2001 Eagle 4 Wheel Camper- Refresh

[jlhois]

Purchased a used 4-Wheel camper a couple years back with the intention of doing some re-furbishing and customization for our needs.

We are more of a backcountry camping family, 4 humans and a dog, away from shore power. However, in the last couple years the purchase of the camper has lead to some longer family road trips and the occasional RV camp in a national park had done us good.



Very much appreciate all the members who contributed to this site as it has really provided a good base so I can move forward.

Here is the task list and I will try to keep some posts coming.

The only changes made so far have been maintenance and small upgrades. Replaced lights with LED, painted exposed based with “Rhino” lining, replaced all screws on the trim and re-sealed.

1. New furnace...The old Atwood went out and no “easy” replacement. After some conversations with the 4-wheel folks I decided to go with Propex. Karl at Westy was a lot of help. My wife needs heat! Unfortunately, old space would not work with either propex size. It was the heater that lead to all the work!
2. New base for camper, the Ford required about 5” height adjustment to fit camper...Complete with slide out storage.
3. Portable solar
4. More efficient battery monitoring/charging.
5. Simple/safe shore power access.
6. Relocation of water.
7. Flush mounted sink and water pump.
8. Removal of countertop stove. Go with portable two burner stove. Two gas line locations to allow multiple places to cook (make coffee with bed rolled out). Add line to cook outside.
9. Fan-tastic vent
10. New cabinets and extend all the way to wall.
11. New couch/bed.

Along with these changes I plan on cleaning up and updating some of the cosmetics of the camper.

1. Remove old flooring/carpet.
2. Remove plastic covering on panels. Replace all the “brown” screws and trim.
3. Seal/Paint everything and new flooring.

Hopefully I van contribute to this forum and please don’t hesitate to show me what I am messing up. Always wanting to learn a better way to do things.

 

[jlhois]

Some pre-photos

 

[jlhois]

The tight heater space was the crux of my issues.

 

[ski3pin]

Looking forward to seeing your project, thanks for sharing with us.

 

[Edgewood]

Also subscribed. My Eagle is a couple years older than yours.
Your model is exactly alike to mine, right down to the linoleum floor pattern.

One of the modifications I have done was to remove the couch and replace it. I made three base boxes from birch wood. One box went in the empty space under the front window. Another, longer box went next to it extending towards the door. The third box is directly to the right of the door. There is a 16" inch space between the side boxes where I mounted a swivel table. Because the three cushioned tops are separate it is much easier to access the storage space below. I did not replace the couch back rest. I prefer to lean against the front or back camper wall so that I can have my feet up and have a little view.

I would like to replace the stove cabinet side in the future.

 

[jlhois]

Also subscribed. My Eagle is a couple years older than yours.
Your model is exactly alike to mine, right down to the linoleum floor pattern.

One of the modifications I have done was to remove the couch and replace it. I made three base boxes from birch wood. One box went in the empty space under the front window. Another, longer box went next to it extending towards the door. The third box is directly to the right of the door. There is a 16" inch space between the side boxes where I mounted a swivel table. Because the three cushioned tops are separate it is much easier to access the storage space below. I did not replace the couch back rest. I prefer to lean against the front or back camper wall so that I can have my feet up and have a little view.

I would like to replace the stove cabinet side in the future.

Interesting concept. Any pics of that?

Right now I plan on a long L-shaped box. I am relocating the water tank to front of camper. Losing a little space but i hated where it was, next to propane storage. My thought was to replace the long bench with a slightly taller one. Not replace back as well. Would like to add a hinge to the top of the box that would have legs and fold out and support a bed. We will see. Need to get my water tank in so I can start measurements.

 

[jlhois]

Slowly deconstructing...

There were about 6 million staples in the old stinky carpet. It is taking me more time to prep for paint than taking everything out.

 

[jlhois]

The plastic covered panels have been another wonderful task....



Over time almost every corner had started to peel back. Tried several different options to remove (scraping, sanding, paint/varnish/goo off) and nothing worked until I got my hands in to a heat gun and a 5-1 tool. Tedious but getting them done. Hope to have all the plastic off by end of week with a little extra time working on it each evening.

 

[Mark G]

I didn't know I could put my Eagle on an F150. How's that work for you besides lifting it up?

 

[WyoIDI]

Wow, it's crazy how similar your 2001 is to my 1992 Grandby, almost identical inside except the dimensions. Makes me feel like my camper might not be that old after all haha. Good luck with the rebuild!

 

[kmcintyre]

I didn't know I could put my Eagle on an F150. How's that work for you besides lifting it up?

I've got an Eagle on a RAM 1500. Made a bed platform and all is well. I like the fact that it "fits" behind the cab better and doesn't stick out the sides as much.

 

[jlhois]

I didn't know I could put my Eagle on an F150. How's that work for you besides lifting it up?

Just had to build a platform. My first iteration was to keep it as close to the bed as possible. Makes unloading and loading a little more of a hassle. The biggest drawback is the wasted space under the platform. The idea was that I wanted it as “tight” to the truck as possible (Aerodynamics and aesthetics). Some other issues I ran into, the drain for the water tank lined up with my bead rail and had to get the alignment perfect so I didn’t cause any damage to it. and the added height to the camper means a bigger more sound ladder system. I went with Little giant step ladder. A benefit I appreciate is that the difference in dimensions between truck and camper is the width. I am able to fit two 225ah 6 volt batteries on each side. Evenly distributes weight and keep them out of my camper, not battery box.

My next platform is going to be lifted slightly over the bed rails (Total platform lift is 5.5”) I am adding two pull our drawers. Almost complete with that project, but not much time this week. Probably finish it up next week

 

[Wildcat]

I have the same year eagle. Since you have the interior ripped out I would highly recommend upgrading the eye-bolt tie downs on the camper. You currently have 4 heavy-duty eye-bolts, sometimes referred to as elevator bolts. There have been a few instances on these older campers where an eye-bolt gets pulled through the wood where it's anchored. And your wood is getting older. Several years ago FWC changed over to a stainless steel plate that uses 3 bolts. They sell a kit that includes all the anchors and related hardware. It wasn't very expensive when I bought mine a couple of years ago (under $100) and was worth the cost compared to creating my own. It also seems like good insurance. You have to have access to the bolts from the inside, so there's no better time than now.

I have seen older posts about the new anchor system and FWC may have even included a short note in an old video when they started using them in all new campers. This upgrade applies to all the older FWC campers, not just your older Eagle. But it especially applies to having an empty shell with no obstacles in the way of getting to the inside bolts before you start adding a new galley, shelves, cupboards, etc.

 

[jlhois]

I have the same year eagle. Since you have the interior ripped out I would highly recommend upgrading the eye-bolt tie downs on the camper. You currently have 4 heavy-duty eye-bolts, sometimes referred to as elevator bolts. There have been a few instances on these older campers where an eye-bolt gets pulled through the wood where it's anchored. And your wood is getting older. Several years ago FWC changed over to a stainless steel plate that uses 3 bolts. They sell a kit that includes all the anchors and related hardware. It wasn't very expensive when I bought mine a couple of years ago (under $100) and was worth the cost compared to creating my own. It also seems like good insurance. You have to have access to the bolts from the inside, so there's no better time than now.

I have seen older posts about the new anchor system and FWC may have even included a short note in an old video when they started using them in all new campers. This upgrade applies to all the older FWC campers, not just your older Eagle. But it especially applies to having an empty shell with no obstacles in the way of getting to the inside bolts before you start adding a new galley, shelves, cupboards, etc.

Thanks! Just sanded everything down and was inspecting the eye-bolts and was going to see what others did to replace them. Saved me some time!

 

[jlhois]

Not much time this week....

Installed Fantastic Vent...

Was prepared to do a lot of work, but 4 Wheel Camper had it pre-wired. Was quick and easy install....

Only hiccup was that I didn’t get a good cut on the interior trimming. Should have been fool proof....

 

[jlhois]

Replaced old eyebolts.

As you can see some concerns here.

 

[jlhois]

Called 4 Wheel camper up spoke to Aaron and $55 (plus $12 shipping) later some new heavy-duty stainless steel tie-ins arrived. Easy install, just lined up and drill two new holes and bolted down. Will have to touch up the Knock off rhino lining exterior paint job, but well worth it.

 

[Wildcat]

Looks good! And great upgrade without much pain since you had full access. I haven't replaced my tie-in on the rear driver's side because it looks like it's concealed by a small storage area with 6-inch high sliding doors that sits on top of the wheel wells and below the sink cabinet. When you removed your galley do you recall if you had to sequentially remove everything from sink downward to access the screws for that small storage area? I haven't stripped out my galley yet, but I did install 3 of the four tie-ins, as I had the full bench seating (now removed) which gave me easy access to that side.

As you customize your new interior you might want to give some thought to weight distribution and placement. One thing that always concerns me about my eagle is the appliances, gas tank, furnace, and water tank are all on the driver's side. And my truck has it's own fuel tank on that side, which in total is too much weight on one side of the truck. I am going to try to reposition the LP tank to a lower location and the same for the water tank to keep the center of gravity lower and forward of the rear axle if possible.

 

[jlhois]

Looks good! And great upgrade without much pain since you had full access. I haven't replaced my tie-in on the rear driver's side because it looks like it's concealed by a small storage area with 6-inch high sliding doors that sits on top of the wheel wells and below the sink cabinet. When you removed your galley do you recall if you had to sequentially remove everything from sink downward to access the screws for that small storage area? I haven't stripped out my galley yet, but I did install 3 of the four tie-ins, as I had the full bench seating (now removed) which gave me easy access to that side.

As you customize your new interior you might want to give some thought to weight distribution and placement. One thing that always concerns me about my eagle is the appliances, gas tank, furnace, and water tank are all on the driver's side. And my truck has it's own fuel tank on that side, which in total is too much weight on one side of the truck. I am going to try to reposition the LP tank to a lower location and the same for the water tank to keep the center of gravity lower and forward of the rear axle if possible.

If my memory serves me right that small storage box was separate. However, I didn’t see this until the end and took that out last. Believe it was secured with several screws along the back, directly into the base of the camper. It was one of the few pieces that did not have all the L-brackets holding it together so it came out solid.

Weight distribution was terrible for me. All of it on driver side and high. The water tank was placement was my biggest concern. Going to build a box that will move the water tank down to floor in center of camper. Will serves as a bench/a little kore storage as well. Going to leave the LP tank where it is. Too much trouble to move for me.

 

[jlhois]

Put in a couple extra exterior lights. I was having trouble with the incumbent “porch” light (left aide of door) it would flicker on and off. So wanted to check connections. Decided to look as see how hard it would be to wire in another light on other side and possibly next to window. Very pleased to see both options pre-wired when I pulled back panel. Some of the wires had slipped through holes but it was a pretty simple install. Will be nice to have some out door lights.

Replaced some of the insulation while I was back there and replaced the rocker switch.