Do you think an FWC or a GFC would make more sense for full-time living in this situation?

[dole]

I'm going to full-time in a truck camper for at least the summer (hopefully winter too) in Utah. Debating between a GFC or FWC. Which is the better choice?

I own a Tundra and a Tacoma. I'm either going to pick up a used GFC (go fast camper) for $8k and put it on my Tacoma. Or buy a used FWC (four wheel camper) for somewhere between $12k-20k for the Tundra, and then live in what I buy full time for bare minimum the summer, and try to survive the winter too if I can. My other truck will go in a storage unit with the rest of my belongings.

What would be the better choice in your opinion? I'll be in Utah, camping in the mountains every night after working (full time in an office), because they are just a short drive away from where I work. The Tacoma is already outfitted with upgraded suspension and E load tires, whereas the tundra I will need to purchase new tires and some suspension upgrades if I put an FWC on it.

 

[Beach]

If I had to live in it full time, I would opt for the bigger camper. Since you mentioned winter in the mountains, are both trucks 4X4?

 

[Bosque Bill]

Now don't get me wrong & I don't want to ruin your dream, but I would not chose a pop-up camper for your situation (if I understand what you are saying about driving to the office each day). If you have to drive to your camping spot each evening, then you will have to pack up and lower the roof every morning and pop it back up each night. This will get very old, very fast.

You might be happier to buy a small camping trailer to pull behind your Tundra to leave in your campsite so you don't have to break camp every work-day morning. Probably no need to modify your Tundra either to pull a light weight trailer.

 

[dole]

Now don't get me wrong & I don't want to ruin your dream, but I would not chose a pop-up camper for your situation (if I understand what you are saying about driving to the office each day). If you have to drive to your camping spot each evening, then you will have to pack up and lower the roof every morning and pop it back up each night. This will get very old, very fast.

You might be happier to buy a small camping trailer to pull behind your Tundra to leave in your campsite so you don't have to break camp every work-day morning. Probably no need to modify your Tundra either to pull a light weight trailer.

I have lightly considered a trailer, but the reason it is probably not an option is because I will be boondocking on public forest land up narrow dirt 4x4 trails every night. I will not ever be actually paying for a designated campsite at a campground. So leaving the trailer up there unattended is not an option. And driving through town is extra difficult with a trailer, not to mention going down a new dirt road not knowing if there will be a place to turn the trailer around.

I will admit that despite that there is still a little piece of me that considers just getting a tiny teardrop/squaredrop overland style trailer to pull with the Tacoma.

 

[dole]

If I had to live in it full time, I would opt for the bigger camper. Since you mentioned winter in the mountains, are both trucks 4X4?

A bigger camper is not an option due to weight. Even an FWC is probably overloading the Tundra once it is loaded with gear. I have already tried even very light hardwall camper options in the past on a Tundra and it was scary to drive them even on the pavement with no gear inside because of how overloaded the truck was.

Someday in the distant future if I know I'm going to live like this for a long time I may purchase something like an F250 to carry a heavy hardwall camper, or a van. But I may move out of Utah to the East Coast or something after this year depending on how things go with my current job, plus I have never tried living solo off-road in a truck camper before (although as an adolescent I did grow up in a motorhome that I lived in with my family, and we were on the move a lot, but always stayed in paved designated campgrounds and mostly on the beach where the weather was always nice) so I would like to get my feet wet and make sure I can handle the loneliness and daily struggle of constantly moving around before I go as far as to buy something like an F250+camper or a van when I already have these trucks.

 

[Ben_1987]

Im not full time in our camper so take this for whatever it’s worth, but I would opt for a fwc if 3 season camping full time. If you’re seriously considering full time in the winter with either of those trucks, I’d probably build out a total composite shell or a scout instead of a pop top.

I’d also use whichever of your trucks has the highest payload and upgrade suspension/tires/brakes from there. My gen 1 tundra probably has a lower payload than most newer tacomas… I got leafs from Boise spring works, airbags for leveling, upgraded shocks, e rated tires, and my fwc feels pretty solid. I probably should have just got a 3/4 or 1 ton but that’s a different story.

I think the gfc would be fine 3 season if you don’t care for a roomier/cozy interior space to have the option to be in.

 

[PaulT]

Why not rent a teardrop/squaredrop for a week or so to see how it would work for you?

Paul

 

[dole]

Why not rent a teardrop/squaredrop for a week or so to see how it would work for you?

Paul

That's a great idea. I probably will at some point. And I will look like a clown with it because the only experience I have towing a trailer is a one-way trip with a U-Haul. But I guess the only way to learn is the hard way. At the end of next month will be my last day in an apartment, so maybe I will time a rental for then if I haven't figured something out

 

[dole]

Im not full time in our camper so take this for whatever it’s worth, but I would opt for a fwc if 3 season camping full time. If you’re seriously considering full time in the winter with either of those trucks, I’d probably build out a total composite shell or a scout instead of a pop top.

I’d also use whichever of your trucks has the highest payload and upgrade suspension/tires/brakes from there. My gen 1 tundra probably has a lower payload than most newer tacomas… I got leafs from Boise spring works, airbags for leveling, upgraded shocks, e rated tires, and my fwc feels pretty solid. I probably should have just got a 3/4 or 1 ton but that’s a different story.

I think the gfc would be fine 3 season if you don’t care for a roomier/cozy interior space to have the option to be in.

I would love a scout or a kimbo camper. The tundra could deal with those after some serious suspension upgrades and swapping out the tires for E load ratings. But that is a $30,000+ Camper, so I am 99% sure I'm not going to do that until I've had a test run in something cheaper and used. Maybe I will rough it in a pop-up for the summer and then sell whatever pop-up I have and get a hard wall and dump money into my tundra suspension when winter comes. Or maybe I will just spend summers living like this and try to find some temporary rental home for winters. Or maybe have a camper trailer sitting in storage that I take out just in the winter. The options are so vast it is paralyzing.

 

[KLillie]

I work in law enforcement for a federal land management agency and residential use of federal land is prohibited under 36 C.F.R. § 261.58(a)
. What you are describing is residential use of federal land. Don't want you getting into any trouble as you may not be aware of this.

 

[dole]

I work in law enforcement for a federal land management agency and residential use of federal land is prohibited under 36 C.F.R. § 261.58(a)
. What you are describing is residential use of federal land. Don't want you getting into any trouble as you may not be aware of this.

Thanks for the concern. I'm aware of the laws surrounding public lands and won't be breaking any

 

[JaSAn]

There are two issues with camping in the winter in a FWC:
they aren't well insulated: it takes a lot of heat to keep them comfortable.
it gets dark early in the winter: you will probably be finding a campsite in the dark.

Isn't a GFC a roof top tent?
Might be better off stealth camping in town during the work week, but for that a RTT won't work.

 

[dole]

There are two issues with camping in the winter in a FWC:

they aren't well insulated: it takes a lot of heat to keep them comfortable.
it gets dark early in the winter: you will probably be finding a campsite in the dark.

Isn't a GFC a roof top tent?
Might be better off stealth camping in town during the work week, but for that a RTT won't work.

Yeah I think I will end up stealth camping in town quite often in the winter when a lot of forest roads get closed due to snow. A GFC is kind of like a rooftop tent attached to a truck bed shell, where you can enter the tent portion through the roof of the shell. I have a 6 foot long bed though so I could also just sleep in the bed with the tent part closed.

 

[PaulT]

if you are stealth camping in a FWC with top down, you will be well insulated. The tent portion will be collapsed and the roof and hard sides are probably better insulated than your truck. Ventilation is still available via roof vent and turnbuckle access

Paul

 

[AWG_Pics]

Do what you have to do, but depending on where in Utah you are talking about it will range from hard to very, very hard in the winter. I know. BTDT. You could rent an apartment for the price of the 4WC. Sell one of your trucks if you can. If you move back east you will then not need to move two vehicles.

If you insist, then do as PaulT said and stealth camp with the top down as much as possible.

 

[dole]

Do what you have to do, but depending on where in Utah you are talking about it will range from hard to very, very hard in the winter. I know. BTDT. You could rent an apartment for the price of the 4WC. Sell one of your trucks if you can. If you move back east you will then not need to move two vehicles.

If you insist, then do as PaulT said and stealth camp with the top down as much as possible.

Exactly. I can buy a whole camper home that is mine to keep forever and sell whenever I want for the cost of just a single year of renting an apartment. That's one big reason for why I'm doing this. I've never lived east of Utah, I am originally from the west coast. But yeah I'm pretty sure at this point I'm just gonna do it for the summer and then get another rental for just the winters

 

[OutToLunch]

If you’re convinced that a pop up will do, you might look at a Caribou Lite. Last weekend I was in the Valley of the Gods camping and talked with a guy who was living full time in his Caribou Lite on a Ram 1500. His Caribou Lite Had lots of options (outdoor shower, cassette toilet, two awnings, outdoor features, etc.). He was fairly happy with his setup though he was pretty sure he was overweight for his truck. The Caribou Lite is lighter than a similarly equipped FWC.

I have lived in vehicles through winters while in grad school (old VW bus a couple of winters and an Isuzu Trooper a decade later). Sounds romantic, but unless you have somewhere indoors to hang out at, it can be a drag. If you’re overwintering in snow country, forest roads are often closed either by the Forest Service or by nature. Waking up to find out that it snowed heavy last night and you are boondocking can ruin one’s day before it gets started. Summers were easy, winters are tough.

I currently camp in a ATC Ocelot.

 

[Dipodomys]

Now that summer is drawing getting towards its end, I’d love an update on what you chose and how it’s been going. I lived out of a 1st gen Tacoma with a FlipPac in southern New Mexico for a few years in grad school. In cold weather I’d often leave the top closed for better insulation and it was fine. If you haven’t yet, I’ll suggest getting a gym membership for the showers.

 

[dole]

Now that summer is drawing getting towards its end, I’d love an update on what you chose and how it’s been going. I lived out of a 1st gen Tacoma with a FlipPac in southern New Mexico for a few years in grad school. In cold weather I’d often leave the top closed for better insulation and it was fine. If you haven’t yet, I’ll suggest getting a gym membership for the showers.

So I ended up living in a go fast camper in the back of my 6 foot bed tacoma for a while. I'm now purchasing a house. While very uncomfortable in the heat, it can definitely be done. I remained working full-time during the whole thing.

 

[Dipodomys]

Thanks for the update! I’ve been thinking about replacing my FlipPac with a Go Fast Camper. They look pretty sweet.