That spirit of independence that propelled us into the nomadic life also inspires us to tackle challenges ourselves. We are not only hikers, photographers, and writers but also riveters, electricians, and mechanics. We have been progressively rebuilding and improving our home on wheels and our truck for outdoor living and exploration.
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The cabover windows have been a source of much angst among the Roam Lab crew. It’s one of the most visible windows. It also leaks. While we are reticent to change the exterior appearance of the camper, this is our most notable deviation. We first looked for two small windows to match the original set. But eventually decided to update the look with one, long futuristic window.
Like most classic campers, our Avion truck camper came with many stickers to mark its identity and affiliation. One of the classic stickers is for the Avion Travelcade Club. While the club is long gone, the sticker is a piece of history - faded, peeling history. So, we decide it is time to replace the old sticker with a new, vinyl reproduction.
Upgrading our overland rig with "do it yourself" installation of Bushwacker Fender Flares on a 2015 Ram 3500.
We get the air flowing in our truck camper by installing a MaxxAir fan. Check out our continuing roof renovation work.
The sky is the limit with a modular rail system. To get there, though, this DIY truck camper renovation project involves tight spaces and hand riveting.
After concluding our most recent round of travels, our first order of business is to reinforce the roof.
Shopping for solar panels is a daunting task. There are so many sizes, form factors, and brands as to make us want to throw up our hands and buy the first result on Amazon. And that can work, if solar…
We bought at roof hatch for our camper. That is how it started. The reasons were many: we wanted ventilation over the bed, a second point of exit for safety, and easy roof access. Now we just have to install it.
This has been a long time in the making. When we bought our Avion C11 truck camper, we knew that the full bed aligned east-west would not work for our full time intent. Initially, we struggled to conceive of a method to form a queen sized bed simply by altering the interior arrangement of the camper. While we could introduce sliding or folding out bed extensions, we could not agree on a solution that wouldn't require us to regularly make and break down a bed or block the interior windows. And so, we reluctantly agreed, we would be extending the cabover.
Today, we will be removing a panel from the exterior of the camper. To do this, we will have to remove a lot of rivets: buck rivets. After a year of experience, we have a favorite method of tackling rows of rivets which we will share with you today!