Fiber Stream Locater

[Benita]

I think DL Stidham's trailer is now Tom Bernardino's. Can I get a confirmation so the overall tally can be modified.

[Benita]

Current tally is 29 known Fiber Stream still in use - more or less.

This count reflects only those on this list who chose to provide transition info on their trailers.

[Frederick L. Simson]

There were 3 Fiber Streams at the Lake Casitas rally. Two 1978's and one 1977. Also attending were persons who own a Fiber Stream but brought a Scamp instead.

(I am so bad at remembering names, but I never forget a trailer.)

Theirs is an early one like Art Lindsay's 1977, but they believe it is older; maybe a 1975!

From my observations, there were at least 3 distinct "generations" in the design with subtle differences between each, even though the basic floor plan remained the same. The most commonly available trailers today are 2ND and 3RD Generation. 1ST Generation trailers are extremely rare.

These are my own observations which I don't claim to be the final authority on. I welcome all Fiber Stream owners to chime in with their observations, corrections, additions...

[Frederick L. Simson]

1. First Generation: 1975 thru 1977:
400 West Main Street.......... Diversified Travel Enterprises
El Cajon, California 92020... (619) 440-3361... (619) 562-5700

The sales page states that the company started building Trailers in El Cajon, California in 1975.
These early units can be identified on the outside from the rear, as they have a very small Bathroom Window offset farther to the street side than later years, and Round "Wedding Cake" style Tail Lights. Their roofs were molded flat, with 4 aluminum ribs attached outside on top from side to side. They may not have been equipped with electric brakes from the factory. (The 2 examples I am aware of did not have brakes at first)

The significance of the smaller bathroom window is evident upon entering the trailer; as the early bathrooms were tiny wet baths, no larger than the corner shower pan. The toilet is installed on top of the shower pan facing forward. The floor of the Bathroom is at the same level as the floor in the rest of the trailer, and the drain plumbing hangs below floor level.

Because the bathroom is so small, there are Two Closets across the rear. In the Curbside rear corner, opposite from the bathroom, is a 2-foot deep closet with a hanging rod and 1 upper shelf. In the center of the back wall, between the "hanging" Closet and the Bathroom, is a 1-foot deep (front-to-back) 2-foot wide pantry/linen Closet, behind a hinged door, all shelves.

The kitchen has a double-bowl sink on the left and a 3-burner range/oven on the right below a large slider window with an overhead cabinet above. (The range/oven is a new replacement unit in Art Lindsay’s 1977 trailer). The 4 cubic foot Magnavox Instamatic 2-way gas/electric refrigerator is in a cabinet opposite the range, and there is a small vertical bin covering the part of the wheel well that sticks out between the refrigerator cabinet and the entry door. The divider wall beside the range is solid. The single plain roof vent (no fan) is centered in the trailer and is approximately between the range and the refrigerator, but slightly forward into the front compartment. The one example of a first generation trailer I have seen has very dark paneling on the divider walls, and the upper kitchen cabinets have surface mounted hinged doors that open up toward the ceiling. The walls of the hull are un-insulated, and just painted on the inside.

The front compartment has 2 bench seats that can be used as twin beds. Four numbered boards (which fit best if placed in order) allow the back cushions to fill in the space between to make a king size bed. There are 3 equal size slider windows around the space, and a shallow overhead cabinet across the front above the window that matches the look of the upper kitchen cabinet. The water system is under the street side bunk, and the battery is under the front of the curbside bunk, accessible to the outside in front. The rest of the under-bunk area is storage.

[Frederick L. Simson]

2. Second Generation: 1978 thru 1980:
3401 Etawanda Avenue, Building 931A......... Fiber Stream Company
Mira Loma, California 91752........ (714) 685-0800

The molds were recast to mold the 4 roof ribs as incorporated into the fiberglass structure, as a corrugation, and the undersides of these ridges were glassed over so the ceilings would be flat. This strengthening of the roof along with a 110-volt outlet in the top of the refrigerator cabinet allowed for an optional roof mounted air conditioner to be mounted on the central roof vent. The previously tiny bathrooms were enlarged, moving the toilet out of the shower into the central area along the back wall, where the pantry/linen closet was eliminated. The toilet now faces to the street side, with a curtain to separate it from the shower. The shower floor was raised to move the p-trap for the shower above the main floor, inside the trailer, and the toilet area floor was raised even higher, creating a considerable step up to enter the bathroom, with a corresponding reduction in headroom. The larger bathroom space allowed for a larger window on the rear of the trailer, and the round taillights were replaced with rectangular ones, with square corners. Electric Brakes were added to the front axle.

The earlier hinged doors in the upper kitchen cabinets were replaced with recessed sliders in an oval opening with finger holes instead of knobs or handles. The 3-burner range/oven is a Trav’ler Duette which also serves as a forced air furnace where heat is ducted into the interior via a grate below the oven by a 12 volt blower motor (behind the grate). Combustion air/Exhaust gases are vented outside, behind the oven and below the kitchen window. The water pump switch moved to the right of the oven, up near the countertop, from the edge of the street side bunk near the floor. The vertical bin between the refrigerator and entry door gets a little larger, and is labeled as a “Magazine rack” in the sales brochure. An optional taller “chest of drawers” is available with 3 narrow deep drawers that face the kitchen (not the closet).

The upper cabinet over the front window in the front compartment gets slider doors to match the kitchen. My trailer is the only example of the optional upper child’s bunk I have seen, a 27” by 78” shelf with a 2” thick mattress upholstered to match the 4” thick mattresses on the main bunk benches. This replaces the upper front cabinet, but vertical space and weight capacity up there is very limited.

Sometime in 1979 an arched pass-thru opening was designed into the divider wall beside the range, and a flip-up counter extension shelf was added below it over the street side bunk. Another mid-generation change is the experimentation of adding a wall covering to the fiberglass walls that may have some insulation value. Earlier trailers merely painted the inside of the fiberglass shell.

[Frederick L. Simson]

3. Third Generation: 1981 thru 1986
14838-A Boyle Avenue........ Fiber Stream Company
Fontana, California 92335.... (714) 823-1332

By 1981 the Trav’ler Duette ranges and Magnavox refrigerators are no longer available. Magic Chef 3-burner ranges with gas ovens (but no space heating capabilities), and a Dometic 4 cubic foot gas/electric refrigerator are installed. To compensate for the Range’s loss of space heating ability, the location of the water pump is rearranged so a separate RV forced air furnace can be installed next to the water heater below the street side bunk.

A U-shaped upper storage cabinet around 3 sides of the front compartment replaces the smaller cabinet that ran only across the front in the older trailers, increasing storage. All upper cabinets return to using hinged doors, here and in the kitchen. With the curve between the “wall” and the “roof” covered by cabinetry, thin foam insulation and thin paneling (that can easily be curved around the vertical corner wall curves) is applied to the remaining wall surface to match the partition wall paneling. Insulation and white material are applied to the ceiling.

Many third generation trailers have the optional roof air conditioner installed in the central roof vent, while most second-generation trailers do not, even though they have the capacity for one. Some have added a roof vent in the front compartment, near the upper front cabinet, to compensate for the vent lost to the air conditioner installation. Third generation trailers moved the battery box opening from the front to the side under the front corner of the curbside bunk. The entry door has a cleaner look, made with a single aluminum skin and a flush-mount handle, as apposed to the four-piece aluminum skin around the door’s window and the house-type doorknob on earlier trailer doors. All side windows and the entry door sport aluminum drip edge above them, where only the entry door had it on earlier trailers. I speculate that this is because the fasteners for the drip edges are now hidden inside cabinetry where they would be exposed to the inside on the earlier trailers.

The Fiber Stream Company went out of business in 1986.

[David & Leslie]

Frederick, for this neat history of Fiberstream TT's. I sure like 'em, tho' too heavy for our tug. Take care, L 'n D

[Jim Manley]

hey guys this is odd, fiberstream went out of business in 1986.
and a company called fibercore began in 1986.
they make a concession trailer that looks a lot like fiberstream.
differences i can see 1 the door is in front 2 they have a recessed ceiling to hold two florescent lights[no roof ribs]
3 side and the back walls have large pieces of the wall that open upwards like an awning.
and the interior is of course more suited to selling food.
they have several models 6 by 10 up to 7 by 14 actual body size.
they do not have wood the floor is non skid fiberglass and aluminum sheet.
if they were purchased gutted they might make a very fine rv.
how ever im pretty sure we dont want to talk about the price.
i read somewhere that fiberstream tried to sell out to a employee who did not buy in.

did said employee move to ohio and start fibercore?????

they do look like a more modern fiberstream with the core laminating process.
and they add colored gel coat in your choice of colors.
the adds all claim that you work with their team on interior and window size and placement
so i guess if you really wanted a 1 off molded trailer they would make it.
i would bet money we have all seen their work at traveling fairs and didnt even recognise it.

[Raya]

If anyone is looking for it, they spell it "fibrecore."

I'm thinking it doesn't look like a Fiberstream clone - at least from the ones I'm looking at. I say that because the Fiberstream had pretty much straight walls, and this one has angled walls, so I believe it would not have been from the Fiberstream molds.

They also mention that the company (Fibrecore) started in 1984 (which would be two years before Fiberstream went out of business).

Here's a photo from their website of a tandem axle trailer:


fibercore.jpg


www.fibrecore.com

They're using a honeycombed, plastic type core, which many boatbuilders have moved to (from traditional balsa wood core). Gelcoating inside and out (I guess they are counting on the coring for insulation).

Interesting that they spell "fibre" the Canadian or British way in their name (although not elsewhere on the site).

The motorcycle trailer is cute in a teardroppish way:





I like that you're sleuthing, though, Jim

[Tom U]

I can't believe I missed this thread. I'm so glad it popped up again. Frederick, very much for the great history of Fiber Stream.

Our is a 1979 and I'm doing a major interior remodel, trying to keep everything as close to the original floor plan as possible. Exterior - flipped axle, welded reinforcing beams to frame, new rear bumper. When completed will post before and afters, and comments on what I'd do differently if I hadn't already done it........

Sorry to be so lazy, but does anyone know any of the history of my trailer? It is unique in that the tongue was extended to make a motorcycle carrier. We know the previous owners but not the ones before them. Any still members? Any info on the trailer greatly appreciated.

Thanks Much,

[Frederick L. Simson]

Sorry to be so lazy, but does anyone know any of the history of my trailer? It is unique in that the tongue was extended to make a motorcycle carrier. We know the previous owners but not the ones before them. Any still members? Any info on the trailer greatly appreciated.

Link to for sale post by Ron Wrighton, an earlier owner of your trailer. He's the guy who extended the front.

[Frederick L. Simson]

a company called fibercore began in 1986.
they make a concession trailer that looks a lot like fiberstream.

[b]did said employee move to ohio and start fibercore?

The Fiber Stream trailer was seamlessly molded in one piece. The Fibrecore trailer's body is assembled in at least 5 pieces, not counting the doors/awnings. Looks to me like there is a front end-cap, a rear end-cap, flat sides, and a separate roof section.

This kind if name confusion was likely the marketing plan of the builder of the Fiber Stream, who worked from the name recognition of Airstream. But Fibrecore is totally different.
Any similarities in appearance are mere coincidence.

[Frederick L. Simson]

Last known information on the manufacturer of Fiber Stream trailers:
(as of 28 MAY 1986)

Fiber Stream Company, Carolyn E. Lenard, owner
14838-A Boyle Avenue
Fontana, California 92335
(714) 823-1332

Carolyn ran the office and did all of the paper work. Her husband David, along with one other man assembled the trailers.
The frames were welded up and the bodies were molded off site. (Those functions were out-sourced.)

Thank you Rebecca Rusk for providing this information.

[Cyndivg11]

Originally Posted by Benita

Alaska -

1. Bear (Formerly Lynn P's) (1979)

California -

1. Charlie D
2. Doug P (1979)
3. Frederick S (1978)
4. Jim Harper (1984)
5. Jason S (1978)
6. Margaret G. (Formerly Ken Hildner's) (1979)
7. Art Lindsay (Formerly Kim T's) (1977)
8. Marsha and Dennis (1981)
9. Tom U (Formerly C Rogers--Formerly Ron Wrighton's) (1978)
10. Rebecca R (1985/6)
11. Susan B (1979)
12. Wayne F
13. Cindy Ross (1974/5)
14. Steve Brandon (1983)

Georgia -

1. Benita (1982)

Idaho -

1. Veronica (1981)

Indiana -

1. Tom Bernardino (formerly DL Stidham's) (1984)

Missouri

1. Ed Harris (1982)**

Nevada -

1. Bob H (1978)

Ohio -

1. Tom B. (1984)

Oregon-

1. The Jordans (1985)
2. The Drakes (1979)
3. The Hulls (1978)

Tennessee -

1. SherryH (1985)

Texas -

1. Bob E
2. Dwight P (1985)
3. Tom R (1981)

Washington -

1. Christa (1984)
2. B Drake

CANADA

1. Alberta - Victor B (1982)
2. Ontario - Robin W

<strike>MEXICO</strike>

• John Lawrence's trailer sold to Ed Harris**

Current Talley - 32

I just picked up my 86' Fiberstream from a lovely man, Alan, who held on to it for me since September- until I made the trip! I was a Trillium owner- and had to sadly sell it (financial reasons.) Now, I am a PROUD owner of my Fiberstream!! I'm located in the Poconos, PA. I know that the trailer was in storage for over 10 years by the previous owner from Southern California. I've attached a picture w/me in the Redwoods last week!