ha, it would seem i am going backwards doesnt it, from a full on diesel 4x4 pop top camper van to more "cozy" accommodations. there are a couple reasons, one being simplifying my life and going from 3 vehicles to 2 (at least in the car department, im a motorcycle guy at heart). another being cost of ownership, ford e350 diesel maintenance is high and high priced. another reason is just being over the top. I have always had VW Vanagon syncros (4x4 vw vans), 5 of them in fact, that i did several different motor conversions on looking for the sweet spot, last being an awesome subaru 6 cyl. I always loved working on them and considered it a hobby. a 1 ton van is not fun to work on at all, everything is big enough it will hurt you and your tools are never heavy duty enough etc. i find myself paying to have work done which translates into a vehicle i dont know every bolt on nor would i want to work on when on the road. i have no problems working on my Tundra, even though its needed zero work other than maintenance. another reason is just sheer size, i was able to get the syncros where ever i wanted and were nimble. 1 ton ford van (even the regular body i have) is big and just dont fit some places, and a man is it heavy when you do get in trouble. You really feel that weight all the time. I'm thinkin a tundra/FWC package will get back my nimbleness in the back country. That said, i will miss the ability to put motoX bikes inside the van and being totally self contained which was the entire concept to begin with.
Anyway, thank you for all the responses so far, great info and keep them coming. i hope i can see a phoenix in person, but i still think FWC and ATC are still my top contendors
Interesting thought process, I'll add my 2cents. I've always lusted after a sportsmobile, was never, nor IS in our budget. After searching long and hard for a used FWC Hawk that was local enough and had the features we wanted we pulled the trigger and ordered our brand new 2011 Hawk from FWC in CA. Accepted delivery 04/2011 and have since spent over 80 nights in it. We built it with the dinet, big 3-way fridge, furnace...no hot water, shower, solar. Since, we've added a second battery in parallel.
Overall we love it, it's everything we thought it would be and it's PERFECT for two adults both being of fit size and stature, along with our 40lbs dog. Things get a little cramped, trying to get dressed, make breakfast, dishes etc...it's really one at a time endeavors. Hanging out playing cards, drinking wine...we're happy as can be. For bigger people I think it would be a NO-GO in a FWC. I wish there were more storage...ie like the Phoenix under bed storage...that would be ideal and if we were to ever need to replace our camper I would give Phoenix a look for that alone. I have three friends that have sportsmobiles, I think in relation to storage they have a little more, and hang out space is maybe in the sportsmobile's favor slightly. They can definitely stealth camp better and more comfortably than we can. It's also a PITA always moving gear around the camper, having to unload stuff off the bed to drop the roof, then having to move stuff(bedding & bags) back up to the bed so we can sit and move around below, then it's bed time and things need to be moved back off the bed down low so we can go to bed. I feel like we're always shuffling.
One benefit to me going with the truck & camper over a van was that we still had a useable vehicle for hauling wood, Home Depot runs, daily driver etc...when the camper is off. So we really only have the camper on when we're going to be using it or have a date in the near future we're going to use it we'll leave it on. I don't love driving around with it on for weeks at a time when we're not using it; wear and tear on both camper and truck and a pain not having the bed for stuff. It's not difficult putting the camper on and off but for a short one-night it's kind of a PITA, so unless it's on, we tend not to do short one & two nighters which is a bummer. Ideally for us I want a third vehicle; wife's Subaru commuter, truck with camper loaded full time and a car or small pickup for my daily driver. That way camper is always ready to go and yet I'm not lugging the thing around all the time when not being used.
We have a Nissan Titan(similar to Tundra in payload size, etc) that I needed to beef up. I went the route of adding a Super Spring, it's ok but needed more so I added a rubber bump stop from Super Springs kind of like a Timbren...if I could do it over again I would do a custom spring pack from someone like Alcan.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the truck camper combo, but ideally when the time comes to replace the truck we'll go with a 3/4 ton for the load carrying capacity, bigger tranny, brakes, etc. The posted camper weights are BS, most Hawks moderately outfitted seem to be weighing in around the 1100-1200 LBS range based on what I've seen members posting on this forum. So....in my opinion, some day when you're Tundra gets tired you might find yourself right back in the same dilemma, moving up to a 3/4 ton vehicle, with similar weights and associated "issues" you're trying to get away from with the van. That being said there are a lot of Tundras with Hawks. You will find a lot of people saying they don't think it's enough truck, you'll also get a lot of folks saying it's fine.
Just my experiences and opinions. Overall we love the camper and it works well for our needs. We understand every camper(pop up or hard side), van, tent trailer, hard side trailer, diesel pusher, etc have their pros and cons. The FWC works for us and our current needs and we love owning and using it.
Good luck and I look forward to following along as you decide what works best for you. Cheers!
