1983 Jayco Sportster 7 rebuild

[kmehr]

Got the furnace figured out finally! Biggest issue was the rusty old propane tank that came with the camper leaked like crazy. Swapped for the one on my grill and good to go. Just stuck a lighter in the access door and the pilot light right up and the thermostat and everything worked great. It’s about 28 outside and it heated up to about 60 inside in about 3 minutes (hard to tell the exact temp since I realize mounting the thermostat on the wall right above the furnace was a mistake). Anyways I’m super pumped! We’re going camping this weekend, we’re doing it!

Oh and I got the table top finished- used mod podge and varnish on this super cool nat geo map of Alaska from 1978. I have one other countertop piece we did the same way with New Hampshire (where my wife is from) I just need to install it.

 

[corybrown50]

Sweet! Glad it's all working.

Very cool touch of uniqueness added. I love that kind of stuff.

 

[kmehr]

Finally got her out on the maiden voyage! Got down to about 20degrees and the furnace did a great job keep us very comfortable. The cab over section could use some more insulation as it’s kinda drafty, and I think some insulation over the canvas would really cut down on furnace run time, but anyways, the battery held strong, solar panel charged it righ back up, fridge did great (though admittedly didn’t have to work very hard). Great success!

 

[ski3pin]

Great to see you out with your camper, congratulations!

 

[Manfred65]

Great to see you having fun with your camper.

In our 8ft Jayco we use the dinette cushions for additional insulation round the cabover bed. They fit perfect.
As long as there is noone sleeping in the dinette area

 

[corybrown50]

Fantastic! Simply fantastic!

 

[kmehr]

Dinette cushions for insulation, genius!

 

[kmehr]

Have used the heck out of the camper this year- 4 night in New Mexico, a night up in the mountains near Leadville, and the wifey and I did a two week road trip to the upper peninsula of Michigan. I’ll try to upload some photos:

 

[kmehr]

 

[kmehr]

 

[kmehr]

The other thing I’ve been working on and am all finished with except paint is a new jack setup. My truck is pretty tall, so I had to make some extendable feet for the old Atwood jacks and while they got the camper high enough, they increased the wobble factor significantly. I really wanted something like the “stable lift” but just couldn’t justify the cost. I went back and forth on a bunch of different ideas and finally settled on getting Rieco Titan corner jacks. The wood bottom of where the old jack pads mounted wasn’t in the best shape, and that was also contributing to the instability a lot.

Now obviously our campers didn’t come designed for the corner jacks, and I really didn’t want to drill into the outside to mount them, nor did I trust the integrity of the wood to support the camper. Thus, I decided to build a cradle to mount the corner jacks to out of steel. It bolts to the same spots as the old camper jack pads, but the idea is that the jacks are now all tied together and the design will hopefully keep the twisting action of the jacks in the cradle and not twist up the camper.

 

[kmehr]

 

[ski3pin]

Khmer, clever solution to the lifting jacks issue and it sure looks like you are having fun with the camper! Good for you!

 

[kmehr]

Thanks!

We’re also expecting our first little one in February so the next project is probably going to involve a sleeping area that’s baby ready. Dogs back to the floor!

 

[kmehr]

Finished up the cradle and installed it today. SO much more stable! Maybe should have added one more cross piece across the front as the single piece flexes some, but still a MASSIVE improvement. Used Eastwood extreme chassis black and so far really impressed with the scratch resistance.

 

[kmehr]

 

[corybrown50]

Nice! I appreciate the statement "impressed with the scratch resistance ".

 

[kmehr]

Final piece of the new system completed- welded on some way overkill D-rings as tie downs to use with the new Brophy clamp on tie down system. Will take some getting used to but glad to have the bed space on the sides of the camper freed up. Got it all finished just in time to sit all winter!

 

[Manfred65]

Tie the camper down to the rear bumper or hitch too. If not , on a hard stop the cabover may say "Hello" on your trucks roof.
Overall a great build...i think think i´ve seen this aluminium corners somewhere before ;-)
Glad to see you having fun with your Jayco.

My next project is waiting : a whole new roof

 

[kmehr]

Tie the camper down to the rear bumper or hitch too. If not , on a hard stop the cabover may say "Hello" on your trucks roof.
Overall a great build...i think think i´ve seen this aluminium corners somewhere before ;-)
Glad to see you having fun with your Jayco.

My next project is waiting : a whole new roof

I’m thinking I’ll add one more tie down to the trailer hitch to keep that from happening.

I built a whole new roof for mine. Found a great deal on amazon on rubber roofing material and it came with enough to do it twice. I’ve been impressed with durability. If I did it again, I would use the rubber roofing, but at least 1/4in plywood on the top and some sturdier wood on the sides.