AVION Travel Trailers

Razorback wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 10:45 pm I am going to ask a guy at church, who does fiberglass repair, if he has the capability to make these things.... could use mine as a pattern.

Made the inquiry: my friend is more into fiberglass repair as compared to fiberglass manufacturing. However, he pointed me to a local manufacturer that can make a mold and make the product if so inclined. I called that shop and described what was needed. Without a lot of detail, the guy said a mold would be in the $1500-$2000 range. I will go by there sometime next week and talk more, and will have plenty of pictures and measurements of the rock guard that is on our trailer. Before I leave there, I hope to be armed with an accurate price for a mold, and maybe a per-piece cost for that place to actually make them ..... after all, fiberglass IS their business. They are not interested in selling them to the public, though.

Also, my friend might be interested in making them and selling them, so I hope that means he is at least considering investing in the mold. I told him that these things used to sell for $500 plus shipping...... so..... maybe worth doing?

We’ll see.

I really don’t need anything else to do..... but.......

Has anyone considered replacing the Avion Rock Guard with an Airstream Rock Guard? I started this at 8 AM. update at 3 pm, I just talked with Chuck Cayo (269-463-5068, ccayo@cayorepair.com ). What a fountain of information. He is going to send me replacement Spring hooks to hold my existing Rock Guard in place.
Yes, an Airstream replacement would probably work, but would cost a bunch, maybe $800-900. Yes, his mold was destroyed.
To make a new mold he would have to be willing to order several hundred Rock guards at a time. He says he would only need a dozen at a time. He says the problem with repairing existing Rock guards is that fiberglass and epoxy does not stick to the plastic that Avion used to make them. so he didn't think an auto body shop would help much and we have no idea what the cost would be.
He had experience working with boat body repair and thought that might be a way to go and look for help. Meanwhile, a local RV repair shop recommended that I check with All-Rite.com (831-636-9566 https://www.all-rite.com/catalog-main/rockguards.html ) in Hollister, CA . What they make isn't what we all are looking for, but as Cayo said, if we have no guard at all we are facing a real expense if we take a rock n the window. So anything might be better than nothing. (You will have to copy and paste this link in order to see it). Sorry to be so long winded, but I am working on several things at one time. I also talked with Zip Dee Awnings ( http://www.awningsbyzipdee.com/parts-lists.html ) and found the awning hook I've been looking for the past year.
So for me it has been a very productive day. I hope any of this might be a help to you, and welcome any tips you might have for me. Is there a better forum to share general information like this rather than clutter up the Rock Guard issue? I just found out I may need to replace my AC. Any recommendations on where to start looking and what to pay? I am limited in my mechanical abilities, and I will probably pay a RV repairman to do the job. He said to expect $800 for the unit and $175 for installation.

Hey Paul, So it was a productive day for you, too. Another person suggested calling TAP plastic. Some stores are more interested in making things than others, but that is going to be my next call.

Ron, I see that you and I posted at just about the same time.....

I want to comment on our rock guard: it is the newer style..... thicker, appearing to be all fiberglass, and ribbed horizontally which seems to add strength and makes it look nice. I count myself fortunate that the original owner replaced the thinner plastic guard that came with the 1987 trailers, using the newer style. It is quite an improvement.

Paul, is it fiberglass or ABS? The '88 I looked at in Tyler had the newer rock guard, I just assumed it was ABS. Felt like it. I could be quite mistaken tho

Salty wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 7:37 pm Paul, is it fiberglass or ABS? The '88 I looked at in Tyler had the newer rock guard, I just assumed it was ABS. Felt like it. I could be quite mistaken tho

Pretty positive it is solid fiberglass. The back side of it makes it evident. I will try to find a picture of the back side.... I know I have at least one, somewhere.

ron95672 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:33 pm I just found out I may need to replace my AC. Any recommendations on where to start looking and what to pay? I am limited in my mechanical abilities, and I will probably pay a RV repairman to do the job. He said to expect $800 for the unit and $175 for installation.

I recently replaced my AC with first a Dometic Penguin then almost immediately with a Coleman Mach 8.
The reason the Penguin came off was two fold:
1) It was LOUD. It made the original seem whisper quiet, though, to be fair part of that noise was due to reason #2...
2) The first one was damaged in shipping which I didn't notice until after installation, box looked fine but the base pan had been deformed and that caused the compressor to rattle against other components. Amazon sent me another Penguin to replace the first one but that one never left the UPS truck, it was demolished. As if it had fallen out on the freeway then been run over by a couple semi trucks. Amazon graciously accepted the return of the first unit as well and I took my refund to Camping World (never my first choice to buy something, but at least I could inspect it before purchase) and purchased a Coleman Mach 8.

A few things to note/consider... Dometic Penguins are made in China and are woefully under packaged. Coleman Mach 8s are made in the USA and are very well packaged on a light duty wood pallet and rigid cardboard top.

The Mach 8, while not whisper quiet, is much quieter than either of the two AC units that were previously on my Avion. Some of that may be due to installing an EasyStart on the unit. I also installed a condensation pump and made a quick connect tube rig to dictate where the condensation goes. I'm pretty sure I made a post about it here somewhere.

Finally, the customer service was night and day between Coleman and Dometic with Coleman being the clear frontrunner.

I did all the work myself with the exception of getting units up and down, had a buddy help me there. I'd never trust anyone to do that type of work on my Avion, folks don't know where and how to be on the roof of our trailers.

Ian

@RISK
Great information! if I had known about Coleman being quieter I might have purchased a pair of those myself

Body shops can’t help. You need a fabrication shop.