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RE: Avion truck camper rebuild
Why the Peterbilt? Are you planning on towing something else? Seems a bit of overkill for the Palomino.
Towing the boat in the center picture. Boat and trailer weigh about 23,000 lbs, 40,000+ for the whole rig. F550 pulls it ok. Stopping, especially in traffic, has a big pucker factor.
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austinsailor
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02/26/23 06:54am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Avion truck camper rebuild
For now, leave it as is. The frame is just right for the truck camper. I am having the top modified. The tractor was built to car hauler specs, but never used as one. Changing tops gives me another 7" of clearance and brings the camper below the 13'6" limit.
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austinsailor
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02/25/23 09:41am |
Truck Campers
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Avion truck camper rebuild
I was looking at the thread on rebuilding the Avion that was in the flood. Somewhere in the 400+ pages of posts there might have been a link to my rebuild but I didn’t have the patience to look all through it. So, I’ll post it here, there might be a tidbit to help someone.
We used it for 15+ years and finally got rid of it when my wife was having difficulties getting in and out of the high bunk.
The Avion page:
http://www.austinsailor.net/camper/avion.html
https://i.imgur.com/vmwORCfl.jpg
I now have a Palamino Wind River on.an F550 chassis cab 4 wheel drive, on a custom bed with service type boxes on the sides.
https://i.imgur.com/nK0YYNEl.jpg
I just bought a Peterbilt 385, I will move the Palamino and custom bed over to that.
https://i.imgur.com/rhpS3ncl.jpg
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austinsailor
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02/25/23 06:56am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Choices in non-basement truck campers?
There are a bunch of them for sale here:
https://www.legacysleepers.com/used-trucks
And we test drove this one:
https://www.legacysleepers.com/2018-Volvo-VNL64T300-D13-with-144-Inch-ARI-Legacy-II-RDFS---1619
Nice truck, no doubt. and $$$
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austinsailor
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02/16/23 05:28pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Choices in non-basement truck campers?
We test drove one, she didn't like it. They are quality units, no doubt, unlike almost all RV units. It didn't have the room ours did and was very dark. I guess I could cut in some windows. She said she really liked ours. At triple the money, well.... You never know, down the road things may change but today this is the plan. We've got the Pete, it will work for now.
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austinsailor
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02/16/23 05:24pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Choices in non-basement truck campers?
I was needing the distance from the bottom part of the part that goes over the cab to the roof. I’ll set the bed to whatever level gets about 3” clearance above the cab. The number he gave me got that is 42”. On my Palamino is 52”. 107 ground to cab top, 3” clearance, 42” camper, I can get a 9” tall air unit, gets me 1” below 13’6”.
If I had an easy way to post a couple pictures it might make more sense.
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austinsailor
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02/16/23 02:08pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Choices in non-basement truck campers?
It’s not the bed height, but the roof height. The Northstar is 10” less than my Palamino with a basement. It can work. The truck, by the way, is 385 Peterbilt with a sleeper, not a pickup.
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austinsailor
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02/16/23 12:52pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Choices in non-basement truck campers?
I've had the seller take some measurements. With a low profile rooftop air I make it under 13'6" - by 1"!
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austinsailor
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02/16/23 11:35am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Choices in non-basement truck campers?
Thanks. This looks like it could work. I've located one, I'll talk to them.
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austinsailor
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02/16/23 07:09am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Choices in non-basement truck campers?
A small travel trailer could, but the room gained from the over cab bed is a biggie. Our current rig with the F550 has worked well, but it is just too high. I previously had a Lance of the same size, no basement. Needed so much work we got the current one, but now, with the new truck it’s just going to be too high. I found a list of current truck camper manufacturers and after looking at each ones offerings, it appears there is nothing new offered in that size with no basement. I guess I’m limited to a decent used one.
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austinsailor
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02/16/23 04:52am |
Truck Campers
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Choices in non-basement truck campers?
I now have a Palamino Forest River Truck camper with one slide and a basement. This unit has a flat bottom to the back bumper, and would hang over a normal pickup bed 4’. I carry it on an F550 4x4 and custom bed. The bed supports it to the very back. I occasionally pull my boat weighing about 24k lbs, on the upper edge of things.
This brings me to today. I just bought a Peterbilt 3 axle road tractor and plan to put a truck camper on it. Much more suitable for the load. Here comes the complication. Height. I have a few ways to go. The truck I bought was built to a car hauler spec - dropped front axle, low profile tires, etc. With my Forrest River, with a basement, it’s still right on the limit on height with the rooftop air removed. I’m thinking of a non-basement camper to solve that. I can make s custom flat roof for the Pete, but it would be easier to get a camper that didn’t have the height issue. Storage isn’t an issue, my custom bed has boxes on the sides where a pickup bed would normally be.
Bottom line of all this is, what is out there today, new or fairly new, in that size range with no basement. A separate shower is desirable, a flat bottom with no tanks hanging down would be great.
Any leads to look at, new or used, would be welcomed.
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austinsailor
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02/15/23 07:11pm |
Truck Campers
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