ATC Panther purchase

[FiremanWanderer]

I am ordering an ATC Panther in the spring. Would love some advice! What are some build options you love, some options that you wish you would have done? Or options that you didn’t like or didn’t end up using? We are excited but want it to be perfect. And we know we are working with ATC so we will be taken care of.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I sold my ATC Bobcat earlier this year because I ordered too much stuff on a small camper. When I was done, I didn’t have enough room for my German Wirehair Pointer, gear and me. If I were to build another, and I think I will, it will be an ATC and it will be a shell model with furnace, stove, Yakima tracks and a lot solar and battery capacity, and not much more. I will use my Engel chest style fridge/freezer for the cold stuff. Probably will build out a counter down the driver side, and not much more than that. Crates for storage, camp chair for sitting, and a wag bag toilet.

I don’t know what you will want, but my next camper will be spartan, and it will be an ATC.

 

[jimjxsn]

FiremanWanderer,
You can't go wrong with an ATC. Check out my Panther thread which explains some of the decisions I made when ordering mine. The Panther was a replacement for an older FWC and I based a lot of my decisions on that experience.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/14674-new-panther-is-born/

But keep in mind that not everyone has the same needs.

My camper SmugMug pictures are here - https://jimj.smugmug.com/Other/My-ATC-Panther/

Things I love about my Panther -
1) The storage cabinets ATC added for us.
2) The width of the Panther
3) The solar
4) The TruckFridge
5) The SMEV sink combo I ordered and had shipped to ATC
6) The lift struts

Things I wish I added when I ordered it -
1) Prewired for solar ( 10G minimum 2 wire)
2) Fiamma awning

 

[jimjxsn]

I realized that I had another post, http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13456-atc-panther-on-the-drawing-board/ when I was going through what you are going through

Here is the configuration I ordered. Except I decided on the SMEV sink stove combo after they had already started on mine.

Panther: Full Size - Short Bed 6.5'
Power Roof Vent / Fantastic Fan 3 Speed / Reversible
Furnace
Electric Water Pump
Additional Roof Vent
Mechanical Jacks With Brackets- Set of 4
Auxiliary Battery System
Awning Light – Passenger Side Only
Clear Slider for Screen Door
LED Flood Lights
Slide Out for Extended Bed
110 Volt System
Roof Lifting Gas Struts (set of 4)
Yakima Tracks: Full length

Customizations:
no stove
no ice box
add closet with single shelf in place of ice box left rear
add rear corner passenger side tall cabinet like in a Cougar (make bench shorter to accommodate)


Best of luck and hope this helps...

 

[FiremanWanderer]

That’s helps a ton! Thank you for sharing, we have a similar tundra so that will be very close to what we want. In the beginning phases of designing while we keep saving up so anything helps!

 

[klahanie]

Hello and welcome Fireman !

We have an old FWC. The interior and layout look similar to the Panther. Only option I regret not getting was the the Arctic Pak. I don't know how much difference it would have made to us over the years but I'd rather have had it to try rather than never knowing.

Wasn't an option but I would have also liked a rear awning.

Because ATC does custom work I'll mention a few things...

I'm short and find the counter a bit higher than I'd like (YMMV).

These are small campers and storage is often wanting. Looking at the Panther interior the front wall, under the front window, is crying out to be used. If you have plans for that area, fine. If not I'd consider having a small bench made with seating on top and storage below. I think this could work in the Panther but stove access might be an issue.The L shaped seating we have allows one person to lounge E-W across the front and the other N-S along the side. This works pretty good in a small space.

Also I'd consider inquiring about additional, shallow cabinets on the side wall, either side of the window. Again, for storage. Or maybe you have plans to store gear there ?

The take away here is I think it's worth thinking about what you will be bringing and where you will put it. Also where you will put yourselves, when inside.

If you haven't done a lot of truck camping before it can be tough to "get it right the first time". I'm just putting some ideas out there. Whichever way you go, it will be a great camper. Don't let the little things get in your way of enjoying your adventures.

 

[CougarCouple]

Hello FW
We commission our Cougar 2016 got pretty much everything plus shortened the couch bed enough for a porto potty.
They don’t do water heaters but they were gracious enough to frame and plumb gas and water lines. We also had the camper framed for the a/c unit and wired with 120v. Bought the winter pack couple years later. Yakima tracks full length for solar. I would not get a sliders window again, but use it for ventilation all the time. Would suggest have them do all the solar and use a single 100ah lithium. Save weight and space. They also built the shelf where they would have put the refrigerator, we bought a Engle mr40 I believe is correct model fits perfectly. Might also reconsider the cooking top to one that you can use inside or outside.
Hope this helps some photos in the gallery. ATC is so easy and upfront can’t say enough good about them.

Russ and Syma

 

[Ronin]

I had my Panther Shell built this summer. My goal was to have as much interior space as possible. My options started with the 2 burner stove and propane cabinet. Marty prepped the cabinet for me to install a propex furnace which I did as soon as I got the camper home.. I ordered side dinette seating and provided the Lagun table pedestal. Marty built a bench seat/cabinet across the front of the camper for the aux battery system ( I provided a 100ah Vmax battery) and storage on either side of it, I ordered the 2" higher side panels and had the bed side rails installed in case I want to add the extended bed later. I really like a lot of natural light so I ordered a drivers side window. Other interior options were fantastic fan, additional non powered roof vent, and a 2nd set of usb plugs. I have a 120W flat panel solar charger so Marty installed the exterior connectors on the roof and passenger side of the camper. I had them install a drain outlet in case I decided I needed to add a sink at a later date. I also gave them the pigtail that they wired up for my Truckfridge that I later installed next to the propane cabinet. Marty also made an extra table top that I installed next to the stove for a little bit of counter space for meal prepping. The only exterior options were ATC can holder and Rotopax gas can. I installed a ss spigot on the Scepter water can which I use for my water supply. I wish I had the 2 cans installed on opposite sides because ATC's back door opens to the passenger side vs my old 4WC's door opening to the left. Last option was passenger side awning light.
So far everything functions exactly how I envisioned. I made 3-4 trips to ATC as they were building my Panther. That way I could sit in it and make little tweaks like where to place the usb plugs, the extra drain, frig wiring etc. Marty and crew were great to work with. I don't know where you live but I'd be willing to meet you at the factory so that you can see my Panther's layout before you place your order. Just PM me. Great choice going with ATC!!

 

[Wango]

Hi,
Our build started out different from the start.
7ft wide by 9ft long flatbed.
cabinets/counter height, depth etc I hate hunching over to wash dishes/cook.
No dinnette
fridge on a slide out under two massive drawers
At the time the stove and sink were reversed from how I wanted them,
Two propane tanks
Marty and Jeff were awesome to work with, every one of my ideas the went above and beyond to accomodate

 

[Seahaul]

Hi,
Our build started out different from the start.
7ft wide by 9ft long flatbed.
cabinets/counter height, depth etc I hate hunching over to wash dishes/cook.
No dinnette
fridge on a slide out under two massive drawers
At the time the stove and sink were reversed from how I wanted them,
Two propane tanks
Marty and Jeff were awesome to work with, every one of my ideas the went above and beyond to accomidate

Pics??

 

[JaSAn]

Or you could just get a shell and build it out the way you want it. You can get better quality and you don't feel bad if you have to tear out part of it and redesign if some part of your design isn't working for you.

I stripped an older FWC Grandby and built my own interior. Build thread is in my signature.

jim

 

[Kolockum]

Or you could just get a shell and build it out the way you want it. You can get better quality and you don't feel bad if you have to tear out part of it and redesign if some part of your design isn't working for you.

I stripped an older FWC Grandby and built my own interior. Build thread is in my signature.

jim

X2. This is my plan for my next camper.

 

[old climber guy]

Hello, everyone - Just joined. We got a Panther this summer. We were a bit worried about weight, since our Tundra extra cab doesn't have a huge payload, so went with the basic ATC Panther shell with the following extras: battery, fantastic fan in the front over the bed, 12-V outlet in the back of the camper (on the left as you enter), and a long bench along the right-hand (passenger) side right under the window with a foam pad (our son sleeps on that, and makes for an excellent place to sit). Those are the only extras we had ATC do.

Our additions:
12-V Dometic cooler in the front center of the camper
on-shore outlet next to the 12-V outlet so we can use shore power if it's available
300 watts of solar on top with charge controller (the camper comes pre-wired for solar, so it's a breeze to set up).
We're going to build out some sort of cabinet on the left side (non-window side) at some point once we figure out what we want.

I cannot say how amazing ATC's customer service is. We had a minor issue with a window, and they fixed immediately, and did it the right way (if I did it, it would not have been done nearly as well). They provided expert and much-needed advice on the solar install, and were more than happy to show me the details of how they build the campers (shop tour!) - their aluminum welding is top-notch! Quality product, less expensive than the competitor(s), and good people.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Welcome to the cult and to the ATC camper owner group.
Enjoy your new camper.We sure have out 09 Bobcat for 10 years.
Frank

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Old Climber Guy, welcome to the group! I agree about ATC, they’re a great team. I sold my Bobcat because I needed a larger camper, but I really liked it.

 

[old climber guy]

Thanks for the welcome messages! Looking forward to learning more and more about ATCs and the improvements everyone has made to theirs.