New (to me) '89 Jayco 8LP

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Howdy Folks!

Long time lurker here,,,can't figure out why I haven't registered until now...

Found a good deal on a well kept Jayco 8LP. After cleaning the seat cushion covers, it looks almost new inside. A few spots of black mold stains,,,but otherwise the canvas looks new also.
Story was the grandfather bought it new, used it for hunting until he passed 4 years later. Grandma kept it stored under a pole barn until she passed last year. I bought it for dirt cheap from the grandson who was in the process of pawning his possessions to pay bills...

Everything works supposedly. I have confirmed the heater works great (surprising actually). The jacks and crank for the top seem smooth and only a few pinch marks on the exterior of vinyl.

The front right side clamp screws were rusted and falling out. I found a bit of soft wood underneath, but not too much. I was able to used some thru bolts and fender washers going all the way thru to the bunk.

I am in the process of caulking the exterior and doing a general twice over of all the plumbing and electrical.

I replaced the 4 pin plug on the exterior and figured out what each wire was. I got the truck wired up, and made a 7 to 4 pin adapter cord. I still need to get a battery isolator and figure out how to wire it in (any advice welcomed).

It seems the converter won't charge the battery when camper is plugged to 120, but the truck charges the battery just fine when running. I guess I will take the Battery Tender with me incase we find ourselves with 120. Will the truck be enough to charge the battery as needed, or should I plan to bring the 1000watt generator along for the ride?

I currently have a deep cycle costco battery wired up, but will likely go to a double battery setup, or possibly some golf cart batteries. How long will a single deep cycle battery run the furnace (I know there are a lot of variables) ?

I was a bit dismayed by what looked to be a cheap way to jack the camper as there are only 3 jacks. However, after jacking it a few times, I actually like the tripod setup, much more stable than 4 jacks when going up and down with 1 person cranking.

The camper has 3 lights inside. I checked out some LED bulbs at the local RV supply house,,,but at $25 a pop I opted out. I will keep my eyes open for some low voltage lighting alternatives (suggestions welcomed)

What is the best way to anchor these campers? I plan to cut a few pieces of wood so the floor of the camper is centered in the bed, and I was hoping to get something low profile mounted out of site in the space between the camper and sides of the truck bed.

Anything I should look out for with these units?

Thanks!

 

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I'll get some pictures up asap :ylsmoke:

 

[tanglefoot]

Nice find! Enjoy it!

I don't have a furnace in mine, but in the family camper, we've never had the furnace run the single deep-cycle battery down. The fan just runs a little more slowly but it keeps working. It's a 24-foot class-C motorhome, by the way. I think as long as you don't go nuts with electrical stuff, a single deep-cycle batt is more than enough for a pop-up.

In the family camper and in mine, the low-wattage lighting is handled by a 12-volt fluorescent light fixture. Mine's from JC Whitney and theirs is from a camper shop. All the other lights are regular bulbs--I can't justify the cost of LED's either, and for limited use, the regular bulbs are just fine, especially if you only have three fixtures.

For mine I wanted a self-sufficient solar-system (like the ski huts!) so the deep cycle is charged with a small, 10W panel on the roof and a charge controller...$50 for everything. I don't have any connection for 120v or 12v from the truck. The solar tops the battery off between trips and even keeps up with the camping load--most days, it's charged back up by noon the next day after using the lights at night. I don't have many electrical loads though--just the lights and intermittent ham radio use. I'm sure it could run a furnace for a few days though and then catch back up before the next trip.

Welcome to the forum!

Eric

 

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Thanks Tanglefoot,,,,might have to look into the solar option,,,,like that idea...

 

[tanglefoot]

I really like the solar-charging. My parents have the regular truck-charging and they usually have the deep cycle drain pretty low over the winter unless they plug it into a charger. Then during the summer, it never really re-charges fully unless we drive for most of the day. The lights are rarely bright and the water pump runs slowly. The voltage is also too low to run an inverter most of the time.

With the solar, the battery's always topped off while the camper's parked. The lights are really bright, there are around 14-volts at the accessory plugs and there's plenty of juice for the inverter.

The panel is just a small, 10-W from Ebay ~$35.

This simple charge controller was special-ordered at Lowe's for about $15 but I think they stopped selling them. Brunton makes a budget one as well.

Here's the fluorescent fixture over the couch. It's about the price of an LED bulb though--it might be worth replacing the one bulb you use the most with an LED. Replacing all the bulbs would get expensive but just one could be helpful.

My camper's an '88--similar vintage. It's been a lot of fun to camp in and tinker with.

Eric

 

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I have the same Flourescent light in my Alaskan,,,,works well...

 

[SLO_F-250]

Congrats on the find Bing! Sometimes those vintage campers are just great finds, and not to mention easy on the pocket book. I have a 89' Skamper Pop-Up.

Re-Sealing the roof right off is a good idea. I wish I would have done that to mine rather then waiting. I had to chase some dry rot around recently.

Im going to go with what Eric said, that a single battery should be enough for a small pop-up. Unless you want to run a fridge 12V then you might want to go two. I just recently installed a fridge in mine and run it on propane 99% of the time. As far as the solar setup, Eric's got the budget system covered, I have yet to do anything like this to mine. I just bought a small 2watt thing I set outside my truck when parked.

I ended up going the LED light route. They are much much brighter, and it gives me piece of mind when I have the outside light on for hours at night.

As far as anchoring mine, I had to fab up a lil custom setup since the model I have is for a mid-size truck and I threw it on an F-250. But its basically is held down with tie-downs. I have done some hill climbs and back road trips, and it doesn't move. If you go that route just make sure you don't over tighten the tie downs.

Biggest suggestion I would make is search high and low for any dry rot problems, and give it a really good inside cleaning. Else, just let your imagination go and start tinkering!

Take a look at Eric's build thread and mine for mods, fixes, ideas with this type older wood construction pop-up. Chime in guys if there are other threads for these campers. :elkgrin:

Cheers & Welcome to the Forum!
Paul

PS, Lets see this beauty!!

 

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Thanks for the welcome and the suggestions!

 

[Riz]

I bought some little round led lights at a discount store that run on AAA cells and stick on with velcro. Not real bright, but they work ok and save 12 volt juice for the heater. I think they were about $12 for three. Congrats on your purchase!

 

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I will get some pics when we go to the coast clamming next weekend.

 

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...or when I go to the cabin...