Just got me a Skamper!

[Ponyracer]

Well here I sit in South Korea as my wife is nearly home from a 5 hr each way drive to pick up a $375 1995 8' skamper! I LOVE my wife AND craigslist!! Will post up some pics tomorrow when she sends me some good ones.

So far I know it needs a good cleaning and some screens. Guess theres also some broken trim but the body looks clean and doesn't appear to be sagging so hopefully not alot of rot. How do you replace screens in one of these? Do they zip out or does it take more work than that?


The plan is to haul it to AK with us on our move in june to save on hotel costs and camp this summer. Once winter hits I'm going to put it under the knife more than likely. Thinking of building a new ally frame lower and reusing the fabric/roof/appliances. Planning on a side door over the pass side wheel, kitchen to the right, bath to the left and 2 bunks on the drivers side wall.

Anyone ever do this?

 

[SLO_F-250]

Well here I sit in South Korea as my wife is nearly home from a 5 hr each way drive to pick up a $375 1995 8' skamper! I LOVE my wife AND craigslist!! Will post up some pics tomorrow when she sends me some good ones.

So far I know it needs a good cleaning and some screens. Guess theres also some broken trim but the body looks clean and doesn't appear to be sagging so hopefully not alot of rot. How do you replace screens in one of these? Do they zip out or does it take more work than that?


The plan is to haul it to AK with us on our move in june to save on hotel costs and camp this summer. Once winter hits I'm going to put it under the knife more than likely. Thinking of building a new ally frame lower and reusing the fabric/roof/appliances. Planning on a side door over the pass side wheel, kitchen to the right, bath to the left and 2 bunks on the drivers side wall.

Anyone ever do this?

Congrats Pony! Seems like a hell of a deal you got there! There are a few of us on here that have skampers and have documented our mod/fixes/upgrades/blood/sweat/and tears! haha :sombrero: The link to my Skamper (I need a name for it I think) is in my sig. Check it out as I have brought her back to life I think.

As far as the screens, I would suggest taking it to a sail making shop. They know canvas and could easily probably sew new ones in there. That is of course if you dont want to mess with it. When I patched some canvas on mine I was on the outside and my girlfriend on the inside and we would pass the needle and thread through the canvas and back to make the stitch. A slow process no the less.

Good luck on the mods. Im looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

[Ponyracer]

Hey, ya I read through your thread, I really like the work you've done. So the screens are one with the canvas and the windows huh. Seems like kind of a dumb idea. I'll see how bad they are when I get home and we'll either patch or replace. Not sure of the shape of the canvas anyway, looks good in pics but you know how that goes. I'll def put up a build thread when the real work starts!

 

[xdbx]

Welcome!

Now when you say 8' skamper, are you referring to the 072S or is there a true 8' length out there??

 

[Ponyracer]

Well it apears to be an 080 model. Not sure what that equates to. Guess the roof started coming apart on the way home, the outer cover started seperating from the trim at the edges, so I guess she has a rot probme, gee in florida, who'd have thought it...

 

[SLO_F-250]

Well it apears to be an 080 model. Not sure what that equates to. Guess the roof started coming apart on the way home, the outer cover started seperating from the trim at the edges, so I guess she has a rot probme, gee in florida, who'd have thought it...

Bummer on the rot problem! I dealt with that too. It actually wasn't too bad. I posted a lot of picts on my thread of how I repaired that exact problem. Let me know if you have any questions or need some more picts. I could probably dig some up.
GOOD LUCK!

 

[tanglefoot]

Have fun with the camper!

Did you say a side entry door over the passenger side wheel? I think that would only be practical on a flat-bed. Otherwise you'd need some very tall steps and a very short door that would barely permit crawl-in access.

 

[xdbx]

Check out SLO's thread, and it should give you a good idea of what lies ahead.

Also, post some pictures. I've never seen an 080 model. That designates the length. I was under the impression 072 was their "8 food model". ****** was the 072 for then... haha!

 

[ToolBox Guy]

Congratulations!

Glad to see you picked something up. There is quite a large Skamper family on here now. :wings:

 

[Ponyracer]

Thanks guys, heres a few pics of the rotten mess. I'm ordering a die from JD2, a 1" sq tubing die and I'll be ordering ALOT of 1/8" wall tubing. Instead of rebuilding the wood I'm going to go ally with everything, redesign the roof and skin it with ally sheet when I redo the bottom. The only thing that will be reused is the appliances and the fabric lol.

 

[Ponyracer]

I'll have her take some better pics tomorrow, it has a 3 burner stove, apparently roof a/c that works (it was running when she picked it up) and a fridge. She thinks there might be a toilet in there as well but she didnt look. According to the paperwork it's a 1995 skamper 080.

Not sure of much else yet.

 

[Ponyracer]

I'm going to do a similar design to xp's flatbed except it will only be 8' or so.

 

[teleturns]

Ponyracer....Sweet deal on your camper! Our first truck bed camper was a Skamper that I paid $500 bucks for. I miss that camper because the overhead bed was bigger and had storage underneath it. I can not wait to see what you decide to do to it. For aluminum frames you should research t slotted extruded aluminum that bolts together (it is pricey). Also since your Skamper doesn't have any aluminum in it's frame you should also look into doing a welded steel frame. Steel has alot more forgiveness than aluminum and is also alot cheaper and easier to weld. I thought I would just throw out some ideas since I have a little experience with mine.

Here is a pic of our old Skamper. It was also an 080S...

 

[teleturns]

One more quick note

Be careful with the lifting mechanism on your Skamper. The teeth on the key and the key hole can strip very easy. Make sure the key is inserted all the way and maybe use a little silicone lube on the tracks....

Ask me how I know.....:sombrero:

 

[Ponyracer]

Thanks man I'll check out the lifting stuff. I was thinking about steel bit it's .82 lb fer foot for 1x1 1/16 wall tubing and ally is .27 per foot for the same wall. I'm going to have to lay the camper out so I can see what kind of numbers I'll need. I'm trying to keep it as light as possible.