((Eagle/Fleet)) - Shell Amateur Build

Field Report - 150 watt Renogy Rigid solar panel

Spent 4,5 days in Mojave desert. Percent of charge range night to morning - 98%-84% each day.
I have adjusted to the speaker lift to raise the front ( easy only takes about a minute each end with the manual crank).
VSB glue holding good as when it was originally installed .

Original install Pictures and test results page 12. reply # 111,115,119.


Very efficient panel.
 
Here you go Vic

One 80 amp AGM running mostly an Engle MT-35 compressor fridge, maybe 30 minutes of fan on exhaust and an hour LED lights.per day.

At sunset (around 6:30 pm) the Trimetric showed 98-99% charged. At daybreak about 7;20am at our location (Randsburg-Garlock, Ca). reading was at 84%
 
Field Report

Subject Tacomas - Tires, air bags, and rear springs, Weight issues

Tires:
Whichever manufacture you choose make sure there is letters " LT' before the number. LT (light truck) is a 10 ply rated tire that will support the camper weight. Most Fleet/Eagles regular campers weigh around 1,350 pounds EMPTY... withOUT food, water, clothes and camping gear. These items add another 350 - 500 pounds or more. When we bought the truck it came with "P"265/70R16.(Load range C) Now it has "LT"265/75R16. Load range E and half inch higher.

\We use our rig mixture of offroad (fire road type to semi-washed out trails) and asphalt. If you mount it full time (bolt it down) you will need to weld plates (Go to my Gallery and review the pictures) on the frame to bolt the camper to because the bed floor is plastic composition. Four wheel sells elevator bolts (flat on top) the correct length which is longer than what is commercially available. Because the frame is not boxed we drilled the composite bed 2 sizes larger diameter to allow for frame flex, After over 36,000 miles we have NO squeaks and the locking nuts are still tight.(checked once per month).

Springs or air bags
If you take it on and off buy air bags. We leave ours mounted full time so we have a custom spring set. I went to my local spring shop that services commercial trucks and Motorhomes and had a custom 4 leaf set configured to support 1500 pounds(recently we learned springs are rated to support more weight (1800 pounds) than I asked for) cost $625.00 in 2013. Rig rides about 6 inches above horizontal empty of camping gear and a little higher than level with 500 pounds of camping gear.

Camping weight - Gross 5,500 pounds
Our 4WD Taco without the tailgate weighs 4200 pounds with half tank of fuel - no driver. Our "improved" shell weighs 1,100 empty. Add water, food, clothes and camping gear for a week in the desert (520 pounds) = 5,820 pounds, Add a full tank of gas (130 pounds.- 6.183 x 21) and we are up to a total 5,950 pounds without passengers.

Overloading
The door sticker shows the GVWR as 5500 pounds. Front is rated at 2755 pounds. Rear 3110 with P265/70R16 (Total 5865 pounds) .

The LT265/75R16 are rated at 3415 pounds per tire at 80 PSI. We run ours at 40 psi on the highway so guess they support 1,700 pounds per tire or 6,830 pounds for four. My total weight (6200 pounds - one person. Wife doesn't go to the desert) is well within the tire max.

That is the reason you need 10 ply tires and air bags or custom spring set.

Driving impression
The 4.0 V-6 and trailer towing package - 3.73 gear gives you plenty of power and torque despite the weight. Before towing the Suzuki Samurai and being restricted to 60 mph towing we could easily pass semi's on 2 lane roads without worry. Fuel milege highway: 15.5-18.5 mpg on premium fuel. 14.5 towing the Samurai on flat ground.

The primary issue is brake Fade
Driving conservatively (we putt along at 65-70) and downshifting the auto transmission on down grades, we have not experienced dangerous brake fade and have yet to replace the front brakes,

The 2013 is rated to tow 6500 pounds with the tow package. Our tow vehicle (2100 pounds) is not setup with "working tow brakes". I have considered it though the cost ( around $ 800) is too much at this time...,And I don't really need too... Driven conservatively, Downshifting the auto transmission on down grades = no problem . In 5,000 towing miles we have only had to make one panic stop and the brakes easily were up to the task,
 
Just roughly doing the math in my head, the 5950 lbs fully stocked plus a couple of passengers might put you about 900 lbs over the '13 Taco's 5350-lb GVWR, And you also pull a small jeep-thingy? I'm trying to wrap my mind around that kind of load, but it sounds like you're doing it with a good deal of success, congrats. Thanks for sharing your report with us Jim.
Rico
 
Rico - Thanks for your comments. I edited my "Field Report" to add the following information:

Overloading
The door sticker shows the GVWR as 5500 pounds. Front is rated at 2755 pounds. Rear 3110 with P265/70R16 (Total 5865 pounds) .

The LT265/75R16 are rated at 3415 pounds per tire at 80 PSI. We run ours at 40 psi on the highway so guess they support 1,700 pounds per tire or 6,830 pounds for four. My total weight (6200 pounds - one person. Wife doesn't go to the desert) is well within the tire max.

That is the reason you need 10 ply tires.

Towing. Truck is rated to tow 6500 pounds. The Japanese "Jeep" Samurai only weighs about 2,100 pounds. Except climbing hills or going down downgrades I have to keep checking the mirror to assure my self that it is still there.

Here is a picture. the size is perfect for 2 people to explore the desert or visit museums.
They are more affordable than Jeeps. This example a 1988 was a "fixer-upper" when we bought it. We replaced every worn out part except the engine, transm,transfer case and have about $10K invested. Reliable-NOW and runs great.
gallery_2684_908_40393.jpg
 
Hi Jim:

We met you at the San Clemente rally in October!!!! I talked to you about a place Stagecoach Trails near Ocotillo Wells/Borrego area for next years rally in October - you wanted me to talk with the park and see if they would be interested in hosting- I have a whole bunch of info I would like to send to you - I need a mailing address. This place is amazing as we just rented a group site over Thanksgiving - it would be great and at only 22 a night very reasonable - could I get your mailing address so I can send you the maps and such? My personal email is rivolitalk@sbcglobal.net - Our Hawk Shell should be done hopefully this month - you showed us all the cool mods you did to yours :) Thanks so much Jim !!!
 
Just ordered a new Fleet shell model (and a Tacoma). I want to build pretty much the identical counter with sink and cabinets that RC Pilot Jim has. Would it be practical to build most of it in my garage while waiting for delivery of the camper and then install it? I do not have the dimensions of the camper door so I do not know if it will fit through assembled or if I would need to do it more piecemeal.

Bill
 
Hi Bill, (Bill the Hiker)

Congratulations on your new Fleet and welcome to the family.

I advise waiting until you take delivery. Then take the measurements. Additionally start a new Topic, so we "helpers" can help you.

Title "Fleet build by Handyman" or something like that. Then you can solicit all of us for advice. If you want to ask questions of just me - send me a PM (personal message) Like the one I will send you back in a few minutes.

For the general shell reader:

When you take delivery of your shell, my advice is to use it a few times to get a feel for what you need to "improve" it before spending a lot of unnecessary money. The moderators have "pinned" Posts with information that contains ideas to help you "create just what you want". Click on the links:

First post the Truck Camper page - General information that applies to all camper makes.

Second Under the "Truck Camper" page - Camper Builds

Third - under "camping and outdoor gear" page - "Low Cost Mods"

That should get you started.
 
What I did on my shell was to order a piece of the the matching countertop with the order and have them just ship it loose with the camper, they didn't even charge me for it. Ron
 
I did my build in my garage. The advantages being that it is easier to keep things square, you can work at eye level (if you have a big enough work bench), you can work around the cabinet, you are not continually climbing in and out of the camper ('specially if you have old knees).

I agree with the advice given to wait until you have your camper to cut wood. That does not preclude you from drawing up what you want (to scale) and making dimensioned drawings of the component parts. Modifications to the drawings are easy once you have your camper to measure. You can also collect parts. There are some good free 3D modeling software packages out that would be worth your while to learn if you have the time. Helps a lot with visualization. My build thread in my signature has the model of my interior, to give you an idea of how it would help.

jim
 
Thanks Ron and Jim for your sharing.

So far the only part of my build I would change would be the type of counter. I chose the material I used because I didn't have the skills to glue on a top...Not knowing at the time I could purchase (and in Rons case get for free) , the counter. Then I could have cut it down to 18 inches wide instead of the 15-3/4 inches (largest width) I now have.

The counter has held up very well. Secret is to adequately support it using angle aluminum on the ends and across the rear wall and a 1x1 board across the front.
 
RC Pilot Jim said:
Thanks Ron and Jim for your sharing.

So far the only part of my build I would change would be the type of counter. I chose the material I used because I didn't have the skills to glue on a top...Not knowing at the time I could purchase (and in Rons case get for free) , the counter. Then I could have cut it down to 18 inches wide instead of the 15-3/4 inches (largest width) I now have.

The counter has held up very well. Secret is to adequately support it using angle aluminum on the ends and across the rear wall and a 1x1 board across the front.
Click to expand...
Jim,

Are you saying you WISH you had 18" counters instead of the smaller 15.75 counters you have now? I'm in the process of trying to decide how deep to make mine. I think most FWC come with 20" counters to accommodate the Atwood furnace's depth. Not sure about how deep the 6 gal water heater is.

I'm likely to go Prospex when I put heat in. The HS2xxx series is much smaller, and I won't be putting in a water heater. A small sink, maybe, but like you folks, my wife and I are backpackers/hikers/tent campers and want to use as much of our lightweight small gear as possible.

I'm also debating whether or not I want a "counter top" at all. Most counters are 36" tall in homes, we have 46" available to us in the Hawk Shell, so the extra 10" could be more storage for clothes and other non-food items.

Ideas? Thoughts?
 
Vic - Counter depth

Everything fits on my 15-3/4 inch depth which is the reason I don't change out the counter. Though I wish I had an extra inch or two behind the sink. That area is where I place the hand soap and soap dish falls into the sink occassionally.

The other reason to keep the counter that size for me is the width of the Eagle - 65 inches. I am 6 foot 1 inch and around 230 pounds. The short bench seat and narrow counter give me more room to move around the living area.

Your Hawk is 78" wide (inside dimension) you can easily put in a 18 or 20 inch counter without affecting the area your moving around in.

On the regular camper the standard counter width (21 inches) is the same dimension as the fridge cabinet depth.
 
RC Pilot Jim said:
Vic - Counter depth

Everything fits on my 15-3/4 inch depth which is the reason I don't change out the counter. Though I wish I had an extra inch or two behind the sink. That area is where I place the hand soap and soap dish falls into the sink occassionally.

The other reason to keep the counter that size for me is the width of the Eagle - 65 inches. I am 6 foot 1 inch and around 230 pounds. The short bench seat and narrow counter give me more room to move around the living area.

Your Hawk is 78" wide (inside dimension) you can easily put in a 18 or 20 inch counter without affecting the area your moving around in.

On the regular camper the standard counter width (21 inches) is the same dimension as the fridge cabinet depth.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the perspective! I think I will go with 18.5".... that way it won't impinge on the sliding front window, and I will maximize the available space. The cook also wants to have some counter space inside at 36", so it will be interesting to see what I come up with in the end.

Has anyone used a more durable surface inside the camper for cooking on? I'm thinking a thin sheet of aluminum over the baltic birch might be a good idea.
 
Viv - it sounds like your going to locate your counter sideways across the the camper above the front window. Please post pictures when it is done so we can see how it came out.
 
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