Our "NEW" Raven Camper - Let the Build Up Begin :-)

[Hodakaguy]

We just picked up our new to us Raven camper from the original owner. He only used it a couple times and it's like brand new, even has that new smell inside still . My father, my son and I all left WA state and headed to Reno NV to pick the camper up.

It's a modified shell version with a few extra add on accessories (Heater/propane tanks, Artic Pack, Fiamma Awning, Solar plug, Single batt setup, Jacks with aluminum mounts, extra left side opening window, Opening front window, Screen door, Fantastic Fan, Yakima Racks on top, forward mounted bench seat/bed with under bed storage bays). I really wanted a full camper version with silver spur package (Minus the sink as we've found we never use it and would rather have the space than the 20 gallon water tank) but we saved a TON on this one vs a new one so we decided to snag this one and build it to our liking

We plan on building up the truck (Lift, bumpers, lights, etc) and adding a few more modifications to the camper...Stove, custom table, etc. I added air bags to the truck before we left to snag the camper, once the camper was installed we used them to level the truck back to factory ride height. The truck handled great on the way home and you really couldn't even tell the camper was on there!

I forgot to remove the tailgate before we left so we had a porch on this trip Here are a few pictures from the trip home.


Loading the camper at the original owners house. We removed the wiring harness from his Ford Raptor and did a temporary install on our Tundra, I'll redo the wiring later using a heavier gauge wire and paying attention to protecting abrasion points etc.

We stopped at Reno to let my son play at the Children's discovery museum and check out the Reno auto museum. Waiting for the discovery center to open.

Stopped to check out the shoe tree.

Camp in the middle of no where . Snapped this shot late at night with a full moon shining. The heater had never been used so we broke it in on this trip...worked great! The heater kept us toasty warm all night, it was 27 deg outside when we woke up.

Waking up

Very nice sunrise the next morning.

Stopped to check out a cool old church and school.

And home sweet home.

Lots more to come. I'm going to tweak the interior a little and we have several mods to the truck that are planned. I'll post up the progress here as it happens.

Hodakaguy

 

[BobM]

Welcome to the Raven owners club!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Wander The West mobile app

 

[billharr]

Congrats on the camper. Nice to find a used one almost like new. Looking forward to your build making it just like you want. Take lots of photos of your modifications.

Bill

 

[takesiteasy]

Congrats on the camper. Nice to find a used one almost like new. Looking forward to your build making it just like you want. Take lots op photos of your modifications.

Bill

x2! Nice looking rig.

 

[DanT]

Very cool, especially doing it with your dad and son.
Congrats and let the mods begin...
Don't forget to post photos and have a blast !

 

[longhorn1]

Congrats. You will have a great time. Looking forward to seeing more interior pictures and the modifications.

jd

 

[craig333]

Good looking rig. Funny how our needs vary so much. I use my sink constantly and can't imagine not having it. Loved your lightning pics but wheres the Hodaka?

 

[rotti]

.......wheres the Hodaka?

Yeah.
I have fond memories of my first two dirt bikes, a Combat Wombat and 250 Super Dog.

 

[Hodakaguy]

Thanks guys, we're looking forward to future trips with the camper.

On the sink...the last several outings in our Syncro haven't even bothered filling the fresh water tank up and we find that bottled water or fresh water in jugs are what we tend to use instead. I don't drink out of the onboard water tank and usually clean dishes etc outside of the vehicle. If I was to order a new unit I would have asked them to skip the sink and just had more counter space.

I used to collect Hodaka's years ago and only have one Ace 100 left awaiting restoration, I would like to find a nice clean Wombat and Super Combat again though

A few pictures of the interior.

Initial Thoughts..... The build quality of the camper seems very good, the camper is very sturdy and for the most part fit and finish is very nice. The front bench is deeper than it needs to be and although it allows a lot of under seat storage space (three separate large bays) and a large lower bed it makes the storage space hard to access and takes up valuable floor space in the process (FWC could have added a couple small doors under the front of the bench to help out the accessibility problem, as it sits now you have to remove the large couch cushions then a wooden access panel to gain access to the storage area). The small corner Island that FWC built to house the heater and the propane tanks could have been designed better as well to utilize space and allow more storage. The roof (Especially the front) is very heavy and difficult to raise...I will be adding pop top shocks to help address this problem.

I'm not totally sure yet how I will be re-arranging the interior to suit our needs, I will defiantly be adding a stove and may eventually change the entire interior layout as I would like more counter space as well...time will tell I'll also be adding a 220W flex panel solar setup, relocating the battery and adding a second battery as well. LED flood lights are on the list as well as a few other small options.

Why used and not New.....I liked the full FWC camper layout and we came real close to ordering a new silver spur Raven camper (Would match our truck nicely!) but the unwillingness of FWC to accomidate non standard changes got me to looking at used units more closely. I asked them to Install a Dinette option (I realize space is small but they flat refused to build a new one with that option any longer and this was the option that fit our needs the best), the inability to change small options like a black Fiamma awning to match the black/grey Silver Spur Exterior (This option is available from Fiamma and really should be standard on the Silver Spur packages) and small lack of choice items such as the new (what I consider ugly/busy dog bone fabric pattern) silver spur interior fabric are all reasons that drove us away from a new model. I know I know kind of a rant here but on a camper that cost over $20K new (For a small slide in camper!) these options should be available! For the money saved buying used I'm more willing to deal with these short comings.


Here's a few interior pics of our setup in it's current as purchased configuration.

Bench in the upright position.

The corner area currently housing the battery, heater and propane tanks. More thought could have went into this area from the factory. There is a ton of room to house the batteries under the bench and all the way forward, this would free up valuable easily accessible storage space and keep the center of gravity lower and further forward. I'll be installing dual batt banks in the forward section. The space is small but this configuration doesn't seem to be ideal....maybe a reason their web site no longer shows a heater as an option on a shell unit.

Bottom bed way larger than it needs to be.

More to come....

Hodakaguy

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Congratulations on the Raven! It looks very nice, and I bet it will be even better with your mods!

 

[billharr]

Check out the BUILD THREAD, Lots of great ideas. My used Hawk shell had the same corner set up for the stove and battery, and a stove one top. Mine had a front dinette and made a side dinette out of it. You will be happy building just want you want. A Hodaka handing off the back would look good. I am a long time motorcyclist Flattrack and enduro when young, now ride a BMW K1600GT old mans fast motorcycle.


Bill

 

[Hodakaguy]

Check out the BUILD THREAD, Lots of great ideas. My used Hawk shell had the same corner set up for the stove and battery, and a stove one top. Mine had a front dinette and made a side dinette out of it. You will be happy building just want you want. A Hodaka handing off the back would look good. I am a long time motorcyclist Flattrack and enduro when young, now ride a BMW K1600GT old mans fast motorcycle.


Bill

Thanks guys, Looking forward to making it our own

I wish ours had came with the front dinette option, I would have used it for a side dinette conversion as well.

Anyone out there have a dinette seating option they want to sell?

More than likely the truck will have a KTM in tow, or maybe a hard tail Z50 for camp ground use

Hodakaguy

 

[GroovyDad]

Looks great! I even kind of like the "porch" on your rig.

 

[billharr]

I like the roll over brackets and they make the small bed automatic. You could buy a set from FWC or go the KISS system like in the picture below. From this build thread.

 

[Hodakaguy]

Built a quick storage deck to set the camper on so I can get the camper off the truck and some work done as weather allows. The Syncro is keeping it's place in the garage which makes it a little hard to get much work done when the temps outside are hovering in the 20 deg range. I'll eventually add some casters to the bottom of the deck so I can easily move the camper around as needed.

More to come as time and weather allow.

Hodakaguy

 

[billharr]

Just saw your picture of your camper next to your house. Had to do a double take, same siding, same color and just about the same about of room on side of the house.


Your camper.

My camper

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Adding my congrats too. Across front is an interesting place to put the couch . Makes sense in a 70" inch long camper.
You can do a lot more with the shell model and save lots of dollars.

 

[Hodakaguy]

Just saw your picture of your camper next to your house. Had to do a double take, same siding, same color and just about the same about of room on side of the house.


Your camper.


My camper

That does look pretty darn close to the same. I'm going to add some casters to the wood support so I can push the camper out into the open to make installation easier.

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Next minor upgrade to the truck...Towing Mirrors.

The stock mirrors are to small in my opinion and marginal with the camper installed. I ordered a set of factory Toyota tow mirrors, they have both power and heat along with a built in blind spot mirror. These should do the trick

Installation was quick...about 10 min per side.

New mirrors fresh out of the package and waiting to be installed.

A couple pics of the stock mirrors on the truck.

Installing the new mirrors

And the tow mirrors installed

Mirrors retracted and extended.

Hodakaguy

 

[GroovyDad]

Those mirrors looks great on your rig. Also, I would come up with some way to lock your Raven when it's off the truck. I can see someone just backing up to it, jacking it up and taking off with it. I wouldn't have thought like that a few months ago, but then a guy recently had his truck and FWC stolen at the Sacramento REI. His truck was soon recovered w/o the camper. The camper was recovered weeks later and badly damaged. Just a thought...