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Thanks all very much. I will call Stan. I will be careful. I shuuda bought a trailer but got bit by the DIY bug. Argonaut, I bet you're right.

I have tried for a few years to get accustomed to having a camper on my pickup 24/7 but my wife is a big gardener and I'm a retired carpenter— So I am converting my camper dolly into a camper trailer with a new tow bar, wheels, and axle. I had built the dolly in the hope I could use it to move...

Thanks, that's very helpful, just to hear someone thinking through the same issues. PITA is right. For awhile I was thinking of using a commercial storage space that my wife had rented for other stuff, but when I went to back the truck and camper into it, the roof of the camper wasn't going...

Now I'm thinking the Northern Tool trailer might not be so bad, even with tight clearance—because whether loading or unloading, the trailer probably could be put in position by hand, without being attached to the truck. Even so, if anyone has some experience with this, I would appreciate...

I don't mind the camper living on my truck all the time, but my wife would like me to have a pickup sometimes. I have a steeply sloping driveway and a somewhat less sloping street. I have loaded and unloaded using the truck's winch and a dolly I built, but in both cases, the process was more...

Thanks all. When I called FWC Repair in Woodland, I was advised to replace the slats that had come off, maybe with a chamfer to make them less likely to snag the brackets in the bed. The slats are marine plywood like the floor. I was told that any material that would absorb water (like pt...

My Fleet has been happy in the bed of my Tacoma for a few years. When my wife wanted dirt for the garden, all I could do was shrug. Also, my driveway is so short and steep and warped, when I did attempt to perform a camperectomy, I managed to knock off a couple of the slats under the camper...

I like the table, I bet it's useful. What did you do if anything to the turnbuckles that attach the camper to the bed when you moved the camper forward? Not really wanting a swing arm on my rear bumper, I'm still stuck on my original question. Being a woodworker, I've wondered about replacing...

Thanks, Ron, very smart setup. Makes sense to move the camper forward and the bumper back, for lots of reasons. Never would have occurred to me. Mark

I am planning to get some kind of aluminum front winch bumper (and a winch, of course) for my Tacoma with a Fleet. We're often on roads that would justifiy the expense. For those with this common combo, you know the Fleet sticks out of the bed of the truck six inches or so. I don't want a...

I have a Tacoma and Fleet combo. This is our first year, and we just returned from a desert trip that included snow and lots of wind. No shuddering, although I do get some shock wave impact from big trucks passing from the opposite direction on a two lane road. Instead of air bags I had a...

We use the the front dinette in our fleet every dinner, then extend the bed for the night, shorten it in the morning. We spend every day engaged outdoors so the comfort of the dinette is welcome. The ease of cooking, setting the table, eating, clearing the table, doing dishes is great after a...

I have a front dinette setup (don't know about the other configurations). Visibility in the rear view is good enough to see if a there's a car is behind you, and at what distance. With the Tacoma's side mirrors, it's sometimes difficult to see if you're being tailgated. I don't think it's...

I believe I had something like porpoising at first using a SuperSpring helper spring on my Tacoma/Fleet. Your combo seems much less stressed than mine. Probably the airbags will do the trick. My solution was to have a local spring specialist rebuild the leafpack for less than $500. He...

One more thing: I carry a surfing longboard on top of the camper about once a week. We have the stock rack which I covered with pipe insulation foam using tape and pipe clamps. Because I didn't want to carry a ladder, I got a stiff thick piece of nylon rope and attached an open loop of it to...

At sundown we were in Martin's Meadow CA dispersed campground when a bear started hitting the camps one after another. Someone fired off a rifle and the bear went to the next camp where they were blowing the truck horn, not to much effect. It looked like it was gonna be a long night. So we...

I've read in a self-defense article that bear spray can be fairly effective. It makes sense to me, someone who's not likely to buy a handgun. The single platform works surprisingly well. Two steps, in or out, but you don't have to duck as much going in. Also the platform is useful for...

Super spring helper springs did not work on my Tacoma2015/Fleet similar to your specs. I had the leaf pack rebuilt by Oakland Springs, less than $500—they told me not to bother replacing the stock TRD blisteen shocks. Works fine. Our interest is moderate 4x4 too, and so far the weight of the...

We're finding the weight of the camper not a limitation on 4x4 roads so far. A battery lantern and its light diffused with a paper towel seems more pleasant than the overheads for general illumination. Instead of stairs we're just using an flat 18x24" plywood platform straight off the hitch...

Thanks, SL. It sounds like you've got it together. I have wondered about the use of a hi lift on sliders—the Wab Fab adapter makes sense. My plan has been to get sliders and a hi-lift—even before replacing the front bumper. That said, TNA, I am open to the minimalist idea that a stock bottle...

Hi TNA, thank you. It sounds like you've used the stock jack to fix a flat offroad with a FWC. Was it front or back? What were the road conditions? Any thoughts appreciated. Thank you SL. It seems to me being prepared for a flat tire on any wheel and on the usual marginal road conditions...

Our first FWC trip to the eastern sierra. Changing a flat tire with the stock jack seems sketchy off-road with the weight of a FWC: a Hi-lift jack seems like the right tool but where on my stock Tacoma can it be used?

Thanks, Paul, BB's steps are a work of art. SD—The idea was that the rope would be stiff and thick enough for me to just spear the board through, standing on the top back step of the camper, shoving the fin up tight. Works with some fiddling. On the back end I'm using those steel reinforced...

I thought the first thing I should do was figure out how to get in and out of it. This prototype has flaws: It doesn't fold flat. The top step is too high. My dog looks at it suspiciously. However, in spite of my worry, the main support (white oak 2x2) that fits into the trailer hitch is...

Thanks—I'm going to try something, so I'll try that.