Order Placed for New Fleet

[steelhead]

After about 6 months of research and heavy thought about whether to buy a pop-up camper and then what options to include, we finally ordered a Fleet from FWC last weekend. The configuration:
- side dinette with the slate colored cushions
- flush mounted appliances
- furnace
- auxiliary battery system with the second battery
- LED lights, both interior and the flood lights in the rear
- roof lift assists
- fantastic Fan
- screen door
- mechanical jacks
- rear awning
- solar plug on the roof
- Silver Spur exterior
- 10’ Yakima tracks

The notable absentee in that list is the refrigerator. This was the hardest decision we had to make (and are still thinking about). We did not want to go with the 3-way due to the apparent need for level parking. We originally planned to go with the 2 way but developed concerns about their power consumption – it would force us into solar which is not always reliable in many of the places we want to go. So, in the end, we opted for the ice cooler. We understand that we may regret this choice but felt like it was worth a shot to see if we can make it work.

We will be adding solar but will probably hold off on doing it until we have a better understanding of our power requirements and know whether we will stay with the cooler or retrofit a 2 way fridge.

The only remaining big decision is whether to go with air bags or a custom springs (we have upgraded to D rated tires already). Leaning strongly toward the springs but want to do some additional research.

We would really like to thank everyone who posts on this forum. The information available here is invaluable for people like us who have no experience with off road camping. Starting in mid-April, I hope to start being a contributor to the knowledge bank rather than just asking questions.

Cheers!

steelhead

 

[ski3pin]

Congrats on ordering your new camper! We will need pictures when you take delivery.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Congrats on ordering your new camper! We will need pictures when you take delivery.


x2!

 

[Bosque Bill]

Congratulations. I see you decided to go with the Deluxe Edition! Excellent!

My Fleet will have the compressor refrigerator and two batteries. No solar, but bought the roof plug for future use. I don't really expect to stay too long in any one spot, so should work out. I'll update about battery consumption with the fridge if you remind me to do so.

Bill

 

[rotti]

We will be adding solar but will probably hold off on doing it until we have a better understanding of our power requirements and know whether we will stay with the cooler or retrofit a 2 way fridge.



Congratulations.

I have the large Waeco 110L 2way with the dual batteries and no solar. I find I can go two or three days with the batteries only dropping about 25%. I think it is a great setup. I had the ice cooler on my previous FWC and hated it. Of the options I added, the 2way frig is easily the best money I spent.

Curious about your truck. Be forewarned these campers are not light when options are added. My Hawk scaled at 1300 lb dry. If you have a 1/2 ton I would go with springs before the bags.

Ahhh.....the wait begins. It's torturous!

 

[steelhead]

Thanks everyone. Bill - I would definitely be interested in your fridge's consumption. I was glad to read that rotti can go multiple days without solar because I doubt we would stay anywhere longer than 2-3 days. The complicating factor for us is my wife's CPAP machine - it is a 'must-have' which needs to be factored in.

rotti - the truck is a 2013 Tacoma Access Cab, v6 with the off-road package. I understand and share the concern about the weight but it seems like there are allot of Tacoma's out there with Fleet's. Even though we intend to travel light, the Fleet is still a load. Question back to you since we are still researching the options: why springs and not air bags and do you have your camper on the truck all the time? Thanks

 

[jha6av8r]

Congratulations x3!

 

[captainphx]

Congrats. You live in a great area for your new camper. We were in Cape Blanco State Park on the coast last summer. Great camping spots there! We want to take the backroad up Steens Mountain Loop Road someday. We drove past there last summer, and even from a distance, it looked like a great and wild place.

 

[rotti]

Question back to you since we are still researching the options: why springs and not air bags and do you have your camper on the truck all the time? Thanks

My camper is on full time and I guess that is the determining question. If yours is going to be on pretty much full time than springs would be indicated, but empty the springs might be brutal and Timbrens or airbags might be the better choice. Others have opened this can of worms before: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/295/

My two campers were/are on 3/4 ton trucks so no personal experience with any suspension modifications. I think the first point of failure will be overloaded tires.

 

[JHanson]

Steelhead, congratulations!

Regarding springs versus air bags, I honestly don't think either is a mistake. We'll leave our camper on full time, yet I went with Boss air bags, and we had air bags on our last Tacoma and FWC as well. I like the ease of installation, the price, the versatility (even with the camper on all the time it's nice to be able to vary the ride height), and the redundancy factor of having essentially two different spring systems. You'll definitely want to install heavy-duty shocks no matter which you choose.

 

[steelhead]

rotti and Jonathan - thanks for the feedback regarding the suspension options. For us, the pop-up will not be on full time, at least not at first, so I am leaning towards air bags. The concern there is reliability as there seem to be more than a few people who have had failures with their bags. It is just really hard to tell from internet postings whether these failures are the exception or if failures are fairly common. Jonathan, I have looked at the Boss bags but could not find any distributors in the US. How did you obtain them and did you install them yourself? Thanks again.

steelhead

 

[Bosque Bill]

For us, the pop-up will not be on full time, at least not at first, so I am leaning towards air bags. The concern there is reliability as there seem to be more than a few people who have had failures with their bags. It is just really hard to tell from internet postings whether these failures are the exception or if failures are fairly common.

steelhead:

I'm going with air-bags. I will likely take the camper off in winter and even more important, the air-bags allow you to level the camper from side to side. I think it is quite likely that the galley side of the camper will be heavier than the sofa side, so if you go with bags make sure to have separate fill lines to allow different pressures in each side.

Most of the failures I've read about (and there were not too many) were due to mounting bolts breaking on very rough roads. Those folks reinstalled with Grade 8 bolts and reported no further problems. I talked to the outfit who will be installing my air-bags and they say they can substitute Grade 8 bolts at no additional charge. Some people say Grade 8 bolts are more brittle than the Grade 5's, but the research I've done online disputes that conclusion. YMMV

 

[steelhead]

Thanks Bill - I appreciate your input and the callout regarding the bolts. Apologies if you have posted this previously, but which bags are you going with? And, since our trucks are very similar, are you changing out your shocks too as Jonathan suggested?

 

[Bosque Bill]

Thanks Bill - I appreciate your input and the callout regarding the bolts. Apologies if you have posted this previously, but which bags are you going with? And, since our trucks are very similar, are you changing out your shocks too as Jonathan suggested?


I will have the Ride-Rites installed before I pick up the camper. If I wanted to go with the Boss bags, I'd have to acquire them myself and I'm just too lazy for that

Stan at FWC recommends the Ride-Rite product, FWIW.

I asked Jonathan about the Boss bags on his Overland Expo blog and to paraphrase (and correct me if I didn't understand, JH) both are very good products. He likes the Boss as they apparently are not as fat, so allow more room for larger diameter, heavy-duty shocks. The fellow I spoke to at the outfit here in NM (that was recommended to me) says that it is not a problem to fit heavy-duty shocks with the Ride-Rite bags. I will start out with the stock shocks and see how it goes, monitoring the handling carefully. I suspect I will not be taking my rig to the extremes that I expect Jonathan regularly does. If the truck feels unstable or I get more adventurous, then I can upgrade.

 

[ski3pin]

Just food for thought here concerning Tacomas. I am hardly knowledgeable about Tacomas but I do follow Mr. Johnson's blog - Our Four Wheel Camper

This summer he had a failure with his Tacoma frame. Read the part about the repair at the end of this trip report.

I remember in a previous post he explained the initial failure and had reinforcements welded on the frame. Sorry I don't have the time to track that one down for you.

This is only meant to aid in your research and be aware of possible problems and solutions.

Best of luck on your decisions and again, congrats on your camper. You are going to have so much fun!

 

[Bosque Bill]

Just food for thought here concerning Tacomas. I am hardly knowledgeable about Tacomas but I do follow Mr. Johnson's blog - Our Four Wheel Camper

This summer he had a failure with his Tacoma frame. Read the part about the repair at the end of this trip report.

ski3pin:

Thanks for the link to Mr. Johnson's blog. Looks like it will be interesting to read.

Regarding the frame failure - this apparently was not uncommon with pre-2005 Tacomas; there was even a recall, as I recall
Mr. Johnson lists his Tacoma as a 2002 double-cab and looking at the photos, his truck has the short bed with the camper extending quite a ways behind the bed - that's got to put extra stress on the part of the frame aft of the rear axle.

The second-generation Tacoma trucks do not have that issue from what I've been able to determine, so those of us with late model trucks don't need to worry about frame damage with air-bags.

Still, I appreciate your concern for us newbies

 

[ski3pin]

Thanks Bill. You guys know much more about Tacomas than I do.

 

[Bosque Bill]

Thanks Bill. You guys know much more about Tacomas than I do.

ski3pin:
I think both steelhead and I have spent months and months of research before plunging into this exciting world of small-truck camping. Hopefully that will keep us from falling into some of the pitfalls, but I'm sure not all.

WTW has been a great resource with all the good people, such as yourself, posting their experiences.

 

[JHanson]

Steelhead,

Reece Tasker at Canadian Suspension Importers, here, distributes the Boss air bags. He's very helpful. I went with the Boss bags because their mounting position leaves more options for aftermarket shocks, and because their bags, which normally operate in a range from 15 to 120 psi, are tested to 750 psi. I figure that's a good safety margin.

I installed the bags myself; it's straightforward if you're at all mechanically inclined. A sidewinder drill helps. I installed them with a simple manual fill valve to start; I'm just now working out where to install the excellent compressor that came with them. I want to fair the control unit and gauge into the cabinetry just inside the door of the camper, which will require some winkling.

Regarding grade 8 bolts: They are harder than grade 5 bolts, which technically means they would be more "brittle," but in tension and shear they're stronger. In some applications, such as the massive rear bumper/tire rack I mounted on my FJ40, experts I consulted recommended attachment with grade 5 bolts, which "stretch" ever so slightly when tightened and are thus less likely to loosen. Since I mounted that bumper ten years ago and have never touched a nut, I can't argue against the theory.

The way most air bags are positioned, the mounting bolts should experience relatively little stress except tension/compression.

Here is the installment on OT&T regarding the bags on the JATAC.

 

[BobD]

I have a 2010 Tacoma Dbl Cab TRD Sport with a 2012 FWC Eagle. I had the Spring TSB done the week after I bought the truck which changes out the stock 3 leaf to a 4 leaf spring pack. I would highly recommend having that done. Go over to Tacoma World and do a search on Spring TSB and all the details are there. I wanted to install a complete OME kit with Dakar springs before we picked up the FWC but unfortunately that's still on hold. In the interim the Ride Rite air bags work like a champ. I picked them up from sdtrucksprings.com for under $300. I know there were some frame problems but it looks like Firestone changed the mounts which should alleviate that problem. Once again, there are several threads on Tacoma World with detailed installation instructions. Be sure to upgrade your tires to load range E and you'll be good to go. Congratulations, you'll love it!