Another Newbie with a FWC Eagle

[CLynn85]

Hey all, just purchased my first camper, a 2003 Eagle model. I haven't taken delivery of it yet so no pics, but put the deposit on it Saturday. Original owner bought it from FWC while doing field work on the west coast and brought it back to VA with her, garaged ever since. It'll be going into the back of my 2007 Tacoma.

I'm taking a trip leaving mid-may from VA to SoCal to Baja and back. I was planning to either do a camper shell or roof style tent, but I stumbled onto the FWC on craigslist for a killer price and couldn't pass it up. They're really hard to find here on the East Coast. It has a 3-way fridge, furnace, sink, stove, sliding glass window, jacks, yak racks, and maybe one or two other things I'm forgetting. Need to contact FWC about tie-down recommendations. I'm stoked! Can't wait to install it and get to work cleaning it up and taking care of the little details.

Here's the truck it'll be going in:

 

[chnlisle]

Dude!!! Congrats your one of us now and what a great shake down trip. One suggestion bring along a good cooler in the event the frige fails. Baja will be a real treat for you but be sure to never drive at night.
Jay

 

[jimjxsn]

CLynn85,
Congratulations and welcome the the WtW forum. You might want to check out Alex's thread http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=328 it shows an ATC mounted on a newer Taco with the modified mounting system for the composite bed. And moe info on the Expedition Portal here - http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3615&highlight=camper+tacoma
Good Luck!
Jim

 

[pvstoy]

CLynn85 welcome to the board.

Looks like a good set up and sounds like a great trip to break it in. Look through all the old post and that will gain you some infomation and opionions you might need. Congrats on the camper.

 

[kcowyo]

Hey Carl!

Wow, first the new Taco and now this?! Awesome!!

I'm really stoked for you. This will really make your Baja trip. I'll be looking forward to the pics of course.

And yes, definitely check out Alex/slooow6's threads for mounting solutions in the new Tacoma. Congrats again!!

 

[simimike]

Welcome to the forum. These campers and Toyotas are a great combo. Looking forward to hear about your Baja trip.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[benburnett]

mounting camper

If you would like to hear our solution for mounting the camper, your welcome to call anytime and I can go over what we are currently doing for our customers. It is different from FWC's current method.

I talked with a customer the other day that phoned Stan over at FWC to see how their mounting system was working out on the new composite beds and it sounded like they were having no problems with the system so far. The number for FWC is 800-242-1442

 

[CLynn85]

Thanks ya'll. I've been soaking up as much info on these things as I can in the last couple days. This site, Ben's site, and the FWC site have been great. I've been following alex's thread on ExPo, It seems like a good solution, not sure how I feel about the external tie-down in the front though. I plan on calling FWC as soon as things calm down here a bit and see what they've been doing since they don't list an external tie-down being required for the long-bed models on their site.

I'm getting ansy now to get it. New Truck, New Camper, cross-country trip, and no paycheck from my new job until the end of june..... can you say "in over my head?"

As of right now I'm heading out for 5 days for a bit of a different Baja trip, I'm on the Virginia Tech SAE Mini Baja team, heading to Ocala for the weekend for our first competition

 

[BaltoCharlie]

Congrats Clynn. You beat me to the punch. I'm also new to this board and recently was trying to buy a Toyota 4x4. Saw the add last week for the camper, emailed her saying I would be back in touch when I bought a truck. Well I bought the truck Saturday. Emailed her on monday but alas you scored first. Early bird gets the worm. have fun.
FWIW: I just joined the list as well. I am from Baltimore and just bought a '94 Toyota 4x4 w/ only 80,000 and manual front locking hubs!!! Should be good for another 220,000 miles or so The truck was own by a little old man that never took it off road. Now it's owned by a little old man that is going offroad. I have owned a VW syncro vanagon for many years. It's life is nearing the end and must bid her farewell. Nothing out there comes close the syncro w/ the exception of a 4x4 truck and four wheel camper. In fact the truck and camper will be more reliable for sure.
i need a 4x4 for my many outdoor pursuits, climbing kayaking, mnt biking and BC skiing. I will be asking y'all lots of questions over the next few weeks. Talk to you soon, Charlie
PS Clynn have a great trip in your(almost mine) eagle.

 

[CLynn85]

Well, the Eagle has landed, so to speak. I borrowed dad's F250 and went today to pickup the camper. Don't have the front tie-downs sorted out yet for the taco, so I took the alternate. The lady I bought it from had switched from a Ford Ranger to a ext cab 2500 dodge, so she had extensions made for the jacks and also a platform to raise the camper up, so I figured ya'll might like to see how it fit in pop's dbl cab short bed f250. There was very little clearance under the front - about an inch and a half - very nerve-racking on the ride home, and there was a large gap between the camper and the cab, otherwise it fit fine with the extensions and the platform.



Charlie,
Sorry I snatched it up from you, just decided to buy it on the spot that saturday when I went up to look at it. If you want to take a look at it in the truck as you mentioned in another thread I'd be glad to meet up with you sometime if it's convenient.

 

[CLynn85]

Wow, good call, you really know you're stuff. I was intrigued enough to go out and check and sure enought the sticker says it was manufactured in 98. To be honest I never even noticed the light panel until we loaded it up tonight. I'm slightly miffed, I don't know if it was an honest mistake on the seller's part or what, but I guess caveat emptor really applies there.

I'm wondering how it's going to fit on the taco now, if it'll be able to sit flush at the front of the bed or not...

 

[jimjxsn]

Good call NCF

Carl - Regardless of the year that is a really nice looking camper! I like the looks of the wings and lights in the back I bet it will fit your Taco just fine. Keep us posted of your progress and good luck with mounting it.
Jim

 

[benburnett]

new camper

Congrats on the camper. NCF is right. I changed the name of the Ranger 2 to Eagle after we dropped the lights on the rear. The lights originally were made to wrap around the back of the truck though. The one you have has been modified. It should fit the Tacoma just fine though. The beds of the trucks that the Ranger 2 was made for were the same length as what you should have on the Tacoma. Let us know how it fits and if you do have any problems with it, you can always give us a call anytime for some help.

 

[CLynn85]

I'm beginning to wonder if it was a 98 that was refurb'd and purchased in 2003. The canvas and the interior is immacculate. I'll test-fit it tonight and let you know how it goes.

Thanks for all the help guys

 

[CLynn85]

Thanks NCF, I haven't tested it yet, the tie-downs are supposed to come in tomorrow so I'll fit it up tomorrow night. I pulled the drain off before I loaded it in dad's truck, so no worries there, but I'll keep a close eye on the spacing, may have to weld up a little platform to go under it. Been going through all the subsystems and electrical today, will post new pics tomorrow night on the taco I hope. Cheers.

 

[benburnett]

fit

Carl,

The camper that you have was built for a bed with 17" high sides. If you measure the height of your rails from the top of the ridges in the bottom of your bed, that should give you an exact difference from the old of 17" to what you have. In turn you will know how high to build any sub structure instead of having to guess.


If you need any more information or help in getting the camper to fit, your welcome to give us a call anytime.

 

[CLynn85]

Thanks all, did a test fit on the taco today prior to storing the camper. I will need a sub-structure, I put a cross-lacing of 2x4's under it to see what I was looking at and about 2.5-3" looks to be ideal.

The camper fits perfectly length and width-wise. The one thing that really sucks is one of the bumpouts on the floor in the rear is in exactly the WRONG place and covers up the rear factory tie-downs that I was planning to utilize. So a new solution there is in order.

I'll also need to pick up a set of overload springs, guess I should've bought a 1/2 or 3/4 ton truck it didn't even phase my dad's f250 while we were hauling it around .

Here's a couple pics of it setting in the taco, there was more under the rear of it so that's why the front of it's setting a little low.

 

[jimjxsn]

Carl,
That looks great, congratulations! Keep us informed on the progress. I looks like some air bags or supersprings are in order
Jim

 

[benburnett]

camper fit

Looks like you made a good fit and enough clearance over your cab. Let us know how it works out for you now.

 

[BaltoCharlie]

Charlie,
Sorry I snatched it up from you, just decided to buy it on the spot that saturday when I went up to look at it. If you want to take a look at it in the truck as you mentioned in another thread I'd be glad to meet up with you sometime if it's convenient.

Hey CLynn: I would like to look a it when you have it all set up. It really looks nice. Drop me a line. thanks, Charlie