Another new Fleet owner

[paulclancy]

Hi All,

Been following this forum for the past three months.
It's been a wealth of info and want to thank you all for your insights and experiences.

We come from a backpack/car camping background. After randomly seeing a FWC last Summer, it seemed like

the way to go.

So last month we put a deposit on a Fleet camper, planing on taking delivery this Spring. It will sit on

a 2017 Taco double cab, long bed, 6 cylinders.
Went with the solar roof, two batteries, yakima rack, two roof vents, 2 way fridge, side dinette.


We live in northern New England and will use the camper in all seasons except Winter. Reason being, it's

too cold in the winter and the salt used on the roads just eats up vehicles.


So my top questions (from a list of about 200) are :

1. We are picking up the camper at MLO, about a nine hour drive away. Planning to stay 2 or 3 days in

the area. What tools would be handy for the initial drive home ? So far I have duct tape and a hammer.


2. Going with e-rated tires and the Firestone air bag shocks. Mostly driving on pavement and graded dirt

roads. Rarely real off road driving, but it could happen. Are the tires and shocks enough ? Should we

upgrade springs or other suspension ?


3. Any other FWC owners in New England ? We are in northern Vermont and have only seen one.

Thanks again all,
Paul

 

[rando]

From one new Fleet/3rd gen Tacoma owner to another - Welcome!

I just went through the exact same suspension/tire deliberation and spent far too much time researching and asking questions. The tires are a no brainer - upgrade to load range E. I have BFT AT KO2's in 235/85R16 and have been happy.

The biggest factor in the suspension decision is whether the camper will be on the truck full time or mostly full time? If you will be taking it off and using the truck without the camper, air bags and maybe an add-a-leaf are your best option. If you are like me and will be leaving the camper on full time (mine is a hard mounted flat bed) then I would suggest beefed up rear leafs at least, and maybe upgraded shocks all around. I went with a full OME BP-51 suspension kit from ARB with extra leafs in the rear and airbags:
http://ok4wd.com/shop-by-vendor/old-man-emu/old-man-emu-bp-51-high-performance-lift-kit-for-2005-toyota-tacoma-ometac16bp51b

In the couple thousand miles I have driven on road and off road, this has been working well. The ability to adjust the shocks has been great - in their stock settings they were underdamped which led to some bucking on jointed highways. Increasing the re-bound damping greatly reduced this. I also added air bags as they are inexpensive, but so far have inly used them for small ride height adjustments - typically about 15 PSI in the bags. You will notice that the ride quality with higher pressures in the airbags deteriorates quickly.

In general my advice would be that you are spending a lot of money on a new truck and a new camper, spend what it takes to make it handle well with the added load and ride comfortably.

 

[Old Crow]

Welcome, Paul!

...<snip>
3. Any other FWC owners in New England ? We are in northern Vermont and have only seen one.

I imagine this will help the FWC population in New England.....

On October 5th MLO announced a second location, this one in south-central New Hampshire (Bow, NH)

That announcement sounds like they're PLANNING to open one but I'm on their mailing list and received an email from them this afternoon that says they're now open at the new location (by appointment only). Link

 

[kmcintyre]

I would take some extra tools with you. I doubt much will really happen. Take your time putting the roof up and down as you need to get into a routine; unlatch roof.... open.... turn on/off propane, etc. Get a routine going and it becomes 2nd nature. First few times it's a little nerve racking but there's not much to worry about really. Make sure you understand the latch mechanism. You don't crank the latch down, it's a one finger type pressure.

I have a Dodge Dakota (4.7 V8) and used the firestone airbags too. I kept my camper on most of the time and would say that after a few years, the springs started to show some sag. I was just going to add some extra leafs from boisespring but instead bought a new truck .

Kevin

 

[paulclancy]

From one new Fleet/3rd gen Tacoma owner to another - Welcome!

I just went through the exact same suspension/tire deliberation and spent far too much time researching and asking questions. The tires are a no brainer - upgrade to load range E. I have BFT AT KO2's in 235/85R16 and have been happy.

The biggest factor in the suspension decision is whether the camper will be on the truck full time or mostly full time? If you will be taking it off and using the truck without the camper, air bags and maybe an add-a-leaf are your best option. If you are like me and will be leaving the camper on full time (mine is a hard mounted flat bed) then I would suggest beefed up rear leafs at least, and maybe upgraded shocks all around. I went with a full OME BP-51 suspension kit from ARB with extra leafs in the rear and airbags:
http://ok4wd.com/shop-by-vendor/old-man-emu/old-man-emu-bp-51-high-performance-lift-kit-for-2005-toyota-tacoma-ometac16bp51b

In the couple thousand miles I have driven on road and off road, this has been working well. The ability to adjust the shocks has been great - in their stock settings they were underdamped which led to some bucking on jointed highways. Increasing the re-bound damping greatly reduced this. I also added air bags as they are inexpensive, but so far have inly used them for small ride height adjustments - typically about 15 PSI in the bags. You will notice that the ride quality with higher pressures in the airbags deteriorates quickly.

In general my advice would be that you are spending a lot of money on a new truck and a new camper, spend what it takes to make it handle well with the added load and ride comfortably.

Thanks for the advice.
The camper will be on the truck most of the time.
The OME BP-51 looks nice. We just may go with it.
What is the height of your camper ? Our garage ceiling is 94 inches. Hoping to be able to slide the truck/camper into that.

Thanks again,
Paul

 

[paulclancy]

Welcome, Paul!


I imagine this will help the FWC population in New England.....

On October 5th MLO announced a second location in south-central New Hampshire (Bow, NH)

That one sounds like they're PLANNING to open one but I'm on their mailing list and received an email from them this afternoon that says they're now open at that location (by appointment only). Link

That makes me so happy. Now we just have a 3 hour drive to MLO in NH instead of the 9 hour drive to PA.
And no sales tax in NH !
Spoke with the good folks at MLO today. The NH branch is a go,
Thanks for the info,
Paul

 

[rando]

Thanks for the advice.
The camper will be on the truck most of the time.
The OME BP-51 looks nice. We just may go with it.
What is the height of your camper ? Our garage ceiling is 94 inches. Hoping to be able to slide the truck/camper into that.

Thanks again,
Paul

I have a flat bed, so both the camper and the bed are at different heights than the slide in version. Mine is ~96" to the top of the awning, but my understanding is that the slide in is shorter.

 

[park]

Don't overthink it. I have a 2009 Four Door Tacoma, E-rated tires, air bags and no suspension upgrades. I've been from the Arctic Circle to the tip of Baja and many points in between with it. Quite a bit of that has been off-road. You'll find some out there that feel a Tacoma isn't big enough to properly handle a camper. Based on my travels http://nowheretobetour.blogspot.com I'd have to disagree with that. I certainly haven't babied the rig and have had the Fleet on the truck for all those miles. Some of which were even done pulling a trailer with a dirtbike in it. Do not let it sent in the driveway thinking you have to upgrade everything to "Overlander Status" before you use it. Tie it down and use the piss out of it! My two cents anyway.................

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Welcome to WTW.
Sounds like you have a nice setup.
Spring can't come soon enough ,right!
Frank

 

[takesiteasy]

Don't overthink it. I have a 2009 Four Door Tacoma, E-rated tires, air bags and no suspension upgrades. I've been from the Arctic Circle to the tip of Baja and many points in between with it. Quite a bit of that has been off-road. You'll find some out there that feel a Tacoma isn't big enough to properly handle a camper. Based on my travels http://nowheretobetour.blogspot.com I'd have to disagree with that. I certainly haven't babied the rig and have had the Fleet on the truck for all those miles. Some of which were even done pulling a trailer with a dirtbike in it. Do not let it sent in the driveway thinking you have to upgrade everything to "Overlander Status" before you use it. Tie it down and use the piss out of it! My two cents anyway.................

I would agree with this. We don't even have air bags and the truck handles our shell camper just fine.

 

[BFH4N]

Hi Paul,

Welcome to the cult. You should be fine with E-rated tires and air springs. My experience from my '07 Taco and Fleet with Boss air bags is that without the air bags inflated, the thing is undrivable. Very dangerous.

The point about establishing a routine for putting the top up and, especially, down is a good one. Particularly if you are old and forgetful! The mantra that I recite is "LTL": lower, tuck and latch. Always do these three steps together and don't let the next task interrupt. The risk is driving off unlatched. There are some steps which, if skipped, could lead to disaster. Some folks use a checklist, which seems like a good idea, but you have to live by it, step-by-step.

- Bernard

 

[longhorn1]

Congrats and welcome to the group. jd

 

[Timothy McGowen]

Congrats and welcome. This group is a lot of fun.

 

[CougarCouple]

Hello PaulClancy
Congrats on your fleet TC. Welcome I agree with you this is a great forum, with much help offered by others.



So my top questions (from a list of about 200) are :

1. We are picking up the camper at MLO, about a nine hour drive away. Planning to stay 2 or 3 days in

the area. What tools would be handy for the initial drive home ? ELECTRICAL METER TESTER, FLASHLIGHT x2 MAKE SURE YOUR SPARE IS GOOD AND PROPER AIR PRESSUER,TIRE PRESSURE GUAGE, SPARE FUSES CHECK WHAT YOUR TRUCK USES CALL FWC ASK WHAT THE CAMPER USES, RUBBER GLOVES DISPOSABLE, DO YOU HAVE ROADSIDE ASSITANCE, CALL INS COMPANY ADD CAMPER TO POLICY,MULTI SCREWDRIVER, CHANNEL LOCK PLIERS VISE GRIP TYPE PLIERS, ELECTRICAL TAPE.So far I have duct tape and a hammer.THESE ARE ALSO GREAT TOOLS TO CARRY


2. Going with e-rated tires and the Firestone air bag shocks. Mostly driving on pavement and graded dirt

roads. Rarely real off road driving, but it could happen. Are the tires and shocks enough ? Should we

upgrade springs or other suspension ?100% AGREE WITH PARK, THEN YOU CAN ANSWER THIS QUESTION. I WILL SAY THE OME PRODUCTS WERE AWSOME ON OUR WRANGLER


3. HAVE FUN
We are also waiting on ours due first of 2017 ATC cougar

Russ

 

[Tuff Guy 62]

Congrats and welcome to the group. You learn lots of great stuff here.