[SIZE=10.5pt]This was our year to make our master plan a reality. The wife and I have been dreaming of getting a truck and a slide in camper for several years now and figured with the Colorado in-state travels we have in mind for the summer -spending many upcoming weekends in the San Juans through the summer for training in hopes that her waitlist spot in the Hard Rock 100 becomes reality- we knew now was the time to make it happen. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]As far as the truck went we decided on a full size, 6.5' bed with 4 doors and enough room and seat manipulation in the back to accommodate the comfort of our spoiled black lab, Kingston and potentially a minion in the future. We decided a 6.5' full size would give us the most slide in options while not being excessively big. The last new car we got is mine so my wife would get the new truck (yes I'm still jealous and hoping she will cave to trade me for the zippier Xterra for her daily driver!). After a pushy Ford salesman almost convinced us into the wrong truck that I knew would not be ideal for our future camper (5.5' crew) we managed to escape… And headed to Denver the next day to drive home this baby:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The Toyota Tundra Double Cab was our ideal truck and we couldn't be happier with our decision. Same price as the bare bones F150 STX, but with 6.5’ bed, backup camera, seat automation, Bluetooth, slider back window and Toyota proven reliability and resale value along with 4 doors and enough back seat space. Basically everything we needed/wanted for the same price. Can’t say we really wanted the screen/Bluetooth/backup camera but cannot be happier or imagine being without these options now. Don't get me wrong, after swearing never to own another ford- we traded in our fully loaded 02 Exploder and let's just say the 100k mile warranty paid for itself several times over- I have a new found respect for the F150's over the past few years. However the 5.5' bed was just too limiting for the master plan and the longer bed options don’t have the interior space we needed. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The next step was to find the perfect slide in. The FWC and ATC's were ideal but price limiting and I was going back and forth between getting an early 2000's sun-lite or spending double that on a ‘good deal’ for a FWC/ATC. Ultimately we knew that was the ultimate direction as far as weight, low-profile, efficiency and utility; so rather than buy something that would work and then dealing with the sell/buy for the upgrade we decided to search out ‘the deal’. We were crushed after missing out on a 09ish Hawk that was posted up in great shape in Phoenix for $7800 (!). I was combing craigslist, forums and the internet obsessively. I found the Ocelot here and after getting the background and more pics/info from Fergie and realizing this was exactly what we wanted (right down to the 72” width which I was totally unsure of at first), we pulled the trigger sight unseen like often needs to be done on these things, I was stoked this thing lasted a month without selling before I stumbled upon it. I sent down the deposit and then had to wait 2 painful weeks until we all had a free weekend for the pickup. I installed airbags the weekend before the pick up and anxiously awaited our trip from NW Colorado to Flagstaff for the assembly of our new rig. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]We left Friday at around 4pm after work and made it about an hour and a half past the convenient halfway point of Moab, UT to Blanding, UT by 11pm one of the last (kind of) real but still creepy towns before crossing the boarder and entering the Navajo Nation. Grabbed the last hotel room we would be getting for a while at the dog friendly Super 8 and prepared for a marathon day.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]We woke up Saturday around 5:30 and were on the road a little after 6am and pulled into flagstaff at 9am after the time change. We heard there was an awesome breakfast place in Flagstaff and figured we should indulge ourselves in a good meal. I must say I am a breakfast connoisseur and my wife and I agreed this was the best breakfast we had both ever had. I’ll be dreaming of this for a long time to come![/SIZE]
MartAnne's Cafe, Flagstaff:
[SIZE=10.5pt]We got to Fergie’s place at around 10 and got to work mounting up the Ocelot. It was awesome to have him lead the install. We had to add around an inch and a half to the platform, make some tweaks, get some longer turnbuckles and start drilling holes in the 3 week old tundra. In the name of time we skipped the car-camper wiring install and were leaving Fergie’s mom’s place with the payment and bill of sale finalized by 4pm. [/SIZE]
Leaving Fergie's after a successful install (almost!). Me on right.
[SIZE=10.5pt]I was 2 turnbuckles short as what I thought would work from my purchase options needed to be reverse threaded hook bolts. The front was secured but we needed to make a stop at the homeco on the way out of town. They didn’t have the longer turnbuckles I needed but very luckily they did have a longer set of hook bolts 9” that I could replace the 7” standard threaded bolts and managed to get the rear secured (phew!).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]We were back on the road by 5am with Moab in our sights. There would be no better place to shake down this new rig. We had to make several stops on the way home as I seem to have a small leak in my airbags, which slowed us down a bit but we got back through the nation and southern Utah in time to finally get some food at the Moab brewery just before their 11pm last call for food.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]From there we drove down Kane Creek Road and set out to find our first camp with our new rig. We knew this could be a daunting task on a Saturday at midnight in early April and were thankful to have the option to pull over wherever and pop the top if we got desperate. We have driven around for hours trying to find an open campsite in years past… Miraculously, we found an open site in Hunter Canyon the exact spot where we planned to hike the next day. Got situated in no time and passed out completely exhausted after a marathon day. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]We were glad to find that the camper stayed cool as the sun rose and we were able to sleep in a little and have a relaxing morning followed by a great 6 mile hike up Hunter Canyon. This is a great dog friendly Moab hike with lots of water for the K-dog to play (at least this time of year). This is a close second to Negro Bill canyon.[/SIZE]
Our first camp in our new rig:
Hunter Canyon:
[SIZE=10.5pt]My wife started running from camp as I packed up and I finally caught her and picked her up an hour later near town. We ran a couple errands split a snack at the Peace Tree Café and headed up to Sand Flats Recreation Area to camp for the night. Soon after we got up there the wind picked up big time as it often does this time of year and we wound up enjoying the camper fully. Drinking some beers and listening to music while the wind and sand whipped around us outside. Our big plans of cooking dinner and having a fire fizzled into a snack, more beers and bed.[/SIZE]
Camp2 in Sand Flats:
[SIZE=10.5pt]After a little Hike up Negro Bill Canyon, We headed out the next day thoroughly satisfied with the camper pick up and our bonus shakedown trip. [/SIZE]
Kingston in his element in Negro Bill's Canyon:
[SIZE=10.5pt]The ride-rite airbags I installed had a very slow and difficult to diagnose leak that I stopped several times during the trip to top off. I am still troubleshooting the leak. I thought I got it by tightening up the elbow connection into the bags but it seems to still be there. I did some diagnostics with some Megabubble and finally tracked it down. I had the bags tied together with a t connector right behind the bumper to a single Schrader valve and at that time also decided to separate them for ease of troubleshooting and potential load balancing if needed.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The pup did have a heck of a time getting out of the camper even with the single hitch extender/step I bought from Harbor Freight. This thing will be great when I’m pulling my snowmobile trailer but with the K-dog spoilage in full force I threw down on a set of Torklift steps which I installed last week before the next trip. 10 treats later Kingston was running up and down the steps ready for next weekend’s adventure! At that time I also remove the OEM backup camera from the tailgate and secured it below the stair bracket into the wood platform, that was super easy and it is oh so nice to have that camera in place.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Stair bracket mounted into wood platform and backup camera:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]We headed down to Fruita last weekend which was our first chance to pack the camper at the outset of the trip and begin to organize gear and stuff. We had it pretty dialed but it will likely take another trip or two to have everything set the way it is most efficient. I also did a bleach rinse and then a triple fill and rinse before the trip to sanitize the water system. [/SIZE]
A little bit of custom flare and Bike Loaded for Fruita fun!
ATC also sent some stickers to represent! (The Dynafit sticker just matched perfectly)
[SIZE=10.5pt]This ocelot is fully set up with solar, 2 high quality deep cycle batteries, a Stereo with indoor/outdoor speakers (hence the ‘soundsystem’), dinette, and more. I don’t even know if I will hook up to the car as the solar has had plenty of juice with our current usage. The icebox was deleted and is a cabinet with two shelves that we use as our dresser which works out great. It is wired for but did not come with an Engel fridge, our cooler fits perfectly in the spot and we will likely make due the way it is for this summer. Most of our trips will be 2-4 nights so though not as convenient as the fridge it should work out fine for now. Next upgrade is a Yakima rack for the tracks and maybe an inverter in the near future.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]This forum has been and will continue to be a great resource getting everything dialed![/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]As far as the truck went we decided on a full size, 6.5' bed with 4 doors and enough room and seat manipulation in the back to accommodate the comfort of our spoiled black lab, Kingston and potentially a minion in the future. We decided a 6.5' full size would give us the most slide in options while not being excessively big. The last new car we got is mine so my wife would get the new truck (yes I'm still jealous and hoping she will cave to trade me for the zippier Xterra for her daily driver!). After a pushy Ford salesman almost convinced us into the wrong truck that I knew would not be ideal for our future camper (5.5' crew) we managed to escape… And headed to Denver the next day to drive home this baby:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The Toyota Tundra Double Cab was our ideal truck and we couldn't be happier with our decision. Same price as the bare bones F150 STX, but with 6.5’ bed, backup camera, seat automation, Bluetooth, slider back window and Toyota proven reliability and resale value along with 4 doors and enough back seat space. Basically everything we needed/wanted for the same price. Can’t say we really wanted the screen/Bluetooth/backup camera but cannot be happier or imagine being without these options now. Don't get me wrong, after swearing never to own another ford- we traded in our fully loaded 02 Exploder and let's just say the 100k mile warranty paid for itself several times over- I have a new found respect for the F150's over the past few years. However the 5.5' bed was just too limiting for the master plan and the longer bed options don’t have the interior space we needed. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The next step was to find the perfect slide in. The FWC and ATC's were ideal but price limiting and I was going back and forth between getting an early 2000's sun-lite or spending double that on a ‘good deal’ for a FWC/ATC. Ultimately we knew that was the ultimate direction as far as weight, low-profile, efficiency and utility; so rather than buy something that would work and then dealing with the sell/buy for the upgrade we decided to search out ‘the deal’. We were crushed after missing out on a 09ish Hawk that was posted up in great shape in Phoenix for $7800 (!). I was combing craigslist, forums and the internet obsessively. I found the Ocelot here and after getting the background and more pics/info from Fergie and realizing this was exactly what we wanted (right down to the 72” width which I was totally unsure of at first), we pulled the trigger sight unseen like often needs to be done on these things, I was stoked this thing lasted a month without selling before I stumbled upon it. I sent down the deposit and then had to wait 2 painful weeks until we all had a free weekend for the pickup. I installed airbags the weekend before the pick up and anxiously awaited our trip from NW Colorado to Flagstaff for the assembly of our new rig. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]We left Friday at around 4pm after work and made it about an hour and a half past the convenient halfway point of Moab, UT to Blanding, UT by 11pm one of the last (kind of) real but still creepy towns before crossing the boarder and entering the Navajo Nation. Grabbed the last hotel room we would be getting for a while at the dog friendly Super 8 and prepared for a marathon day.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]We woke up Saturday around 5:30 and were on the road a little after 6am and pulled into flagstaff at 9am after the time change. We heard there was an awesome breakfast place in Flagstaff and figured we should indulge ourselves in a good meal. I must say I am a breakfast connoisseur and my wife and I agreed this was the best breakfast we had both ever had. I’ll be dreaming of this for a long time to come![/SIZE]
MartAnne's Cafe, Flagstaff:
[SIZE=10.5pt]We got to Fergie’s place at around 10 and got to work mounting up the Ocelot. It was awesome to have him lead the install. We had to add around an inch and a half to the platform, make some tweaks, get some longer turnbuckles and start drilling holes in the 3 week old tundra. In the name of time we skipped the car-camper wiring install and were leaving Fergie’s mom’s place with the payment and bill of sale finalized by 4pm. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]I was 2 turnbuckles short as what I thought would work from my purchase options needed to be reverse threaded hook bolts. The front was secured but we needed to make a stop at the homeco on the way out of town. They didn’t have the longer turnbuckles I needed but very luckily they did have a longer set of hook bolts 9” that I could replace the 7” standard threaded bolts and managed to get the rear secured (phew!).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]We were back on the road by 5am with Moab in our sights. There would be no better place to shake down this new rig. We had to make several stops on the way home as I seem to have a small leak in my airbags, which slowed us down a bit but we got back through the nation and southern Utah in time to finally get some food at the Moab brewery just before their 11pm last call for food.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]From there we drove down Kane Creek Road and set out to find our first camp with our new rig. We knew this could be a daunting task on a Saturday at midnight in early April and were thankful to have the option to pull over wherever and pop the top if we got desperate. We have driven around for hours trying to find an open campsite in years past… Miraculously, we found an open site in Hunter Canyon the exact spot where we planned to hike the next day. Got situated in no time and passed out completely exhausted after a marathon day. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]We were glad to find that the camper stayed cool as the sun rose and we were able to sleep in a little and have a relaxing morning followed by a great 6 mile hike up Hunter Canyon. This is a great dog friendly Moab hike with lots of water for the K-dog to play (at least this time of year). This is a close second to Negro Bill canyon.[/SIZE]
Our first camp in our new rig:
Hunter Canyon:
[SIZE=10.5pt]My wife started running from camp as I packed up and I finally caught her and picked her up an hour later near town. We ran a couple errands split a snack at the Peace Tree Café and headed up to Sand Flats Recreation Area to camp for the night. Soon after we got up there the wind picked up big time as it often does this time of year and we wound up enjoying the camper fully. Drinking some beers and listening to music while the wind and sand whipped around us outside. Our big plans of cooking dinner and having a fire fizzled into a snack, more beers and bed.[/SIZE]
Camp2 in Sand Flats:
[SIZE=10.5pt]After a little Hike up Negro Bill Canyon, We headed out the next day thoroughly satisfied with the camper pick up and our bonus shakedown trip. [/SIZE]
Kingston in his element in Negro Bill's Canyon:
[SIZE=10.5pt]The ride-rite airbags I installed had a very slow and difficult to diagnose leak that I stopped several times during the trip to top off. I am still troubleshooting the leak. I thought I got it by tightening up the elbow connection into the bags but it seems to still be there. I did some diagnostics with some Megabubble and finally tracked it down. I had the bags tied together with a t connector right behind the bumper to a single Schrader valve and at that time also decided to separate them for ease of troubleshooting and potential load balancing if needed.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The pup did have a heck of a time getting out of the camper even with the single hitch extender/step I bought from Harbor Freight. This thing will be great when I’m pulling my snowmobile trailer but with the K-dog spoilage in full force I threw down on a set of Torklift steps which I installed last week before the next trip. 10 treats later Kingston was running up and down the steps ready for next weekend’s adventure! At that time I also remove the OEM backup camera from the tailgate and secured it below the stair bracket into the wood platform, that was super easy and it is oh so nice to have that camera in place.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Stair bracket mounted into wood platform and backup camera:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]We headed down to Fruita last weekend which was our first chance to pack the camper at the outset of the trip and begin to organize gear and stuff. We had it pretty dialed but it will likely take another trip or two to have everything set the way it is most efficient. I also did a bleach rinse and then a triple fill and rinse before the trip to sanitize the water system. [/SIZE]
A little bit of custom flare and Bike Loaded for Fruita fun!
ATC also sent some stickers to represent! (The Dynafit sticker just matched perfectly)
[SIZE=10.5pt]This ocelot is fully set up with solar, 2 high quality deep cycle batteries, a Stereo with indoor/outdoor speakers (hence the ‘soundsystem’), dinette, and more. I don’t even know if I will hook up to the car as the solar has had plenty of juice with our current usage. The icebox was deleted and is a cabinet with two shelves that we use as our dresser which works out great. It is wired for but did not come with an Engel fridge, our cooler fits perfectly in the spot and we will likely make due the way it is for this summer. Most of our trips will be 2-4 nights so though not as convenient as the fridge it should work out fine for now. Next upgrade is a Yakima rack for the tracks and maybe an inverter in the near future.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]This forum has been and will continue to be a great resource getting everything dialed![/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
