Where to put Engle Fridge?

[RyanOBrian1]

Hello!

I'm in the process of designing my interior shell. Like a lot of people I can't figure out to go with the Fleet or the Eagle. Any suggestions on that would be appreciated. As of now I'm thinking I'd prefer the roll out couch.

I'm also though trying to figure out where I could put a Engle 45. With a roll out couch would it still fit on the floor.

From this photo it obviously still does. I'm just not sure if it will with the full couch there

Another option I was thinking was putting it on a slider and mounting it under the couch in this free space. Does anyone know if it will overlap the door?

 

[Stalking Light]

I chose the Eagle over the Fleet because it's narrower and I would have better rear vision without extended mirrors. A lot of places I go are fairly tight and I didn't want to have to worry about the caper as long as I could get the truck nose through. That said, I think I'm in a distinct minority because I was told at Expo that FWC was going to quit making Eagles - nobody buys them, they buy the Fleet instead.

 

[Bread]

I have a 2011 Tacoma Access Cab with a Fleet. I mounted my Engle 45 (top loading) behind the passenger seat and really like it there. Frees up lots of space in the camper and I can access it easily. Some people who have them mounted in the camper can't open the lid all the way when the camper top is down. It's wired to the camper battery. Pulled out the access cab jump seat and built a plywood base where I mounted the lock in Engle platform.

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Ryan,
Your first pic is my living area. Fleet and Eagle are the same width between the wheel wells.,the width difference is above the bed rails.
I built the "gaucho" couch because the roll-over uses half the floor space-overlapping half the door -blocking the entrance. We only lose the storage behind the back rest and it's not important to us as we are minimalists.

The roll over couch seat is positioned where the the Shell storage locker that is above the wheel wells is located. Losing that storage would have hurt. We are glad we made the smaller couch.

Your second picture is a Hawk. Hawk sits on a full size truck. Full size is foot wider between wheel wells and still roll-over couch overlaps.

The Engle 45 is just a little higher and a little longer than our 35. Our 35 is sitting in the space that holds the water storage tank. Fridge is sitting about 2 inches back from front wall to allow for air movement.

The roll-over frame is too low to allow the the Engle to slide under it and would block the door if you put it in the rear. Your choices are under the front window or up on top of the deck where the water tank would be placed.

The camper door is offset. There is more storage space on drivers side then curbside. That is reason the built in cabinets and regular fridge position is on the drivers side.

The following pic shows the "notch" where you want to put the "Engle". We position our large Thetford porta=potty there.Its dimensions are: 16" H x 16" L (front to back) x 15 " wide. We position it there when camped. When traveling we slide it to the front and store 3ea 1 gallon water bottles in the "notch". The fridge is level with the top of the padded section. The top of the padded area is 17 " above the floor.

The Fleet is 3" deeper on each side As you view the above picture. If we bought the Fleet and built the Gaucho couch the folding couch extension could have been been shortened to 6 " deep. the cushion is 20" deep plus a 1 inch spacer to allow for the back rest.

On the galley side, the additional depth would allow for a 18" deep counter and still give enough room in the cabin for 2 adults to move around comfortably.

Call FWC to get exact measurements.

 

[RyanOBrian1]

I chose the Eagle over the Fleet because it's narrower and I would have better rear vision without extended mirrors. A lot of places I go are fairly tight and I didn't want to have to worry about the caper as long as I could get the truck nose through. That said, I think I'm in a distinct minority because I was told at Expo that FWC was going to quit making Eagles - nobody buys them, they buy the Fleet instead.

Interesting, I'be been inside of a Fleet before and it felt very roomy. I haven't yet been inside of a Eagle. I'd like to have it narrower but the room might be nice.

 

[RyanOBrian1]

I have a 2011 Tacoma Access Cab with a Fleet. I mounted my Engle 45 (top loading) behind the passenger seat and really like it there. Frees up lots of space in the camper and I can access it easily. Some people who have them mounted in the camper can't open the lid all the way when the camper top is down. It's wired to the camper battery. Pulled out the access cab jump seat and built a plywood base where I mounted the lock in Engle platform.

Oooo that is an interesting solution. I also have a 2010 access cab. The only problem I see with that is reclining of the seat. I'm 6'3 so I have the seat pretty far back and like to lay the seat back pretty far, do you have any pics?

 

[Bread]

No pics right now. Camper's currently off the truck. Will post some up when I get it back together.

You can recline the seat pretty far. Probably as far as you would want it for driving, but not far enough to fully recline and catch a nap.

I have the Frontrunner 10 gallon footwell water tank http://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/water-solutions/front-runner-40l-water-tank-footwell.html#.VaWmXXm9LTo

The footwell tank helps prop up the fridge base so everything's level and snug.

 

[RyanOBrian1]

Ryan,
Your first pic is my living area. Fleet and Eagle are the same width between the wheel wells.,the width difference is above the bed rails.
I built the "gaucho" couch because the roll-over uses half the floor space-overlapping half the door -blocking the entrance. We only lose the storage behind the back rest and it's not important to us as we are minimalists.

The roll over couch seat is positioned where the the Shell storage locker that is above the wheel wells is located. Losing that storage would have hurt. We are glad we made the smaller couch.

Your second picture is a Hawk. Hawk sits on a full size truck. Full size is foot wider between wheel wells and still roll-over couch overlaps.

The Engle 45 is just a little higher and a little longer than our 35. Our 35 is sitting in the space that holds the water storage tank. Fridge is sitting about 2 inches back from front wall to allow for air movement.

The roll-over frame is too low to allow the the Engle to slide under it and would block the door if you put it in the rear. Your choices are under the front window or up on top of the deck where the water tank would be placed.

The camper door is offset. There is more storage space on drivers side then curbside. That is reason the built in cabinets and regular fridge position is on the drivers side.

The following pic shows the "notch" where you want to put the "Engle". We position our large Thetford porta=potty there.Its dimensions are: 16" H x 16" L (front to back) x 15 " wide. We position it there when camped. When traveling we slide it to the front and store 3ea 1 gallon water bottles in the "notch". The fridge is level with the top of the padded section. The top of the padded area is 17 " above the floor.



The Fleet is 3" deeper on each side As you view the above picture. If we bought the Fleet and built the Gaucho couch the folding couch extension could have been been shortened to 6 " deep. the cushion is 20" deep plus a 1 inch spacer to allow for the back rest.

On the galley side, the additional depth would allow for a 18" deep counter and still give enough room in the cabin for 2 adults to move around comfortably.

Call FWC to get exact measurements.

Hey Jim,

Thank you so much for all your input and time responding. Unfortunately that doesn't help for Eagle vs Fleet. I think the camper is primarily going to be on full time. Also, I do offroad it quite a bit and it's often worse then fireroads. I have ICON suspension all around w/ the AAL. I also just got airbags I'll install along with the Daystar Cradles. I think I need to just find someone around here locally with the Eagle and a roll out couch to see if it will work for me. Honestly the Eagle appeals to me due to it's smaller size. But I will be spending a lot of time in the camper during the winter. I plan on using it a lot camping on in ski lots, so the extra size of the Fleet may be nice there.

I've been looking over your camper a lot. I think I plan on doing the same type of setup. I'm going with the shell, and may put in a counter with just a sink draining overboard. But I don't want any plumbing since I plan to be in the cold so much. My options I'm going with are 160W Zamp Solar Panel w/ Controller, furnace, 2 roof vents, front opening window, Yakima Tracks, rear flood lights, arctic pack, aux battery, rollover couch, flush mount stove, and rear wall steps

That's a bummer the Engle won't fit in the front under the window with the roll out couch. If I don't mount it in the cab I suppose I could put it on some sort of sideways slide under the counter.

 

[Stalking Light]

As far as the Engle goes, I'm pretty sure the floor space on the Eagle and the Fleet are identical, the extra room is above the truck sides, like counter top and bed width. I sleep N/S in my Eagle but could probably sleep E/W in the Fleet without using the bed slide out, for example. I have the side dinette, so I'm not sure if the space by the door on the passenger side is the same size as with the rollover couch, though.