I am going to mount this Avion on my Freightliner, But look where my black tank drain is. I am missing the bottom cap on the rear of my camper. That is about the only thing that was wrong with this camper when I bought it just like you see it so no room to complain there.The tanks on these campers are small anyway, and I am wanting the camper to sit flat on the bed as low as possible. However the cleanout is in the way as you can see. Other than that the entire bottom of the camper is flat. Now on this truck there are huge cages welded underneath on both sides in addition to the lock boxes. These cages are about 2 feet deep by 3 feet from front to back, and about 8 feet long, and have a heavy duty corrugated grate bottom. I can get in them and lay down they are so big and long. So what Im thinking about is doing away with my tanks completely and adding one 40 0r 50 gallon black tank in one of these boxes, and just burn a hole in the bed of the truck large enough for my hose to pass through and go directly to the tank and tie in the waste water also. Have any off you ever tried this or seen it done? And do you think its a good Idea? Here is a picture from the front :h I had just went and picked it up sight unseen and so I always carry straps just in case. Do these look like Led's ? I haven't been up there yet. They do look new. Anyway, what do you guys and Gals think I should do on the tanks, shouldn't this Idea work?

As far as the tanks you should be good to go with your plan. The lights should be inspected from a ladder and then you will know for sure.

Thought I would add a few more pictures, I always like looking at the ones you guys post. Anyway theres a few more pics, photo buckets slow tonight. Im planning on doing a custom paint job on the truck also. And I need to come up with a plan for insulation between the iron bed of the truck and the floor of the camper. Something to dampen the sound and stop the cold from creeping up. I may Rhino coat the bed and just add a thick rubber mat under the camper which will also help hold it still. I could even bolt it to the truck bed and tie it down. Im going to add additional storage to fit under the wings to block it in.

Sounds like a nice custom project. Regarding insulation in the bed, I do not think a rubber mat will give you the insulation value you are looking for. We placed 1" foam board under our camper and Reflectix insulation under our bed. This help stop the transfer of the cold and heat through our floor area of the camper. Keep posting pictures as your build progresses.Dennis

Thanks Dennis, Ill keep you updated.

Can you put an eight foot long tool box with sliding drawers under the camper to space it up for the tanks? If you set it up to have gray and black tanks to set on the camper similar to the originals, you could still put the camper on a pickup if you ever wanted to.

Avion Black & Grey Tank | Good Sam Community

Led_67
Explorer
Jan 20, 2014
As far as the tanks you should be good to go with your plan. The lights should be inspected from a ladder and then you will know for sure.
Desertboy
Explorer
Jan 20, 2014
Thought I would add a few more pictures, I always like looking at the ones you guys post.

Anyway theres a few more pics, photo buckets slow tonight. Im planning on doing a custom paint job on the truck also. And I need to come up with a plan for insulation between the iron bed of the truck and the floor of the camper. Something to dampen the sound and stop the cold from creeping up. I may Rhino coat the bed and just add a thick rubber mat under the camper which will also help hold it still. I could even bolt it to the truck bed and tie it down. Im going to add additional storage to fit under the wings to block it in.
Explorer1016
Explorer
Jan 20, 2014
Sounds like a nice custom project. Regarding insulation in the bed, I do not think a rubber mat will give you the insulation value you are looking for. We placed 1" foam board under our camper and Reflectix insulation under our bed. This help stop the transfer of the cold and heat through our floor area of the camper. Keep posting pictures as your build progresses.

Dennis
Desertboy
Explorer
Jan 20, 2014
Thanks Dennis, Ill keep you updated.
69_Avion
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014
Can you put an eight foot long tool box with sliding drawers under the camper to space it up for the tanks? If you set it up to have gray and black tanks to set on the camper similar to the originals, you could still put the camper on a pickup if you ever wanted to.
Desertboy
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014
Its a thought, I pondered on raising it and looking for a rear cap and rearranging the plumbing and all that. But I don't think Ill ever take it off this truck. I have another TC for my 12 valve that doesn't weigh as much. But this MDT only has 50,000 miles on it and it gets around 13 mpg with this 10,000 pound shot crete compressor on back. I have 1 more of these trucks on the way, and also 3 HDT / 10 wheelers on the way. One of the HDT's has a N14 Cummins in it and a 10 speed tranny, I had considered keeping it and modifying it with a bed for a camper. But I like all the storage on this one. I guess Ill know when the time comes. Im just searching for Ideas.
nycsteve
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014
Nice find with the camper!
If I get what your planning with the tanks it would leave the valve open all the time as to drain into the new holding tanks, like using the sewer connection at a campgrond. I think I remember reading a suggestion that one should allow the waste to fill the rv tank then dump into the sewer connection rather than letting the waste trickle through the pipe. There was a concern of stuff getting stranded in the dump pipes and drying out and clogging, letting multiple gallons through at the same time ensured a clean flush.
Desertboy
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014
Good point Steve, I hadn't thought of that yet. I guess I would definitely need to arrange the tank where the inlet is directly below the toilet where all the waste drops straight down when its flushed, And it would be less than a 2 foot pipe connecting the two.
69_Avion
Explorer
Jan 22, 2014
If you made it usable as a regular camper you could put a separate gray and black water tank as side saddles on each side of the truck with piping from the camper outlet. You could dump each camper tank into the appropriate truck tanks for extra capacity without limiting your camper usage.

Also, I noticed that your camper door swings from the opposite direction as mine does.
ticki2
Explorer
Jan 22, 2014
69 Avion wrote:

Also, I noticed that your camper door swings from the opposite direction as mine does.

I picked up on that a while back , it also has a separate screen door which I have never seen on an Avion TC . I suspect it is a replacement .