New to FWC

[jbburns]

Hey Everybody,
I am new to the the truck camping world but my wife and I are super excited to get started on this journey. I am hoping to get some feedback on the rig we are creating and to see if anyone out there has similar setups and recommendations. This past week, my wife and I put a deposit down on a new FWC Fleet. We liked that the counters were lower for her and the ability to put the camper on a smaller truck. We are planning to leave the camper on the truck full time so we are getting the camper without jacks and the dealership said that they will always have them available if we change our minds down the line. The camper comes in at around 1150 pounds with all of the options. We love camping on Forest Service roads throughout Washington and Oregon and we wanted a rig that would let us travel somewhat gnarly roads without having to get stuck.

As for the truck, we pulled the trigger on a lightly used 2018 Chevy Colorado with a 3.6L V6 gas engine, the crew cab and the long 6' bed. After speaking with the camper dealership we are getting Firestone Ride Rite airbags installed, a set of E rated tires and lifting the truck by 2" to accommodate the larger tires and give us added ground clearance. The truck dealership is ordering these parts right now and they said we could still change our order if we need to change our specs.

My questions for the community as a whole are:
1) Does this seem like a safe setup? It seems like many Fleet campers on a mid-size truck (Tacoma, Colorado, etc.) are likely to exceed their payload when you take into account passengers, water, and gear.

2) Is there anything you would do differently with the truck?

3) I am concerned that with the added height from the airbags, lift kit, and the extra platform needed to install the camper on a Colorado, will make the truck too tall. We are planning to have a collapsible step stool that we can use to enter the camper and to operate the latches on the camper. Does anyone have experience with a similar setup?

4) We have a large dog (about 85 pounds) we know that space will be tight in the camper when he is in there too but we plan on being in the camper primarily when it is time to sleep and when the weather is at all decent we will be hanging outside next to a fire instead. Does anybody use a Fleet with two people and a large dog?

Thanks for considering everyone. I am feeling a bit nervous about such a big investment but at the same time I am really looking forward to the camping opportunities that will open up with this setup.

 

[trikebubble]

Congrats. I think you're on the right road. My . 02? Just go out, camp, explore, and have fun. Don't overthink it too much at the beginning. The additional things you may need will come down the road.
Our FWC dealer told us that 75% of the campers they sell go on the mid-size Tacoma, so I wouldn't be too concerned about your setup at all.
We have two dogs (55 and 75 pounds) and we fit them in our Hawk no problem. We generally leave the table down in the bed position, and they hang out an sleep in that. If we do need the table, the dogs just go up on our bed.
Enjoy the adventure.

 

[jrwdlw]

I think you answered you own question with point #1. You are going to be significantly overloaded right at the get go. There are many issues that aren't readily apparent. A quick google says your truck can carry about 1500 lbs. in a 2WD version. That will be a zero option truck. What options do you have? You need to know your weight as the truck is delivered, without the camper. I'll bet you don't even have 1500 lbs. Just because you put E rated tires on, doesn't mean the rims can support the weight the tire can carry. Check that. Your brakes are going to be an issue, and so will handling and stability. I would find a heavier duty platform for the camper. Just my opinion.

 

[camper rich]

The secret is keeping it as light as possible. We traveled to Baja with our 1998 FWC Ranger II Shell Model on a 1998 Dodge Dakota. While the camper only weighed 700 lbs, and the truck had a 5300 lb GVWR, we were always overweight because we had sea kayaks up top and were towing about 1000 lbs of aluminium fishing boat and motor, along with bicycles packed inside, ARB Fridge, groceries and water jugs for 2 week stays offroad. We weighed as much as 6800 lbs when we did the last and toughest miles into our campsites, loaded with food, extra water and gas. The truck did eventually die and early death after 10 years, I felt in no small part, because it was usually overloaded. When I got a new truck it was a 3/4 ton and we continued traveling to Baja for another 10 years now and the truck is still going strong. We eventually, in 2016, sold the old Shell Model and moved up to a new Grandby, which is much more confortable. It has plenty of room for two of us plus our 12 lb cat. We still overload it, but we are much closer to the GVWR now.

On the Dakota I had installed Airlift air bags, but I ditched them after a few years in favor of an addition leaf spring on the back. My 2500 Ram has Timbrens on it which are trouble free and do the same job as the airbags would, although not adjustable like the airbags. I never had a problem with the 31 x 1050 x 15 C rated BFG A/T tires on the Dakota. I use E Rated tires on the Ram, but it's GVWR is 8800 lbs. I personally don't think they are necessary on a mid size truck.

Anyway, good luck and welcome to the FWC world.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

JD, congrats and welcome. I think you’re on the right track, but not sure that the lift is needed. There are a couple of folks herewith Colorado’s, so hopefully, they will give you a shout.

It’s going to be tight in there with the fur baby. I have a couple of Wirehairs, one that is pushing 80 pounds and the other at 60. The big male takes up most of the aisle or the lower berth. I can’t imagine having both in there. Consider removing the back seat and letting the pup sleep in the truck.

 

[kmcintyre]

Welcome. You'll get a lot of input and here's mine .

Like 'camper rich' I had my Eagle on a Dakota w/ E tires and airbags. We also did a 2 month Baja trip and had it on a Dakota for 4 years or so. Jumping forward and a long story, we turned the Dakota to the daily driver (NOT because of the camper although the truck was somewhat underpowered, we take our time so that wasn't a total issue) and we got a diesel RAM 1500. Our FWC is on full time too so I did similar to what you did. Airbags, tires, etc. I also put heavy duty springs on the truck (rear). Lots of power. We are over-weight too and have a dog, etc. like you. It's pretty easy to exceed the GVWR. On the other hand, I would bet 90% of the FWCs on 1/2 ton trucks are overweight and still going strong.

If I had to do it again and had unlimited funds and didn't care about mgp, I'd go 3/4 or 1 ton.

So... back to your question. I'm not that familiar w/ the power on the Colorado but assuming you are ok with that and that the camper will be on full time, I'd put springs on. My thought on my truck was, 'what happens if an airbag fails in Baja/Mexico or somewhere where I can't fix it?'. Check w/ Boise Spring (search this forum). A lot of people have used their springs and you can probably find someone near you that can add a spring. Boise spring also sells FWCs (I think) so they know what you need.

I originally didn't have jacks/brackets on my camper either but eventually had them put on. I don't carry my jacks with me but it's cheaper to do it at the factory (IMHO) as you can't find used jacks and the brackets are expensive (there are was to do it DYI if you want to mess with it). The reason I had/needed jacks was that my RAM is very high. I was renting cable jacks when I needed to take the camper off for some reason (Maint, etc.) and the cable jacks are a) scary b) not high enough. Considering what you are spending at this point, another $600ish isn't very much to have them from the start. I had mine installed at ATC on a trip home through CA from Baja.

We originally "overloaded" the camper w/ things we didn't really need. We've been pulling stuff out we don't need. You'll figure that out over time.

Good luck and have fun!

Kevin

 

[rando]

There are many thousands of FWC fleets/eagles/rangers driving around on smaller trucks (mostly Tacomas, but also Colorados, Rangers etc) and you don't really hear of issues, and I have had no issues with my Fleet flatbed/Tacoma combo. That said, you need to be very conscious of the extra weight you add - it is probably not wise to add another 500lb of wince/bumpers/bike racks on top of what you have.

My only comment is that if your camper will be on the truck full time, and it sounds like you want to use it in rougher conditions, you should get new springs that are appropriate for the weight as opposed to relying on air bags. I have OME heavy duty Dakar leaf springs in the back and airbags, and never put more than about 25 psi in the bags to adjust for small changing loads. If you are taking significant weight on the airbags, the ride will suffer and you are introducing a stresses part of the frame that was not designed for it, you are also in trouble if the airbags leak/burst which is likely to happen in rougher terrain.

Finally, as others have said - rethink whether you need a lift. You are already going to be top heavy, particularly with the slide-in model in a deep truck bed - raising this even further with a lift will make the handling (which is going to suffer no matter what) even worse.

 

[buckland]

Howdy and welcome to the WTW forum and know that this is a wonderful place to get help and share experiences. I too have a 2016 diesel Colorado with a 6 ft bed. I have done over 15,000 miles with the camper on....AK, Yukon.... it has been put through some rough tests and came out smiling. Like the Tacoma which I had when I first got my Eagle FWC, it is up there on the edge of max load. There are a lot of ways to deal with that. On my Tacoma (a little 4 cylinder manual 4WD) .... it did great ...I had an add a leaf put on and had Firestone bags. I am always around 1500 lbs load... no problem. On the Colorado I have dealt with the height issue my way but there are a few options. I did not like the pre-existing 'rake' Chevy have. (Not level) I replaced the shocks with Bilstein 5100 RHA shocks for the front. I installed them in the +2" height which leveled my truck. (I also added Bilstein in the back but they are not height adjustable). E rated tires Copper AT3 Discoverer. At first I put on an add a leaf... didn't like it mostly as I tried the Air Lift bags (junk IMO) and three sets failed. PITA. I wish I had used Firestone again....but anyway I eventually decide as I will retire soon and keep the camper on all the time ...was to have Boise Spring Works in Idaho make me a spring pack....they take out 2 large leaves and added 6. Man it is nice now. They work with FWC and have had a lot of experience.... If I was going to only have the camper on a month or two a year I would simple stay with just the Firestone air bags to bring up the back ... The Colorado and the Eagle is a great match. What pleasure to drive... the diesel has tons of power. In the summer months I pull a trailer as well for my job (antique restorations) and have had it full and the camper and hardly knew it was there. (The diesel also has an exhaust brake that helps a lot on mountain road descents as well as a 'haul mode' that uses a different shift pattern for same up and down. I do not travel light but I travel safely. I did put on a sway bar as I felt having to raise the camper up to get above the side rails put the center of gravity a bit higher so the sway bar really stiffened up the cornering and made me feel fine. BTW my truck is still nearly level (be sure to adjust your headlights after you have the lifts done or you'll have a lot of angry blinded people. Best of luck and feel free to ask any specific questions. This is a very polite and friendly forum I think you will find some great connections here.

 

[longhorn1]

Welcome to the group. I can't comment on the weights. We have a fully loaded Grandby on a F-250 crewcab, 8' bed. We have a front dinette and the dog bed for our yellow lab is between the seats and under the table. We have a dog ramp for getting her in and out of the truck and camper. We also have a small off-road trailer to haul our gear.

 

[Ace!]

Airbags are not for offroad use. They defeat the purpose of a well-sprung 4x4. That being said, it may be a non-issue for you, especially if you stay on FS roads.

Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of fun.

 

[trikebubble]

Airbags are not for offroad use. They defeat the purpose of a well-sprung 4x4. That being said, it may be a non-issue for you, especially if you stay on FS roads.

Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of fun.

I'd recommend that anyone with airbags who does a little off-roading consider adding a set of Daystar cradles. It releases the bottom of the airbag from being permanently attached and allows for greater articulation. I have not had any issues off-roading whatsoever with my airbags and Daystar cradle combination. I have A full Dakar leaf pack (plus an extra leaf) and normally don;'t inflate my airbags over 20psi.

 

[BBZ]

Welcome!

I am fairly new to the FWC game but am already on my second.

My story.. got a used older Fleet 7.5 for our F150 (6.5 bed).. bare bones and light. My wife and I spent about a month in Baja in it last winter with our 2 dogs. It worked out well, we were not over weight (damn close though). We found the narrow floor plan was rather tight with the dogs.

I found on old beat up Granby and gutted it to the frame and rebuilt it. Again, bare bones build but made it for what we need. We are fair weather campers and have no interest in winter camping so we skipped furnace and no water tank. We almost always cook outside, but I did set up a two burner inside for colder mornings. We use a Gas Buddy if needed for a little warmth.

This one is a little heavier but not much.. the wider floor is actually shocking (I think its 9 inches wider?) So much more space yet only 1/2 foot longer.

When it comes time to replace the truck, I will certainly go 3/4 ton..

I have enjoyed the journey.. can't wait to be in Baja again soon..

 

[Northbynortheast]

Hi BBZ,

I set up our 2015 Tacoma four door long bed this last spring for a fwc Fleet front dinette. I worked with Mainline Overland to set up my truck and they were great to work with, I told them I didn’t want to cut any corners since I knew that I’d be quite a bit over the factory stated payload capacity of the truck. I bought the parts from them and did the work myself to save a few bucks. Here’s what I did: I used Mainline’s GTS suspension kit which is by Dobinsons of Australia. Extra Heavy rear leaf pack, heavy front springs, heavy duty shocks all around, Firestone airbags with Daystar cradles, Atwood female trolling motor receptacle for electrical connection, arb compressor permanently mounted in engine compartment. I debated wether to go with heavy or extra heavy rear springs. With the camper on and loaded for a trip I kept 20 psi in the air bags. I definitely think that proper leaf springs are the way to go. I will mention though that with the camper off you will need to add weight and it sits quite high in the rear. I had a little drive line shudder on accelerating from a stop and added an Old Man Emu pinion bearing drop kit, this helped when loaded.
A few things I’ll share about the camper itself: We bought a 2017 Fleet Silver Spur front dinette used “barely”. Through googling reading etc. the roof of these campers are a weak point. If you must carry stuff on the roof with Yakima racks I would try to insist that the factory put the tracks on the outermost roof beam above the wall where they will be much better supported, rather than the usual location. If not, be very careful with crossbar placement and keep loads light. Forget about loading up a space case with a bunch of gear. I’m planning to fabricate an aluminum rack system next spring that places the load on the jack brackets rather than the roof. I learned also after having some difficulty with batteries that the on board Iota battery charger tis being installed with Iota’s internal iq4 smart circuitry. The Iq4 is designed to charge and maintain wet lead acid batteries and the one in my camper has damaged the agm batteries that are used. Hopefully fwc has addressed this, I doubt it. Iota’s newer charger uses external modules to control the charger that are “plug and play” and they make modules specifically for agm batteries, also for gel batteries.
We have enjoyed the camper so far despite quite a few annoying little issues. Feel free to pm me if you have any specific questions.

 

[craig333]

My 2004 Iota has the external IQ4 plug in module. Hasn't damaged my agm batteries. The charge profile isn't that far off from my solar charger.

 

[pvstoy]

My 2015 Hawk has a Iota with internal IQ4 and it is perfectly matched for AGM batteries charging profile.

 

[Batman]

We have a 2017 Fleet with the side dinette. We also have 6-65 pound lab mix dog. At first the dog was not interested in getting in the camper but eventually came around. Now we sleep in the upper berth and she sleeps on the floor under the dinette. It is somewhat awkward but it can work.

 

[buckland]

We had similar with a 70 dog. I made a simple ply shelf ... pop in/take out ... that goes across walk space at back bench.... made the rear bench twice as wide for her to sleep on. It was good as we sleep heads toward back door and she was right below us for an ear scratch and off the floor.

 

[rubberlegs]

We have the side dinette in a Fleet. Sometimes we put the table upside down on the back counter top, which really opens up the space.

 

[Northbynortheast]

Iota charge profile: I am seeing max bulk charging voltage at 14.7-14.8 volts, too much for agm. I have had a few conversations with techs at Iota engineering, they say this is within normal parameters for the IQ4 module and too much voltage for AGM batteries. They state that the IQ4 module is specifically designed for flooded deep cycle batteries. My original indication that something wasn’t right was that the gas detector which is mounted on the face of the battery box was going into alarm mode when the charger was operating. This indicates battery off gassing which is evidence of overcharging for sealed batteries. I then observed that the battery bank would not hold a full charge, (After receiving a full charge and waiting for the surface charge to dissipate they settled at 12.5V, should be 12.8V). It may seem picky to some, what’s .3V? Well if you’re caring for your agm batteries properly, you should be operating them between 12.0&12.8V so .3V is a loss of 37.5% of capacity. For what it’s worth In my past I worked on large boats and lived abroad for some time, have a pretty good working knowledge of 12V systems. I think it’s also noteworthy that Iota, “who I think makes good products” has gone to the effort and expense to design modules specifically for the charging parameters needed for specific battery types ie. IQ4 for wet cell, agm, gel and a few others. Using the IQ4 for your agm batteries will charge the batteries but is likely shortening their life at best. In my case, I lost the original two and one of the second set.

 

[Vic Harder]

I dunno about 14.7 being too much voltage. Rolls Battery specifies 14.7 for their AGM's.
http://www.rollsbattery.com/battery/s12-128agm/

I also wonder about your 12.0 - 12.8 range. I try to keep my batteries above 80% SOC, and will go as low as 60%. I know rando says we can go lower more often; and I agree, with the caveat that it really decreases battery life exponentially as we discharge deeper. 12.2 resting voltage would be my lowest target voltage, which is about 50%.
https://www.energymatters.com.au/components/battery-voltage-discharge/