Manufactured by " J.T.B Industries Inc."

[Treadlight42]

I recently bought a "Ranger II" , date on the picture says 05/18/1989 as best as I can read it.

Also the manufacturer is " J.T.B Industries Inc" I thought it would say four wheel camper on it ? I did not think to use a Crayon until I got home and already bought the camper hence asking after the fact of buying it.

Any info regarding the age of it would also be helpful, did they make a Ranger II in 89 ?

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

That looks like a "Four Wheel Camper" and could very well be a Ranger or Ranger II Model.

Propane box forward like your usually means the camper was built in the 1980's.

Looks to be in pretty good condition !

The sticker on the rear wall looks like the factory sticker from Colorado, which would mean the camper was probably built before mid 1989 when they started a factory out here in Woodland, CA.



.

 

[Old Crow]

According to this info from a history of Four Wheel Campers on the Equipt web site, Jack Billings owned FWC in the late Eighties....

"The Seventies and into the Eighties were a heyday for Four Wheel and the RV industry. A major change in ownership occurred, and Jack Billings eventually became the owner of Four Wheel Campers in 1987. A couple of years later, the company moved to Woodland, California, and has been there since. Production bumped along, and then Ben Burnett bought the company in 1996."

Jack Billings is Jack T. Billings, thus the J.T.B. Industries business name on the plate. So in effect the company that manufactured the camper is J.T.B. Industries who at the time owned the Four Wheel Campers brand (and therefore your camper is indeed an FWC one).

According to this Bloomberg page, the company Four Wheel Campers, Incorporated was founded in 2001. It would be interesting to see what plates show on campers built during Ben Burnett's ownership (i.e., between 1996 and 2001).

You may also be interested in this 1989 Ranger II restoration thread. (click on the Expedition Portal link in post 1 for more details) Nice!

.

 

[ckent323]

I am certain the name "Four Wheel Campers" was in use prior to 2001. I had a 1984 Four Wheel Keystone model and it had a tag on it with that name not JTB Industries. It also said Four Wheel Campers and Keystone on the side of the camper similar to the way the name is on the campers made since 2001.

In addition, I have a friend who presently owns a 1985 Keystone (since the late 1980's) and it has a Four Wheel Campers tag on it with a Lakewood, Colorado address. I have a picture of it.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Pretty cool you have some history there.
Enjoy your "new" toy. Post some pictures of the inside.
Frank

 

[Treadlight42]

Thanks for all the info guys! It definitely has a Ranger II on the back of it, but with the sides cut off and with the JTB tag I was worried after I brought it home.

Inside needs a bit of work but plan on doing a restoration page for it soon!

 

[Old Crow]

I am certain the name "Four Wheel Campers" was in use prior to 2001. I had a 1984 Four Wheel Keystone model and it had a tag on it with that name not JTB Industries. It also said Four Wheel Campers and Keystone on the side of the camper similar to the way the name is on the campers made since 2001.

In addition, I have a friend who presently owns a 1985 Keystone (since the late 1980's) and it has a Four Wheel Campers tag on it with a Lakewood, Colorado address. I have a picture of it.

Thanks for that info, Craig.

It's unclear how the "Manufactured By" space was used by the several owners of FWC over the years. If we had more examples like yours, we might be able to figure it out. (If any of you vintage camper owners have that info from your camper, please post!)

I see the plate/sticker appears to be required by 49 CFR 575.103 (which calls it a 'label') and that appears to require the full corporate or individual name of the actual assembler of the camper to be spelled out.

I believe some of the confusion may come from multiple corporate names for the company. The Bloomberg page I linked to was for 'Four Wheel Campers, Inc'. But I see from this manual that they also identified as "Four Wheel Pop-Up Campers, Inc". And I know there's a "Four Wheel Campers, LLC" in later years.

Is there anything following the words 'Four Wheel Campers' on the labels you refer to?

.

 

[JaSAn]

The earliest date for 49CFR 575.103 I could find is July 12, 1996 (amended in 2005).

This is the decal from my '77 Grandby:

 

[Old Crow]

The earliest date for 49CFR 575.103 I could find is July 12, 1996 (amended in 2005).

This is the decal from my '77 Grandby:

fwc.jpg

Thanks!

I'm not sure why but I find the same label regulations in 49CFR 571.126 in what appears to be an October 1, 1973 version (page 509) (I hope the link works correctly. Oddly, the e-book title shows as "Code of Federal Regulations: 1949-1984" but page 1 indicates it's 49 CFR parts 200 to 999 as of October 1, 1973).

Does your camper also have a label with a legible manufactured-by company name on it? (my 01 shell doesn't even have a label, much less a legible one)

.

 

[JaSAn]

The only data label (left?) on my camper is the serial number label shown as shown:

 

[cwdtmmrs]

I am not sure some of the above posted information is exactly correct, because the dates don't agree with the paperwork that came with my 1993 Ranger II. I have the original FOUR WHEEL CAMPER WARRANTY dated 05-15-93. There are 2 addresses or FWC, one in Woodland Ca. and one in Denver, Co. Oddly, as you can clearly see on the warranty, the warranty was authorized by "T."J.B.

I also have the Bill of Sale that when the original buyer sold it (fully loaded with all of the extras) in 1996 for $2,195.00. I purchased it from the 3rd owner in 2007 for $1,000! It was in almost new condition. I still have the CL ad.
cwd

EDIT: There are some tags on my camper that I will check tomorrow.

 

[ckent323]

Old Crow, et al,

Here are the tags on the 1985 Keystone

 

[klahanie]

I also have the Bill of Sale that when the original buyer sold it (fully loaded with all of the extras) in 1996 for $2,195.00.

Just out of interest ... I have a 1/96 factory price list showing the Ranger2 at $5995 base. Easy to add $2K options. So the orig owner sold a 3 YO unit for $2,195 when a new replacement was ~$8K.

In those days you could buy lightly used and it made $ sense. Boy, times have changed !

 

[Old Crow]

The only data label (left?) on my camper is the serial number label shown as shown:

Screen Shot 2019-01-30 at 9.24.09 PM copy.png

Rats. I was hoping for a manufacturer name. Now that raises the question of why it doesn't have one. I also found this NHTSA "Motorhome and Pickup Camper Safety" booklet which tells us (on page 9) that the labelling requirements went into effect on January 1, 1973 (and included the name of the manufacturer). I guess it's possible the top was cut off but it doesn't look like it in the photo.

.

 

[Old Crow]

Old Crow, et al,

Here are the tags on the 1985 Keystone

The first is a Colorado 'insignia of approval' described like this in the Code of Colorado Regulations....

"1.11 “Insignia” means a seal, label, or tag issued by the Division of Housing that when permanently affixed to a structure confirms compliance as one of the following: 1.11.1 An “insignia of approval” pursuant to sections 24-32-3311(1) and 24-32-3311(4), C.R.S., issued by the Division of Housing or an “authorized quality assurance representative” pursuant to sections 24-32-3302(1) and 24-32-3303(1)(c), C.R.S., verifying that a factorybuilt structure is designed and constructed in compliance with the requirements of all state or local ordinances or rules, including those for electrical and plumbing."

It's very interesting to see the second one shows "Four Wheel Campers Inc" (not "Four Wheel Pop-up Campers" or "Four Wheel Pop-up Campers Inc") on a 1985 camper when the Bloomberg record says 'Four Wheel Campers Inc' was founded in 2001. I guess the most straight-forward explanation is the Bloomberg record is wrong. Or perhaps there's some explanation tied to Tom and Celeste Hanagan taking over FWC around that time. I was thinking it might mean Tom and Celeste wanted to drop the word "Pop-up", perhaps because they wanted to simplify their company name or perhaps even because they knew they were going to build a hard-top Four Wheel model (the HT model) sometime in the future. I'd love to know more.

The other thing I'd like to take note of is those addresses on the second tag. I don't think I've seen the LA, Sacramento, and Seattle ones before. I assume they were dealers (not manufacturing facilities).

It's also not clear why that 1985 camper wouldn't have some version of the manufacturer's federal compliance label. But then again, neither does mine.

.

 

[ckent323]

As I wrote previously I had a 1984 Keystone and it had a Four Wheel Campers manufacturer label. I may have a picture of it but I am not presently able to access those files.

I previously did research on Four Wheel Campers and I found that the name Four Wheel Campers was in use prior to 1984.

I hope that helps.

Craig

 

[pvstoy]

Had a 1982 FWC Fleet that I used for a number of years. A friend had same model but 1981.