80's Fleet Rebuild/ WA skiing base camp project

R

riff3313

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Apr 7, 2014
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Hello WTW! I've been casually looking for a suitable FWC for a few years, and this spring I saw one melting out of a snowbank along my commute. I stopped and inquired with the owners, and it turns out they would sell so I picked it up after the snow finished melting off. It's a mid 80's Fleet, and it's in rough shape. The front corners are falling apart, the canvas(although replaced by FWC at some point) has a few substantial holes, and the interior has a bit of water damage.
I'm planning to do a rebuild over the course of the summer, with a goal of using it for backcountry and resort skiing throughout the winter. I visit Hwy 20 frequently for backcountry skiing, and now I'll be able to set up in the parking lot and chill after a day out! I originally was putting it in a T100, but just a few days ago made the switch to a Tundra. It's clearly meant for a smaller truck, but I think the smaller profile suits my plans reasonably well. I was a river guide for quite a while and lived out of the truck in the summers with a canopy, so this will be a huge upgrade regardless. Standing up to cook while indoors sounds amazing.
I'm planning to strip out most of the interior, water system and fridge to make it as light and simple as possible. As its going in a big truck, I think I'll build long skinny boxes to go between the camper and the fenders, for ski storage. I expect I'll do the same as most of the threads I've read; I'll start off planning to lube the door hinges and pretty soon it'll be a bare frame on blocks. Either way, I'll try to put up some photos along the way, and if there's anybody on the forum near Leavenworth that wants to get in touch and give me advice, feel free!
It might take me a bit to figure out uploading photos to the site. Stay tuned.
 
My 2007 Ranger works great as a winter Ski Truck down to about 0 degrees F, However, make sure the heater works to be able to dry clothing and equipment overnight. Ice condensation will occur so plan to pop-up when you get home to dry everything out with a portable heater inside or mold will occur. There are many inexpensive tricks that will enhance snow camping and you can pick them up on this website or figure them out yourself after a few trips. I think your biggest problem will the be the material they used in an 80's FWC. I don't think it was Herculite, so mold may already be present.
 
Have been in Leavenworth the last two weekends climbing. May get one more trip over there this summer before the heat sets in.

How is the clearance over the cab of the truck and the bed rails? You MIGHT need to put something underneath to gain some clearance for the rails, for me that's some pressure treated 2x4's, if I didn't already have such a large cab to overhang gap I'd of thought about a but more lift and made a drawer/locker/basement platform for ski and miscellaneous storage.

Good luck with the project!
 
Cayuse,
It fit perfectly in the T100, but the bed on the Tundra is 3" deeper. Cab clearance is good from rails to top of cab, so a bit of lift will sort it out pretty well I think.
 
I spend as much time as I can skiing off of HWY 20 up near Mazama. There is some amazing backcounty out there. I would highly recommend getting a good forced air heater to help dry out clothes and the camper, a Olympian or Little Buddy Heaters don't work well enough especially in the cold wet weather (lots of excess moisture).

I am also need to redoing my lift panels and canvas and am looking making lift panels out of electrical conduit after reading this build thread (see post #65). This will prevent condensation from building up behind the lift panels.
 
Awesome everyone, thanks for the notes! I'm definitely going to be making lifter panels as well.
 
Well, Its been all summer and I've got an update. As most seem to do, I got into it thinking I'd just polish it up a bit and be on my way....and then took it clear down to the frame. I ended up taking out all the interior siding, and re-insulating with foam board. I also took out the nasty original headliner, and re- insulated the roof also. I took out all the plumbing, because it'll just be a hassle to keep it from freezing in the winter, and all the cobbled together electrical that scared me. I removed the fridge, and patched the hole in the siding with a piece of diamond plate trailer fender salvaged off the median of I82. I patched a bunch of exterior holes actually. I got the outside weatherproof, then sanded and painted it satin black. I'm going to add some stencils later....
The older campers had a shorter pop-up, and at its original height I couldn't stand up fully. I'm also putting it in a Tundra, with 20" tall rails. The camper is built for a 17" bed rail. I scratched my head about this for a while. The floor was going to get replaced anyway, so in the end I added 3" of interior height be replacing the lower side panels with 3" taller pieces and filling the gap on the ends with a trimmed 2x4. I should have added 3.5" so I wouldn't have to rip the 2x4's, Ha! This was quite a project, but in the end has turned out to be the right decision. I could have just built a wooden deck to raise the camper, but wouldn't have solved my headroom issues along the way.
Most of the aluminum frame was less than ideal, so I made some changes to that also. I wanted to use the space between my truck fenders and the camper for ski storage, so I spent a while pondering that one also. I ended up widening the back of the camper so it's only 1" narrower than the space between my taillights, and then armored it all with the remains of the trailer fender and a couple of diamond plate running boards I got at the Habitat store. I cut out and hung diamond plates doors to secure the ski storage. I believe I can get four pairs of skis in there.
 
I also made some changes to the interior. The bed was tiny, so I added another hinge and panel, and made it all work so it rests on the kitchen counter when the bed is up. When its down the additional panel is the bench against the window facing the cab. I rebuilt the bench/bunk along the side so its hinged for storage underneath. Both beds have been stripped of the original foam. The upper is getting a memory foam, the bottom got a 3" thick thermarest style thing. Both are removable for drying them out after trips.
My brother made me a sweet lift panel out of steel tubing, a massive improvement on the original. I need to ask him for another for the front, now that we know it works. I also added a stout bungee all the way around the outside of the canvas to pull it in when the top goes down. I got some of the coated fabric the top is made of at the local tent shop, and used a heat gun to weld patches on all the wrecked spots. I also glued the velcro back on, fingers crossed on that staying put.
I cut up an old truck bed liner and put it in to soften up the plywood floor.
I also screwed all the original and new plywood together instead of relying on the staples from 1984.
I just got going on the kitchen today, and I haven't really decided how to finish it off. I'll have to stare at it for a bit.
I'm going to put up a bunch of photos, although I haven't got pictures of the ski box doors yet.....
 
how do you add photos anyway? It want a URL...do I need to put the pics online somehow first?
 
You can host the pics right here on WTW.

Make yourself a gallery (above in the navigation bar next to forum)

Upload the photos to a gallery

On an individual photo click Option, share links.

Use the third option, "image link".

Paste that link to into the photo url when posting.


That should sort you out pretty well. I really want to see your progress! I recently ramped up renovations on my fleet and need to update my build myself. Ski season will be here before you know it.
 
Gallery forthcoming soon! Pictures uploading....I thought I had more "before" pictures, evidently I forgot to save them when I got a new phone. I'll get more detail shots in the gallery as the build comes to a close, or to address any questions from the forum.
 
Further plans:

Finishing the kitchen- plumb the sink drain, hook up propane for the stove, arrange storage.
Sorting out a ladder for roof rack access.
Heat- considering maritime solid fuel concepts.
 
Hey, the link seems to the gallery seems to be broken. I'm stoked to see your progress. I've always wanted a wood stove in my camper. Nothing drys better than wood heat!
Stoked to see your progress! I was trying for years to find the right project. Finally just coughed up the cash one bought a shell. Living vicariously, I suppose!


Sent from my iPhone using Wander The West
 
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