Long Time Lurker, First Time FWC Owner: Maiden Voyage - Anza Borrego

Hello fellow wanderers! I've been roaming my little corner of the globe with my dog and wife for the last few years in my '12 Taco, and lusted over a FWC every time I climbed in and out of my tiny camper shell with my lady. After years of looking, I purchased a nearly new '09 Eagle from an ExpoPortal member in Boulder, CO who answered a want ad I posted. I had it uShipped out to San Diego and got it dialed for my use.

My truck is a TRD Sport, Crew Cab, long bed with ARB front bumper, Relentless Fab rear bumper, custom sliders, OME 3.5" front lift, and custom Deaver rear leafs.

I added lift assist gas shocks, yakima bolt top loader platforms and 76" bars, a 3" costco memory foam topper (have to drive with bed open), factory rear view camera, LED lighting, and rear ramp (petstep from Amazon).

My wife and I spent the weekend after Thanksgiving in the Blair Valley lakebed in Anza Borrego and it was a great shakedown trip for the rig. We endured a rare rainstorm and night time sub-zero temperatures. Everything worked flawlessly, with the exception of the 12V water pump, which I suspect has freezing damage from the prior owner. The truck handled the washboard roads, boulder fields, and sandy washes like the camper wasn't even there. We endearingly named him "Eduardo"

Just wanted to thank the community for all of the great information and support. Can't wait to put some mileage on this bad boy! Gonna be an epic winter for surf in Baja!

Welcome to WTW. Nice camper keep posting those trip reports.

Hi I was up in Blair valley as well I saw you had a nice camp with the proper rig mine was the hawk on the grey Tundra My first time there what a nice place!


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hebegebe said:

Hi I was up in Blair valley as well I saw you had a nice camp with the proper rig mine was the hawk on the grey Tundra My first time there what a nice place!

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I definitely saw you cruise by! I threw you a wave, but think you were looking at the rig and not me. Yeah, it's a great place to camp, but I'm glad I brought plenty of firewood!

Welcome aboard. Can you get a better picture showing your hanger system on the passenger side. Too dark to see what you have there. Thanks, jd

longhorn1 said:

Welcome aboard. Can you get a better picture showing your hanger system on the passenger side. Too dark to see what you have there. Thanks, jd

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Thanks! It's a NiteIze Gearline Organizer : http://www.amazon.com/Nite-Ize-GLN4-M1-R8-Double-Gated-Carabiner/dp/B00BKVPY3Q/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1448918545&sr=1-4&keywords=s-biner+gear

I just screwed it into the ceiling frame with self tappers. It's a huge help to keep things I use all the time handy: headlamp, nalgene bottle, sunglasses, bbq lighter, etc.

Had fun, so when and where is your next WTW trip ?

Smoke

Awesome! We are about to pick up our FWC too and spend our winter surfing Baja also. Maybe we'll cross paths.

Wellcome to WtW, PacificExposure!

Welcome to the group.
Nice storage idea.
Good looking rig.
Frank

Congrats and welcome to the group.

PacificExposure said:

I definitely saw you cruise by! I threw you a wave, but think you were looking at the rig and not me. Yeah, it's a great place to camp, but I'm glad I brought plenty of firewood!

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There was almost a 3rd FWC at Blair Valley! Up to the last minute we were trying to decide between Blair Valley & the Bradshaw Trail that same weekend. Went with Bradshaw, so missed you guys. Rats! Had a great time in our Hawk Shell though.

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Very cool night shot of your rig in action.

Can you tell me about the ramp you have in the back?

Bseek, I bought a ramp from Camping World for around $100. It has green astro turf and our lab loves it. I think I posted in Mods in July with pictures. Jd

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Truck Mods, 8/27, Dog platform for backseat shows the ramp.

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Welcome to FWC! You have a great set up. And a great place for your first trip. Two questions: How are your string lights wired in? and how long an exposure for that terrific star shot!?

Bseek said:

Can you tell me about the ramp you have in the back?

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It's called a PetStep, bought on Amazon for $130. Holds 500 lbs, folds in half, weighs 18 lbs, and is rubberized and slatted for traction. It fits EXACTLY under the cabinetry on my Eagle when laying on edge.

buckland said:

Welcome to FWC! You have a great set up. And a great place for your first trip. Two questions: How are your string lights wired in? and how long an exposure for that terrific star shot!?

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Thanks! The string lights are LED and battery powered from 3 AA batteries. I just hung them from 3M hooks on the roof stringers. The star shot was a single exposure shot on 6D, 30 sec, f2.8, ISO 6400, Sigma 15mm Fisheye