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10-12-2012, 07:11 PM
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#121
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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The way that I figure it, the 72 gallons will be all that I need. If I use that up I will probably need to dump the holding tanks.
Today it is starting to come together. The bathroom is almost complete. I still have some trim work to do and to mount the toilet, but that should go quick. I am testing my shower pan today. So far, so good. I will let the standing water sit overnight.
Picture of sink area.
Picture of new shower head adapted to use original mount.
My FiL made some rubber internal mud deflectors for the truck bed, in front of the tires. They turned out real nice.
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10-13-2012, 05:51 PM
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#122
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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I put the fiberglass cover back under the gray and black water tank. It wasn't easy, but it's there. I still have to put the two pieces of aluminum trim on.
The aluminum diamond plate used to cover the large hole looks great.
Black Water tank valve.
Rear step area.
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10-13-2012, 08:04 PM
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#123
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Rivet Master
1973 31' Sovereign
2007 20' Safari SE
Vintage Kin Owner
Wesley Chapel
, Florida
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 886
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shower pan looks good! how did the overnight test worked out?
__________________
Still One Nation under GOD
2 chronicles 7:14
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10-14-2012, 08:11 AM
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#124
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VeggieBullet
shower pan looks good! how did the overnight test worked out?
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Not a drop of water leaked. I wanted to check the seal with the Plumbers Putty. I tested it by filling the entire Gray Water tank until the shower pan filled up close to the top. That way I could check the tank and plumbing one more time.
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10-14-2012, 06:02 PM
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#125
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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I finished putting the trim on the rear fiberglass cover.
This picture also shows the steps folded up.
The steps down.
The factory step resting on the Glow Step.
The Avion at the gas station getting the gasoline tank filled for the first time. The gasoline dispenser works great.
I had a chance to take it up to freeway speeds for quite a distance and it tows great. I passed several travel trailers, motorhomes and semi trucks with no problems. It tows like a dream and it doesn't even have a WDH.
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10-14-2012, 08:33 PM
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#126
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Rivet Master
1973 31' Sovereign
2007 20' Safari SE
Vintage Kin Owner
Wesley Chapel
, Florida
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 886
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nice! so just test driving or you went camping this weekend?
__________________
Still One Nation under GOD
2 chronicles 7:14
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10-15-2012, 09:05 PM
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#127
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VeggieBullet
nice! so just test driving or you went camping this weekend?
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I'm going to take it camping this Friday. I still have some work to do. I need to finish the bathroom and install the heater. I hope to have most of it done by the end of Wednesday.
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10-28-2012, 06:02 PM
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#128
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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I took the Avion camper on another trip. I now have several hundred miles on it and it tows great.
The LED lights sure are bright.
The camper is right at home in the mountains It was down to just under 20 degrees and it did fine.
Even after all my modifications, the table still fell through when it was made into bed. The only part that I didn't modify, broke. The wood "shelf" broke free and even bent a #10 screw. I bought 8' of 1/8" x 1" x 1" aluminum angle material and fit in under the wood after I reattached the wood. I don't think it will break this time, but that is what I said after reinforcing the table and the front bulkhead.
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03-16-2013, 06:12 PM
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#129
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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I finally rebuilt my La Jaqa jacks that came on my Avion.
They sure look a lot better than they did. They really weren't in bad shape, they just needed a lot of cleaning and some paint.
Does anyone know where I can get an extra crank handle for mine? If someone is changing out jacks, please let me know.
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04-13-2013, 06:15 PM
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#130
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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I finally did some more work on the camper. I'm trying to get it ready for the summer season.
I made the railing for my scissor steps. I tried finding adequate railing, but nothing seemed strong enough to fit my needs. I ended up buying 3- 48" pieces of 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" X 1/8" aluminum square tubing and making my own. I used 3-1/2" stainless steel 1/4 x 20 bolts to hold it together.
Even though the railing was strong, it was much sturdier once I tied it into the Avion's door handle.
This is how I attached the bottom to the extension bumper. It turned out very nice.
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04-22-2013, 01:53 PM
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#131
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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I started to rebuild the antenna mount assembly. It had 4 plastic bushings that only lasted about 40 years. The new ones are bronze and they should last a few hundred years. LOL
Here is a picture of it rebuilt, before I put it back on the camper.
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07-21-2013, 07:33 PM
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#132
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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I recently returned from a 2-1/2 week, approximately 5,000 mile trip pulling this rig. We sent through part of New Mexico, to Durango Colorado and over the pass at Silverton and then to Grand Junction, Colorado. The next leg of the trip went to Glacier Park, Montana where we joined in on a RV.Net Truck Camper rally. Then it was off to NW Montana, near the Canadian border. Then the trip took us to Idaho and back to AZ where we stopped at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
The rig towed like a dream and much of the time I couldn't tell it was even back there. On long steep hills I could feel it since I was carrying 80 gallons of water, full propane, 20 gallons of gasoline, and a quad. Much of the time we were boondocking and the outside stove worked great. We were able to cook 3 dutch oven cobblers for the pot luck dinner at the Camper Rally. That stove really comes in handy. Since saving this old Avion was somewhat of an experiment, I'm happy with the results. It went through plenty of cross winds, windy roads, steep hills and it handled great with no weight distribution hitch. It was being pulled with a F-350 diesel so it had plenty of truck pulling it. It also went off road, but not any serious abusive trails. I will post some pictures when I get a chance.
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09-02-2013, 12:05 PM
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#133
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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I'm trying out TorkLift's Power Armor Max box on my Avion C-11 trailer. This large box will allow the addition of up to 5 more batteries. I doubt that I will use all of them because I would end up with a total of 7 batteries and I don't even use the full capacity of the two I currently have. This box is well built and I may put two batteries in it and then use the remaining space for storage. Extra storage is the one area that I am shy of.
Pictures of Power Armor max on front of trailer.
Inside of Power Armor Max box.
If I left the TorkLift Power Armor Max on the front rack of the trailer, then I couldn't put an extra quad up there. That really isn't an option, so I need to make a mount that goes above the LP tanks far enough that I can put aluminum 40# tanks on the trailer and still have room for the battery/storage box.
Pictures of mount for Power Armor Max box.
As you can see, the mount uses seamless receiver tubing so that the entire mount is easily removable with a couple of pins or just the top section with one pin. I weld a nut onto the receiver tubes so that a bolt can be tightened and eliminated any "wiggle" in the receiver tubes.
Also, I plan on mounting a solar panel above the battery box.
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09-02-2013, 04:52 PM
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#134
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3 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Columbia
, South Carolina
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 135
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Man, I'm really liking your rig. I may consider this option.
__________________
AvionCamper.Wordpress.com
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09-03-2013, 08:35 AM
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#135
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2 Rivet Member
1974 31' Sovereign
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 74
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Very good idea!
__________________
Cheryl
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09-04-2013, 04:19 PM
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#136
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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I'm still trying to finish my tongue mount. I'm making it adjustable up and down to clear the LP tanks from 20# steel tanks to 40# aluminum tanks. Currently I have 30# steel tanks, but I'm going to go to 40# aluminum tanks when I get the chance.
There are still a lot of holes to drill and some nuts to weld on to "lock" the tubes together. I will use 1/2" long hitch locks to lock everything down. I just need to find the Reese locks with the same keys. The last thing I need are more keys. LOL
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09-05-2013, 07:40 PM
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#137
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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08-07-2019, 09:20 PM
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#138
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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Well, it has been a while since I reported in.
I still have the camper/trailer and it works great.
I did have a major problem, a couple years ago, when my 25,000# rated coupler failed. It failed in the upward direction. It came uncoupled when I hit a cattle guard at about 35 mph. The coupler was even locked. The upward motion of the tongue overcame the strength of the coupler retention mechanism. I checked with experts and they said that style Atwood coupler could only withstand about 1,500# of upward force. Had the trailer been tandem axle, it probably would not have occurred. It did relatively minimal damage since my spare is under the tongue. I ground off the Atwood coupler, when I got home, and replaced it with a Bull Dog Collar Lock coupler.
This rig has been all over Arizona and up to Montana 4 times. It has had 10 times the camping miles on it since 2012 than it had from 1969 to 2012.
I just got back from a 4000 mile trip. I had a few issues.
Going through Salt Lake City, the propane lid latch came off and the lid was flapping in the wind. The lid should have been designed with a hinge at the front, not the top. When I got back, I bought a new Hehr latch from Vintage Trailer Supply. The original was screwed into the aluminum. The new one is installed with #6 stainless steel machine screws and nylock nuts. It isn’t coming off this time. I wish I would have caught that issue during the rebuild.
The pink foam I used as a spacer between the camper and the truck bed, started settling. I had a 1/2” piece and a 1” piece. When I got home, I bought two pieces of 1/2” plywood and sandwiched the 1” pink foam between them. That appears to have fixed the problem.
The toilet needs a new seal and closet flange gasket. I’m waiting for winter for that job.
Overall, the camper/trailer has been a great success. In two weeks I never ran out of water. We did shower at campgrounds, but the onboard water lasted for everything else.
The only issue is the limited room inside. As I get older, sleeping on the cabover bed isn’t as fun.
My wife now wants me to rebuild our 34’ Avion triple axle trailer for longer term camping.
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02-19-2020, 05:50 AM
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#139
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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I’m still using the camper.
I need to do a little maintenance on it. I just need to get the time to do it.
The major remaining item is to replace the plexiglass windows.
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02-15-2024, 05:44 AM
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#140
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4 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 488
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It has been well over a decade since I rebuilt the camper. It was bought new, from the dealer, by my grandfather in 1970. They were really expensive, even back then. I was there when he picked it up. I bought it, and the truck it was on, from my grandfather in the mid 1980s.
Since rebuilding the C-11, I have not used my 34’ 1988 Avion trailer.
It was bought by my grandfather around 1991. My dad inherited it in 1994. I bought it from my dad in 2001. It is now time to rebuild the 34’ Avion trailer.
I will start a new thread on repairing it.
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