Is this 10' camper and F250 utility bed combo a OK deal?

[reformatland]

Found this for sell on ebay the other day ($16,000). Still not sure if I should go for it..What do you think? Pictures should be available in the link below.

"99' alaskan camper, 10' slide in, hard sided, pop up, cabover," It raises it lowers, mounted on a 99' ford F250 7.3l turbo diesel,extra cab, service body, 4x4, 230k mi , automatic, tow pkg, new starter, new batteries. all around, fair tires. strong runner. manufacture date of truck is 6/99. Tape deck and cd player. Super clean interior, Heavy duty springs.
Stabil lift elictric hydraulics, 3.5 cu ft, 3 way norcold refrigerator, 20,000 btu forced air furnace,double stainless steel sink, 3 burner stove/oven, 2 20 lb lpg tanks, 27 gal water tank , front dinette, flex steel seats, thetford cassette toilet, insulated floor, , two high quality, roof mounted, zamp 130 watt solar panels, 30 amp solar controller 1800 watt pro sine inverter, converter, dual agm batteries, , roof air conditioner, maxx vent fan, folding steps, folding tv antenna. Well loved , well used, well maintained. good condition for nearly 20 yrs old. Needs a few marker lights, new weather stripping, new sink faucet, has a few dents, dings, scrapes, and typical undercarriage rust . otherwise clean rig, not smoked in, everything works as it should.. "


https://www.ebay.com/itm/1999-Ford-F-250-/113309432043?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l44720

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

If you can, go look at it. At that mileage, the transmission could have issues, as could glow plugs & harness, injectors. They could also be in great shape. I loved my 2000 F250 7.3.

Maybe some of the Alaskan folks (or factory) could tell you things to look for on a used camper.

 

[kmcintyre]

Man, I don't know. A lot of rust and a lot of things I'd be concerned about and would want to see in person. What are those wires hanging down, engine life on these were great but would want to check it out and it sure looks like a lot of camper for a F250. If you are a "fix it" person, might be ok.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Hmmm, I didn’t look at all the photos. The rust would concern me as well. The weight doesn’t bother me.

 

[reformatland]

Thank you for your replies! The rust is a big concern.

Now I am considering to use Lemonsquad to inspect it before I go. It costs around $150. No sure how much it could help though.

 

[Denver Alaskan]

Seller's "typical undercarriage rust" would be my biggest concern. Pictures 2 thru 5 show the truck's tires resting on wood out in a grassy field, with the grass underneath the truck not mowed as much as the grass surrounding the truck. In humid and wet Michigan, every morning moisture would rise from the ground up to the truck's undercarriage and linger there as droplets, creating and increasing rust. How many years has the truck and Alaskan been stored on that grass? Had it been stored indoors on a concrete floor, I'd be much less concerned about typical Michigan undercarriage rust, especially since the Seller recommends the truck be inspected in person before bidding. Drive train can be repaired or rebuilt, but frame and undercarriage rust is structural. Otherwise, it is an appealing package, thoughtfully assembled on its initial purchase. You are smart to have it inspected before bidding on the next acution.

 

[thom429]

I too had been eyeing this combo - a lot of good stuff but maybe slightly neglected. Tempting as us east coast guys don’t have too many options. It had been for sale in the classified section of Alaskan’s website at $20k, and he’d previously had it on eBay for 20k. Rust is definitely my biggest concern- when you zoom on pics you can see that rear bumpers, part of utility bed, and rockers havé rust and have been resprayed with a rattle can. And while the frame appears solid, then you have diff covers, cooler lines, brake lines, etc to address.
My other concern is the body damage to the camper- dings and dents is one thing, but he sent me some pics of the separated seam - hit something with it, and it separated the seam on the RH side near the cab over, along the top of the stripe, and it split the seam open. He taped it up with RV tape, but it needs a more permanent repair. Also looking closely appears to be a lot of caulking around all the corners/cabover. I guess ugly caulk is better then water leaks.

Although handy, 15k is steep for a rig that needs tires, rust repair, camper body work and resealing, and something he has no service history on- apparently previous owners took excellent care, but no idea if trans was ever rebuilt, engine ever serviced(injector harnesses etc), front end rebuild, and whatever else comes up. And for me, I’d want to be able to remove the camper if needed, so add in jacks and brackets plus mounting them, and definitely at least airbags for the rear suspension, and thoroughly going over everything, seller says it’s not pleasant to drive at highway speeds and sees 10mpg- something seems up here.

 

[reformatland]

I too had been eyeing this combo - a lot of good stuff but maybe slightly neglected. Tempting as us east coast guys don’t have too many options. It had been for sale in the classified section of Alaskan’s website at $20k, and he’d previously had it on eBay for 20k. Rust is definitely my biggest concern- when you zoom on pics you can see that rear bumpers, part of utility bed, and rockers havé rust and have been resprayed with a rattle can. And while the frame appears solid, then you have diff covers, cooler lines, brake lines, etc to address.
My other concern is the body damage to the camper- dings and dents is one thing, but he sent me some pics of the separated seam - hit something with it, and it separated the seam on the RH side near the cab over, along the top of the stripe, and it split the seam open. He taped it up with RV tape, but it needs a more permanent repair. Also looking closely appears to be a lot of caulking around all the corners/cabover. I guess ugly caulk is better then water leaks.

Although handy, 15k is steep for a rig that needs tires, rust repair, camper body work and resealing, and something he has no service history on- apparently previous owners took excellent care, but no idea if trans was ever rebuilt, engine ever serviced(injector harnesses etc), front end rebuild, and whatever else comes up. And for me, I’d want to be able to remove the camper if needed, so add in jacks and brackets plus mounting them, and definitely at least airbags for the rear suspension, and thoroughly going over everything, seller says it’s not pleasant to drive at highway speeds and sees 10mpg- something seems up here.

Thank you for the info. He told me it is fine on highway and he gets around 15mpg..

 

[PackRat]

I think you have to decide of the COST of a complete rig is more important than the CONDITION. It has a ton of good stuff on it but rust isn't one of them! The wooden Alaskan is very sensitive when it comes to leaking seams and damaged seams so if it has had water intrusion for any length of time while sitting out in the field where it is wet/damp all the time then I would be VERY suspicious of what the condition of the wood in all the usual places would be...not to mention where it was banged into.

Here you have a very good example of a not-so-perfect Alaskan mated to a fairly high mileage truck with rust issues....all of these raise red flags in my book. Unless you are a full-time diesel mechanic and can nurse that motor on for another 50-100,000 miles and have the carpentry skills to tear into that Alaskan to solve any leakage, dry-rot or wood failures, and you were a friend of mine....I would advise you to pass on this one even if it has all the bells and whistles you desire.

When asking about buying a WWII jeep one time, I was advised to buy "the most complete one you can find" and to find one "without rust issues" (luckily I am in CA so that took only a few months and a trip to LA). You might get lucky finding a newer truck/Alaskan combo that someone is selling to move up or down but otherwise you might have to try to find an Alaskan and a truck separately. The truck would be fairly easy to find, the Alaskan with or without all the bells and whistles on it will be harder to find.

Go with a 3/4 or one-ton longbed and you can haul a 10' CO or 8' CO with ease. Start there and begin the Alaskan Hunt. It took me about a year but I had a smaller budget although I already owned an '88 F-250 4x4 Lariat 8' bed pickup.

Forget mileage, unless it is a daily driver. For 5,000 miles in a year, the difference between 10 and 15 MPG is $542.00 at $3.25 per gallon over the $1,083.00 you spend with 15 MPG if my math is correct. While that isn't an insignificant number, it boils down to maybe $12.00 per week...or the cost of one six-pack of designer beer per week....

All in how you look at it but as they say, the quality lives on long after you forget the price you paid for something.