Skamper 100s - 1982

[crawldit]

Picked this jewel up on Saturday. Exterior is in pretty good shape. The corner pieces on the roof need some love, but there are no leaks. The interior is in really nice shape. I'll take pics of that later. Has a 3 way fridge, sink with electric pump and a stove top. Also has a power inverter. All the cushions and canvas are in great shape. Also came with 3 jacks, a propane tank and stairs. He basically threw in everything he had.

Here are some pics on my truck.

My truck has AAL's and air shocks in the rear. It's sitting low on the driver side because all of the appliances are on that side. Right now I have the shocks on one air line, which doesn't help. I am going to separate the lines and run a higher psi on the driver side to help with that sag. These shocks handle up to 150 psi, but I can't find a gas station air compressor that puts out more than 90, so I need to air them up more regardless, which should help as well.

Yes, the straps are temporary. The seller also included frame mounts and all the chains and turnbuckles. I'll pull the camper off hopefully tonight, and I'll work on drilling and tapping the frame to install the mounts. The previous owner built a steel sub frame to clear the headache rack on his Dodge. Doesn't do me any favors with the overall weight, but there's no sag in the camper floor or the back 2 feet that hang off the truck.

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[Bill_G_62439]

Welcome to the Skamper community! The corners are not hard to duplicate from fiberglass. If I can do it with zero prior fiberglass experience, anyone can. My advice after having rebuilt my entire roof on my 080S is to peel all that silicone caulk off the sides of the roof, remove the aluminum rails, and reapply sealant where needed. You might check the plywood for rot while you're in there, but it looks pretty straight in the photos. I posted a thread on my roof rebuild. And there's also another thread with Skamper manuals. And Paul's (SLO_F250) thread on his Skamper rebuild is excellent bedtime reading!

May you get tons of enjoyment from your $400 investment!

 

[SLO_F-250]

Congrats on the buy! Looks like the ole girl still has plenty of life left in her. You will have to clean up that roof and as Bill said, the corners are a piece of cake. Just be careful and take your time. Take some time to read the other skamper threads that Bill mentioned. Mine is in my sig. Please take picts as we all like to read the story and see how it progresses!! Post any questions you have. We'll try and help out best we can.

Good Luck! :smiley_drive:

 

[crawldit]

Thanks guys. I've actually read through both of your threads multiple times :sombrero: I was planning on working on the roof this weekend, but the in-laws are in town to see their new granddaughter.

I definitely think I'm going to use fiberglass when I get to it. I might try something a little different though. Rather than create molds and then mount them up, I was thinking about just rebuilding the corners with fiberglass right on the corners. Any reason why that would be a bad idea? If there's flexing, would the fiberglass possibly crack?

 

[SLO_F-250]

Thanks guys. I've actually read through both of your threads multiple times :sombrero: I was planning on working on the roof this weekend, but the in-laws are in town to see their new granddaughter.

I definitely think I'm going to use fiberglass when I get to it. I might try something a little different though. Rather than create molds and then mount them up, I was thinking about just rebuilding the corners with fiberglass right on the corners. Any reason why that would be a bad idea? If there's flexing, would the fiberglass possibly crack?

Not sure if I would add fiberglass right over the corner. Its going to be hard to get into the roof structure if you ever have to. I also see the fiberglass de-laminating from the aluminum skin over time. You could take your old ones, sand them down, and fiberglass wrap them similar to what I did. It was simple and easy. They help up great. Course the mold route was great as well.

 

[crawldit]

Great points. I was thinking there would be some cons to my idea, and there are. I may fiberglass the salvageable ones. There is one corner that will definitely need to be done using a mold. The original corner piece is gone and the previous owner replaced it with a thin piece of aluminum sheeting that he "formed" around the corner and screwed in. Very ghetto, but appears to have done the job.

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[crawldit]

Had some nice weather this weekend, so popped up the camper and took some pictures of the canvas and interior. I can't get over how much space and storage there is in this thing. At 6'5", I'm excited that I can not only stand up in it, but that I still have an additional inch of headroom.

I'm going to get working on the roof hopefully next weekend. My wife called dibs on the interior and is picking out new flooring, paint, curtains and seating upholstery. I may or may not redo the exterior paint before camping season. It could use some fresh paint, and I would love to try and color match it to my truck (like SLO F-250 did), but it's functional as is. Basically all I "need" to do for the first camping trip is the corners, refill the propane bottle and get a battery to hook up to the inverter.

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[Travis24vctd]

Hello all, new to this forum but have had my skamper 100s for a few years now. If you want some really reliable corner caps get some aluminum ones off of a northstar. I have them on mine work great. My friend has a 080s he has them too and his dad has a 090s i think we just got him some.

 

[tlinson]

You can use pre 95 Viking corners for the roof . I just got one from Canvas replacement $11.00 each. They are a little long, but all I did was glop it up with some rubber roof sealant and screwed them on. I cut the tail off with a dremal looks good but I might paint it tan to match my Skamper. Happy camping !!!
tlinson

 

[crawldit]

Finally out in the wild where it belongs.



Took tlinson's advice and ordered up some pre-1995 viking corners for the roof. Once they're in and installed I'm thinking about a paint job. I was thinking about matching the paint to the truck, but I might go with something generic like a slate grey. I'm guessing I'll have the camper longer than the truck and would hate to have to paint the camper again down the road. I love the f150, but have a craving for an older 4-door f350 with the 7.3l diesel.

I'm also thinking about ordering some gas struts to add to the camper. Not so much to help with lifting and lowering the roof, but to help keep the canvas tight when the top is up. Would that even work? Any thoughts?

I'm also going to pick up some PVC pipe and adjustable tent poles this weekend to start playing with a DIY awning. Read a couple of good threads on the Expo about building one and have most of the parts already. It will be detachable so I can easily switch sides depending on where we are staying and how the rig is situated. At least that's the plan.

 

[SLO_F-250]

Finally out in the wild where it belongs.

Took tlinson's advice and ordered up some pre-1995 viking corners for the roof. Once they're in and installed I'm thinking about a paint job. I was thinking about matching the paint to the truck, but I might go with something generic like a slate grey. I'm guessing I'll have the camper longer than the truck and would hate to have to paint the camper again down the road. I love the f150, but have a craving for an older 4-door f350 with the 7.3l diesel.

The paint job is a job, that is for sure. But well worth it. Took me about (2) weekends. Lots of prep etc, but worth it. You cant go wrong with a 4 door 7.3L. I would say pick the truck before you paint. Matching it is awesome IMO. :sombrero: Good luck on the search!

I'm also thinking about ordering some gas struts to add to the camper. Not so much to help with lifting and lowering the roof, but to help keep the canvas tight when the top is up. Would that even work? Any thoughts?

I'm also going to pick up some PVC pipe and adjustable tent poles this weekend to start playing with a DIY awning. Read a couple of good threads on the Expo about building one and have most of the parts already. It will be detachable so I can easily switch sides depending on where we are staying and how the rig is situated. At least that's the plan.

I would nix the strut idea. Based on my old skamper lift system (1989), once the arms are fully extened and locked the roof wont go anywhere. Struts wouldnt help and would just put a lot more strain on the lifting system and gear when cranking down. Shoot, you might not even be able to crank it down. After I installed struts on my FWC, unloaded I have to dang near pull the roof down. One thing you could do is add a bungee around the exterior. I have seen this done on campers, but mostly on pop-up camper vans. The bungee is wrapped around the exterior and keeps the canvas kinda tight. I never saved any links to any threads, but maybe someone else can chime in.

 

[NCprepper]

In regards to keeping the canvas tight when the roof is raised, there should be a small screw where the vertical tube from the lift mechanism meets the horizontal tube attached to the roof. There should be some adjustment at each of the four corners by removing the screw and extending the inner vertical tube thus tightening the canvas.

 

[crawldit]

Thank you both for your insight and suggestions. Save me some time and money. I'll look for that screw when I get home tonight and see if I can tighten this canvas up.

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