1974 slide-in for 1/2 ton truck

[h2obreathe]

Hi I'm new to the forum. I am about seven days into some repairs to this camper I just got: a 1974 slide-in for my Ford F150.

First thing I did was rip out most of the frame in the cabover section, because everything below the forward window was rotted. Of course, when I did that, the aluminum siding came apart too, which I didn't anticipate. Anyway, I rebuilt the wood frame, re attached the aluminum, and reinstalled the forward window with putty tape and phenoseal. Now, when I put the J-trim pieces back on, I am going to use putty tape and 3m 4200 marine sealant/adhesive.

I decided to rip out the closet because I like a more open feel to the camper.

Here's something I'd love some advice about- although I may not follow the advice. Since I ripped up the old linoleum floor covering, I have been working on the cabover reframing job with the bare chipboard floor showing. At one point, I fell off the box I was standing on and my butt went right through the floor (the camper is on sawhorses). I also noticed one of the longitudinal "sills" (if you can call 2x2 or whatever wimpy wood it is) is cracked from a long-ago dropping incident i guess, and the chipboard floor is buckled there, right above the cracked sill.

Anyway, I want to set the camper back in my truck to support the frame, make a pattern of the old chipboard floor, and rip out the chipboard floor and replace it with plywood. Then I want to paint the plywood with tough paint and that will be my floor. Thoughts?

Also, my little water pump/faucet is leaking, so I took it apart but the gasket didn't strike me as particularly degraded. Has anybody fixed on of these types of pump/faucets?

Also, what do you think about converting the round four pin plug for the running lights to a flat four pin plug, so it matches the plug already wired up on my truck? Also, does anyone know the wiring scheme for this little 1974 slide-in camper? It's only got two wires plus the ground, so I'm assuming it's only got running lights and brake lights- no turn signals.
Am I wrong? What do you do with the empty pin in a four pin plug? leave it empty?

Thanks! I'm looking forward to chatting with folks.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by h2obreathe

Snip

Anyway, I want to set the camper back in my truck to support the frame, make a pattern of the old chipboard floor, and rip out the chipboard floor and replace it with plywood. Then I want to paint the plywood with tough paint and that will be my floor. Thoughts?

Also, my little water pump/faucet is leaking, so I took it apart but the gasket didn't strike me as particularly degraded. Has anybody fixed on of these types of pump/faucets?

Also, what do you think about converting the round four pin plug for the running lights to a flat four pin plug, so it matches the plug already wired up on my truck? Also, does anyone know the wiring scheme for this little 1974 slide-in camper? It's only got two wires plus the ground, so I'm assuming it's only got running lights and brake lights- no turn signals.
Am I wrong? What do you do with the empty pin in a four pin plug? leave it empty?

Thanks! I'm looking forward to chatting with folks.

Hi H20

Welcome. We have a few truck camper folks on the forum, I myself however are not one of them but there should not be that much in them that I'm sure you can't fix.

Your floor idea sounds OK, only caution on painted floor is if they is any kind of wet, like from wet shoes, if it is oil base enamel floor paint, it can be real slippery when wet on wood. If you have a throw rug or something on it would take care of that slipper issue if it becomes and issue.

The faucet, do not really know. My son has a 10 year old pop up with a pump faucet and his whizes by the pump too. I have not looked at it yet he was fiddling with it.

Converting from the old round plug to the newer style 4 wire flat, I see no problem with that. Have done it myself on old trailers. The 2 wire thing, h'm that does not sound right or we do no undersand. Any idea what 2 wires it is? Ground and one other? If the camper has signal lights/brake light, pull a bulb out and look at it. Is it single or dual element?

I do not know but did some of the older truck campers juut have high up body lights and used the truck brake and signal lights? That would then only be 2 wires. Ground and body lights, Don't know on this one

Oh and any pics? We are a curious bunch and like to see.

Hope this helps

John

[Honda03842]

After I replaced part of our floor I covered it with peel and ctick squares - $0.69 a square foot from Home Depot. Looks better than the original floor, fast and inexpensive.

Norm

[dkasten39828]

I rebuilt an old truck camper YEARS ago due to leaks around the front and side windows. Had to replace the entire cabover floor (which supports the bed/mattress). I used 5/8 plywood, which I sealed using primer and exterior paint. I used all pressure treated lumber to re-form the framing structure... had to custom rip most pieces on a table saw.

I agree with John about the floor. I would not want slippery. We used a piece of commercial carpet with the built-in pad to cover the floor in the truck camper... cut to size, easy to remove for cleaning, makes it nicer in cold mornings on the bare feet.

[Lode]

Hello H2O,

I bought a 78 Sunline truck camper last summer and it turned out to be shot(as you'll see in the 2nd pic on the link) so I decided to build a new one off the specs of the '78 and customize it a little along the way. While it's a dormant project at the moment setting in the corner of my garage, it'll return to the top of the list in a few months.

Here's the link to it's current state...
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/ph...pic.php?t=2201

As far as your electric, mine had two separate systems for the DC and AC. The battery powered the lights, heater spark and water pump and the AC plug(20 amp) went to a breaker box and powered the outlets/fridge(when not on propane) in the camper. There was no converter to charge the battery while plugged in to AC. Apparently the battery was designed to be charged off the tow vehicle's alternator when running. Mine was a 7 wire set up vs your 3 wire to the tow vehicle.

To you 3 wire plug...
you can test what goes to where by setting up a battery and running jumpers from the battery to the different plug leads. Find the ground, probably white, and connect it to the (-) of the battery. With the (+) jumper, hit the other two and see what happens to your lights. My markers were all green wiring through the camper. I'd have to assume your 3rd wire is for brakes or perhaps reverse lights. Can you see your vehicles tail lights while the camper is on the truck so folks behind you know you're turning?

Floor repair...
I'd love to see a picture, I'm afraid to give you much advice here without knowing what you're working on. If you're removing the floor be careful as the floor and ceiling tie in the lateral support. If you remove that stability it'll shift on you and leave a huge problem to resquare for repairing possibly damaging the paint job on the truck. I'd probably approach it on a level pad or garage with the camper on the jacks, low to the ground, with a lot of cribbing supports built up all around the wings and overcab so it doesn't want to shift on you. You can add a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" OSB or even marine plywood($$$) to the bottom of the camper when you're done to tie everything together with stable wood, should tack right on.

If you don't have an electric water pump, and you're referring to a hand powered pump faucet, they're not that expensive to replace(I'd guess $20-$25), you should be able to find one at an RV or boating store that fits your sink tap, they're used a lot in pop ups. I've torn them apart in the past on boating projects and found it's just not worth messing around with after breaking the seal on them.

Your propane heater, as someone stated will rely a lot on how fresh your battery is. If it has a weak spark or isn't running the fan fast enough, you'll notice a loss of heat. Cleaning it and making sure that all your gas connections and vents are sealed appropriately might improve the performance. I'd add a gas/CO2 detector to the rig for safety. Personally, I'm replacing my furnace with the same model Atwood that heats my travel trailer. In the long run, mine will be designed for cold winter temps and I want it warm!

Well, I'll leave ya with all that for now, if you need help with pic posting just ask and we'll get ya squared away.

Also, if you want 3 more jacks and jack mounts for the camper, I've got them off mine and don't plan on using them ever again. My truck is too tall where I have to block under the jacks to get the clearance and I'm going to set up a much better system for mounting/removing the camper from my truck once it's built. I also have my old heater here on the shelf that you're welcome to have and other misc goodies from the tear down... wish you were a little closer .

Looking forward to hearing back.

Take care,
Lode

[h2obreathe]

Hi everyone,
thanks so much for the feedback on my original post. I don't have pictures, but I have replaced the floor of my camper and replaced the starboard dinette benches, reframed the cabover sleeping area, and painted all the new wood I've put in, including the floor and the dinette benches. Like I said, I like the open feel of my new layout, and I've preserved the ability to have an open floor by making the storage compartments adjacent to the dinette bench removable.

Now, I'm still working on the wiring. There are three wires coming in from the round four pin plug. One is green- that's the hot wire for the running lights. One is white- I think it's the ground but I'm not sure. It runs with the green one to each and every clearance light (running light). The third wire is black. It doesn't appear to go anywhere, so I'm thinking this must be the wire that you would use to get 12 volt power from your vehicle to the interior 12 volt lights of the camper.

I'm replacing all of the clearance lights, because the connections and lenses were badly corroded and or sundamaged on most of them. The newe style Bargman clearance lights have the little flat-based bulbs with no bronze. They are cool.

Here's my problem- only some of the clearance lights light up, and the brightness seems to be weak or intermittent at best. It seems that the lights are sensitive to the screws that hold them to the aluminum siding, but why does this matter if they are grounded with the white wire?

Thanks again everybody. If i get some spare cash maybe I'll get a digital camera to show you all pictures.

Joel

[h2obreathe]

By the way, HEY LODE,
I am driving out to Colorado with my newly renovated camper in the second week of september. Maybe I can take you up on the offer to look through some of that stuff from the teardown?
Thanks!
Joel