I used this forum quite a bit in my very rushed search for and setup of my 2013 Fleet side dinette on 2016 Tacoma (DC L
and wanted to give back some of the lessons I've learned and solutions I've found
I'm taking at least 3 if not 6 months off to travel around the Western US - mt biking, backcountry skiing, fishing. I left town on April 1 so weather is really variable - it was in the low 80s last week in the high desert, today the mountain I was hoping to do some safe spring skiing on is getting 18" of snow. This is just to say that low temp camping is the norm (and it will definitely be used to camp at ski resorts in winter, and already has been used down to 15 degrees with 40 mph winds).
The camper came with a thermal pack, non-powered vent, 2 aux batteries, and a 3-way fridge. Based on one test night in a big storm I think I could get 3-4 days of ski resort camping in cold before not having enough battery to power the furnace. I immediately added a 150w panel on the roof (prewired, thank you FWC!) and replaced the old vent with a fantastic fan version (condensation with 2 guys in there in the Oregon Cascades was significant). I just went 9 nights - running fan an hour a day, heat at 55-60 overnight, fridge on propane at night and DC during the day, and charging phone or laptop at night. It was always sunny during the day, and I always had 2/3 or more charge. on the 9th day I killed the first 20 lb propane tank. So, seems like propane / electric needs are very reasonable and 20 gals of water is my limitation (high intensity sports, me and the dog drink a lot). as it gets cloudier / colder I won't get as much charge, but I'll also have less fridge cooling needs, so it will either be a wash or i'll use the propane mode on the fridge more. I wipe behind the thermal pack right when I wake up, blast the heat and fan for 20 minutes while I gear up / make breakfast, and that seems to sort out most of the condensation generated by me and my beastly dog. Every couple of days I try to set up camp on the early side, pop it in the sun and really dry everything out.
Storage is of course an issue, mainly due to the skis and bike being big awkward objects. I didn't want anything else on the roof - the panel takes up a lot of space and I didn't have time / desire to add lifters, though that seems like a decent solution. A big concern is theft - I'm either skiing or biking but not both, I'm really far from the truck at times, so I need a way to keep things secure and out of sight. So, first step - hung the bike vertically on the back. I used a locking thru-axle setup, which only locks by friction to the axle - hopefully enough to slow someone down when I run into the store. I put a thick cable lock looped around the axle handle which also would make it harder to turn. Longer periods of time I put the bike in the camper. I had a really nice platform rack already but did not want the extra length at that low of a clearance - the truck is long enough as is. With the pedals in the right position I can open / close the door normally. I generally Voile strap the front tire to the bike. I bent a piece of 2.5" aluminum, screwed it to the bottom, and voile strap the rear tire to the aluminum to keep it in place. I'd suggest looking at your specific camper very closely before proceeding with this solution. There was really only one place I could possibly mount the fork mount and I got lucky that it worked as well as it did. Most of the left side was off limits without removing the fridge. I would NOT use lag screws into the wood - you really need to bolt this thing in. As a bonus, on Western streets or lots with diagonal street parking, the bike and hitch step actually stick out no more than the camper itself.
The first week, the skis and poles were in a bag in the camper, which made it difficult to get in there during the day to get random things without unpacking. I decided to put some more holes in the previously pristine camper to hold the skis. These holes would be easy to patch if so desired. The skis are low enough below the storage boxes to not bounce and hit the box, and high enough to be mostly out of view through the window. I can pull the bed out half way without moving them. I'm 6'3 and can almost sleep diagonally on the bed without pulling it out, so I've decided to only carry 2 out of 4 cushions, sleep diagonally, and save some space / hassle. When buddies or ladies join for a few days I'll pull it all the way out and fill the hold with a fleece blanket or something. As a bonus, I put two eyelets on the rear ski support so I can clip gear to the wall and utilize that empty space in the back right of the camper. If I hadn't just sold my house and put my tools in storage I might have prettied this design up, painted it brown or something to match the interior, but I'm working out of my sister's garage and trying to get back on the road so I'm not much into perfection.
I did some other standard mods - air bags and adding a backup camera to replace the one lost on the tailgate. Nothing revolutionary there and covered well on this forum - I'd suggest finding a stock Toyota camera on Amazon (was cheapest at the time I bought) and it's just plug and play. I couldn't find a camera that said it would work for 2016 but called the manufacturer and its the same as 2015. Think I paid $120. Pretty darn nice having it turning around on sketchier roads or backing out into a busy road.
I thought the swaying on stock tires was unacceptable and got a tire company to give me $25 per tire to upgrade to some load range E which feel a lot better.
Mileage on the Tacoma - it's an SR5 and I consistently get between 16.5 and 17.8 mpg staying under 65 with no significant headwind. We've done a ton of mtn passes already and it does OK - only on the steepest sections do I have to get the RPMs up near 4k if I want to stay above 60. Otherwise most of the time I'm under 2500 going uphill.
Sorry for the long post - I tried to skip over the little details. I really appreciate the support I've gotten from Four Wheel Campers, my dealer FWC Jackson Hole, and this forum so while it may take me a while to respond as I get back on the road tmrw, pls feel free to ask any questions.
and wanted to give back some of the lessons I've learned and solutions I've found I'm taking at least 3 if not 6 months off to travel around the Western US - mt biking, backcountry skiing, fishing. I left town on April 1 so weather is really variable - it was in the low 80s last week in the high desert, today the mountain I was hoping to do some safe spring skiing on is getting 18" of snow. This is just to say that low temp camping is the norm (and it will definitely be used to camp at ski resorts in winter, and already has been used down to 15 degrees with 40 mph winds).
The camper came with a thermal pack, non-powered vent, 2 aux batteries, and a 3-way fridge. Based on one test night in a big storm I think I could get 3-4 days of ski resort camping in cold before not having enough battery to power the furnace. I immediately added a 150w panel on the roof (prewired, thank you FWC!) and replaced the old vent with a fantastic fan version (condensation with 2 guys in there in the Oregon Cascades was significant). I just went 9 nights - running fan an hour a day, heat at 55-60 overnight, fridge on propane at night and DC during the day, and charging phone or laptop at night. It was always sunny during the day, and I always had 2/3 or more charge. on the 9th day I killed the first 20 lb propane tank. So, seems like propane / electric needs are very reasonable and 20 gals of water is my limitation (high intensity sports, me and the dog drink a lot). as it gets cloudier / colder I won't get as much charge, but I'll also have less fridge cooling needs, so it will either be a wash or i'll use the propane mode on the fridge more. I wipe behind the thermal pack right when I wake up, blast the heat and fan for 20 minutes while I gear up / make breakfast, and that seems to sort out most of the condensation generated by me and my beastly dog. Every couple of days I try to set up camp on the early side, pop it in the sun and really dry everything out.
Storage is of course an issue, mainly due to the skis and bike being big awkward objects. I didn't want anything else on the roof - the panel takes up a lot of space and I didn't have time / desire to add lifters, though that seems like a decent solution. A big concern is theft - I'm either skiing or biking but not both, I'm really far from the truck at times, so I need a way to keep things secure and out of sight. So, first step - hung the bike vertically on the back. I used a locking thru-axle setup, which only locks by friction to the axle - hopefully enough to slow someone down when I run into the store. I put a thick cable lock looped around the axle handle which also would make it harder to turn. Longer periods of time I put the bike in the camper. I had a really nice platform rack already but did not want the extra length at that low of a clearance - the truck is long enough as is. With the pedals in the right position I can open / close the door normally. I generally Voile strap the front tire to the bike. I bent a piece of 2.5" aluminum, screwed it to the bottom, and voile strap the rear tire to the aluminum to keep it in place. I'd suggest looking at your specific camper very closely before proceeding with this solution. There was really only one place I could possibly mount the fork mount and I got lucky that it worked as well as it did. Most of the left side was off limits without removing the fridge. I would NOT use lag screws into the wood - you really need to bolt this thing in. As a bonus, on Western streets or lots with diagonal street parking, the bike and hitch step actually stick out no more than the camper itself.
The first week, the skis and poles were in a bag in the camper, which made it difficult to get in there during the day to get random things without unpacking. I decided to put some more holes in the previously pristine camper to hold the skis. These holes would be easy to patch if so desired. The skis are low enough below the storage boxes to not bounce and hit the box, and high enough to be mostly out of view through the window. I can pull the bed out half way without moving them. I'm 6'3 and can almost sleep diagonally on the bed without pulling it out, so I've decided to only carry 2 out of 4 cushions, sleep diagonally, and save some space / hassle. When buddies or ladies join for a few days I'll pull it all the way out and fill the hold with a fleece blanket or something. As a bonus, I put two eyelets on the rear ski support so I can clip gear to the wall and utilize that empty space in the back right of the camper. If I hadn't just sold my house and put my tools in storage I might have prettied this design up, painted it brown or something to match the interior, but I'm working out of my sister's garage and trying to get back on the road so I'm not much into perfection.
I did some other standard mods - air bags and adding a backup camera to replace the one lost on the tailgate. Nothing revolutionary there and covered well on this forum - I'd suggest finding a stock Toyota camera on Amazon (was cheapest at the time I bought) and it's just plug and play. I couldn't find a camera that said it would work for 2016 but called the manufacturer and its the same as 2015. Think I paid $120. Pretty darn nice having it turning around on sketchier roads or backing out into a busy road.
I thought the swaying on stock tires was unacceptable and got a tire company to give me $25 per tire to upgrade to some load range E which feel a lot better.
Mileage on the Tacoma - it's an SR5 and I consistently get between 16.5 and 17.8 mpg staying under 65 with no significant headwind. We've done a ton of mtn passes already and it does OK - only on the steepest sections do I have to get the RPMs up near 4k if I want to stay above 60. Otherwise most of the time I'm under 2500 going uphill.
Sorry for the long post - I tried to skip over the little details. I really appreciate the support I've gotten from Four Wheel Campers, my dealer FWC Jackson Hole, and this forum so while it may take me a while to respond as I get back on the road tmrw, pls feel free to ask any questions.
