A few last minute questions before ordering Fleet

Nothing to keep you from painting the exterior appliance doors if you so desire. I have 1-150 watt panel and it is plenty for my Eagle shell with one battery. Ron
 
EnviroProf said:
I’ve given up (I think) looking for a used camper so will be ordering a new Fleet front dinette.

Awnings: I like and use awnings. The Fiamma seems to be a good, but expensive awning. A couple of dealers have said I should let the factory install it because of warranty issues. Another told me that they modify the camper trim and ??? to add the awning. I’d like to hear from Fleet owners especially, as the space to mount an awning is probably tighter than with the full-size campers. Has anyone mounted an ARB or other brand after getting their camper?

Fantastic Fans: A topic that came up in previous threads was how many electric fan vents to order. Some said they should have ordered two electric fans. Others said one electric and one extra vent work pretty well. It’s $100 more to get the electric instead of the extra vent. Are two needed for traveling to hot places? If I only go with one, should the electric go over the bed to provide breeze while you sleep?
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I hear ya - it took me about 9-10 months of combing the used forums till I found a decked out Fleet for the right price.

I have the Fiamma awning. It's so quick and easy to setup I use it at least 2-3 times as much as I used the awning on my old rig. My only complaint is they use a cheap plastic piece where the leg pivots and unhinges from the stowed position. I cracked one. didn't seem like a big deal to replace until I tried to find the part. Impossible in the USA. Primarily because the Fiamma shop in FL had a ex employee run in and shoot the place up killing a bunch of staff. Pretty horrible. Anyways, they've been closed ever since but I heard they were finally preparing to reopen soon.

I have a one fan, one vent. I bought it used so that's what it came with. I like to sleep cold and would have had a second fan if it were my call to have made.

Good luck!
 
My Fleet Shell came with a power vent over the bed and passive vent only in the back.

I'm upgrading the back vent to power now, as when driving across country and stop late in truck stops I don't lift the roof and sleep on the bench and wanted a power vent that will be available in the smaller space.

The rear vent is also over the cooking so a second reason for power.

Third reason is that I'm adding a thermostat to the rear vent upgrade so when it's hot during the day the vent will start and help my Engel fridge by staying cooler.
 
EnviroProf said:
I'll have plenty of time to work on the solar design, but my initial plan is to permanently mount a big honking panel (160w) between the vents, and then try to design a mounting option for a lighter flexible panel (maybe 100w) that will live on the roof 90% of the time, but can be removed when I find a nice shady camp spot.
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Rule of thumb on solar PV panel size vs battery AH size. Get 2x the PV power of your battery AH. So, in your case 260AH = 130 AH battery.

The reason this rule exists is to ensure that you usually get the batteries recharged on a typical day, assuming you are discharging them to 50% every night.
 
Vic Harder said:
Rule of thumb on solar PV panel size vs battery AH size. Get 2x the PV power of your battery AH. So, in your case 260AH = 130 AH battery.

The reason this rule exists is to ensure that you usually get the batteries recharged on a typical day, assuming you are discharging them to 50% every night.
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Looked through the FWC info online but didn't find it. How many AHs are the dual factory AGM batteries advertised to provide?
 
I took the plunge and ordered my Fleet. I appreciate so many of you weighing in on the options. Now the fun begins of planning upgrades -- solar -- backup camera, etc. I suspect that these campers are sort of like rare VW campers and sailboats -- places to get rid of large sums of $$$. :)
 
You are correct, you will/can spend money just as fast as a boat owner. In fact you'll find a lot of gear for boats is quite applicable for these campers. Blue Sea electrical products is one such item, buy quality, buy once.
 
I have two vents and two solar panels on my Fleet.

I really like having a fan over the bed for warm nights. It's a FantasticFan model with many speeds and a remote. (I don't think they make this particular model anymore, but have replaced it with something similar and probably better.) I had FWC install a plain vent there, bought the fan on Ebay and installed it in the vent. The rear vent has the OEM 3-speed fan.

The collectors are Hannergy flexible self-adhesive units attached to 1/8" aluminum sheets which are attached to aluminum cross members mounted to the Yakima tracks. The collectors are of a long, relatively narrow shape, so the one on the driver's side fits betwen the vents and the edge of the roof. This setup gives me about 185 Watts with a CTEK charge controller. Installing the collectors was a pretty big job!

I mounted a Shady Boy awning on the passenger side. I like it because it doesn't need poles under light-wind conditions. The installation was kind of complicated. Maybe you could figure out a way to do it more simply. It's a great awning - pretty large and easy to set up.

- Bernard
 
broverlanding_tacoma said:
. Two fans, fridge and outside LED ground light killed the battery overnight. No go.
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Do you have a way to monitor the batteries/current draw? Do you have a three way or two way fridge? With a two way, it seems unreasonable to have killed the batteries with just that.
 
Wow...32 replies.

Here is my 2 cents

Whatever your decision. Whatever the options you order, if you take care of it, you will probably recover 50-60% of your investment over its life. Your not paying $20,000 for a camper. Your only paying $8,000 to $10,000. So you might as well purchase all the extras you want.

After 5 years ownership should I have purchased the vent over the bed? Yes did i need two Fantastic fans? No. Did I need the Thermal pack? Yes. Do I need the awning? yes about 50% of the time. And it was a great bargain at only $450...half of the new price,

Should I have purchased Yakima tracks? Yes (easier to remove and reinstall solar panels). Did I mind gluing it? No.

Remember whatever you purchase its half price so if you think there is even a possibility you will use it...Buy it! At half price you wont lose.
 
Two way.
I literally just picked it up thursday so no extra stuff installed yet. WIll be installing a current analyzer and either two UPG batteries, or a pair of trojans. I have a feeling the previous owner may have killed the batteries, but even at that. 40 AH is garbage for the price they are charging for the dual batteries
Vic Harder said:
Do you have a way to monitor the batteries/current draw? Do you have a three way or two way fridge? With a two way, it seems unreasonable to have killed the batteries with just that.
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RC Pilot Jim said:
Wow...32 replies.

Here is my 2 cents

Whatever your decision. Whatever the options you order, if you take care of it, you will probably recover 50-60% of your investment over its life. Your not paying $20,000 for a camper. Your only paying $8,000 to $10,000. So you might as well purchase all the extras you want.

After 5 years ownership should I have purchased the vent over the bed? Yes did i need two Fantastic fans? No. Did I need the Thermal pack? Yes. Do I need the awning? yes about 50% of the time. And it was a great bargain at only $450...half of the new price,

Should I have purchased Yakima tracks? Yes (easier to remove and reinstall solar panels). Did I mind gluing it? No.

Remember whatever you purchase its half price so if you think there is even a possibility you will use it...Buy it! At half price you wont lose.
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Interesting way to think about it. These campers are so popular and apparently long lasting that their value doesn't seem to drop below a certain point if they are well taken care of. In my search for a used camper I saw several that were 12 years old or more going for $10K or so.

That was one of the reasons why I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a new one. I did find a few existing new models that were close to what we wanted, but figured if we are going to spend that much, we'd get exactly what we want. So I ordered the front dinette with the Yak tracks for solar setup, hot water heater and (outdoor) shower, furnace, 85-L fridge, awning, dual battery, two fan vents, and thermal pack. I have a silver Tacoma, and so went with the silver spur edition. After my son called it the Silver Surfer edition, that name will probably stick.

I did not add the solar, because I can add a bigger and better system myself for less $. I didn't go for the indoor shower, the cassette toilet, the rear steps, or the LED exterior package or external floods.

I'll be picking it up about 1,800 miles away in Bozeman in early October or so and then will be heading out from there on its first adventure. My plan is to carry with me the solar setup (or most of it) and the backup camera project and install them on the road, so I'll probably be posting a thread about my parts and tools list to bring along, and asking for suggestions to make sure I'm not forgetting something.
 
Aren't the batteries that FWC installs 75Ah Exide AGMs? I know mine is. These are actually pretty decent batteries for the money (about the same price as the scooter battery you linked to).

broverlanding_tacoma said:
Two way.
I literally just picked it up thursday so no extra stuff installed yet. WIll be installing a current analyzer and either two UPG batteries, or a pair of trojans. I have a feeling the previous owner may have killed the batteries, but even at that. 40 AH is garbage for the price they are charging for the dual batteries
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PaulT said:
My 2014 Hawk came with two of these: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Edge-24-Marine-Dual-Purpose-AGM-Battery-FP-AGM24DPDS/205342447

They are 75 AH, AGM, dual purpose marine batteries. After 3 years with attention to keeping them charged, mine are still at 12.8v if fully charged and without load overnight.

Paul
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was lied to
they are 75ah. I think they are just dead. Gonna do some work on them. Previous owner i think killed em.
Also

DUAL FANS. in mid 80s, we slept with zero sweat and all comfort.
 
I can say since I got my '15 Fleet last December, I was very, very lucky. I only spent about 2-3 weeks looking for one and I was such a newbie, I did not even realize at first that the model would be made differently for different trucks. I was lucky it fit my Tacoma like a glove. I actually was not the first in line to buy my rig, but an older couple who had driven 500 miles on the way to Colorado to buy it, turned around and went home when they hit the snow. But I lived in the Sierras at a ski resort and have driven in it plenty. Didn't scare me off.

The guys at FWC were very helpful in explaining what I needed to do prior to picking it up and what to look for. I was also very lucky it was loaded with practically every option I wanted. When I got it, it looked like it had never been used. I could not find any marks, scratches, or any wear on anything. The only thing I want to add would be another solar panel. Many here and myself believe, you can never have enough. I have been living in it full time now for the last month after a couple trips and I can say I am quite astonished how nice living in one is. Saving over $2k/month rent (let alone utilities) doesn't hurt either. I work enough that I am out of it probably more than in.

But the items I think ya gotta option up to should be:
Solar, as much as you can afford. Always remember when you get anything that uses electricity, can I power it with batteries or not? If you can use batteries, you save the Amps available for other things.
Don't get the Dometic refer if you can avoid it. Enough has been said here about its power inefficiency. I plan to go to an ARB unit asap. But I will get another panel first to see if that makes it more of a non-issue.
Inverter if not standard.
At least one fan, one vent over bed
Thermal Pack (remember, it's good for the cold AND hot days)
LED lights (uses less power)
Dual batteries (again, the more power the better)
Jacks (I like the bigger, beefier ones than the thinner tube ones. You don't want the unit falling to the ground after you pull your truck)
Propane stove (I have not used mine because I use a NuWave cooktop, but when the sun is not ramping up your panel(s), you will want it.
Hot Water heater (again not used yet, but glad I have it when I will)

I have not used my inside shower yet, but if you boondock, you will want that or at least the outside version.

Most important, welcome to ownership, you are gonna be very glad you got one. I had to laugh the other day when I saw my co-worker with his hard top truck camper as I followed him out of the parking lot. He made a right turn and had to slow down since the angle of his very top heavy camper practically made his rig roll on it's side. No problem for me, I didn't even hit the brakes. Everyone around here drives 65-75 on the freeway, I have no problem keeping up and even passing most.
 
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