Fleet Model on 6" bed tacoma

[SLB]

Looking for some guidance on the CL listing. My wife and I have been looking for a used Eagle for our 04 Tacoma extra cab (6" bed). I saw the fleet listing below on CL Santa Cruz. I am waiting to hear back from the seller on the general condition and any suggested work that it might need.

Does anyone have any experience with a fleet tacoma combo? Is it on the big side for a tacoma? Any concerns or sage advice you all could share would be awesome. The price is right and because it is reasonable we'd be willing to put some money into updating/restoring it.

Cheers!
SLB

CL Santa Cruz Listing

 

[pvstoy]

Did a quick search on Fleet and found this from Robbie.


Posted 18 May 2009 - 07:40 AM

Stan, I have a Fleet sitting on our 2008 Toyota TACOMA Access Cab. Fits like a glove. Have it blocked 2 inches to clear side rails.
I have the plywood cut, to give us a queen bed oner the cab. A couple more hours work and will be good to go.

How did you secure the camper to the box.

robbie
This post has been edited by robbie: 18 May 2009 - 07:52 AM

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[SLB]

Hey, thanks Pvstoy!! The seller mentioned the current rig the camper is seated in is a 08 tacoma with 6' bed

Here is what I heard back from the seller on the condition. Sounds like at a minimum it needs a new vinyl cover, rear support, battery and propane tank.

"""""""
The furnace works but will need a propane tank and a new deep cell battery. It has an ice box, no fridge. It has a sink that runs off a water pump and stove that work. The canvas is aged though still intact but has visible mold that is trapped in between the layers. There must be pinholes in the corners as through the last storm i had some water entering or condensing since there was a lot of moisture. The rear support which is very thin ply needs replacing as a result.
""""""""""

 

[pods8]

The canvas is aged though still intact but has visible mold that is trapped in between the layers. There must be pinholes in the corners as through the last storm i had some water entering or condensing since there was a lot of moisture. The rear support which is very thin ply needs replacing as a result.


You should give FWC and ATC a call to get a ball park price on these unless you feel confident on doing them yourself. I'm trying to recall off memory on folks reporting back on side liner replacements and such but I wouldn't be surprised if that work will run you $1500+ so make sure you factor that in.

 

[John C]

I have a similar vintage Fleet on my 08 Chev 2500HD (6.5' bed) It hangs out about 7" onto the tailgate. No biggie.

Replacing the soft top will prob cost at least a grand (check with Stan at FWC or Ben at ATC) so the mold issue could be a deal breaker for you. Good Luck.

 

[rich]

Hey SLB,

I have an '89 Fleet on a Toyota T-100 but the guy I bought it from had it on an 87 toyota pick up, essentially the size of a Tacoma and it fits great. The beauty of the fleet is that it is the only one size fits all camper FWC ever made, it will fit your Taco and it will fit an F-350 you just have to change the thickness of the wood you put underneath it to clear the bedrails. On my T-100, 17' deep bed I have it on a 3/4 inch sheet of ply and that just gets the petcock for the water tank drain high enough to not rub on the bed rails.

The lift panels are doable yourself for about $100 in materials and $500 worth of cussing I replaced both in ours. ATC charges $400 a panel installed I believe and if you aren't handy or don't want to fool with it it's worth the money. The side liner as stated is somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,500. The mold in the fleets happens because they made an insulated side liner in them that they have since done away with because of the mold. You can cut the thin interior, insulated liner out with a standard set of household scissors. It comes out really easily. Once it's out you can use 303 vinyl cleaner to clean up the mold and then seal any thin spots on the exterior with LVP (leather vinyl repair kit). So for about $30 in materials and some elbow grease I was able to bring our vinyl around and make it look decent and be mostly water tight.

The fleet is a great size, I think you will be really happy with it as long as you get it for a decent price.

Good luck!

 

[SLB]

Hey SLB,

I have an '89 Fleet on a Toyota T-100 but the guy I bought it from had it on an 87 toyota pick up, essentially the size of a Tacoma and it fits great. The beauty of the fleet is that it is the only one size fits all camper FWC ever made, it will fit your Taco and it will fit an F-350 you just have to change the thickness of the wood you put underneath it to clear the bedrails. On my T-100, 17' deep bed I have it on a 3/4 inch sheet of ply and that just gets the petcock for the water tank drain high enough to not rub on the bed rails.

The lift panels are doable yourself for about $100 in materials and $500 worth of cussing I replaced both in ours. ATC charges $400 a panel installed I believe and if you aren't handy or don't want to fool with it it's worth the money. The side liner as stated is somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,500. The mold in the fleets happens because they made an insulated side liner in them that they have since done away with because of the mold. You can cut the thin interior, insulated liner out with a standard set of household scissors. It comes out really easily. Once it's out you can use 303 vinyl cleaner to clean up the mold and then seal any thin spots on the exterior with LVP (leather vinyl repair kit). So for about $30 in materials and some elbow grease I was able to bring our vinyl around and make it look decent and be mostly water tight.

The fleet is a great size, I think you will be really happy with it as long as you get it for a decent price.

Good luck!



Hey, thanks everyone for the great advice. Much appreciated!

One more question... Did the fleet models have the queen size slide out bed that most FWCs seem to come with? I ask because am 6"3 and need a little extra room.

SLB

 

[rich]

SLB,

There were two fleet models made, the Fleet and the Fleet II. The Fleet II is essentially what became a ranger which is just a longer eagle meaning thinner side to side. The Fleet is 78" wide which is just one inch skinnier than the widest FWC's made today and the bed is meant to be slept in side to side. Instead of having the slide out bit under the bed that extends it into the living space to make it a queen the Fleets have a section of the bed that in the down position makes a backrest for the front seat in the camper and then flips ups and has two support legs that flip down to hold it up. It's actually a really nice design especially in the down position. Once it's flipped up it i about the same as a modern FWC bed.

Here's a pic of it in the down position after we finished reupholstering the camper

Here's a picture of it in the up position with Ryder holding down the bed

 

[rich]

I forgot to mention that the Fleet II's that I have seen are not clearly marked as such so if you are talking to an owner most of them don't know the difference. Ask them how wide the camper, if it is 78" wide that's the one you want. At 6'3" the skinnier Fleet II wouldn't work so well. The other thing you should know at 6'3" about the older FWC's if you have not been in one is they are not 6'4" high like the new ones. My Fleet is only 5'11" head room on the inside. I'm only 5'10" so with shoes off I'm fine and with shoes on I have to hunch slightly which isn't a big deal. At your height you might find a Fleet a bit cramped.

 

[pods8]

One more question... Did the fleet models have the queen size slide out bed that most FWCs seem to come with? I ask because am 6"3 and need a little extra room.


Keep in mind the queen size bed still sleeps perpendicular to the camper so factor that in on whether you want to touch the camper sides.

Mine didn't have a slide out but had the 4' over cab, which is now called the extended overcab, so I added a slider which makes it a king size bed sleeping parallel with the camper.

Luckily mine did have the piece of aluminum in the frame which the rails attach to so no work their was required (other than opening up the panel to confirm they were there) but if they weren't I would have added wood supports in the wall to screw into instead of the aluminum frame. Biggest headache if the support isn't there is going to be getting into the driver side wall since the cabinet is in the way.

Some pictures of the bed rework start on page 2 here and are intermixed with the other work I was doing at the time: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/1640/page__st__10

 

[SLB]

Keep in mind the queen size bed still sleeps perpendicular to the camper so factor that in on whether you want to touch the camper sides.

Mine didn't have a slide out but had the 4' over cab, which is now called the extended overcab, so I added a slider which makes it a king size bed sleeping parallel with the camper.

Luckily mine did have the piece of aluminum in the frame which the rails attach to so no work their was required (other than opening up the panel to confirm they were there) but if they weren't I would have added wood supports in the wall to screw into instead of the aluminum frame. Biggest headache if the support isn't there is going to be getting into the driver side wall since the cabinet is in the way.

Some pictures of the bed rework start on page 2 here and are intermixed with the other work I was doing at the time: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/1640/page__st__10



Rich/Pods8,
Thank you for the detail on the fleet/ranger. Super-nice rigs, by the way!!

Based on all the advise above, we decided we might be better off holding out and seeing what else pops up on craigs list in the next few months. It seemed like this particular fleet refurb. might be too much work for two newbies.

We are really psyched to learn about the fleet and ranger models. Those weren't even on our radar screen, simply because we had no idea that they would work with a tacoma. The extra room makes a lot of sense.

Question, on the head room. If I read the comments on FWC web site correctly it sounds like the switch to 6'4" on the head room happed a year or two ago. Does everything before an 08 model have 5"10-11" of headroom or does it differ from model to model and year to year? Being 6'3" it would sure be nice to have something somewhat close to my height and if there are models years that have more head space I'll definitely plug that into the equation.

Thanks for humoring the dumb questions!
SLB

 

[pods8]

Just for clarification mine is a hawk, I was just pointing out these bed modification because mine didn't come with a pull out or that flip up bed. I'm not sure how tall it is off hand but I'm 6' and don't hunch so its somewhere over that. No idea on what the fleet/eagle/rangers are.

 

[ski3pin]

Just a personal comment about the height in the older campers. I'm six foot and our Ranger II is around six feet. I do bend over a little bit to move through but do not find it uncomfortable. I stand to cook and wash dish dishes but I am leaning forward looking at my work. I'd recommend you spend some time in someones camper and see how you feel with two issues in regard to height. One is standing while doing chores and the other is sitting up in the overhead bed to crawl out or pull some clothes on. Try it on and see what you can live with.

 

[rich]

I believe anything with a grey sideliner should be 6'4" and the brown sideliners have come in both 5'11" and 6'4". Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe Stan can chime in on this one.