floor construction

6

6040

Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2013
Messages
15
Location
Indiana
Hello all,
i'm new to the forum and want to say hi, and thank everyone on here sharing thier experience's with thier campers.
I am hooked on getting a new FWC. I'vew read about all the options and configurations from all the lucky members that is aready enjoying their FWC, so I'm certian I have that all the info needed when time comes to ordering( so i think).
One thing that I'm not so sure about is why must you support the floor of the camper when it is off the truck, and why can't you walk in it without supporting it? i've tried to find a close up of the floor construction during the framing process but unsucsesful. i would think the floor has some sort of floor joist system under the plywood subfloor? Wouldn't that be suficient? or is the wall framing setting directly on the plywood?? if so, how well does that work?
thanks for any insight...
Ryan
 
Ryan,if you go to the beginning of the thread. Building our new camper, scan through the photos Ski posted you will get a good idea how our campers ATC/FWC are built.
The campers aren,t designed to support inside weight off the truck.
You should have some sort of support under them.
Frank
 
I built some HD sawhorses 24"h X 60"w that sit across the width of the camper bottom, that coupled with the jacks does a good job of stabilizing the camper when off the truck. I was originally going to build the horses at 32" so I wouldn't have to jack the camper up or down much to get it on/off the truck, but 32" was to high(looked unstable) for my liking.
 
All i can say is wow! The ATC crew is some stand up guy's! When someone lets you be present during the construction process, snap pics at random, and even lets you be part of the build, clearly shows how confident they have in thier skill and the product they are offering the customer!

One reason I am looking at any one of these manufacture's (FWC/ATC, either one would do for me) is the fact of the aluminum framing. I absolutely want nothing to do with any possible chance of rotting wood to replace, and having the plywood exposed to the elements laying on the bottom bed of your truck seems to leave that very chance.


Thanks guy's for the link. That cleared up any uncertainty on truck camper construction. I personally would still like to see a framed floor with a plywood subfloor system for added strength and rigidness not to mention some added insulation, but hey i;m no truck camp builder and I guess you have to draw a line somewhere.
thanks much...Ryan
 
The plywood floor doesn't sit flat on the bed of the truck. There are 1x2 runners on the bottom running N to S the length of the floor for air circulation. The bed of the truck isn't smooth either. Unless you're running your water hose into the bed of your truck so it never dries you shouldn't have any issues. The trade off for floor joists is weight. There's always a compromise depending on what you're trying to achieve. I'm very comfortable with how my FWC is constructed.
 
You're not the first one to want to want to take the camper off the truck but its a small minority that wants to do that. We had a thread about that here recently. Personally I prefer whatever they can do to keep it lightweight.
 
Thanks JH, the 1x runners sound a whole lot better. No, I'm not planning on running a garden hose in the bed but I am planning to use a rubber bed mat which is not coragated as the truck bed itself in turn would consist of more exposure. In any case, with the runners you mention will eliminate any of that.

Pardon my dumb questions, I am just trying to gather as much info as I can. We midwestern flat landers do not have an abundant of FWC/ATC running around at the state parks around here, but after some research, I believe that this is what I'm looking for. Please beaware, more dumb questions to follow.... :)


Thank Ryan
 
6040 said:
Thanks JH, the 1x runners sound a whole lot better. No, I'm not planning on running a garden hose in the bed but I am planning to use a rubber bed mat which is not coragated as the truck bed itself in turn would consist of more exposure. In any case, with the runners you mention will eliminate any of that.

Pardon my dumb questions, I am just trying to gather as much info as I can. We midwestern flat landers do not have an abundant of FWC/ATC running around at the state parks around here, but after some research, I believe that this is what I'm looking for. Please beaware, more dumb questions to follow.... :)


Thank Ryan
Click to expand...
Hadn't found WTW until late in the research process when buying ours. As a result Steve at FWC got my emails with questions. Of course each answer led to more questions. I'm sure he was glad when we finally pulled the trigger. Better to find out as much as you can up front. If you don't you could end up like the Phoenix camper purchase story on the Expedition Portal site.
 
My floor creeks and groans when I walk on it in my truck.

how new is your camper Idahoron?
 
I creak and groan when I walk on my camper floor... And every floor for that matter...


Howbout it Sagebrush, i would go on a limb and bet there are alot of us here that do this! :(

But the question would be, do we want our camper to sound like a squeaking old floor that we just dropped 15-20.k on?
May very well be if we want this style of camper, but I sure am glad someone brought it up.
 
6040 said:
I creak and groan when I walk on my camper floor... And every floor for that matter...

Howbout it Sagebrush, <snip>
But the question would be, do we want our camper to sound like a squeaking old floor that we just dropped 15-20.k on?
<snip>
Click to expand...
I think that most RVs have a creak and a groan somewhere. I have a relatively new (2012) Airstream that groans when I walk on across the floor. Could be me needing a diet, could be some screws in the interior walls/cabinets need to be tightened. What I don't remember are any creaks or squeaks in any of the FWC models that we crawled all over when we visited the factory.

I looked at Hallmarks, FWC, ATC, Palomino and Northstar, and came away with the belief that FWC or ATC were the better choices. We chose FWC.
 
Wandering Sagebrush said:
I looked at Hallmarks, FWC, ATC, Palomino and Northstar, and came away with the belief that FWC or ATC were the better choices. We chose FWC.
Click to expand...
X2 We love our Grandby and my floors don't groan & creak. I do however!
 
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