Fiberglass 10 foot NCO info needed

LIK2HNT · Dec 17, 2016

Any help someone can give me to help identity the year of this camper and any other info such as dry weight etc would be greatly appreciated. I bought this used quite a few years ago (around 25+) and set it up on a truck bed trailer I made. Used it for quite a few camping trips and then parked it and moved on to a Wells Cargo trailer set-up so I could haul my ATV also. Anyways, I would like to fix it up again and i am looking on information about these campers. I have been looking on the web the last few weeks and have came up empty handed. Some info on the wood/aluminum versions, but nothing on the fiberglass ones. These must not of been very popular. Also it has a state of California Dept. of Housing plate on it.
Here is a picture of the ID plate. for the manufacture I can make out the Sun Valley, (CA???) maybe California?
Thanks
Bill

Wandering Sagebrush · Dec 17, 2016

You might call Bryan Wheat at the factory to see if they have any info on the glass versions.

Old Crow · Dec 18, 2016

I can never tell what another person has found on the web but others may be interested anyway so I'll just go ahead and post. Please forgive me if it's old news for some readers.

The Sun Valley question may be answered by the list of manufacturers in this ad from the November 1971 issue of Desert Magazine (page 19).

I see an earlier thread has a photo (at post 17) with the list of manufacturers, apparently from a page of the owner's manual.

I see it was R. D. (Don) Hall who developed the Alaskan camper. There's a 15th Anniversary booklet at this web page which tells us the company's history from 1958 through 1973. It tells us Don released the fiberglass model in 1969 after three years of development.

I see NADAGuides lists them for the years 1970-1974.

I first thought it odd the model is an AL-10 (on the plate in post 1). I was thinking AL=Aluminum but after reading the history, perhaps AL=Alcan.

Wandering Sagebrush · Dec 18, 2016

Wow OC, that's quite the sleuthing! I like to look through the Dersert Magazine archives, but never thought I would stumble on a bit of history on Alaskan Campers. Well done!

LIK2HNT · Dec 19, 2016

WS - Thanks,
I called and talked to Bryan today. He was very helpful. They only made the fiberglass models in '71, '72, and '73. He said it should weigh more than the wood/Alum. models and estimated the weight at around 1,400 lbs. The only parts they still stock are the pistons and tracks. Other interesting information was that the top half does not need to rest on the truck bed when in the down position. This makes it easier for me to mount the camper on a flatbed trailer, not having to build a shelf to support it. Also I was wanting to build a rack for on top. Bryan said to keep the total weight of rack and items stored on top to around 150 lbs. And to keep the weight centered to allow for even raising and lowering.

OC - Thanks
It is amazing what someone can find on the net. I spent hours looking and did not find the information you did.

Old Crow · Dec 19, 2016

More---

This brochure is on Ebay (as I write this)..... I think it says the fiberglass 10 foot model weighs 1300 pounds (it doesn't seem to differentiate between the aluminum and fiberglass models on the specs)

Also - interesting photos of old brochure for the fiberglass model at post 50 in this thread. Now we know what the Halldon fiberglass body (mentioned in the history brochure and designed by Don Hall) looks like.

Rusty · Dec 20, 2016

That's some great information Crow....well Done...answers alot of questions regularly asked here.

Can we get those brochures pinned at the top of the board?....

they're now pinned at the top...and additional articles or brochures can be added

Old Crow · Dec 21, 2016

That last brochure is the first time I've seen the "FG - Fiber Glas" logo with the upturned leaves. Very interesting.

Also- here are some photos of one from a Craigslist ad linked to here on the Used Pop Up Camper Alert Thread (in August 2016, I believe)...