Talk me out of this Alaskan

[highcountry]

I looked at a 10' cab over alaskan today that is in terrible shape. The owner inhereted it, and has never used it, so he does not know if anything works. The hydraulics are disconnected, so I couldn't check that. The top will need a significant amount of the wood replaced because of dry rot (primarily under the windows and around the roof vent).

That is the bad. The good is that the bottom half seems decently sound, the interior cabnitry is in decent shape and could be made nice with minimal work, everything is there, it has a three way fridge (which he thinks works but isn't sure).

It seems like a really cool camper, and I could get it cheap. I have a W250 cummins now, and may be getting a obs F-350 CCLB powerstroke soon, so I have plenty of truck for one of these beasts. I have the skills to do a rebuild (I think, famous last words), time may be more of an issue, but I do have some time over the next couple months. If I get it home, and it is just not worth working on, I can scrap it and not be out so much that my wife will make me sleep in it.

Is it worth messing with at all? How massive are these things in actual use? I am concerned that this thing is just too huge. I don't plan to take it seriously off-road, but I also don't want it to stop me from getting to a campsite that is a bit out of the way. Should I err on the side of more camper than I think I need, or should I abandon this hairbrained scheme in favor of a lighter, more compact soft side pop top?

Thanks for any words of wisdom or encouragement!

 

[highcountry]

Follow up question: can you pull a trailer, a boat for example, with the 10' camper in an 8' bed? That would be a deal breaker...

 

[surlydiesel]

With the proper hitch extension you can. A 10 footer is heavy but for the right price, it might be worth it in the end for the floor space. Did you get any pictures?

-jorge

 

[highcountry]

Thanks for the tip, the hitch extension should work fine for me. My boat is actually just a 14' raft, and sometimes I stack a couple on there, but it is never more than maybe 1500 lbs including the trailer. If I am towing heavier than that, I will probably take the camper off anyway. Rafting trips and road "expeditions" are the main reason for this camper, so it would either be a light trailer or no trailer with the camper on. But, it seems like if I get the CCLB, I will be adding a couple more feet to a truck that is already insanely long...

Here are a couple pictures. You can see the dry rot under the windows. All that wood will need to be replaced. You can sort of see where dry rot is attacking the areas around the nails holding the panelling up on the cieling on the interior shot. I don't have one showing the vent area. That is the really bad area. The plywood end cap at the door end is completely shot and will have to be replaced (which means rebuilding pretty much the entire structure of the upper half).

 

[XpoNoobie]

Will the cost of repairs and upgrades be cheaper then looking for a better one?

 

[highcountry]

I "think" that the cost of the materials for the repairs will be quite a bit cheaper than finding a better one. Much like an airstream, these things seem to command a disproportionate price when they are in good condition. Now, if I count my time towards the investment, there is no question but that finding a FWC Grandby or a Skamper or some other mid 80's soft side pop-up in better shape for an extra thousand or so would be cheaper...

But, I am not counting my time because I am sort of intrigued with this thing. It looks like it would be a cool project, and the downside risk of it being junk is sufficiently negligible.

What I am trying to figure out is whether I will be happy with it when it is done. The inside space is appealing, but then, coming from a tent on the ground, even the small pop-ups seem luxurious to me. If it were an 8' cab over, it would be a done deal. It is that extra 2 feet hanging off the end that is giving me pause.

Thanks for listening to my rambles, and I really appreciate any thoughts from you all that have bitten off a project like this on an alaskan or other camper, or that have used one of these 10' cab over units and have input on the UN-wieldyness of the results

 

[highcountry]

Well, took a little road trip with my wife today. I will henceforth refer to her as "the enabler".

I took her by to see the alaskan in hopes that she would look at it and say "oh that looks like a lot of work, we should buy something that isn't as much of a project". That didn't happen, she loved it (in the "you can fix that can't you?" sort of way). I then took her by to look at a couple other campers (both grandbys). That simply reenforced her desire for the creature comforts that would be afforded by the alaskan. Great... I agreed, and was immediately greeted by a "told you so".

The trip also included a swing by the '97 CCLB F350 that I had my eye on. It was not quite as good shape as I thought, but I managed to negotiate a very fair price, and it is mine now. It will replace my 1st gen cummins regular cab, which I love but is way to small in the cab area for me, my wife, my dog, and any offspring we plan to end up with in the near future.

I drove the truck home from Durango over Red Mounain Pass. Quite a drive at night this time of year. There can't have been less than 1000 deer hanging out in the ditches. At the top of Red Mountain Pass (one of the three you go over on that road, for those of you who haven't had a chance to drive through there, I highly recommend it), there was a group of huge cow elk, with a truly massive bull in the middle. Right by the road, pretty cool... I will be putting a thread in the domestics forum on the stuff I do to that truck.

I digress. The bottom line is that I am going to try to negotiate a good price on that alaskan to complement the new (16 year old) pickup. Depending on my sucess, this thread will either become a dead issue, or it will become a build thread.

 

[fisher205]

I have had a 8' and a now have a 10'. I really prefer the 10 footer. The extra 2' adds a lot of storage and you won't notice the extra 2'. The only place it may be a problem is short parking spots or it may cause you to pay extra when you get on ferry's.

 

[rayct77]

Alaskan's are great and easy/fun to work on. I also had the damage under the windows. Replaced some 2x2's and did a transition panel that turned out really good. My Dodge Cummins 3/4 ton barely notices the camper and it actual rides better with the camper on. Get that thing.

 

[highcountry]

Thanks for the comments! After seeing a few 8' (non-alaskan) campers, the difference in interior space that the extra 2 feet makes was apparent.

Update, decided to give this thing a go. Called the owner and he accepted my offer. I should be picking it up on Sunday. I am not changing this into a build thread just yet, because I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but as of Sunday, there should be more pictures, and the build will officially be on.

 

[Lingenstein]

Good luck with the project! I think you will find the little extra room welcome from the ten footer. That was our findings anyway when we bought our 8' FWC instead of the 6'8" version. Thats going to be a sweet unit with the CCLB!

 

[redthies]

Two things come to mind... One, keep your 12v to drop in the F350, and Two, Airstreams and Alaskans (especiallyAirstreams) are disproportionately more expensive because they are disproportionately BETTER!

 

[highcountry]

The build is on

Well, its mine now. Went and picked it up this morning. Here is a picture of it on my trailer when I got home, behind the truck it is going on. Loading it was an ordeal (no jacks)!



Once I get it unloaded, my first plan is to seperate the lower and upper half. My better half can then get into the lower half and start cleaning that out, and I can start pulling the inside out of the top half to start replacing wood. A couple of buddies are coming over and may lend a hand trying to do that this evening, or we may just get it unloaded then stand around it drinking some beer and saying things like "yep" and "uh-huh". We'll see...

 

[highcountry]

Two things come to mind... One, keep your 12v to drop in the F350, and Two, Airstreams and Alaskans (especiallyAirstreams) are disproportionately more expensive because they are disproportionately BETTER!

If I were going to do a 12V swap (a definite possibility, although I am pretty happy with how this powerstroke runs or will run with a few issues ironed) I would use a P-pump motor rather than the VE pump motor out of the 1st gen. Loggers around here drop trees on old 2nd gens from time to time, so if I end up needing a cummins 12V, I should be able to find one.

But yeah, a 12 valve conversion is definitely lurking in the back of my mind