Why did you choose ATC over FWC

New owner ATC Panther

Customer service

This is my first post on this forum although I am a long time lurker.

I was able to purchase a used All Terrain Panther and just picked it up. I am very impressed with the design and craftmanship shown in the construction.
In a world of mass produced goods it is nice to find a product that still shows hand built quality.

Ben at all Terrain was very helpful in sending me the instructions and hardware for mounting the camper. He went out of his way to send me the hardware quickly and sent pictures with the verbal instructions on mounting locations.

Talk about service after the sale! Thanks Ben.
 
This is the reason I am ordering a ATC vs a FWC. I visited FWC in Riverside and ATC in Sacramento. I thought the guys at FWC were cold and had no social skills, aside from that, I have a 2006 ford crew cab with the short bed, which is 5.5ft not the 6.5. In addition the bed is deeper on the newer fords. FWC builds a false floor and only a 6.5 camper. I called asked if they would build a shorter camper to fit my truck and they said it would be to much work and could not be done. Also I wanted the camper sides higher and not a false floor. FWC said no way.

I headed over to ATC and told them what I wanted and they all sat around saying this and that and then looked at me and said, NO PROBLEM. They would build me a camper to fit the short bed on my crew cab truck and the side wall of the camper higher to fit the deeper beds on the ford trucks. That was all I needed to hear, and soon I will have my new camper.

I have been camping forever, from Cabo to Alaska and this time around I wanted the biggest-smallest rig I could get, so I went for the crew cab for storage and the short bed to keep the length down. I’ll let you all know how it turns out.
 
The "can do" attitude

I think ATC's (and Ben's) "can do" attitude does make a huge difference.

It seems that nothing is impossible and he is willing to go the extra mile (or 3000 miles like his trip to Florida).

Ben will honestly tell you if he thinks that your special requests are impractical, plain crazy or with little benefit in real life.

Customer satisfaction and safety goes over the fast buck (on the long run). He's living proof of it.

It's always nice to do business with good people, he's one of the few.

BTW, I'm VERY happy with my new Bobcat. Even if I just can't resist to take the interior apart, modify and improve it. Let me tell you, the interior of the cabinets, storage spaces etc is as well finished as the rest of the camper. It's a pleasure to work on it.
 
Ben,
Are you guys still using the outside storm flaps for the windows? If so, do you see an advantage over the window system that FWC uses? The FWC system seems much easier to use.

Thanks
 
Storm Flaps

When I took delivery of my ATC, I talked to Marty about the storm flaps. This is my take on it, based on that discussion and my own observations:

  • The storm flaps are mostly unnecessary.
  • In a serious storm, you might want them.
  • The storm flaps are a bit of a pain--untill you need them.
I initially thought storm flaps went in the con column, but now I'm inclined to put them in the pro category.
 
Storm Flaps

Kilroy,

Scott's post pretty much sums it up. They are a bit of pain to use but we believe in a really heavy rain they are worth it. Not so much when you are camping as when you have to drive through a heavy rain to get home or out camping.
 
It's all been said before, but I chose ATC over FWC because I felt Marty and Jeff would build what I wanted, not what they wanted. The approach was to outline what the basics were for, then add what I thought was necessary FOR ME. When I called FWC over a used camper I was considering, how I wanted to mod it to make it what I wanted, the answers were pretty much "That isn't possible" or "We don't do that". No explanation.

When I approached Marty about building a dinette and sent him my ideas, it was "We'll see what we can do." In the process of finalizing the dinette structure, Marty and Jeff took the time to build a mock up to see if it would really work in the limited space of a Bobcat. I got a call from Marty to give me the final dimensions and what he and Jeff had to do to make it a quality build. When I saw the final result (when I picked up the camper), it was better than what I had in mind. My wife said it all when she said she felt it had been built especially for us. You don't get that feeling much in today's world.

Thanks ATC.
 
hi all this is my first reply to the stie,as we are just new members.on tuesday past mid the driving rain here in northern ca we ordered a bobcat wow spent over two hours talking with the 'boys' at ATC.a great group.a week before we went to FWC and got the tour plus a price.i was ready to place an order but as we needed to sell our kamparoo tent trailer we decided to wait.than on saturday i found the WTW site,and all the great info about ATC.really impressed with them.also thanks for the pics from ARGONAUT 20 for the dinette plans .we liked them so we are including that in our order.i have other questions for future responses,like does anyone carry a canoe?what about different ways to help lift the roof with the additional 50#of canoe weight or is it needed.thanks again for any and all info.we are looking forward to december 1st when we get our bobcat.
 
Welcome. I don't have my kayak yet, but I'm expecting to have to take it down to raise the roof. Doesn't take much weight up there to make it really hard to raise.
 
on the 13th of october we ordered our bobcat from atc.the week before we went to fwc and looked at their eagle ,really liked it and know ahead what the price would be as i built and priced one from their web site.really enjoyed talking with steve we asked a lot of questions and received good answers.we were ready to purchase one but had to wait and sell our kamparoo tent trailer.the next week we had just come back from reno where i delivered the trailer to the buyer.having sold the kamparoo we were now ready to order the camper.i also had an idea what one would cost there.my bobcat came to about 2200$ less than the eagle.its just not the price but they offer the extended cab bed with 4" mattress at no extra coast plus the camper is 4" wider allowing us to sleep across the bed instead of using and carrying all the extra bed cushions.they did raise the base price about 200$ but that includes a free screen door and sliding window and dead bolt.it all made better sense for us,plus we talked to the people who will build the camper.the old saying, 'you get what you pay for' isn't always right.sometimes you get over charged and get less.i read over the comparison between the two companies but it didn't always compare apples to apples.as with buying most things do some homework and make the best choice for you.we are looking forward to getting our bobcat the 1st of december and hope to use it as soon as possible.i really enjoy this forum and have gotten a lot of helpful info from all the posts.thanks frank
 
We have a 2009 fully loaded Bobcat and we love it. We go to the mountains almost every weekend and if you use yours a lot, you will be very happy. The guys at ATC will take care of you. You have made the right decision.

Be safe and have fun out there.

Darryl

Bobcat, Tacoma 4x4
 
thanks craig.my canoe is only 50# about as much as a solar panel so i don't think lifting the roof should be any harder than having solar up there.since any solar i have will be like les at lq between the truck cab and camper.i'll keep all posted as to how much effort this is to lift the roof.we just want to keep this as simple as possible.

frank
 
For true comparison, the 85 watt solar panel installed on my Hawk weighs 18 pounds.

However, when lifting the front of the unit..it certainly feels much heavier than that. (are all of the buckles loose? LOL)

mtn
 
ATC were friendly and seemed to care about what I wanted. FWC did even return my call for 3 days, and no e-mail's at all.
David
 
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