Hondo Garage's New Thing

Probably lots of jobs you could find in Oregon/Washington with that experience. Wood products capital of the US.

 

FYI on contact, I emailed support@gfcengineering.com Monday at noon about the status of my awning mount and t-nuts order. Got a reply from Elise at 1040 pm same day that they were on back order and would be shipping this week. Email today that they had shipped and will arrive Saturday. They’re getting better at responding. (Order for these items was placed Sunday, 8th)

 

I agree, I communicated with Elise two days ago, I sent a follow up question and she got back to me today, they seem to be doing a little better for sure. Thanks GFC.

FYI, My contact was through the same email address as listed above.

 

Just spent 2 weeks in the GFC and absolutely stoked on it. Had a wildernest previously and used it year round, so that'll be the same plan here. This last trip was with bikes and climbing gear through northern ID and southern BC. Pretty dry and hot, 100+ miles of rough logging roads, 2 people, 2 dogs and lots of gear. Some notes from the trip: The ventilation is excellent, there is notable airflow from the small windows, whereas the wildernest had much more mesh and the air remained stagnant. Obvious decrease in space from the nest will take a little getting used to, not too much hanging out inside during this trip, but that will be tested out this fall and winter. Only one significant rainstorm, and having the small windows cracked worked well. Will definitely be trying to rig something to prop the rear window cover though. The lighting system was being redesigned when I picked it up so I have an Amazon led strip run around the perimeter of the space frame and another strip on a dimmer on the ceiling. The roof provides a nice bit of insulation, in the wildernest we would wake up hot if the tent was catching any sunlight. The roof panel on the GFC keeps things much cooler. MPGs were surprisingly not much different, around 17-18.5 with the nest and GFC. Wind noise and whatnot was also pretty minor. Gear storage isn't quite dialed, we run around with bikes, climbing gear and 2 65# dogs most of the summer so organization is key. Currently have a 45gal action packer front and center with maxxtraxx knockoffs tucked in front of that (action packer holds recovery gear, bedding and odds and ends), behind that are two gear bins and a food bin and at the back are the cooler and a homemade cook table (with propane and 7gal water underneath). This leaves space in front and back of the wheel wells for shoes and duffels. Coming from a setup with more plywood built-ins, this layout is working well. Makes everything easier to rearrange and access from the sides (which are an absolute game changer). Going to be figuring out heating, insulation and ski storage this fall. Anyway, awesome platform and just what I had been waiting for.

 

Helluva 1st post! The camper looks great on your rig.

 

Welcome. Awesome first post!!! Thank you!

 

@harbs89, Loved your post about using the GFC as a climbing base camp. Planning to do the 1000 km Forestry Trunk Road and then climb in the Bugaboos in August. Would love to hear how you are liking the switch from built in to a more flexible setup. This is the only hangup for the wife in ordering the GFC. The interior space in the GFC is much smaller than competitors with the cushions removed and the tent up. It seems like it is designed more for access to the tent than a living space.

Keep us in the loop as winter comes. We would love to see your insulation / heater setup. I am definitely looking for a 4 season rig.

 

@harbs89 thanks for your good summary. We too travel with bikes and the associated gear that comes along with them, in a short (5’) bed so organization is key and built-in storage doesn’t provide enough flexibility. One of the features of the GFC (and Drifter) that seems really useful compared to my current shell, is the side access, but I worry that the GFC’s tubular truss design blocks access for loading/unloading larger coolers or totes. Has this proven to be an issue? Thanks.

 

I think some of the lag is probably getting Elise up to speed to handle the volume of inquiries. I'm sure once she is up to speed, her reputation will be similar to Satin Pelfrey.

 

do people unload/load coolers over the higher side of the bed than lowering the tailgate? puzzling to me

 

Since you are looking at the drifter too you should also keep in mind that their window access is quite smaller and there is a giant middle beam between if it’s anything like V1/2 Iggy. Either one might make large totes harder to load. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hondo-garages-new-thing.516490/page-40#post-17023931

 

The interior dimensions of the opening for a shortbed is 55” along the bottom, 19.5” from base to peak of the triangle and roughly 25” wide at the midpoint.

 

Probably means the cooler already in the truck.

With my Maluna 50 loaded with food and 20lbs of ice, its a bear to lift up to the bedrail. Not sure id want to even try sliding it through the side lol

 

I don’t. I reach through to grab stuff out of totes, a chair, bug spray, etc. Loaded heavy stuff comes out the back like normal.

 

Side access has been great! Passenger side is where I can reach for my daily stuff stuff such as the in fridge, waterport to rinse off, and my yellowtop box which has a bunch of other random stuff. My driver side is where I access my rtic ice chest, chairs, tools, and clothing bag.

 

I may not load the heavy cooler from the side, but I might want to load an equally large, but lighter, box from the side so it can be at the front of the bed, without moving stuff by the tailgate. Or I might want to reach in to attach the through-axle of my bike to its fork mount. In theory it seems like these tubes would get in the way and as an engineer I question the need for them to triangulate the frame the way they do; but in practice it may be a non-issue. Hence my question.
EDIT: I see the other replies and pics now - thanks! Seems like it is indeed a non-issue.

 

@MapJunkie sounds like an awesome trip! We did a little climbing in Valhalla, less splitter than the Bugs, but we were out there on a Friday and no one else was climbing. I think many on here will be using the GFC as tent access, but we will definitely be more on the living space side of things. Even loaded to the brim, there is a nice bit of useable space once bins and cushions are rearranged, and its a really quick process. Definitely less than the wildernest, but the hard roof is such an advantage in bad weather that I think it is worth the slight downsizing.

@dman100 the last couple posts probably cleared this up, but in short it has not been an issue. The main bins I use (15gal, 26x17x12) fit through length wise with room to spare. They are the only thing I consider lifting through the sides as anything bigger is generally too heavy.

@ace7196 included a couple photos of the cooking arrangement. Legs and shelves are from a Costco kitchen unit. Added butcher block and drawer and bolted to the space frame with an L bracket. Surprisingly solid mount. My whole setup is just pressure fit besides this L bracket, and there is very little movement back there (high speed washboards, sh!tty old logging roads and plenty of low gears). Only problem with the cook table is it is HEAVY, that pretty butcher block might have to go as it is a chore to get the thing in and out.

 

Sorry, forgot to grab those shots for you. I'll try to remember tonight.

Gratuitous flexing shot to tide you over?

IMG_1554 by Brett Bjorgum, on Flickr

 

If you think about it and have some time, could you get some shots of the bed rail mounting system they are using for our 1st gen beds? Also, a photo from directly in front that shows both sides and the cab roof line. Thanks.

 

Anybody else here on the XL waiting list?