Help me build a camper.

[Squatch]

Greetings I've been on here a while but not many posts. We still don't have a camper yet. almost bought a loaded Fleet from a member here last year but our schedules just didn't work out. I just recently found another FWC for sale in the east that is an Eagle shell. It has a furnace with stove, roll over couch. fantastic fan. and an opening front window. In many ways this would be better for us. But they want too much for it. It got me thinking.

We just retired so not made of money. All options are still on the table. From used Sun-lite wood framed to new ATC or FWC. I have the skills to build out most anything or finish a shell. Or should we buy a complete optioned camper.

For now this is going to go on an older Isuzu Spacecab 4x4 with a 4cyl that I have recently resto-moded. I've been into Zu's for 25 years and can build it to do most anything within reason for weight capacity and a bit of oomph added to the engine. Brakes are late model Trooper with 5k + tow rating. Think built 1st gen extended cab Taco.

Old pic of truck. 6' bed.



It will be used for everything from NPS campgrounds at the beach to semi-rough east coast mountain 4 wheeling on tight brush crowded trails. Not hardcore rock crawling though. We also would like to travel west with it. Maybe even driving out to pick up a camper and going from there. We have a backpacking/canoe camping background.

Lets face it. The wife would like a class C motorhome for beach trips to OBX. For me I have to wheel. Eagle is nice on trails and less wind resistance on the highway to fight with the engine. Fleet room would be awesome.

So lets have fun. Suppose this is a base shell of some sort and we are going to add options. What are your must haves and why. Justify the weight and price. Pro's and cons of the narrow vs wide shells. Much of my camping these days is done out of a bass boat or canoe and I sleep in a single person Tent-Cot just room for pad and bag.


But a furnace and shower seem pretty nice as we get older. We camp year round so water freezing in tanks is a concern. I have several ideas on what we want but nothing is in stone. Tomorrow we intend to go look at 4WC's in PA. New east coast dealer at a show. That should help. So throw ideas at me. What do you have on yours that you can't live without. What do you have that you wouldn't do again. Let's call it a clean slate build for now on a new ATC or 4Wheel Camper.

 

[Happyjax]

Hi Squatch,
I to am a newbie and also plan to check out the 4WC in Pa on the weekend. I am curious to see what replies you get as doing a shell and a self build out (with help from friends) seems like an option. For me it would only be worth it if I had something that I really wanted custom that I could not get done. I do plan to do my electrical as I read that many times the wiring is not up to snuff and diagrams are not available on how everything was done. I am a technician so that part needs to be right for me. Good luck and hope to see many cool responses to this thread

 

[ski3pin]

We are also backpackers/mountaineers/backcountry skiers and travel safely with a simple camper on a small truck. We go wherever we want to go. Please check out our thread on building our camper -

Building our camper

In the next couple of weeks I will be updating our blog/posts on why we laid out the platform as we did along with a year's (96 nights thus far) evaluation on how it works and what we would change.

Good luck with your research.

 

[billharr]

We are retired and use the camper as our RV. Not the backpackers/mountaineers/backcountry skiers as Ski3pin. We love the National parks and getting off road to see the places you would never see in a large RV. I like some comforts and others we can do with out. Would not go with out the heater. Did not get the Hot Water heater as the wife wants to stop at a motel every three days or so when we are on a long tip and most National Parks have showers. If you have the skills a shell and build out is the way to go. Building a full camper is a lot of work and requires a TIG welder and room, more work and TIME than I want to do anymore.

Easy part is the build, hard part is what you want you want to build. Lots of good information on WTW.

My build on my Blog. My build thread on WTW.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Welcome to the site.
IMO first thing to consider is the camper size. If you change trucks at some point you might be restricted to truck size.
The FWC Eagle/Fleet or the ATC Bobcat will fit nicely on most trucks.
I have a Bobcat that was built for my Ford Ranger but I later switched to a 1st gen Toyota Tundra.
Makes a nice setup
Just a good size for us.
As far as shell vs full camper,if you are good at building and it sounds like you are a shell would be less expensive,and you can add what you want.
We camp more like Bill that Ski so some our camper was built accordingly most options that we felt we would use.
No hot water heater or shower though.
Just a basic Bobcat.
It has served us well over the past 5 years and I have only modified a few things.
Solar was the must.
You can check out my travel blog also for some ideas.
Good luck in your build.
I know living in the east that a camper from ATC is more difficult to get but you might check them out.
Marty and crew are great to work with.
Frank

 

[Taku]

We bought a semi-built Ocelot from ATC for our first gen Tundra in 2013. At the time, I did not have a very good place to work on it during the winter (the only time I have for this kind of thing). I built a set of drawers, installed a two burner stove and it had an icebox. This winter I took out a drawer and installed a Propex furnace (the Wave 3 was not enough heat for us) and built some new drawers and modified some of the icebox/cabinet area. If you like to mess around with building things, I would recommend a shell and then go through prototypes to see how you like things organized. Ski's (and other's for sure) build threads should give you some good ideas. Some folks like to have a water tank and pump with sink, some don't, some absolutely need a shower, some don't. Have fun and good luck.

 

[Squatch]

Thanks folks, Looking for a little more than an introduction. I've read most threads and have been thinking about this for many years. like many the Turtle expedition woke me up. But just now getting to the point of making it happen. I've been reading here and on Expo for some time. Just thought it might be nice to get some of the strong opinions in one place. Might be nice to hear from those that have had an "OOPS" because the fleet hung out wide and similar. Good,bad,ugly is fine.

I'm really looking at the Eagle/Fleet/Bobcat for the reasons mentioned above. They will fit in most anything including a full sized truck. So if we change trucks down the road we are covered. The trails are tight here in the east. smaller is better. Often a full sized truck is too big. so we will go with what we know and If I decide I want bigger I'll make the smaller camper fit.

Went to the show today and met Matt from Mainline Overland. The new east coast dealer. Seemed like a great guy. I think both he and 4WC are going to get busy real soon. My wife who has been a bit sceptcal of the size and idea is now sold. Matt gave us a great demo on the Fleet they had at the show. Amazing amount of room in such a small space. The camper had hot water and furnace ect. it also had the fiberglass siding, Very nice indeed. I've been sold for a good while. Today was confirmation. These things have to be seen to be believed. We heard a few comments on the campers and prices by passers by. "14K you can get a real camper trailer for that" Well I saw that trailer too. No comparison. Bombproof vs cardboard. There is a reason these things hold their resale and the typical RV with 30k miles is a throw away in 10 years.

I like the idea of hot water. I was surprised at the room for storage even though the camper had that. Bed space was amazing. Ease of set up = same. The small door was not the issue for my old arthritic self I thought it might be. The new painted finish interior is impressive. I thought the side dinette was cool before. But for us it would be rollover couch for sure. With that there really is plenty of room if rain forced you to spend a while inside.

I still might go shell. But the temptation to just check boxes on the sheet is there.

Does any one here drive with the furnace on in cold weather to keep water from freezing? Is that a Problem?

Keep 'em coming folks and thanks.

 

[GroovyDad]

Hi Squatch, I recently built out my ATC Bobcat shell and I love it. Like you, I have plenty of skills that allowed me to do a nice job and design it for my needs, not to mention, save a few dollars. The only thing I would do differently is that I would have ordered the furnace. So many people on WTW advise getting the furnace, but I didn't listen and got a portable Buddy Heater instead. The Buddy heater does heat the camper well, but it's not thermostatically controlled, so you have to manually turn it on and off and it's cumbersome.

 

[Squatch]

Well this seems to have taken care of itself. This AM I put down a deposit on a used 2012 Eagle shell. It was a trade in on a class 3 motor home at a dealer in another state. They weren't real familiar with these rigs and I had to show them what they had and work on the price a bit. But we came to a happy place and made the deal over the phone. I have the option to walk if it isn't up to par.
I'm supposed to go pick it up within the next month.

I haven't seen it in person but the pics look brand new inside and out. The interior is even the color I like. It has the jacks, furnace with stove on top, roll over couch, fantastic fan, inside front lift struts, and opening front window with boot. PERFECT for our needs pretty much as is. By my figures it should be at or under 700lbs as built. Lighter the better. I fish and island camp a lot out of an outboard jet powered bass boat on shallow rivers. It would be great if I could tow that and carry the camper but I think that's a bit much to ask of a 4cyl truck even built and hot rodded a bit. But this should handle one of our canoes on the roof or my extremely light canoe trailer. Depending on destination. I have 7,400lbs of combined GVWR to work with and the truck is less than 4k empty. The camper and gear will get close to the GVWR but I should be able to stay under it.

No big mods planned at this time. Eventually I'll probably add the Yakima track for the canoes. And maybe work up a solar charging system once I've done my homework on that. I like the idea of a 12 volt portable fridge that I can use in both my 4x4's. This has the important stuff. Sparten but for us it'll seem luxurious when your normal camping looks like this.



This is something I've been trying to do ever since I 1st read of the Turtle Expedition's trip across Russia. I actually bought a new full sized truck a while back with the long term intention of a 4Wheel Camper. But before we could make it happen the Lemon truck had to be bought back by the manufacturer for a major brake problem they couldn't fix.

I have to thank Matt at Mainline Overland for showing us through the Fleet at the Great American Outdoor show in Harrisburg, PA. earlier this week. That finally convinced the wife that I hadn't fully lost my mind.

I'm not going to gush too much till this bird is actually in hand. But we are excited about the prospect of having this to enjoy for our recent retirement. I'll post pics once it's actually ours.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Great find. Keep us up to how the project is going.
Frank