Hello...

My name is Tom, and I'm a newbie.

I have been pouring through this site for the last few days and absolutly love it!

I can't believe there are actually people like you all out there! God help us all! its a clean adiction I guess..

I just purchased a GREAT FWC Ranger from Channel Islands Jay who is a member here. And sold my early eightys Fleet the next day after 10 years of faithful and dutiful service. Now I must install the camper on a '93 Toyota T-100 long bed 4x4, and also make ready a 2002 tundra 4x4 for the camper for future..I have learned so much just lurking around here I figured I would jump on in!
Thanx for having me.
Tom


my new camper "resting" on its new home =

Hi Tomas

Welcome to the site. There seems to be quite a few
people upgrading from the older FWC. I’m a newbie
here also and there is a lot of good information to be found.
When I get time I'm going back pages and
reading post to see what else I can learn.

DirtyDog was going to look into bigger pictures but
for now it is easier to read post if the picture width
is 760 pixels or 640 pixels for this forum. I have
to use the arrow keys to move the page back
and forth.

What is your camper for the future on the Tundra?

I'm going to try the Ranger on the Tundra.. I see that JimJnx is getting along pretty well with that setup..I've been fighting a camper that is to long for 10 years, why quit now??

I love the Ranger on the old T-100, but with 2 kids it cuts down on all of us going..gotta make the change, but not before I sneak in some good trips with the T-100...

iguess I have to get my piccie's a little smaller..
Thanx for the welcome..

Hi Thomas,
Welcome! That Ranger looks really nice on the long bed T100. Keep us informed on all the fun you're going to have with the new camper

The Ranger seems to work just fine on the SB Tundra as well...

Hi Tom,
One of these days we'll have to tell these guys what a small world it is regarding you buying my Ranger. In the mean time Jims ranger show you pretty well how the camper fit on my old T-100. I think if I were doing it again I would remove the tail gate. Ben told me the camper is strong enough to handle it and it never really rested on the gate. The gate get pretty scratched on dirt roads when it's down as well.
Jay

I agree with Jay, the camper doesn't actually sit on the tailgate. I ended up putting some foam between the tailgate and camper because the tailgate would pop up and hit the camper on bumps.

The tundra has a pretty thick bumper and not much of the tailgate actually extends past it so rocks shouldn't be much of a problem (I hope ).

Welcome to the forum Tom.
Nice truck and camper. These are not just campers but an addiction. The more you use them the more you want to use them. Please help! Sent your donation to me at "Addicted to Camping". A FWC is a terrible thing to waste.

Cheers,

Mike

I have painted the bottom and sides underneath the camper with polyurethane floor enamel or floor oil. You could get color to match the truck and it would blend in and not notice the length sticking out.

If you take the tailgate off this should give the bottom that extends out with a harder coat to protect against rocks and such. That will keep resale up on the tail gate (now in the garage) and the camper with better protection from the elements.

My Ranger sticks out some on the 83 Toyota long bed but the paint blends it in.

Welcome Tom!

I have a Ranger II (pre-Eagle) on my '97 T100. Love it, it's a great combo.

With 10 years of ownership, I bet you'll have a ton of experience to offer around here. Have you made any modifications to the suspension to handle the weight of the FWC?

It's great to see this forum growing with enthusiastic and passionate FWC owners.

My stuff -

tailgate

To clarify the comment from Jay that it is ok to remove the tailgate. If you are putting an Eagle or Ranger II on a short bed truck, then yes it is fine. The camper only sticks out a little bit and it will hold up.

If you are putting a Ranger on a short bed, then no. The camper sticks out too far past the truck bed and the floor is not made on the campers to hold your weight without being supported.

In theory the long bed version of the camper on a short bed truck should hold up, you have 18" to 22" that will be out the back of the truck that is one piece of wood on the floor being support by the bed of the truck. The problem is that when you out on the end of the floor that is not being supported near the door, it will be putting pressure on the floor without support. I have never talked with a customer that has taken the tail gate off of a short bed truck with a long bed camper on it.

If anyone has done it and it has worked, please chime in here and let us know.

Tailgate topic

FWC told me that the tailgate was manditory for my Grandby mounted on a short bed PU. The tailgate is necessary to carry the weight of the back end of the camper as Ben described above. I made a wood shim to provide camper to tailgate contact. Mine was even a little more tricky because of the 5th wheel hitch rails in the bed of the truck.

My shim was thick at 1 1/4"H x 5 1/2W x the width of the camper at the bed. A normal install would be much thinner. Blocks glued to the back of the shim can be used to match the depression in the tailgate. This will capture the shim to prevent slipping. With the blocks, the shim is not attached to the camper.

I must have misunderstood Ben. I used mine for many trips with out the tail gate with no probs but maybe I was just lucky. I think we're only talking about 10 to 12 inches of overhang.
Jay

I had my old fleet model on a '95 T-100 with no tail gate and had no problem with the back of the camper..this is the only pisture I can dig up so far...

THis picture is a trip report in itself..Jay, or others may have been out near there. San Jose de Gracia,BCS. SE of San Ignacio lagoon in Baja Sur...

No tail gate

Well it looks as if you only have about a foot of overhang that the campers hold up ok. I guess that makes sense since the floors are one piece of wood being supported by the bed of the truck.

I know on some short bed trucks that the camper will over hang on the back about 18 to 21 inches. In a case like that I would want the tailgate to support the camper though. If anyone else has some photos or experience with a long bed camper on a short bed truck without the tailgate, please let us know how it is working out for you.

Man does the Pic bring back memories. Who's the guy with the Modelo?

Jay

His name is Miguel. His Folks have lived back in that little box canyon since the 1930's...can you believe he's over 50 years old?? its like the fountain of youth back in there..His dad Lorenzo is in his late 80's and still walks a mile into town every afternoon for one tecate and one ciggy with the boys..incredible...

Tell me you've been out there Jay and we'll have another small world story to tell...the only people I know that have been to that spot I took there..



San Jose de Gracia

KCOWYO...

Nice looking rig!!

Others, thank you for the welcome!


When (if!) I take the Ranger off of the t-100 to put it on the Tundra I will make a decision on the tailgate at that time. The old Fleet model was OK the one time I had it on the Tundra..
Tom

By the way, that tundra is the 4th TOyota that camper has been on.. Buy em, beat em, and sell em...but the camper always survived!

We were out there about 10 years ago after a chubasco had hit. We could hardly get in there.

Have you been to Mission San Borjas. Its a very rough road off the new paved Bay of LA road. The folks that run the ejido there that over see the restoration are great and they too have discovered what Ponce DeLeon was looking for. Not a gray hair in the bunch.
Jay

Jay,

So cool you've been out to SJdG!! Did you get all the way to the end of the road to "La Junta"??? through the town square, past the church, and then a mile of rock crawling to the end?? Big mango trees and water everywhere?? Dying to go back there..

Have not been out to San Borja yet.Have heard wonderful things about the place..

Tom