SLOwag
Advanced Member
Hello all. I've been lurking for a while. My wife and I now have taken possession of our new Finch and I wanted to post some of our observations for others considering a Finch, and solicit information from others with a Finch as well. I'll try to update this thread on occasion if it seems necessary.
I'll baseline our rig and camper specs.
2009 Toyota Tacoma auto trans 4WD Double Cab Short Bed w/ tow package, dual batteries in engine compartment, 7 leaf OME Dakkar rear suspension, 885 OME coil front suspension, Hankook ATM E rated tires, CBI hi-clearance rear bumper, rear tow hitch removed, rear seats and tailgate removed.
2014 Finch camper base model w/ 2 way frig, furnace, water heater, (1) fantastic fan, (1) roof vent, side awning, Yakima tracks on roof - no racks, rear wall steps, aux battery, passenger side couch and cabinets removed.
Observations: We are quite pleased with the quality of the build and withstood several days of rain during our shakedown trip with no leaks or failures of any kind...remember to run the heater for at least 30 minutes before you need it or the smoke detector will break your ear drums.
We come from a backpacking and ground tent back ground so this will be a new way of camping that we look forward to. We look forward to the easy set up and breakdown of camp so we can move camp often, or better yet, get out into the back country more often.
We camped with a 45lb dog and now have a new 18lb dog, so managing where the four legged and two legged creatures are will be a challenge I'm sure, but we will spend most of our time outdoors unless the weather is foul. Due to the small size of the Finch we opted to leave the passenger side of the camper basic with just the painted structure exposed. We will build out that side with some micro cabinets with a cushion on top, and a fold down table for dining (I’ll post photos once that work is done).
We opted for the flush mount sink and stove to create more counter space, we'll enlarge the drawers and cupboards to gain any dead space not currently used. The flat surfaces make a big difference in feeling like the space is larger than it really is. We'll also look at ways to hang daily use items on the vertical surfaces to reduce the piles that build on flat surfaces by default. I've been saving ideas found on WTW to address this, pictures to follow of course.
Truck Performance: The truck has adequate power and good power to accelerate and pass trucks. It does want to down shift a bit too much on grades with cruise control so I usually put it in a manual mode. The first and only full tank of gas with the camper netted about 15 mpg in mixed highway and mountain terrain. Not bad I think. The truck only managed 19 mpg when we were fully loaded for back country trips with an aluminum topper.
The rear springs completely flattened out and even inverted a bit. The balance side-to-side was uneven and required careful throttle or braking through turns. On “slightly” technical terrain, the truck did well as long as the trail wasn't off camber.
I attached a few photos of how the truck used to be kitted out, naked, and with the camper.
More to follow……
I'll baseline our rig and camper specs.
2009 Toyota Tacoma auto trans 4WD Double Cab Short Bed w/ tow package, dual batteries in engine compartment, 7 leaf OME Dakkar rear suspension, 885 OME coil front suspension, Hankook ATM E rated tires, CBI hi-clearance rear bumper, rear tow hitch removed, rear seats and tailgate removed.
2014 Finch camper base model w/ 2 way frig, furnace, water heater, (1) fantastic fan, (1) roof vent, side awning, Yakima tracks on roof - no racks, rear wall steps, aux battery, passenger side couch and cabinets removed.
Observations: We are quite pleased with the quality of the build and withstood several days of rain during our shakedown trip with no leaks or failures of any kind...remember to run the heater for at least 30 minutes before you need it or the smoke detector will break your ear drums.
We come from a backpacking and ground tent back ground so this will be a new way of camping that we look forward to. We look forward to the easy set up and breakdown of camp so we can move camp often, or better yet, get out into the back country more often.
We camped with a 45lb dog and now have a new 18lb dog, so managing where the four legged and two legged creatures are will be a challenge I'm sure, but we will spend most of our time outdoors unless the weather is foul. Due to the small size of the Finch we opted to leave the passenger side of the camper basic with just the painted structure exposed. We will build out that side with some micro cabinets with a cushion on top, and a fold down table for dining (I’ll post photos once that work is done).
We opted for the flush mount sink and stove to create more counter space, we'll enlarge the drawers and cupboards to gain any dead space not currently used. The flat surfaces make a big difference in feeling like the space is larger than it really is. We'll also look at ways to hang daily use items on the vertical surfaces to reduce the piles that build on flat surfaces by default. I've been saving ideas found on WTW to address this, pictures to follow of course.
Truck Performance: The truck has adequate power and good power to accelerate and pass trucks. It does want to down shift a bit too much on grades with cruise control so I usually put it in a manual mode. The first and only full tank of gas with the camper netted about 15 mpg in mixed highway and mountain terrain. Not bad I think. The truck only managed 19 mpg when we were fully loaded for back country trips with an aluminum topper.
The rear springs completely flattened out and even inverted a bit. The balance side-to-side was uneven and required careful throttle or braking through turns. On “slightly” technical terrain, the truck did well as long as the trail wasn't off camber.
I attached a few photos of how the truck used to be kitted out, naked, and with the camper.
More to follow……
