It's been a long time coming!

S

Squatch

Senior Member
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Aug 5, 2014
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On the wrong side of the mountains!
As of lunch time Thursday I'm now the proud owner of a 2012 Eagle Shell. I found it on CL by accident a few weeks ago. The advertised price was kinda crazy. It was a dealer trade in at a place that sells class A's like crazy. A little negotiation and a trip to 4WC's website to see real prices and they worked with me and i now have a camper.

Of course there was a little hitch or 2. The Camper was in Jacksonville, Florida and I'm NW of Baltimore. And my truck is in the garage waiting for me to install a new engine.

I have a flat bottomed river fishing boat. The trailer is basically a flatbed and used to holding 2-3 times the weight of the camper. So I pulled the boat and a friend went with me and we made a mad dash for Florida Wednesday at 5:30 am. Got there after a smooth ride and found our hotel. up the next am and at the dealer. loaded and headed for home by noon. I felt good and kept on driving. I got home at 3:30 am Friday. 1,550 miles in 46 hours. It's been a few years since I made a haul like that.



We chained the camper to the trailer frame with the factory turnbuckles.


We added 4) 1,000lb ratchet straps as insurance. The camper rode like a dream and never budged. We didn't even have to adjust a strap.


So the camper.




It has the rollover couch.


Furnace, Propane tanks, stove on top.



Opening window with boot, Battery with seperator, 2 vents but no fans (yet). Inside lift struts.


Pretty much all we need for now. Condition is like new. I don't think the furnace has been run other than a test light or 2. Stove looks like it's been used a couple of times only.

I'll probably add the full length Yakima tracks for my canoes. Maybe some solar later if we get a portable fridge. It'll probably get a fan for at least one of the vents.

But 1st I have a truck I need to get an engine in!
 
SCORE! and welcome to the growing family of east coasters. I have a feeling that now that you have the camper the engine will practically put it self in your truck.
Congrats, now GET ER DONE!
 
A great find for sure. Post pictures on any build work you do. FWC will help you with locations of the roof framing, which should make the rack installation easier. A couple of AGM batteries and 100watt solar and you should be able to go anywhere. Great posts on solar, batteries, and wiring. Lots of members ready to provide answers for you. Good luck. jd
 
Had the camper set up and it rained all night. No leaks at all. Yet another test passed. So fun to find the little hidden features. Like the standard overhead bed and cup holder. Ha ha. Found out last night if you pull out the bed a couple of inches drinks fit snugly between the mattress and the rail. Handy to reach from the couch.

Can anyone tell me if a 2012 shell is prewired for the solar panel plug on the roof? How about prewired for the powered vents?

I found that the installed AGM battery was dead as a door knob. So for now I installed an Optima out of my boat. I'm going to try to revive the battery but not holding my breath.
 
Don't hold your breath (good idea). I'm pretty sure that FWC has been wiring the roof for two fans for close to 10 years. The solar prewire answer might require a call to FW.
 
Thanks for the kind words folks!

DanT not holding my breath. The battery is DOA! I had it checked today. Thanks for the wiring info.

Mic Thanks. She's a good truck. Pretty much a NEW '88 when I rebuilt it from a good frame in '06-'08. Still have paint work and such to do. Never finished with that one. She has the best of what the factory and the aftermarket had/has to offer for these old Troopers. Very little on the truck has not been gone through and renewed, replaced or upgraded.




The camper is going on my '88 Isuzu Spacecab Pickup. Yet another never ending project.


Build thread and misadvendtures of my Pickup for the bored. It's long and far from finished!
http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=56442

Back to the Camper. I pulled out both LP bottles today and verified they had fuel. Then reconnected one and checked the connections for leaks. I checked the furnace and the stove and both operate fine. The furnace puts out some heat! It's a lot quieter than I expected based on comments I've read.
 
I've been spending some time with the camper. I spent the night in it last night in the drive. We live out in the sticks sorta. It was in the 30s here. Used the furnace to warm it up then turned it off. I left the roof vents and the window cracked. Just before daybreak nature called. I turned on the furnace to the lowest temp when I got up. then went back to bed and got a couple more hours sleep. Slept in 20* winter bags zipped together to make a double. Fit's the big bed perfect and I was snug as a bug in a rug without heat. Furnace was nice when I got up though. Real windy this am. I could hear it in the trees but camper and canvas were quiet and still.

I'm just charging the battery with my boat charger at the moment. Did see that the furnace draws it down a bit. Now I understand why some folks have both the furnace and a Wave3 for extended trips.

I'm really liking the extra room I have because of not having the cabinets with fridge and sink. Coming from a tent background I'm overjoyed to have a stove and heat. Don't miss the running water I've never had.

My wife has a Honda CRV. In the back of these they have a small card table over the area where a spare tire would be in a hatchback. I picked up 2 of these from junkyards a couple of years back for a total of $20 to use for camping.


Pretty compact, light, strong.


Since we carry these anyway for outside use I thought I'd see if one would work inside the camper.


For the test fit I just folded down 1 leg and set the back side on a cushion and a waterbotle that was in hand. I think I already have a simple mount idea for the back side. I think this will work fine. I like things that serve multiple purposes. The pics look grungy. That table came from a car that someone spilled paint in. So not really filthy just painted.








I've obviously got a lot of ideas running through my head right now for both the camper and the truck. So i'll probably just continue this thread as a sorta discovery, build, question thread for now. I don't have big plans for a lot of heavy mods just little things like this table and such.
 
Great use of the table Squatch. I would have probably thought "too big" and looked for another solution. Now you have indoor and outdoor solved with one:)
 
The table is now a done deal. I found simple solution to hanging the back side. Something that wouldn't be a problem for sitting on the bench when the table is gone.


This is a boat cover strap. I tucked the tail behind the bed support and put the screw through it. Hanging down is just a web strap and a Fastex type buckle. 30 second set up. The table has rubber on the feet that stick well to the floor. So once pushed into the corner it's quite solid.


There is room for one beside the table on the bench and one in front on the couch. Both in reasonable comfort with some leg room.


When not using the table this is all that's left. A lash point for traveling.
 
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