Fleet / Eagle

[Dgw2]

Wondering what is gained by 6 inches of added width in the Fleet vs. Eagle. Does it only add 3 inches of counter space? And can you still see adequately behind with regular mirrors. I have a 2013 Tacoma double cab, long bed & used Fleets seem to be much more available in my neck of the woods. I can’t see how more floor space can be added. ????? Would thoroughly enjoy any help understanding what that 3 inches on each sides adds to interior.

 

[PaulT]

Perhaps, the added width allows sleeping east & west in addition to north & south depending on one’s height.

Paul

 

[knoxswift]

When I purchased my Eagle I had to make this choice. I don't seem to have my notes anymore from that purchase but as I remember...

The wider Fleet comes out past the mirrors on a midsize truck where the Eagle is inside the footprint of the mirrors.
The feet inside walkway is an inch or so wider not much depending on the options you chose? I was going with a table instead of couch.
More room for cabinets and ledge or couch because of added overhang.

When I made my decision having a narrow footprint was more desirable than added storage.However, the public must of chose different because FWC canceled the Eagle model a few years ago.

 

[Backcountry Camper]

My fleet does NOT extend past the stock mirrors on my Tacoma and I can actually see down the entire
side of the camper on the outer half of the mirror(s). With stick on eagle-eye's I do not have any issues
when driving. I know that if my stock mirrors are fitting into where I am driving then the camper will be fine.
We are average height so the camper width allows us to sleep in any configuration including lengthwise
below near the larger window. Four people very easily and comfortably in my Fleet.

 

[rando]

I think Paul is right - the big practical difference between the Eagle and Fleet is that you can sleep across the camper in a Fleet, and unless you unusually short, you can't do that in an Eagle. If you need to use bed pull out, you end up loosing the use of either the dinette or the sink depending on your configuration. In our Fleet flatbed, we don't even take the bed pull out with us anymore, saving about 50lbs and a bunch of space.

 

[OffTheGridMaps]

We recently purchased a 05 Eagle to put on an 03 Tundra. It is a really good fit front-to-back and aligns with be bed rails perfectly. However, you do lose about 6 inches total (3" per side) on the floor, because the camper floor width does not extend to the width of the truck bed. We have the "pull-out" couch, and the walkway is just too small for 2 people to sit around a table, so that means we eat either eat outside or hold our plates "in hand".

The most frustrating part about the Eagle (for us) is the pullout bed. When extended, it eats up a lot of the internal "living" space and also covers up the stove. That means in order for us to do any cooking (or even make a cup of coffee), we have to wake the other person up, get them out of bed, push the bed in (and deflate our air mattress, which might be slightly more unique to us), and then we can finally make coffee. Sleeping east-west is the one thing that we really wish we had the option for so we could avoid all that hassle for cooking and living space.

 

[Taco around the world]

We just purchased a flatbed fleet which is on a 2019 Tacoma and am in the process of adding wider mirrors. Definitely had blind spots. Also have a problem with the main camper power not working...after i drove it home from the dealer 450 miles away.

 

[rubberlegs]

In our Fleet flatbed, we don't even take the bed pull out with us anymore, saving about 50lbs and a bunch of space.

We also removed the pull out bed. In our (regular) Fleet, the pullout board was 28 lbs and the pads 14 lbs (total 42 lbs). We also removed one of the propane tanks, which filled weighed 27 lbs. We won't talk about how overweight we still are! OK, we will: 300 to 700 lbs over GVWR.

 

[JHanson]

I'll echo most of this. Our Fleet provides us with a crossways dinette that is very convenient for eating and working, in addition to which we have the interior shower option. We can also sleep crosswise as has been mentioned, but don't expect to if you are over six feet tall, in which case I have no sympathy for you anyway.

The stock mirrors on our 2012 Tacoma are barely adequate with a Fleet mounted.