Hondo Garage's New Thing

Coupla tings:

1 - GFC is already talking about solar so I'm guessing they plan to mount something to the top of the GFC with no rack. I'm holding off on that for now but it's a cool idea.

2 - you could always just mount a rack to the top of the bars - my frontrunner basket style would fit up there just fine.

I have to say that I'm SUPER impressed with the design and mfg of the frontrunner rack. It is absolutely top notch - and looks great.

@COdude3 - you could always buy my front runner and cut it down my 1/2 so it doesn't interfere with the GFC.

 

I just googled - Rhino rack looks a lot like the FrontRunner rack. Easy peasy.

 

No drilling with the Rhino? I will probably wait and see what the GFC wind deflector looks like, but I'm interested in rack options because I have previously used my solar panel rack set-up to hold a wind faring as well and this helped quiet the noise of my tall shell and kick most bugs up and over.

Curious to see what God_Family_Campers ideas are for solar mounting. I would want it mounted as close to the roof as possible vs. suspended from load bars, but at the same time am hesitant to drill the fancy roof for it.

 

I own a flippac, the amount of standing space in the back is your entire truck bed (5' or 6'), compare that with the pics floating around here. When I bought my flippac, less than 1 year old, it cost the same as a new GFC. A flippac weighs ~350 pounds, so only 100 -150 more than a GFC. Not enough for me to say its too heavy.

Will confirm, rainfly is a pain in the ass.

I think the GFC is awesome and happy to see more options. Just trying to dispel some flippac rumors.

 

If I were going to spend more time in it - I might consider a Flippac. But, this seems a better option for my needs. Good comments tho - great to hear a flippac owner comment.

 

I owned a Flippac in the past and if this was available at the same time I would have probably chosen something like this instead. Flippacs are cool but the cons outweigh the pros.

 

***edited***. WHOOPS I was thinking Habitat.... I’m an idiot.

I originally was going to go with a FlipPac, (I MEANT HABITAT) but the only dealer on the east coast was MainLine Overland, they were asking $8600 plus $1600 freight (to their nearest location) so for me it was actually MORE than double the cost of a GFC... i liked the idea a lot but my wife would F’ing KILL me if i spent 10k on a tent.... seriously. Instead for the same 10k my truck is going to be 100% built up for Overlanding. Plus i didn’t like the idea of the roof flipping 180 degrees. Solar in my future too on the GFC roof.

-Yota

BTW their nearest location was 7 hours away and they wanted like $600 to “install” jeez..... unless the wiring is more complicated than i can imagine that’s like $150 per clamp. Or maybe it ships in many many pieces. Either way it looks awesome (the FlipPac ***Again i meant Habitat) but for me GFC was an easy choice at well under half price.

 

I have a 100W renogy panel as well. I figured I'd use the rack and add another panel. I'd hate to "throw it away" just to try and use flex panels glues to roof... we'll see

 

I was right there with you. The size and ability to sleep us plus 2 kids was a huge bonus point. But I kept shaking my head at the cost and once you add a few options...holy cow the price was above $10k so fast.

Then I found the GFC thread and honestly I debated the Habitat for a little while longer, but even though it is smaller, the weight, price and quality of engineering/design win over in my book, and we're going to go with it and make it work with the kids and dog. Probably end up with a small utility trailer to pull behind, which is growing on me because it allows for easy packing (stuff can stay in it) and flexibility to leave a base camp or go expo style, and I can run solo in the GFC on guys trips. Kids is another layer of difficulty but for the same or less as the Habitat we should be able to run both the camper and trailer and I think it will be a better set up, for our needs.

 

Could always bring a 2-2.5 person ground tent for when the kids or guests are around. But with the light GFC, a trailer tongue weight is more manageable too.

 

If you look at the animation in the middle of the GFC.com homepage, you would have most of the bed to stand in, minus the front pad that looks to come aft of the front frame about 1ft or less and what the roof angle height is there.

 

Plus those are still worth gold lol...

I think when i eventually go GFC i'll keep the prinsu and just move all the load bars to the front and use it to store a couple of action packers for wood.

 

In my opinion, the GFC and Habitat née FlipPac are different solutions to different problems. I owned a FlipPac and spent some time checking out a Habitat and while you can always argue the value, the roominess has to be experienced to be understood. On my stock T100, the weight of the FP wasn’t a problem; in fact it rode smoother. As for the GFC, aside from light weight and simplicity, I think the design team has a great concept AND worked the details. But I won’t spend my money till I see one.

 

I've already got a flexible panel, it's been great for the two years that I've had it, but I don't get the sense that longevity is going to be it's best quality (they get scratched/hazed up pretty fast) so I would be hesitant to glue it to my roof in case I needed/wanted to replace.

Has anyone had success/experience using something like 3M double sided mounting tape to mount a flex panel to a camper shell or RV roof?

 

are you saying you dont think the prinsu will fit under the gfc? I thought it was going to be fine since the prinsu is just about the height of the shark fin on the roof, and the gfc has a couple inches clearing the shark

 

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/3m--4200-fast-cure-white-polyurethane-adhesive-sealant-3oz--593147

 

I used a 3m clear Velcro around the perimeter and through the center of a renolgy flexible panel on my last snug top. I think it was 10 pounds of strength per foot. It held the panel on for two years until I sold the truck and removed it.

 

That sounds like a great solution to putting my panel on the GFC that would also allow for easy removal if needed. I'll have to do some Amazon trawling.

@slowboater The sealant you linked seems to be not recommended for ABS, Acrylics, or Lexan. Not sure exactly what the GFC roof or my panel are made of - but I don't like the odds of one of them not bonding very well. Also not crazy about the eventual removal/cleanup of a liquid vs. a tape based adhesive. Have you used that yourself to attach something to a camper or vehicle roof?

 

I have recently gone from a 2-door JK Wrangler (rock crawler-ish) to a 4-door tacoma and am planning my overland build for this summer. I am really interested in this design! As an Industrial Designer, the design work looks fantastic and smart. @gmacmt responded promptly to my email inquiries about an awning and I look forward to seeing that thing mounted on a GFC!

 

Nope, but used it a lot on boat stuff.