92 Jayco Sportster 8' rebuild in the States with support from Deutschland

Hi Cory,

it looks great ! What "helpers" are installed in the F-150 that it doesn´t sag ? Our super-Duty was not "touched " by the campers weight at all but this is another size.

Whatever: We hope you enjoy your trip! Have fun after this hard piece of work!
 
Thank you all for your support. We're finally back in civilization with internet connection!!

Manfred, no helpers.....he is a Lariat 4x4 though and I think that helps a lot. He sits much higher than his sister 4x2 with helper springs. It was a little extra "springy" in a couple places, but handled the weight i thought pretty well. It was a 2 to 2.5 hour trip.....I took it pretty slow through the windy roads.

Kmehr....No inverter for the dorm fridge....running 110 at the campsite.

Hughdog, I may be interested in the project depending on where you are located and how good a WTW deal you are talking. I think I've fallen in love with these little gems.

I'll update tomorrow or so on all the progress that was made before the trip, some pictures from the trip, and notes I've learned.

I will share a little lovely bit of advice for the wives out there......When you husband asks "What do you think? ", what he is really saying is "Honey, I really need you to load heaps of positive affirmations on me for all the sweat filled, mosquito bitten, crazy hot work that I have done over the last months to allow our family to go on a vacation that won't cost us our first born, even though we may want to sell her after this trip and the attitude given to us in such close quarters. "

When he asks "What do you think we should upgrade? ", this is the time to actually share your thoughts on what needs to be done next......[emoji41][emoji106][emoji16][emoji16][emoji41]
 
HELLO ALL!!!!!

Update time on the build and some fun with the first camping trip......

Here is a look at the backyard the day before we headed out.....WHAT A MESS!!!!

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As you can see in the last photo, my truck jack is under the camper and the lift jack is wedged in there to hold it up with I get everything finished off.....The H frame under the camper really saved my hide when everything fell off the jacks.

Once the canvas was installed, I was able to reinstall the upper cabinet over the sink/stove area. Much better attached now, there is wood framing inside the aluminum skin instead of whatever they thought was a good idea before of the "thicker" sheet metal to hold it up.

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I started laying some track down the middle for electrical. I really like the access of not having to root through walls for electric. In the end, when I hooked up the trailer exterior lights, the right side didn't work. I'm not sure if it is a truck think or camper thing yet. I'll have to go back in and figure that out.

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A picture from the deck looking in.....we worked as late as we could keep going on Friday and Saturday to leave on Sunday. If you look close, you can see my lovely wife inside putting down contact paper over the sink/countertop area.....

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The finished result looks really GREAT!!!!

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I got the ac in the front window. My buddy had these slides which are for beds in pop up campers. I cut them to fit the shelf I built for the ac to sit on. Makes it a bit easier to slide in and out. They are the black pieces on either side.

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The rear wall was last to get finished. I had left over pink insulation from the roof, so that got used up. I also relocated the plug for the camper exterior lights to the rear wall, I thought it made more sense.

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Covered and routered.....

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I'll share my bunk bed idea....but I'm going to redo it soon. It seemed to sag a bit more than I would like. It was fine for my 5 year old, but as he grows....well....his butt will be in his sister's face....

I added brackets to the walls to hold a folding cot that I have in place so it would be removable.

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Here's the cot in original form

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Cut the middle legs out

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And the end legs off

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And installed.....

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My redo will be along the same idea for placement, but I'm going to use a homemade I beam of bias plywood where the supports are and have a piano hinge with a sheet of 1/2" bias ply that can fold down and give a whole lot more support. It will fold up out of the way when inside, and will travel down flat.

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I had to add at least a little creature comfort other than the ac....I picked up this sheet of vinyl flooring for $8 at a local closeout shop. It turned out pretty nice, and I still have left over to put somewhere else....

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There were plenty of things we forgot, last minute packing, and a whole bunch of little things that just kept adding up on Sunday for us to get out. We finally left the house around 6......we wanted to leave at 1.....even on the drive out, we remembered things and stopped along the way to just pick them up....

We finally got set up after dark on Sunday. Here is a really bad picture of what it looked like set up....If you're wondering what the support is on the front...it is just 2x4s and plywood. I wanted to be safe about it and wasn't sure how it would react.

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Here's a better picture in the day light. a pretty fine looking rig if I do say so myself.

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Man....are these things conversation starters. In stopping on the way there at a Lowe's.....I had 2 different guys come up to me while I was checking the rigging and the Mrs. was inside buying charcoal and "girl scout fluid".....both shared great stories of growing up with their dads and grandfathers camping like this. It was wonderful. When we got to the camp ground, the guy who checked us in had to ask his boss how to classify the camper.....his boss, the owner, laughed and said, "Keep scrolling down.....there....truck camper." He said they only see about 2 or 3 of these a year. I guess they aren't as popular in the Midwest as they are in the West. We got a few thumbs up driving to and from as well. Pretty cool to get that approval with all the work that has gone into it. Other's around the campground would come over and check it out. The group beside us as we were leaving and I was backing under the camper asked my wife if I needed any help. They seemed kind of worried with it up in the air and me backing the truck under it.

We had a great time.....swimming, canoeing, water slides, a little fishing, go karts, camp fires, smores, new friends, over all it was great. We even got a little natural history in. We camped by The Serpent Mound, and of course, had to check it out.

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Still a lot of work to do, but it was definitely "campable".

We got home Friday night, and completely vegged out on Saturday. Everyone kind of spread out in the house, enjoying a bit of space to themselves.

Back to work tomorrow.....the Brown Popper did well.....


Joshua 24:15 New International Version (NIV)
15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
 
A few more pictures of the inside as it stands now.....

The Mrs. recovered the original seat cushions......they look really great.

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It looks really cramped here, but it is a truck camper. I found that these totes are amazing and 2 fit side by side perfectly with some room for fishing poles etc...

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With the short queen we picked up, there is room at the foot of the bed for some extra storage. I may have to put a box in there soon.

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I picked this up on Amazon to give me a bit of diagnostics and more charging ports. This is how I found out my converter was running super hot....15-20 volts...I'll be replacing that converter just like Manfred did....

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Taking a break for a bit. I've got to get real life back in order here at the house. When I can, I'll do more updates. Next will be the converter, then an upgrade to the bed/couch. Water for boondocking and battery should probably be next. We'll see what the needs are as they arrive. A definite need will be a simple one, curtains. We ended up hanging towels over the windows at the campground.
 
corybrown50 said:
Thank you all for your support. We're finally back in civilization with internet connection!!

Manfred, no helpers.....he is a Lariat 4x4 though and I think that helps a lot. He sits much higher than his sister 4x2 with helper springs. It was a little extra "springy" in a couple places, but handled the weight i thought pretty well. It was a 2 to 2.5 hour trip.....I took it pretty slow through the windy roads.

Kmehr....No inverter for the dorm fridge....running 110 at the campsite.

Hughdog, I may be interested in the project depending on where you are located and how good a WTW deal you are talking. I think I've fallen in love with these little gems.

I'll update tomorrow or so on all the progress that was made before the trip, some pictures from the trip, and notes I've learned.

I will share a little lovely bit of advice for the wives out there......When you husband asks "What do you think? ", what he is really saying is "Honey, I really need you to load heaps of positive affirmations on me for all the sweat filled, mosquito bitten, crazy hot work that I have done over the last months to allow our family to go on a vacation that won't cost us our first born, even though we may want to sell her after this trip and the attitude given to us in such close quarters. "

When he asks "What do you think we should upgrade? ", this is the time to actually share your thoughts on what needs to be done next......[emoji41][emoji106][emoji16][emoji16][emoji41]
Hey Cory - I needed the jacks and glow steps for another project and was considering to build the roof and liner soon then sell for around $5K based on the comps that I'm seeing . . . That said, I'd probably let it go for $1K as is - I'm in San Diego If there is any interest.
 
Brother, that's a fantastic deal, but a super long travel from Cincinnati.

I wonder what shipping might cost..... Anyone an OTR driver heading close to here?
 
Yeah - That's some serious distance! Probably some remote way to get it done-

At any rate, I'm moving real slowly with some other "honey do's", so I'm not advertising for at least a couple of weeks.
 
Well brothers and sisters......still not much of an update here....

I've been sick since getting back home from vacation. Rough times.....nasal infection that turned to super tough acute bronchitis and almost hit pneumonia on Sunday with the raspiness all the way in the bottom of my lungs.....Did a cycle of antibiotics and now on a round of steroids to kick it out. I feel it leaving and it is at the top of the lungs working out. Crazy cough and no energy.....blood O2 saturation was down to 92% so I have had no endurance to do anything....

I did order a 10x20 carport to cover the camper and hopefully protect it better when not in use. I should be picking it up today some time.

Hopefully this weekend I'll be back up and running and working on it a little at a time.....

Just don't want to put it off too much and want to keep this going. I also want my "storage" room back......I've been storing all my wood and tools in the room right off the rear entrance to the house that is my game room normally....for now it is my tool room/wood room.
 
Hi Cory,
for a long time i was not active at WTW and now, during the "bad times" all over the world i first want to ask you and all the followers here how you are and wish you and your family have not been affected by Corona.

Actually i am planing a complete roof rebuild because we never had it "leak free". While working on it i consider to add new insert trim around the door, the fridge vent and propane compartment. Now i want to ask you for a pic of the insert profile that allows me to check my sources to order a new insert trim.

I hope you can help me with this because yours is the same model year than ours....92.

Stay safe and enjoy your camper!

Manfred
 
Manfred, I've used you and Corey's threads to help me on my '92 Sportster 8. Thanks!


I had to use two different products, but don't remember where I used each.

AP Products 011-361 Philips Screw Cover (I think this is the one I used around the door and fridge cover.)

and

AP Products 011-357 Elixir Screw Cover (I think I used this around the propane because it seemed to fit tighter.)


They were both very low cost and come in 8 foot lengths, so I ordered enough to use either around the whole camper. I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.



I couldn't remember if you replaced the seal between the hard side and soft top, but if not, this is what fits.

http://www.canvasreplacements.com/product_info.php/products_id/473


Hope it helps!
 
Thank you both.... I appreciate knowing I have helped others. There have also been 2 other members that are working on their own Jaycos and have contacted me directly. Any chance to give back to a group that I have gotten so much from is AWESOME!

Manfred....the camper is up and running....Unfortunately the fridge that I had custom fit into the camper ended up not staying cold. I got a smaller one from a friend that fits width wise but is significantly shorter. It runs on 120 but has a propane leak somewhere....no real worries as I don't ever boondock, and if I do, I have new genny for it. It did leave me with more area above for storage.

The bench/bed has been redone. It went turkey hunting this spring and was just right for a friend and I to spend the night in the woods. I added a deep cycle battery under the sink to run the fans, leds, and the furnace. All worked wonderfully without having to lug the genny for the 2 day trip.

I have it open in the backyard and will take some pics of any area you wish. Just let me know. She is under a simple vinyl carport just to be safe and not have to worry about leaking from the roof.

Up next is a bunk bed design I have in my head to add above the bench seat for the little one. He is 6 right now and should be able to sleep there for a few years.

I'm trying to find some vinyl as well to give it some style. Unfortunately I haven't found anything I like. I'm thinking of a simple stripe now instead of traditional decals, unless I find something else locally.

One unfortunate note though.....SWMBO told me this spring before getting back inside and working on it that she felt claustrophobic sleeping in the cab over area. We actually went out looking for a pull behind and didn't like what we saw the couple trips we took, which ended up being a lucky break for us since soon there after everything locked down.

Let me know what pics you need. She is open completely in the backyard and I can get to it all.

God bless you all and stay safe.
 
Hi Shawn,

thank you very much for your help.

I will order them with my next load of campers.

@Cory: Thank you very much for the offer. I think the insert Shawn shared with us will work. I have another Jayco 8ft Owner here in Bavaria also looking for these parts. I receive two BundutecUSA Campers in August including around around 40 ft+ of aluminium profiles to build new roof for the Jayco . It isn´t original then but it will be strong and doesn´t leak. I hope i can remove my flat-solar panels from the roof without damaging them.
We sold the Truck before the lockdown and i am now looking for a nice F250/350 Supercab 1980 and older.

Sad to hear that your lady doesn´t feel comfortable in the cabover. You should have known this earlier. When you rebuilt the roof you might have installed a big skylight in the cabover. Looking at the stars at night! :D

I hope you will find a way to keep the camper.

Regards
Manfred
 
Manfred put me on Flickr before. I used that as well with success. There will be a major cosmetic update coming as soon as the rain stops here on mine. Hopefully I remember how to post pictures as well.
 
Well. as everyone knows, work on these never really stops.

I have a trip with the fellas from my men's group coming up, so time for a bit of upgrading.

I installed a working 3 way fridge since there will be no shore power there.

I also added a second battery and 100 watt solar panel. This was after our last trip there with my generator mounted on the front of the truck below my sight line and I almost "bumped" a mail truck.

Last, but certainly not least, some prettying up the outside with vinyl on character for my uses.....

Yes, my backyard is a disaster as I work....

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