Our 2014 Fleet Shell Build Out

[Captm]

So Saturday arrived and I started out by removing the driver side panel. Quite easy just remove a couple dozen screws, don't bother pulling the staples yet. First set of screws are for the bed extension - why they are not painted like the rest is beyond me. The next are under the Velcro strip for the bottom of the Thermal Pack. I exposed the first one, but not the rest as there are many staples so I just pushed the square drive tight into the screws and backed them out. I removed the visible screws on the sides of the panel and then used a putty knife to pry the panel away from the aluminum frame. Now you can put a slight bent in the panel (it's doorskin) and remove it. Now is the time to pull the staples out of the wood. If you attempt to remove them before popping the panel off your pulling the staples out of the frame and wood so it's more time consuming and you damage the panel.

 

[Captm]

With the panel removed I can trace out the wiring. Even though I'm going to rewire I wanted to know if the shell is pre-wired for future options. It is, sort of - overhead lights, fans, porch light, side light and rear flood lights all are spliced from one lead. The wire for the furnace / thermostat was in location. There are a few spots where anti chafe protection is missing. This definitely has the potential for shorting out.


I will line the interior with Reflectix over the Styrofoam insulation and frame before putting the panels back in place.

I was able to locate the fridge (TF65) and heater ( Propex 2800) position as well as where to put my intake vent for the fridge. The exterior intake for the fridge cooling will be filtered with the same type of air filter used for the cabin filter in my Tacoma.


So far so good now to remove all the interior panels.

 

[Captm]

Forward slider window, not sure if the plastic pieces in each corner are for bracing or spacing. Does anyone know the purpose?
Three of the four are held in place by a staple on each end. The top passenger side plastic has one staple holding it up. UPDATE - While at FWC I asked about these and they are spacers to match the curve of the window.

 

[Captm]

"So far so good now to remove all the interior panels." is what I said in a earlier post. However with the driver side panel removed I came across a problem that needed to be resolved at FWC. I sent photos out Saturday night and by Sunday night Stan replied. I really wasn't expecting to hear anything until Monday sometime at the earliest. One of the reasons I felt comfortable going with FWC in the first place was all the reports I've read here and on Expo about their customer service. By Tuesday they had a company meeting and Jason at American RV Company called me to let me know the results and that a truck is available to take the camper up to FWC. The build thread is on hold for a bit - I'm driving up to Woodland to drop of the camper.
Cheers

 

[billharr]

"So far so good now to remove all the interior panels." is what I said in a earlier post. However with the driver side panel removed I came across a problem that needed to be resolved at FWC. I sent photos out Saturday night and by Sunday night Stan replied. I really wasn't expecting to hear anything until Monday sometime at the earliest. One of the reasons I felt comfortable going with FWC in the first place was all the reports I've read here and on Expo about their customer service. By Tuesday they had a company meeting and Jason at American RV Company called me to let me know the results and that a truck is available to take the camper up to FWC. Now that's customer service! The build thread is on hold for a bit - I'm driving up to Woodland to drop of the camper and meet the crew there.
Cheers

Hope it is not too big a problem. Good to hear FWC stepped up and is taking care if it.

Bill in Stockton.

 

[super doody]

"So far so good now to remove all the interior panels." is what I said in a earlier post. However with the driver side panel removed I came across a problem that needed to be resolved at FWC. I sent photos out Saturday night and by Sunday night Stan replied. I really wasn't expecting to hear anything until Monday sometime at the earliest. One of the reasons I felt comfortable going with FWC in the first place was all the reports I've read here and on Expo about their customer service. By Tuesday they had a company meeting and Jason at American RV Company called me to let me know the results and that a truck is available to take the camper up to FWC. Now that's customer service! The build thread is on hold for a bit - I'm driving up to Woodland to drop of the camper and meet the crew there.
Cheers

interested in hearing about the problem. Good luck with the fix.

 

[Captm]

I dropped the shell off at FWC yesterday and it should be coming back on their next regularly schedule run to SoCal.
I stopped at the CAT Scales before and after dropping it off. Topped off my gas before each weigh.
For those that may be unaware CAT charges $10.00 for the first weigh and $2.00 for the second.
The shell weighed 740 lbs.
Less the on board options in lbs. -
1. Awnings 43
2. Yakima track 10ft. 10?
3. Folding steps (4) 10?
4. Jacks (4) 80
5. Vent 10
-----
Sub total 153 ?

Less Mounting brackets/pad 70

Dry Shell weight = 517 lbs.

Now add in the Standard Items that I removed in lbs.-
1. Cushions (4) 12
2. Bed cushion (1) 19.5
3. Bed board w/ slides 24
4. Lower trim boards w/ 4 flip down
access doors 15.3
5. Flip up bench panels and trim 10.3
6. Driver side pane, fwd panel,
aft panels 19.6
7. Misc. trim 2.4
8. Carpet w/ staples and doorskin
attached 10.3
9. Upper side cabinets (2) 13.5
10. Tupperware container of screws 2.2
------
Subtotal 129.1
=====
Fleet Shell weight = 646.1

So if I add the standard parts removed to the dry weight I come up with 646.1 lbs for a the Fleet Shell.
My I.D. Plaque says 660 lbs for standard w/o options, so leaves a little wiggle.


I had called FWC, I do not know who answered the phone that day, and asked what the weight of the Fleet Shell was. 590 pounds was the answer. I was happy because it will only weigh 300 pounds more than my Flippac. I hindsight I should have made sure that 590 lbs was correct and that we were taking apples to apples. So I'm starting 56 lbs heavier than planned, not bad but time to think skinny.
Such is life .

Cheers

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

My Flippac weighed 450 pounds not the advertised 350. Adding the Eagle shell pushed the weight up to 1000 pounds dry.
I was surprised that 550pounds affected the performance of my old 99 4 cyl that much.

 

[Captm]

Jim you must be really happy with the newer Tacoma. How's your mileage? Mines never been great and I found out on the trip to FWC that the hit I take with the shell is at the 4mpg. Of coarse that's on the 5 with traffic flow at 75mph. Definitely going to add a wind deflector and easy up on the right pedal.
Cheers

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Mornin CaptM,

We have 10,000 miles on truck now. Without the camper I averaged 22-24 hi-way experiencing a 6 mpg drop with the camper. The more miles the better the milege. 50/50 average now14.6. (5k miles ago it was about 13) Hiway range 16.5 - 18 ( 18mpg was the leg from Truckee down 395 to Olancha - April 2013 - no A/C).

When I had the camper on the 4 cylinder Tacoma I averaged 12.5 - 50/50 so the milege with the V6 is much improved and I have a ton of spare power.

In fact when on the section (of 395 2-lane road) between Hwy 58 and Johannesburg I needed to pass a semi and I was loaded with food, water and gear for a week in the desert and going uphill - I swung out to pass, punched it, and flew past. Taco goes like "a scalded cat". Very impressive.


Wind Deflector:
I once read that the cause of lower milege was the swirling air behind the vehicle as it moves through the air and if I put a curved wind deflector on the rear edge of the top, it would clean up the airflow ( as well as the dirt on the back) and improve the milege. I have been thinking about fabricating a deflector and trying out that theory....still in thinking stage as I haven't "figured out how to fab it".

Next week I'm going to the Saline hot springs for a week. I will report when I return.


Jim

 

[ETAV8R]

Watching your build. Looks great so far.

 

[broncotime]

By Tuesday they had a company meeting and Jason at American RV Company called me to let me know the results and that a truck is available to take the camper up to FWC. The build thread is on hold for a bit - I'm driving up to Woodland to drop of the camper.
Cheers

they provided camper transport and you're just following it? seems like with how recently you purchased and being local to azusa, they might take it from there. or did you just want to follow along?

 

[Captm]

FWC was going to pick it up from the dealer in Azusa on the next scheduled run. I wanted to get it up there sooner so I drove it up and dropped it off.
Cheers

 

[dcoy]

Looks very nice. Too bad though that a long bed Taco format seems to be "required" and DCLBs in 4x4 (what alone Manual Trans) are no longer available.

 

[Captm]

Looks very nice. Too bad though that a long bed Taco format seems to be "required" and DCLBs in 4x4 (what alone Manual Trans) are no longer available.

A Finch will fit the short bed and although a manual trans DCLB would be a "special order" you can still get the LB 4x4 auto. For myself I prefer the auto trans but then again with city driving and a bad back it's not really an option.
Cheers

 

[dcoy]

A Finch will fit the short bed and although a manual trans DCLB would be a "special order" you can still get the LB 4x4 auto. For myself I prefer the auto trans but then again with city driving and a bad back it's not really an option.
Cheers

Yeah, but some of the "amenites" that we'd like drop off on the Finch (particularly the "self contained" option). Good idea though. I'll see if a special order is possible for a DCLB 4x4 manual.

Thanks

 

[Captm]

FWC ROCKS and now I'm back to the build as I picked up our NEW Fleet today from American RV.
You may recall that in post #27 I said that I came across a problem that needed to be resolved at FWC.
The shell went back to the factory, was repaired and delivered to my house in a pretty quick turn around.
I really was pleased that it was taken care of so fast -shows a commitment to customer satisfaction.
However I wasn't impressed with the repairs and expressed my concerns with Brenda (who now has Terry's old position). She explained that the owner, Tom, was out of town and unreachable. Brenda then asked if I could wait until he returned to discuss the issue. Brenda touched base with me a several times during the week then asked if I would be available for a conference call that Friday. I don't know about the rest of you but I equate conference calls with negotiations and not fun ones at that. Tom called at the scheduled time and after a minute of pleasantries offered to build a new Fleet Shell for me - no fuss, no dickering but rather
"I want to make you, the customer, happy".

I really am impressed, how many companies and their owner would step up like that?

Thanks to Tom, Brenda, Stan and the FWC family for doing it right!

A happy camper

 

[KILR0Y]

Small Company=Caring About Customers=More Happy Campers

Yay FWC & captm

 

[ETAV8R]

That is awesome customer service!

 

[billharr]

Service like this is why I love FWC. We will all wonder what the problem was, but we have no question that FWC took care of it beyond what other companies would do. Not at all like this Expo my Taco thread.