New Panther is born

[jimjxsn]

Great looking camper Jim.

I didn't realize the flush mount sink/stove was an option, that looks perfect.
Are you happy with the dimensions of the Panther? I am going back and forth on which model to go with, either Panther or Cougar. I have a short bed truck (Ram 1500, 69'') and could put the tailgate down to accommodate the larger sized Cougar. Decision making process is fun but I want to make the right call.

Congrats on your camper.

I love the Panther, good luck with your purchase LarsBoom.

I didn't consider a Cougar on my short bed (6 1/2 ft) truck. I had an 8 ft FWC Ranger (old model) as my last camper on my old short bed Tundra. That model was very narrow and we liked having the extra room that the 8 ft camper offers. We didn't like the extra overhang. On my truck it made it hard to access the spare. It moved the majority of the weight of the camper behind the rear wheels. And it made it very hard to tow a trailer.

I had it for 10 years and it worked out fine. But the short bed camper on a short bed truck feels way more solid going down the road.

ATC did several customizations.

No Fridge - I had that cabinet made into storage for our cloths.

Added passenger side cabinet for a pantry. So the bench is shortened to 5 feet long.

The SMEV stove/sink combo I used was not an option. I purchased it and had it shipped to ATC and they installed it. I had seen that brand at an RV show and liked them. I tracked down the supplier online.

The ATC doesn't have a water heater so I'm not sure about the outside shower. I use a zodi extreme. But ask Marty if they can add one if you really want that.

We love how ours turned out. Best of luck with yours.

 

[jimjxsn]

WTW sticker details http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/15511-wanderthewest-stickers/

 

[jimjxsn]

I just got a Thule rack added and the awning installed. Here are some pics

I'm deleting the pictures in this post because the photos don't show up.

I'll re-post below...

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Jim, in the above post, none of your photos are showing... all I see are file names.

 

[Happyjax]

Congrats on a fine looking camper!

 

[jimjxsn]

Jim, in the above post, none of your photos are showing... all I see are file names.

Let me know if that continues. I have them posted on SmugMug so it may have been that they were down...

 

[longhorn1]

Very nice. Happy camping and thanks for sharing. jd

 

[jimjxsn]

Wouldn't you know it, the first trip with the Rhino Rack Foxwing/Batwing awning and it breaks. Luckily I was able to get replacement parts from Rhino Rack and it ended up being an easy repair.

 

[jimjxsn]

Storage Cover...

I've got to figure out a better way to fasten the front under the overhang...

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

“Wouldn't you know it, the first trip with the Rhino Rack Foxwing/Batwing awning and it brakes...”

Wow, much more carnage than my experience I posted about in camping section. How big was the gust of wind? This leads me to believe that rather than an intentionally engineered design it may be a serious flaw. My pole didn’t bend like yours so the fix was easy. Good luck with the repairs.

 

[jimjxsn]

Wow, much more carnage than my experience I posted about in camping section. How big was the gust of wind? This leads me to believe that rather than an intentionally engineered design it may be a serious flaw. My pole didn’t bend like yours so the fix was easy. Good luck with the repairs.

We got in a really quick storm, camping with family and had way more items to hang on to than hands available.

I repaired it right away, it really wasn't too bad. The hardest thing was rounding up the parts needed.

I'm not sure why the big hinge broke as the nylon pieces should fail first. I think the main design flaw is that the tarp can pull off the top of the upright poles pretty easily. The pole hinge and horizontal pole that broke was the only one where the tarp grommet pulled off of the vertical pole.

It would help to upgrade to upright poles that can lock onto the tarp grommet and that have stake loops on the bottom so that they stay in place better.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Your images are not showing!

 

[jimjxsn]

Added an extension on the Rieco-Titan Camper Dolly to get it to truck bed height so that it won't need to be raised and lowered so much when loading...

 

[jimjxsn]

Here is the latest addition. I added an AT propane tank mount to the jack bracket. Also you might notice that I changed the awning mount. The awning used to be mounted to the jack brackets...

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Looks great!