he built part of your camper. ATC does good and affordable work.

Here’s one of many links to help get you started. I’m sure others will chime in with great solutions.

 

[craig333]

If you don't reinstall the trim make sure you repaint frequently. Unless they deleted them you should have eyelets mounted on the camper. You'll want to reinforce those inside and out. I had to cover my own siding with some thin (.025?) diamond plate. A lot easier than painting once a year.

 

[malander]

Hi Malander!

Welcome to Wander the West, and congratulations on the new to you camper!

A number of owners still bolt their campers through the camper floor and truck bed, but these are the folks who rarely remove their campers. Most do use the turnbuckle method, and that requires eyebolts in the bed of the truck, and some type of a plate or eyebolt attached to the part of the camper that extends over the side of the bed. If you do a search in the FWC or ATC forums for terms like “tie down” or “turnbuckle”, you will find a number of threads on the topic. I’ll see if I can’t find a good thread, and post the link for you.

The trim, helps protect the wood from water intrusion and subsequent rot, and often has sealant or butyl tape under it to keep things dry (same with window trim). It’s something you’ll want to fix.

Any openings in the camper like vents, or penetrations like roof screws should be checked at least annually, and resealed as needed. The vinyl tent material should be treated annually with 3M 303 Aerospace Protectant to keep it in good supple condition.

For repairs or maintenance that you can’t do yourself, FWC is an option, but many members (myself included) go to ATC in Sacramento. The owner of ATC was at FWC, and there is a good chance he built part of your camper. ATC does good and affordable work.

Here’s one of many links to help get you started. I’m sure others will chime in with great solutions.

Thanks for the rundown and tips! 303 just ordered.

The trim looks pretty straight forward and easily accessible online. With that said is there a special trick for the inside corners? Seems that just joining the two and using some sealant wouldn’t be the best solution.

I’ll probably end up bolting it down after taking some more measurements - seems the easiest way to go.

At some point I’d like to install some jack mounts as well…the tripod jacks we used to put it on were on their last leg.

 

[malander]

If you don't reinstall the trim make sure you repaint frequently. Unless they deleted them you should have eyelets mounted on the camper. You'll want to reinforce those inside and out. I had to cover my own siding with some thin (.025?) diamond plate. A lot easier than painting once a year.

I have a feeling he deleted them..didn’t see any when we installed but to be honest I don’t remember too well. It was a sketchy setup and raining on top of that. Doesn’t look to hard to drill in new plates though. Diamond plate looks good!