1960s Red Dale Truck Camper Redux

I forgot to mention...

Hubert Ward's design and engineering 'gene' apparently derived from work on pre-war PT boats. It was in Louisiana so I have to presume it was with the HIGGINS INDUSTRIES. The same company of "Higgins Boat" fame - - the developers of U.S. landing craft.

He later served on the West Virginia (BB48) in an engineering capacity.

Sweet ride 'novaop' !

Hubert Ward, Robert "Bob" Ward's father and grandfather to Brian Ward, moved from Texas to Colorado, sometime in 1960, to design campers for RED DALE MFG.. I'm not sure what influence he might have had on the RED DALE truck campers, though. They made trailers, too. Hubert started TORTUGA TRAILERS in Texas in 1958. Hubert later started WARHAWK MFG. CO. with a partner. "Warhawk" was apparently an amalgamation of the partner's names - - 'Ward' and 'Hawkins'. Hubert finally created HALLMARK which is currently headed by Bob's brother William.

Brian and Bob are the minds behind OUTFITTER MFG in Longmont, Colorado and their company's notable 'Apex' and 'Caribou' pop-up truck campers.

I saw a RED DALE truck camper in CUTTY'S HADEN CREEK campground at Coaldale, Colorado ( near Salida ) a few years back. I have some photos of it somewhere but I can't remember if it was on a truck or off. In any event, it had an air of 'permanence' about it in regard to its installation. There was no owner around so I couldn't ask any questions about it.

I enjoyed looking at your pictures and your project.

wnjj wrote:

novaop wrote:

Painted directly over the old decal. I have no idea what the original colors of the logo were. It had faded to the point of being black and white. I think it's cool to retain this original logo on the camper.

A quick Google search shows red letters with black outlined white stripes over top.

Darn. I searched and didn't find anything. Just did again and saw the logo. Not sure what the deal was the first time I looked...but there was nothing.
Oh well.
It's staying the way it is.....an update! :)

novaop wrote:


Painted directly over the old decal. I have no idea what the original colors of the logo were. It had faded to the point of being black and white. I think it's cool to retain this original logo on the camper.

A quick Google search shows red letters with black outlined white stripes over top.

Painted directly over the old decal. I have no idea what the original colors of the logo were. It had faded to the point of being black and white. I think it's cool to retain this original logo on the camper.

Stripes painted. Same pattern as the original paint job. Lighter/brighter blue color over a silvery white.

Kayteg1 wrote:
Good for you.
I just moved from CA where we had occasional 100's F in summer, to Vegas where we had 100's in March.
House has good insulation so couple of evaporate coolers keep us comfortable so far.
Can't think about firing up 4 ACs we do have in the house
Still I build new house in CA and paid lot of attention to insulate it well. So having 60's night in the area, I could cool down the house in the morning and when the afternoon hit 104F, the family room would stay at below 78F,
That what confirms the theory that insulation is the base and massive coolers or heaters are band-aids on poorly build living compartment.
Than in CA we had camping spots on 4-5000' elevations so with lake swimming AC was never needed. Than one morning in October we wake up to snow around.

We lived in an uninsulated house through some hot summers in Texas. Weeks of over 100 F. We sweat more than we ever have in our lives. Since then we build a straw bale house. The insulation in it is very good. We use passive cooling in the house. We have a cupola in the center of the house with a ceiling fan directly under it. Open things at night to cool down...then close the house up like a cave when it starts getting hot. Works for us. We'll see how the truck camper fares. It's been heating up in Texas and it is amazing how much cooler the camper stays even now that only the walls are insulated.

Good for you.
I just moved from CA where we had occasional 100's F in summer, to Vegas where we had 100's in March.
House has good insulation so couple of evaporate coolers keep us comfortable so far.
Can't think about firing up 4 ACs we do have in the house
Still I build new house in CA and paid lot of attention to insulate it well. So having 60's night in the area, I could cool down the house in the morning and when the afternoon hit 104F, the family room would stay at below 78F,
That what confirms the theory that insulation is the base and massive coolers or heaters are band-aids on poorly build living compartment.
Than in CA we had camping spots on 4-5000' elevations so with lake swimming AC was never needed. Than one morning in October we wake up to snow around.

Kayteg1 wrote:
Looks good although I hope you will not regret putting fiberglass insulation.
1.5" of fiberglass will give you about R2, maybe 3.
Polyurethane would triple that.

We took R ratings into account. We've lived without any heat in an uninsulated house in below freezing and we've lived in Texas since 09 with no air conditioning. We are invincible to weather. LOL

Looks good although I hope you will not regret putting fiberglass insulation.
1.5" of fiberglass will give you about R2, maybe 3.
Polyurethane would triple that.