Liberty, My 97 F250 CCSB

snowaddict91

Adventurer
Avion

So this fall we have spent a ton of time sprucing up the Avion, learning everything about RVs from construction to plumbing to electrical to fixing leaks, how to winterize, how a 2-way fridge works, and a whole bunch more. I enjoy learning new things so its been fun, with a bit of frustration and second thoughts about buying a 40 year old trailer mixed in. I had read about how well Avions were built, but I knew they were rare. I never thought I would own one. But I will say after working on this thing, I am very impressed with the build quality. Only 1 water damage spot in the floor about 1x1' after 40 years! And I fixed it before we put the new floor on. I don't have a ton of pictures as the wife did most of the interior work while I worked on Liberty or learned about the trailer.

Here are some pictures when we brought it home. It was in VERY good shape and it sounds like it spent 20-30 years in a barn (with no mice:wings: )



The previous owner had already redid the countertops, sinks, and majority of the plumbing!




And here are a couple shots of the magic my wife worked


Close up of our first time doing trim


I will try to get some more interior shots in the next few days. The only major snag we have hit so far is the fridge is pretty finicky, doesn't seem to cool at all on shore power (but works on propane) and it is pretty funky, even after a deep clean and activated charcoal treatment. If we wind up full timing a new fridge will likely go in. I have thought about running an ARB and adding a couple more batteries but we will see. I wish we had a chance to take it out this fall before we winterized it, but such is life.

We may have the opportunity for my wife to take a job where we used to live in CO and we will likely sell the trailer if this pans out. We should know by Mid-January. We will be sad to see it go, but we are not adventurous enough to full-time somewhere where it is consistently below 0F from December-April and we have decided that a 28' trailer is too much for weekend trips.

But the truck isn't going anywhere as she has earned her keep and in small town CO daily driving a full size truck is rarely an inconvenience like it can be here in the city.
 

surlydiesel

Adventurer
Thanks for the update. I will mention I had a 96 F250, same truck but with a manual trans and I used 2low constantly. If I was backing up trailers, parallel parking on an incline or any kind of application where slipping the clutch and or slow movement was needed. I don't see why it wouldn't hurt to do that with an auto as well. Assuming you have manual front hubs??? Looks like you do.

Cheers,
Jorge
 

snowaddict91

Adventurer
Thanks for the update. I will mention I had a 96 F250, same truck but with a manual trans and I used 2low constantly. If I was backing up trailers, parallel parking on an incline or any kind of application where slipping the clutch and or slow movement was needed. I don't see why it wouldn't hurt to do that with an auto as well. Assuming you have manual front hubs??? Looks like you do.

Cheers,
Jorge

I still have auto hubs, unfortunately. Manual hubs are on my wish list for down the line. Good call, this thing is like a tractor with the 4:10s in low range.
 

snowaddict91

Adventurer
Here are a few pics of the Avion if anyone is interested...we have a queen bed platform set up in the back filling the aisle where the twin beds were. We will be building side boxes for storage sometime this winter if we decide to keep it.







 

snowaddict91

Adventurer
Nice truck and trailer you guys have done some good work on them both!

Have you or thought of putting a intake on this thing? It should really help with towing and general driving. You can make one for cheap look up the 6637 intake.

also downpipe will also help
http://www.riffraffdiesel.com/diamond-eye-3-aluminized-2-piece-downpipe/

This should really help with elevation and towing.

Good call! I put a Riffraff 6637 kit on about a year ago and it made a noticeable difference in boost.

I'm also hoping Santa brings me a downpipe this year!
 

snowaddict91

Adventurer
Got my gauges in today. I know Glowshift has some mixed reviews, but they were friendly to my budget. Time will tell if I will regret the decision. I was pretty impressed with the wiring kit and install instructions that were included.

 

snowaddict91

Adventurer
That trailer is a beaut!

Thanks man! We actually just recently sold it, our plans changed some and we wound up buying a house here in Sandy. I've been planning some trips for this summer and I think I'm definitely going to miss it. Been thinking about an older FWC or similar once I recover from buying the house.
 

snowaddict91

Adventurer
BUMP from the dead

Long time no update, life has been very busy, where to begin...

This winter was one for the books, and I was fortunate to spend a ton of time skiing. Mid-way through the winter we decided that we may want to stay in SLC after all. After much thought and back-and-forth discussions, we started to look at the idea of buying a house here. Buying a house in the market here was super stressful, but I am glad that we did it! To help with the house down-payment, we listed our Avion for sale several places online. This was in early February, so we weren't sure how soon it would sell. Several days after listing we talked to an older couple from NM, and they made a deposit and plans to come pick it up. They had owned RVs their entire life and also had owned an Avion 34', so they knew what they were looking at. Turns out they have good taste in trucks too!



It was bittersweet seeing them drive away, as it somewhat felt like our dream of living on the road drove away with them. We may think about going on the road full-time again though in a few years.

I spent most of the winter using the truck to do this.



Right before closing on our house and moving, I decided to look into the front end rattling I had been noticing. My ball joints were showing a little movement, and the front axle U-joints had seen better days. I use 4wd quite a bit in the winter so I wanted to get this taken care of right. With the impending move I wasn't really up for tackling this project myself, so I took the rig over to Stroker Diesel for the work. If anyone in SLC needs to get work done on a Ford Diesel, this is where you should go. The owner is a super nice guy and honest as the sun. He took care of the brakes while the hubs were apart as well.

So with the front end tightened up it was time to get some work done and move to our new house! Rented an enclosed trailer for the weekend after our closing and made a few trips to get everything moved. The truck ran great and I was super grateful to have it for the move!



Somewhere in there I polished my headlights too in hopes of getting a little better vision at night. It helped significantly. I had a bad glow plug on the side that I didn't replace a few years back, so I did glow plugs and a valve cover gasket somewhere in the middle of the spring too. Truck starts like a champ now!



Other than that I haven't done much to the truck lately but I have been using it a ton between house projects and getting out to have fun. I took off the shell to get some landscaping supplies and we went to look at a couple slide-in campers. Made a deal for one but it was for a first gen tundra and it just wasn't going to fit well on my truck. If I ever get a camper it needs to be for a short bed as I don't want to deal with the overhang so I can still run a bike rack on the back. We decided for now that a shell suits our day to day needs better. I re-sealed the windows on the shell while it was off in an attempt to make it more weatherproof. I still need to add some weatherstripping to the tailgate and back window but it seems to be much better now.

I also built a sleeping platform to use on trips that suit it. I built it so I can easily take it out myself since I use my truck for lots of other stuff besides camping. Its a little heavy but I can get it out easily to have the full bed. Hoping to get some good use out of it this summer and fall.



I've been super happy with the truck lately as it has always answered the call and started right up whenever I need it. Pretty sweet to have a good old truck like this one around the house. I've been debating upgrading to a newer taco or tundra in the next couple years but I can't seem to bring myself to thinking about getting rid of her.

We have a trip planned to WI in September to visit the wife's family and we are planning to take the truck. Have a few small projects on the horizon and would like to replace the front leaf spring bushings before the trip since there is still a little rattle when driving over big potholes, but other than that I just hope to keep using her!

Took the truck up to Vernal recently to do some camping and riding.


Hauling gravel. It doesn't even care that there's 1500 lbs in the bed!


And a shot in front of the new house. Pretty stoked where my life is at right now!
 

amgvr4

Adventurer
Gongrats on the new home! Like you I love my OBS PSD for its unique ability to handle everything I throw at it. Take care of it and it will take care of you!
 

snowaddict91

Adventurer
Buying a home was so stressful, especially in this market. My realtor was a good friend from college, which helped a lot. If anyone is looking for a good realtor in SLC, shoot me a pm. I have actually been enjoying home ownership quite a bit so far!

Threw some indoor/outdoor carpet on the platform, stoked with how it turned out.


Next project is to add some curtains to the side windows in the next week or two. Not sure if i want to add anything for the front or back windows, but I am thinking I may just get some reflectix pieces and cut them to fit, anyone have any input?
 

Seabass

Idiot
Buying a home was so stressful, especially in this market. My realtor was a good friend from college, which helped a lot. If anyone is looking for a good realtor in SLC, shoot me a pm. I have actually been enjoying home ownership quite a bit so far!

Threw some indoor/outdoor carpet on the platform, stoked with how it turned out.


Next project is to add some curtains to the side windows in the next week or two. Not sure if i want to add anything for the front or back windows, but I am thinking I may just get some reflectix pieces and cut them to fit, anyone have any input?

I have reflectix cut out for all the windows on my shell. But I only use them if I'm in it. You can't see crap with them in. Good for privacy and security though. Ain't nobody gonna see in.
 

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