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You should either ditch the plastic bedliner, "way too slippery", or use a rubber bed mat between the camper and the plastic liner. Not sure how practical it would be to anchor the camper through the wings and into the bed stake pockets? I built my Grandby with brackets to use conventional...

"Just going by the tag on the door that says GVWR 5080, front axle 2425 and the rear axle is 3000." As you can see, the manufacturer doesn't just add the front and rear axle capacities together to come up with the GVW. My 06 Dodge 1/2 ton had front and rear axles at 3900#'s each, but the GVW...

Sweet! Got what you needed and didn't have to stand in a Black Friday line.

For my overhead bed I used 3/4" plywood. The slide out is also 3/4". To support it against the main bed, I used a 1 1/2" piece of aluminum angle screwed to the front wall. On each side I laminated 2 3/4" plywood pieces together for extra width. I think they are about 4 inches high and the length...

In this picture you can see the piece of aluminum angle that runs across the front wall to support the plywood edge.

I added a couple pictures.

Did your upper bed have fold down legs to support it when extended? My 79 Grandby was a mess when I bought it. The extendable bed was fastened to the fixed part with a piano hinge, and it had folding legs to support it. Not sure if was built with a hinge originally. When I rebuilt mine I...

You can braze aluminum. Just google it. Home Depot sells aluminum brazing rods. You will need a MAP gas torch to do the brazing. I repaired a couple broken welds on my FWC frame, but it was a bare frame with no siding or other material near by that extreme heat would affect. You could still use...

90% of truck campers are framed out of wood, so I guess you could just go with wood. I'd think about a piece of aluminum diamond plate to go across the front where you need to fill in the siding. A 1 piece plate would strengthen the front and tie everything together.

I had that same heater in my 79 Grandby. I pitched it, didn't even consider using a 38 y/o gas heater. If doing a rebuild, you might want to consider something newer. If the old one craps out after you build the camper around it, could be more expensive to change your build to fit a new heater...

I'll be 70 y/o next month, talk about second guessing a project, I know exactly where you are coming from! Many days it was, "what did I get myself into. Then you hit a milestone, such as the frame sitting on a new floor pack, and it gives you the push to hit the next milestone. I had 2 truck...

Here's my frame before going to the welder. You will see it on a trailer and that I used 2x3"s to keep it from collapsing. Not much strength or rigidity to it without the floor pack. If you do some cross bracing on the sides and ends before you remove the old floor pack, you should be fine...

One thing to consider when widening or increasing height is the siding. I found the cost to duplicate the original siding and have it crated and shipped to be prohibitive. Of course I'm on the east coast, and most suppliers seemed to be in the west.

Yes, my build was a complete demo to the aluminum skeleton, then build from the ground up. I only used the aluminum frame, windows, door frame, and the roof. My floor pack was shot, plus I had to narrow the aluminum frame to fit my newer pick up tailgate opening. I have a table saw, radial arm...

I assume by foundation wood you mean the plywood floor pack? With the camper looking pretty well gutted, it shouldn't be much of a project. My brother and I had my floor pack built in less than a day. IIRC, you need to remove the trim pieces and then the screws that hold the floor pack to the...

I'd like to, but I can only be on the road for maybe a month tops, and 10 days of that would be getting "out west". I'm thinking of heading to the Black hills first, then on to Yellowstone. From there south to Flaming Gorge. South through Utah the Canyonlands and Moki Dugway Then over to...

I have a 79 Grandby and had to narrow the floor pack for my 2016 Chevy. I imagine that's a picture of your truck and camper? What's the width of the floor pack at the rear? My Grandby was 64 inches I think. Narrowed it to about 57 inches. You may want to contact Poky, as he replaced his windows...

Just curious as I have seen more than 1 thread with folks questioning security about theft of equipment. Is this a problem at remote camping areas, or during storage? Also do you think the thefts are related to money for drugs or are these thefts by other campers. I'd like to do a trip out...

Okay, from Durango to MSNP, then over to Rt 191 in Utah. Looks like lots to see heading north along 191. I'd like to take that all the way to Yellowstone and then head east to the Black Hills. I can do this trip in the summer, just want to avoid crowds and extreme heat. We really won't be doing...

Okay, so I burn up the highway heading to western CO. From there I can head south and do the "million dollar highway". Is the "Four Corners worth a visit, or is it just one of those "been there's"? If I cross over to Utah, is Canyonlands or Capital Reefs a better choice to see. How about the...

OK

Great video Tim! The window part of the canvas was the most challenging job of the project for me. Mine came out probably a 5 out of 10. If I wasn't turning 70 y/o next month, I think I might attempt to build another set. For anyone attempting the project that has no sewing experience, I'd...

I bought 40# struts for my 79 Grandby rebuild. As I only have a Fantastic fan on the roof, they seem a little too much. I wouldn't mind paying the shipping to try the 30# out. After I make a decision on what set is best, I'd gladly offer up the set not used for the price of shipping also. My zip...

Delaminating, or rot? Looks a little like rot. I'd have to guess the edges of the plywood are getting wet. It doesn't look too bad yet, and there are materials to repair the rot or delamination. Once you make the wood repair, I'd try to flash up under your siding and wrap it under the wing to...

Maybe Sept would be a better choice, I usually do the first 2 weeks in Canada though. Does the weather stay fairly nice into Oct? Adding the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone would nice, but I'm not sure she could handle the extra time.