Four Wheel Camper All Terrain Camper alternatives

[dorocks]

Greetings

I have been struggling to find a used FWC or ATC for my 2001 Tundra access cab(that is not priced like new). Have any of you used a wood frame camper like a Sunlite before you switched to the aluminum style? Did it work for light off road use, like the White Rim Trail?

A Sunlite poptop weighs approximately 1300 pounds or so according to the label I read on one. What does a FWC or ATC weigh in the real world in a base configuration? (sink/stove/refrig/couch/extended cab)?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Keith
La Mesa CA

 

[Skeeter]

Hey dorocks,
I can fully understand your frustration. It takes quite some time to find a camper. I used a search engine for crasiglist called "craigs little helper". If I remeber, there may be a few more search engines besides this one. You can select which cities and states for your search. I checked almost daily for six months till I was able to find a FWC under $1500 that was within an eight hour drive. It was in poor shape and halfway between Seattle and Sacramento, but it is slowly being upgraded. No experience with any other campers so I cannot help you there. My Ranger II is a shell and weighs about 600lbs emtpy. I would be patient and keep searching. Hope that helps. -Joel

 

[ski3pin]

dorocks, like skeeter it also took us months before a used FWC that fit the bill turned up. I use http://www.searchtempest.com/ as a quick way of searching craigslist. Best of luck. Also check eBay - they don't turn up there too often - and also http://www.usedfourwheelcampers.com/index.html

 

[Argonaut20]

Our Bobcat has a sticker weight of 695#. With water, auxiliary battery, refrigerator, full propane, food, and some gear it will hit about 850 to 900#. I would guess that a wood frame camper would be likely to get wracked with heavy off road use but might work well for you if you are careful. I do think the weight is a concern as the 1300# may be dry and almost certainly doesn't include gear, food, etc. If your truck can carry it, it might be an alternative.

 

[DirtyDog]

It could be worth your while to also look for used campers from Hallmark & Outfitter. They aren't as light as FWC, but they are built pretty tough.

 

[pods8]

No personal experience on those other rigs but the reason we all drop the cash for these types of camper is partly the weight but also because they don't fall apart off road. You might rattle one of those types of campers to pieces.

 

[craig333]

Not just the camper itself, but all that extra weight is harder on the truck itself. Still it depends on how you're going to use it how much that matters.

 

[leadsled9]

Greetings

I have been struggling to find a used FWC or ATC for my 2001 Tundra access cab(that is not priced like new). Have any of you used a wood frame camper like a Sunlite before you switched to the aluminum style? Did it work for light off road use, like the White Rim Trail?

A Sunlite poptop weighs approximately 1300 pounds or so according to the label I read on one. What does a FWC or ATC weigh in the real world in a base configuration? (sink/stove/refrig/couch/extended cab)?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Keith
La Mesa CA


I have a FWC Hawk camper. Originally I had it installed on a 2000 Tundra. I beefed up the suspension to handle the weight, but the issue that arose was not the weight handling capabilaties of the Tundra....but the much reduced braking performance with the extra 700 pounds on the back. The Tundra brakes were adequate without the camper...but with the addition of the extra weight my stopping distance was really increased. So much so that before I got used to it I almost got into a couple of fender benders.

If you are considering putting 1300 pounds on a Tundra...I don't think you will like how it stops. Just my opinion.

 

[chnlisle]

I have a FWC Hawk camper. Originally I had it installed on a 2000 Tundra. I beefed up the suspension to handle the weight, but the issue that arose was not the weight handling capabilaties of the Tundra....but the much reduced braking performance with the extra 700 pounds on the back. The Tundra brakes were adequate without the camper...but with the addition of the extra weight my stopping distance was really increased. So much so that before I got used to it I almost got into a couple of fender benders.

If you are considering putting 1300 pounds on a Tundra...I don't think you will like how it stops. Just my opinion.

When it stops.

 

[DirtyDog]

You might want to do some research on Hallmarks and check their used page http://www.hallmarkrv.com/controller/1015/used.html

 

[K6ON]

When it stops.


C'Mon Jay, it's a Toyota..."If" it stops..

"I Couldn't fix your brakes, so I made your horn louder"...

 

[CJinCA]

I have a FWC Hawk camper. Originally I had it installed on a 2000 Tundra. I beefed up the suspension to handle the weight, but the issue that arose was not the weight handling capabilaties of the Tundra....but the much reduced braking performance with the extra 700 pounds on the back. The Tundra brakes were adequate without the camper...but with the addition of the extra weight my stopping distance was really increased. So much so that before I got used to it I almost got into a couple of fender benders.

If you are considering putting 1300 pounds on a Tundra...I don't think you will like how it stops. Just my opinion.


PVSTOY has a good writeup in the link below. Getting your front/rear brake bias correct makes a huge difference in stopping.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/280/page__hl__brake__fromsearch__1

 

[leadsled9]

PVSTOY has a good writeup in the link below. Getting your front/rear brake bias correct makes a huge difference in stopping.

http://www.wanderthe...__fromsearch__1


Thanks for posting that link CJinCA. I used that information to make my bracket extension a couple of years ago (see attached).

The bracket does help out quite a bit, but the braking distance will still be increased significantly.

By the time you load up that 700 pound camper with aux. battery, 20 gallons of water, camping gear, food, drinks, etc. it will be over 1000 pounds of additional weight (or more).

 

[Overlander]

What do you guys think about Northstar???

Thanks,
ken

 

[dorocks]

Good point. One that I had not thought about. It reminded me of a run a I made to get fill dirt. Has to hit the brakes hard.

 

[Bajaxplorer]

I think that if you do some research you will find that Toyota increased the size of the front brake calipers in '03 or '04 because of quick pad wear and rotor warping. I would think that it should be an easy upgrade to put on the larger calipers. The early Tundra was a 199mm (SW13WE) caliper, the change was to a 231mm (S13WL) caliper.
BX

 

[Argonaut20]

As for Northstar, heavier but with a lot of standard equipment. That is a plus and a minus:
Plus: One stop shopping and not a lot of deciding to do for 'basics'.
Minus: One stop shopping and not a lot of deciding to do for 'basics'.
Those who want to keep it simple would find that they are going to get the full monty whatever. Might make 'em anxious.

 

[leadsled9]

I think that if you do some research you will find that Toyota increased the size of the front brake calipers in '03 or '04 because of quick pad wear and rotor warping. I would think that it should be an easy upgrade to put on the larger calipers. The early Tundra was a 199mm (SW13WE) caliper, the change was to a 231mm (S13WL) caliper.
BX



You are right on the money!

I helped a buddy put new brake pads on his '03 Tundra....and the calipers/pads were much larger than mine.

If I still had the camper on my 2000 Tundra, I would want to upgrade to the larger hardware.

 

[DirtyDog]

What do you guys think about Northstar???

Thanks,
ken




I may be wrong, but as far as I know Northstar is just regular wood construction like most campers - I wouldn't expect them to be very tough in off road conditions.

 

[Overlander]

I took a look a a new Northstar and thought that the quality and construction was very high.
I also was impressed by this vid:

ken