Robust TC Wanted

Time will tell how long the exterior will last on a Livin Lite. I doubt that it will last as long as an Avion, but the lower interior portion may last longer.

I'm not sure if a leak in a livin-lite would even matter? There is nothing to deteriorate, peel or rot in the camper (the rug can be unclipped, and hosed off outside). The mattress would be easy to shuttle outside to dry.

Most of the Livn-lite campers sold at our local dealer are used for deer and moose hunting; the animals are stored in the camper for transport home (the clip-on rug is left out when hunting), and the owners power-wash the interior of these campers with hot soapy water to get the blood and guts out.

Put a fiberglass boat in the ocean, it will not leak other than the hole in the top.

....the last 26 yachts we looked at (29 to 34 footers, in the high 5 figures and low 6 $figure range, some fairly new) leaked like sieves or had mysterious quantities of water "below" (after careful inspection by me, not a boat surveyor)! In fact, if your bilge pump systems ever were to fail on a yacht, you'd be in very big trouble in a fairly short time-frame.

Find a used Snow River. I liked the 9'6" model. I just did a bunch of roof maintenance on my S&S and stopped the little leak I found. I am installing drip rails above all compartment doors and other penetrations. I have an aluminum roof so that will last as long as the camper is maintained. Look into gutter extensions. Why do manufacturers direct runoff water to fall onto the jack motors and water saturate the four corners. I also use high quality electrical tape to seal seams of corner/edge trims metal and the TC skin. Does a really good job of sealing those tough places. My S&S has a wood frame but has withstood several slams and bounces in the truck bed. The turnbuckles have bent and come off but the TC eye for the chains are just fine. The last incident being an elderly Asian fellow from BC who spoke no English that backed into the left rear jack. Slid the camper around in the truck bed and gave us a big startle but nothing happened to the camper. He got several good scrape lines and a couple little dents. 2000 S&S 9.6 is a well built TC.

TheCascadian wrote:
Sounds like you're looking for a Livin Lite TC...

Time will tell how long the exterior will last on a Livin Lite. I doubt that it will last as long as an Avion, but the lower interior portion may last longer.

Sounds like you're looking for a Livin Lite TC...

Wanye and Free...great points! Free post, some pics pls. Yes sawdust and such is being silly..but water lines with a kink..not good! The point is not just leaks...Sitting on a truck for 80,000 miles its shakes alot and the weak stuff will give out...i.e. the bracing under the slide out is bending and dropping, started to have issue with slide motion if not exactly level without the jacks down...if down sometimes won't even move that is poor engineering and just not good thinking. For decades campers have had issues with the back skirts rotting no matter what...so why not make that section out of something that will not rot or even get water soaked...fiberglass boats for the most part do that...yes there are transome issues with some manufacturers back ages ago...but they changed methids and voila no more rot...it can be done!

Granted anything with a seam is open to issues...designs of heads in RV's is so simple to solve...build a total watewrtight compartment with a drain in bottom, even if it is a dry bath type...if only for ease of cleaning and have a step over at the door...like ships have...any issues in the head stays in the head.

Anyway it just isn't the leak issue it is the whole thought process in design...I bet if thye started thinking about ease of cleaning inside...the so called "lady factor" would take a different slant...why not create a floor pan for a camper with a drain in the corner to wash the floor down the drain...this drain would not need to go to a tank, but could if regulations required it, and the sink tap had a small coil hose attechment and wash out the mud and sand and whatever. dry with towel and clean floor...yes cabinets would need to be waterproof materails..so be it..cost of doing that to all your units would be comparable to wood stuff and far lighter...and the simple design would make the inside appear bigger...benefits all around...aircraft over head bins are a good example...honeycomb covers. But flat material is made already...not a need for molds.

OH well! Just having fun with the thoughts! Have a great day.

pjay9 wrote:
Why is it that TC manufacturers build TC that will leak and you must do messy work to revitalize them periodically?

Does any manufacturer used truck cargo box methods? Think about it...cargo boxes are stout, support themselves, have proper edge and 3 way corner casting with wire chases for clearance lights, alum or fiberglass panels using many different methods to assemble them, glues, rivits, exturded joints and the interior studs are aluminum, easy to modify, easy to cut, will not rot and I bet you can add your own ideas to this. Even cargo trailers down at the local dealer are built more robust than many RV's!

Anyone seen one, know who builds, even built their own or anything like this? Have a great weekend.

I have one,
built it myself from plywood,3/4 inch box on the botom and 1/4 inch walls and roof,
coated all with Cold cure epoxy and couple coats of marine enamel,
its all glued together with Polyurethane adhesive,so no seams anywhere to leak,
run a bead of silicone under every window,then screwed down,
so far no leaks or cracks anywhere in 4 years of driving...
weight maybe 600lbs empty...cost about 1500$ not counting the labor..

If I was doing it again Id make molds and make it from fiberglass,,

Aluminum TC would be nice and light,but probably way more expensive...with todays modern adhesives there should be no problem to make anything watertight.

pugslyyy wrote:
As others have said, buy a TC that is built like a boat hull (i.e. fiberglass). That's what holds up.

Fiberglass truck campers are basically a boat without the mast. The problem is, a nice new fiberglass truck camper will set you back over $40k. There just aren't a lot of folks willing to pay that amount of money, so most are built much more cheaply.
ty

NL fiberglass TCs start at 28k last time I checked..

67avion wrote:
... I think that Wayne was saying that the quality of aluminum has been proven with the Avion. ...

That was my point.

I hope the following is not taken negatively, but I think the high quality of the TC exist now. Be it Aluminum, Fiberglass, metal, or wood framed take your pick. As for leaks, regardless of material used, the potential for a leak exist at joints and where holes are cut. The interiors need not be exotic to be quality. The quality is determined by the owners preferences, but more often than not the owner does not know what quality is.

In my opinion, pretty and inexpensive satisfies most peoples idea of quality. I read posts where complaints are made when the TC owner complains they found saw dust behind a cabinet. Another common complaint on quality is wiring and/or water lines behind cabinets are not straight.

My thought is that to have the ultimate quality TC, or anything else for that matter, is a dream that will never happen. It is certainly okay to dream. I do think much, if not all, of the new type construction which has been discussed here already exist. You or I may not be aware of it, and it is highly unlikely we are willing to pay for it. TC manufactures will build what makes them a profit.

Wayne

Thanks for your reply. I thought I'd pass along a picture I made from my boat of a commercial fisherman on the Ohio River. He has the same boat as I do, but he's made some significant modifications - something one can do with aluminum. For instance he raised the sides and back of the boat to protect from towboat waves. He built an enclosure for a small block Chevy engine. I'm not sure if you can make it out, but both those guys are smiling. Heh.

At any rate, this is some of the inspiration for the work that we do on the Avion. This jon boat is as tough as its possible to be.