1988 Four Wheel Camper Grandby renovation and Tundra Fit

[Ourayphotography]

Ouray,

Sorry to see the broken welds. Mine was pretty bad as well. I was able to find a local guy that was a master at tig welding. I beefed up the frame with additional aluminum square tubing, cut the pieces and positioned them where I wanted them, held in place with L-brackets, and took it to the welding shop. He charged me $50/ hr, which I thought was reasonable. MiG welding requires special equipment and I think with how thin this material is, might be difficult to not burn through. Acetone will remove the paint nicely, and clean the aluminum up really well. It has to be clean to weld.

Poky

Thanks Poky, that is great positive news! Appreciate it. I have been looking locally for someone to do the alum, but no luck. I am talking to a welding school instructor and trying to see if he is interested. Small population here, so that does not help. The camper cannot be transported anymore, so I need a welder that is portable, or build a travel base.
Yes, I am reading Mig will be more difficult to control the heat and burn through. I am due for a new machine, so researching. I will keep on the hunt. Thanks!

 

[Ourayphotography]

I did the same as Pokey. Precut all the pieces and took the frame to a shop and had them do the welding. Here's my frame on a trailer ready to go to the shop.

Did you go back to a wood base?

 

[Ourayphotography]

Did you go to a full aluminum frame, or back to a wood tub like stock? Any pictures? thanks again

 

[hebegebe]

The mig will work the best if you add a remote spool at the torch head With that add on you’ll have the proper tool and can weld like a pro. Surgical clean will save time and effort!

 

[shellback]

Did you go back to a wood base?

Yes, back to a wood base. On the aluminum, I tripled each corner for electric jacks. Closed off a rear window, and moved the door left and narrowed it. Plus narrowed it for newer trucks. That was the extent of the aluminum fabrication.

 

[Ourayphotography]

The mig will work the best if you add a remote spool at the torch head With that add on you’ll have the proper tool and can weld like a pro. Surgical clean will save time and effort!

awesome that is the plan. Mig with spool gun attachment

 

[shellback]

awesome that is the plan. Mig with spool gun attachment

I'll have to look in my shop and see what chemical my welder recommended for cleaning the aluminum. I used a spray bottle to apply it, then just hosed it off. Got it clean enough for my welder to go to work. Wasn't cheap, but less than $50 delivered. Saved a lot of work.

 

[Ourayphotography]

Yes, back to a wood base. On the aluminum, I tripled each corner for electric jacks. Closed off a rear window, and moved the door left and narrowed it. Plus narrowed it for newer trucks. That was the extent of the aluminum fabrication.

Very cool, looks clean and good. I will reformat the floor plan as well. At this point I am still leaning towards a flatbed, so I will get more floor space on the sides. If the canvas becomes a daunting project, I can make it livable with the roof lowered. I plan to put heavy jacks on casters as well, so I am planning how that will lay out. So you eliminated the window facing the truck? Or the rear window?

 

[Ourayphotography]

I'll have to look in my shop and see what chemical my welder recommended for cleaning the aluminum. I used a spray bottle to apply it, then just hosed it off. Got it clean enough for my welder to go to work. Wasn't cheap, but less than $50 delivered. Saved a lot of work.

That would be ideal, thanks

 

[Ourayphotography]

Sofa pads?
Guys doing rebuilds, did you find it was worth keeping the old sofa pads around for measurements or re-use, or did you end up starting fresh? Saving the hardware for sure.

 

[shellback]

Sofa pads?
Guys doing rebuilds, did you find it was worth keeping the old sofa pads around for measurements or re-use, or did you end up starting fresh? Saving the hardware for sure.

I did away with the rear camper window on the right side of the door. I put a porta potty in the right rear so I figured my wife wouldn't want an audience while on the pot. LOL! I saved all the foam rubber cushions from my camper and made new covers. Once I had my floor pack built and installed, I spent a lot of time just sitting in the camper planning how I wanted to build out the interior. I had 2 previous truck campers, so i knew what I did want, and what I didn't want.

 

[PokyBro]

Sofa pads?
Guys doing rebuilds, did you find it was worth keeping the old sofa pads around for measurements or re-use, or did you end up starting fresh? Saving the hardware for sure.

I completely reconfigured my top bed, and lower side dinette that folds into a bed, so I didn’t reuse my foam pads. Plus they were thirty years old, and some were mildewed. I found a foam factory in Las Vegas, while I was down there a couple times seeing family, and they were able to cut it to any size, thickness, and density I wanted. Wasn’t too bad on price, about $250.

 

[shellback]

This is the aluminum wash I used to prepare for welding. Busch Aluminum Wash. https://www.shop.buschbuffingproducts.com/Cleaners-Washes_c6.htm I bought the gallon size at $30.12 You may only need a quart, but I have found it handy for my boat and other stuff.

 

[Ourayphotography]

This is the aluminum wash I used to prepare for welding. Busch Aluminum Wash. https://www.shop.buschbuffingproducts.com/Cleaners-Washes_c6.htm I bought the gallon size at $30.12 You may only need a quart, but I have found it handy for my boat and other stuff.

thanks!

 

[Ourayphotography]

If I decide to flatbed the truck, this is the general plan. this would add some decent floor footage. 48" center drop between the wheel wells to keep the center of gravity down.

 

[WyoIDI]

That is very cool. Any pics when you picked it up? Do you still have it?

No pictures sorry. He already had it off the truck when i picked it up, but i did get to see the truck. I imagine an aluminum flatbed would even save more weight. I'm getting ready to sell my 88' but let me know if you have any dimension questions etc. while i still have it since it is in pretty much stock form.

 

[Ourayphotography]

Playing with ideas as to format of the lower tub.
I ordered a new Spool gun for alum welding, and will upgrade my welder as well. Not sure if this thin alum can be done with the spool, so it is up in the air whether or not it will be all aluminum frame or a light steel. I will need to teach myself aluminum as well.
Even with light steel, I should not exceed the weight of the stock wood base.

 

[a8ksh4]

Playing with ideas as to format of the lower tub.
I ordered a new Spool gun for alum welding, and will upgrade my welder as well. Not sure if this thin alum can be done with the spool, so it is up in the air whether or not it will be all aluminum frame or a light steel. I will need to teach myself aluminum as well.
Even with light steel, I should not exceed the weight of the stock wood base.

Hey Ouray, this is looking fun! I brought a '80 Granby home a couple days ago and an going to have to do some welding on it too. I have a 120v Hobart 140 mig setup that I'm planning to try using. I've read that if I get a new liner (not contaminated with steel) and don't bend the tube to much while welding, it should work okay without a spool gun.

Do you guys know what alloy filler/wire should be used welding on these campers? How about which alloy for any additional tubing used to reinforce the frame?

 

[Ourayphotography]

Hey Ouray, this is looking fun! I brought a '80 Granby home a couple days ago and an going to have to do some welding on it too. I have a 120v Hobart 140 mig setup that I'm planning to try using. I've read that if I get a new liner (not contaminated with steel) and don't bend the tube to much while welding, it should work okay without a spool gun.

Do you guys know what alloy filler/wire should be used welding on these campers? How about which alloy for any additional tubing used to reinforce the frame?

Hey a8ksh4, very cool!! Are you planning to replace your wood tub?
I have been on a few fabrication pages, and the majority recommends going with steel on my project opposed to aluminum. To weld aluminum this thin, you really need a high powered Tig machine. A mig machine will be very hard to control the heat and burn through. Aluminum also needs to be very clean of impurities.
I did buy a spool gun, but not sure I will use it. If you are not experienced in aluminum welding, the welds will also be weak. Kinda frustrating for sure.
I picked up some steel tubing for the project, but have not started as of yet. I plan to buy new Mig machine this weekend.
Any pictures of your camper? How much damage?

 

[a8ksh4]

Yeah, I have to narrow it up to fit on a Tacoma, so I'm going to build a new wood tub and modify the front and back frames to fit. I'll have to straighten the top (it got bent up somehow) and add some bracing, and make a new canvas, too. The camper is really rough, but I think It actually has all of the parts (trim pieces, etc), so I'm going to have a go at it. I should be able to re-use all of the original siding and windows. I got it for $100 earlier this week, and don't need it functional until August next year, so have time to figure stuff out. I'll get a thread going on here once I get a few photos to post up.

I can see why you'd want to go with steel for what you're doing, building a whole new base for a flatbed. It's easy to weld and probably more predictable than trying to do the same thing with aluminum.

I might be able to get away with cutting wood or something to fit where any broken/removed aluminum tubing was and using screws and silkaflex to put it back together.