Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos
Without going into too much painful detail, we had a mishap several week-ends ago. While working with sand bag crews on the Mississippi River, the truck and camper fell into the flood waters as a road...
Forum Discussion
69cayo, as usual, you nailed it! Just the thing to get rastaman going down the road. Your pictures have been a great help to me in my rebuild. Rastaman, if you can duplicate this set-up, you'll be doing well.
As far as water intrusion in my rig, revealed when I stripped out the insulation, I can't comment with any great accuracy. The fellow I bought Argo from had him washed at a truck wash a couple of times in preparation for my coming to inspect it so there was a lot of dampness throughout. When I began disassembling Argo, the whole cabover floor was very wet. There was rotten wood at the front end of each of the wings above the wheel wells. The corners of the floor above the bustle were rotted. The forward bulkhead had a rotten corner. You get the idea.
I would say that the panel seams looked pretty tight. I have now replaced all the window caulking and rivets. I have also caulked the inside of every seam in the camper, with Trempro. In retrospect, Gluvit would have been a good choice as well. I'd use that if I were to do it again because it's painted on and thus might provide a better, more thorough seal.
This very issue - the leak factor - is why I have gone all aluminum. And why I'm considering putting little drains in the bottom of the cabover and the floor. Whatever gets in can get out. I'm not convinced that with yards of seams and a thousand holes, water intrusion can ever be completely prevented. Perhaps when they were brand new and unstretched and untorqued, but after many miles and many lifetimes of use...?
We just do the best we can with caulking and sealants and chase leaks and enjoy them for their unique appearance and aerodynamic qualities. Garry posted a pic a couple of years ago of his rig parked next to a Lance in a parking lot in AK. It said it all for me. Avions and Cayos are so sleek and well-proportioned. They just look like they want to go down the road. Nothing boxy or top-heavy.
Rastaman, if any of us had known what to look for and look out for before we bought our rig...well, it might have been a very different bargaining experience.
Onward!
Dick
As far as water intrusion in my rig, revealed when I stripped out the insulation, I can't comment with any great accuracy. The fellow I bought Argo from had him washed at a truck wash a couple of times in preparation for my coming to inspect it so there was a lot of dampness throughout. When I began disassembling Argo, the whole cabover floor was very wet. There was rotten wood at the front end of each of the wings above the wheel wells. The corners of the floor above the bustle were rotted. The forward bulkhead had a rotten corner. You get the idea.
I would say that the panel seams looked pretty tight. I have now replaced all the window caulking and rivets. I have also caulked the inside of every seam in the camper, with Trempro. In retrospect, Gluvit would have been a good choice as well. I'd use that if I were to do it again because it's painted on and thus might provide a better, more thorough seal.
This very issue - the leak factor - is why I have gone all aluminum. And why I'm considering putting little drains in the bottom of the cabover and the floor. Whatever gets in can get out. I'm not convinced that with yards of seams and a thousand holes, water intrusion can ever be completely prevented. Perhaps when they were brand new and unstretched and untorqued, but after many miles and many lifetimes of use...?
We just do the best we can with caulking and sealants and chase leaks and enjoy them for their unique appearance and aerodynamic qualities. Garry posted a pic a couple of years ago of his rig parked next to a Lance in a parking lot in AK. It said it all for me. Avions and Cayos are so sleek and well-proportioned. They just look like they want to go down the road. Nothing boxy or top-heavy.
Rastaman, if any of us had known what to look for and look out for before we bought our rig...well, it might have been a very different bargaining experience.
Onward!
Dick
