Old, New Alaskan. It needs love...

[swissarmychainsaw]

Here's my new to me, 1982 Alaskan. I have literally just picked it up. So far this is what I know:

* The floor is shot
* It's REALLY heavy (maxing out my 1/2 GMC 1975)
* Sitting out side is bad
* Mud Hornets (?) like building nests inside!

Hydraulics work.
Lights work.
(supposedly) the stove/oven and fridge all work.

Here are pics; given the condition (which is "usable, but needs repair") Should I just fix what is broken and use it?
OR should I go nuts and try and lighten this thing up a bit? Think no stove/oven, no fridge, add storage and more bedding.
This is going to be for the wife, 5 year old, and me.
Ok, I said if was for the kid, but it's really for me! LOL

 

[swissarmychainsaw]

 

[madmax718]

that floor is really shot, it doesn't appear you can use it while its off the truck. I'd at least go over it and make sure all the jack supports and tie downs are firm and solid. The interior looks mint though.

 

[Rot Box]

I think the stove, heater, fridge etc are some of the the best parts of campers so I personally wouldn't gut any of that out. Alaskans are very heavy no way around it the good part is most of that weight comes from how well built and sturdy they are. Looks nice inside and a lot of potential all around imo. Probably time to start thinking about air bags or 3/4-1ton rear springs Keep us posted.

 

[rayct77]

The nice thing about Alaskan's is the floor's just a sheet of 4x8 plywood. Should be an easy fix. I would take the time to pull windows, eyebrows, vents, and drip trim and replace the butyl tape. It only runs about $7 per roll and is good insurance for leaks. It will also allow you to see if there is any dry rot under the windows that needs to be repaired. It's only 2x2 construction and easy to cut out if there is an issue.

As far as lightening it up, I did the same thing and was able to shave quite a bit of weight off. The old appliances are heavy as is the original cabinetry. I created a larger bed space and less cabinets. I eliminated the icebox and use coolers now. I also opted for no range top and use a portable stove when needed. In Oregon, if the camper does not have permanent cooking facilities then it doesn't need to be licensed.

Good luck with your project. Looks like a good one.

 

[fluffyprinceton]

An 8' Alaskan cabover is a real handful for a 1/2 ton truck in any sort of rough terrain. You'll be fine on pavement & logging roads if you

Probably time to start thinking about air bags or 3/4-1ton rear springs

.
A floor replacement is pretty straight forward if you can figure out how to hold the thing up while you remove the floor...but how far up the walls does the rot go?

If you have the mental & craft skills (plus a space to work on it) as a VERY rough guess you could lighten the camper by 300 to 400 lbs by rebuilding the lower section with a mix of composite panels & much thinner plywood bonded with epoxy fillets - a common, DIY friendly boatbuilding technique. You'd end up with a custom interior and a lighter, stronger & more durable camper. Alaskan construction techniques haven't changed much at all since forever and it's too bad...Moe

 

[swissarmychainsaw]

Thanks for the responses all.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but because it is in decent original condition, I will likely focus on "Repair and Return to Service."

My truck is only a 1/2ton, which is clearly not enough rig for this guy, but I don't have the heart to demo the thing either.

There are two things that this guy needs:
* Internal structure (maring plywood)
* Skin and trim

You can seen in the pics exposed plywood. That's not right is it??
Did you notice the reddish reinforcement bars, L brackets under the CO Bed?

Where do I get aluminum skin and trim pieces?

Thanks!
--Nick

 

[rayct77]

Thanks for the responses all.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but because it is in decent original condition, I will likely focus on "Repair and Return to Service."

My truck is only a 1/2ton, which is clearly not enough rig for this guy, but I don't have the heart to demo the thing either.

There are two things that this guy needs:
* Internal structure (maring plywood)
* Skin and trim

You can seen in the pics exposed plywood. That's not right is it??
Did you notice the reddish reinforcement bars, L brackets under the CO Bed?

Where do I get aluminum skin and trim pieces?

Thanks!
--Nick

No. The exposed plywood is not correct. It should be covered with sheet aluminum. I would think that flat white aluminum sheets wouldn't be too hard to find. Alaskan used a couple of different cabover supports. Yours look like they are most likely stock. Trim pieces are going to be the most difficult to find. Especially for cabovers.

 

[fluffyprinceton]

Structurally it's not necessary to cover the lower side with alu. As a weather seal alu sheet isn't a great solution - as you can see by the water damage...Epoxy saturation techniques are a much better sealing technique for plywood - and MUCH lighter. But if that's the only bad section it would make sense to just fix the rot & recover it with alu.

I'm wondering how much of the lower section is sound - alu sheet hides everything & until you look at the rest of the lower box you won't be able to plan your next move. A bad floor and a bad wall is getting close to it being reasonable to just rebuild the lower box with better materials & techniques. It's just a 4x8 box after all and while the Alaskan top is fairly light & intelligently engineered the lower section is just stupidly heavy 3/4 ply house cabinetry stuff.Moe

 

[LuckyDan]

I've never seen one without metal sheeting on the lower unit, so no I don't think it's correct. I think though that your upper unit looks amazing good considering the amount of weathering and rot on your lower unit. From your pictures I see no usual for Alaskan signs of water damage in the corners of the upper unit or around the window bases. I too think your cabover supports are stock. Somewhere on here a guy rebuilt the whole lower unit for an 8ft non cabover and did a thread on it. I will say Alaskans in general, while heavy are sturdy.

As to where to find the sheeting any "real" RV shop or metal fab shop or steel distributer should be able to get it. In my neck of the woods the local heat&a/c shop is a good source for sheet metal stuff. For other Alaskan specific part the company is still in business up in Washington if you were not already aware.

I wish you well with your endeavor .

 

[fluffyprinceton]

No. The exposed plywood is not correct.

I agree, it's not "correct" if the goal is to replicate Alaskans building choices for the lower unit. Structurally the alu is just a heavy way to clad ply - not "correct" - just the style Alaskan chose...My point is there are more efficient, practical, lighter, solutions to the Alaskan way of building their campers AND if this particular Alaskan has major rot damage in the lower unit I am offering another path to getting a workable Alaskan. A path other than Alaskans - which resulted in a badly rotted lower unit...

This idea of correct is totally appropriate if you think of the Alaskan camper as a classic example of American design. Actually I do think of them that way...and there is merit in restoring a classic design to the original condition - even if the building choices made in the original are outdated, irrational, stupid and bad.

I love Alaskan's - I had one for 18 years & the design

concept

is great. But how they build them is painfully out of date.Moe

 

[fluffyprinceton]

My suggestions are to solve two of your stated issues - excess weight & damage - but just a repair would solve the damage...I'd guess you'd have the shave 400-500 lbs to really make it work on a 1/2 ton and that's a project...but possible if you approach the build in a way OTHER than Alaskan's.

To just repair - If the walls are sound I'd suggest sealing with epoxy before replacing the Alu sheeting - if just the outer plys are rotted you can repair with epoxy & fiberglass to get the original strength back. Give Alaskan a call - they might have the sized Alu sheets available. Great folks up there in my experience.

Here's a write-up of an Alaskan floor replacement - I don't know why they went to 2 layers of 3/4ply for the bottom...maybe to raise the camper a bit to clear the truckbed sides? Or maybe just for the strength. It would be a good idea if the camper was used off the truck as the stands or blocks wouldn't have to be so even - with a 3/4 floor it could warp badly with uneven support. The sides were sound enough to bond epoxy to but not sound enough for mechanical edge fasteners I guess...In any case Alaskan's use of ply bonded with mechanical fasteners into ply edge grain is poor practice - but cheap & quick. Consider using something like Coosa board http://www.coosacomposites.com/ for the new floor if you have the $$$.Moe

Alaskan Camper Floor Replacement

I've been following Keeno's thread on Alaskan Camper repairs - he's got great info on how to keep these classics on the road.
I had to replace mine recently - with the (potential...) new owner of my early 70's Alaskan watching as I removed it from my truck so we could put it on his the floor fell out...well almost fell out - but definitely shot. We decided to replace it with him helping & paying materials. It worked out fine, he has a new floor in his classic Alaskan & I got help replacing the floor.

The wood joining techniques described are from boatbuilding mostly. "Liquid Joinery" is one way to describe it. It has a lot in common with welding except the native material is joined by the addition of a easily molded wood substitute (epoxy with the appropriate fillers) that generally speaking is as strong as the wood. The general principal is instead of the stress's in joined wood being concentrated in relatively widely spaced fasteners they are spread over a much larger area by exploiting the adhesive and gap filling qualities of epoxy and fillers. The waterproof characteristics of epoxy are another factor in their favor.
Check out System Three - their free "Epoxy Book" is excellent.
http://www.systemthree.com/index_2.asp

Also West System has an excellent site with a ton of info
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/

The job took about 13 hours including two material runs. Materials were 2 sheets 3/4 AC fir plywood, 2+ tubes polyurethane sealant, a bunch of self tapping screws, a qt+ of Titebond glue and about 1 1/2 qts epoxy.

Day One
1.We removed screws from exterior metal wrap-around and carefully pried old floor from side - as well as interior frame - careful not to bung up hydraulic lines.
2.Then scraped & cleaned frame bottoms and coated them with unthickened epoxy
3.Glued the two "C"sides of the ply together with titebond using sheetrock screws every 10 inches or so to clamp it. Did this on a FLAT driveway. So we have a 1 1/2 thick 4x8 lamination as the new "foundation". Using Titebond saves some $ and works fine - since we will seal the lamination's exterior with epoxy.
4. Mixed a batch of epoxy & structural microfibers to peanut butter thickness and coated all the frame edges using a notched applicator. Where there was frame damage (not much) we used this mixture to fill voids & cracks.
5.After coating the 1 1/2 thick 4x8 lamination with epoxy we placed it under the sagging lower camper frame and used 4 two ton screw type jackstands from Harbor Freight (@$60 each a great deal...) to push the "foundation" against the frame. We leveled the "foundation" with the jackstand screws.
6. Coated the outside walls where they meet the floor with epoxy.

Day Two
1.We put structural fillets where the frame meets the new floor. These were all behind cabinets so no need for them to be pretty - except around the entry where we used West System fillet blend - which has a wood color.This is a really strong & fast method - until you have to make them pretty - then you have to sand them & 2nd coat them and generally pay attention to surface...
2.We pumped & spread 2+ tubes of polyurethane sealant onto the exterior wall/floor joint then re screwed the metal exterior into the side of the new floor.
3. We rounded the lower back edge of the floor and added 6 inch wide 24oz fiberglass tape to the back on either side of the door to strengthen the joint.
4. reattached the pump & reinstalled the tank.

Hope this helps...Peter

 

[arktrekker]

I would email the pic of the metal supports for the cabover to Brian at Alaskan and ask him if those are original. I have looked at a lot of Alaskans and those are the first ones I have seen with the horizontal sections being so thick and hanging down under the actual camper, but given the nature of their company it could have been special ordered that way.