Hondo Garage's New Thing

FWIW, Most of the rockies will still be snowed in, with very little access to back roads. Depends on snowpack of course, but most of the trails here don't open until July or later.

Early May is a good time for southern Utah, but late May and June can start getting pretty hot.

 

just sitting there all lonely for a few weeks at least

 

@SoCalTacoTruck , to mirror what @Squeaky Penguin said, most of Glacier and Yellowstone are closed into May and June as well. Yellowstone typically opens up sooner than Glacier which can run as late as July. Last year we were still getting random snow showers into late June across the boarder of Montana and into Idaho.....this isn't sunny Southern California.

 

Deposit in... let the waiting begin.

 

Has anyone seen the new Prinsu Habitat Rack? Think this will work with the GFC?

 

Looks like it to me. It says that it uses the 2 forward mount points... which is exactly what i would have left on if I cut mine down.

Need to get some better dimensions from them on it cuz it says 66 x 10 x 10...

 

Ya those dimensions are wierd. I'm not a fan of their pricing, they jumped the regular rack to $700 and this thing is half the rack but still over $600.

Prinsu can pound sand on that

 

Thanks for the advice. Didn't know that at all. Forgot how different the weather it - I figured by May, it'd be at least in the 60's and some open trails. Oops.

 

Good to know. Thanks for the tip!

 

GFC is developing a cab rack that will be tested in Baja thru December and could hit the market 1st quarter next year.

 

Any pictures of this rack floating around?

 

Wondering how the pricing will be now that there is "competition." I do like how GFC tests everything out though....

My Prinsu was a solid "meh." I switched to FrontRunner pretty quickly.

 

I'm in for this!! my GFC is scheduled for Q1

 

i thought it looked light too... will tell yall for sure when i pick it up

 

Those knobs sure are different??? How did I miss that change. That said I can’t see the advantage over the original design????

 

So i made it back to civilization last Sunday and wanted to share my experience with everyone. I like data so here is a little for you all.

2017 Tacoma TRDOR DCSB 4x4
Relevant Mods: 265/75R16 Falken Wildpeaks, ADS 2.5" suspension with RR and clickers, HD Dakars in the rear, simple bed platform (NO armor)
Gear weight: Id guess 250-300lbs range plus 250lbs? for the GFC
Order date: 4/17
Build start date: 9/23
Build completion date: 11/9 (they had the supplier hiccups, Graeme said ~3 weeks start to finish is the typical timeline)
Install date: 11/18
Trip miles: ~5,000. Macon, GA to Bozeman, MT to Jackson, WY to Moab, UT to South Rim Grand Canyon, AZ to Macon, GA
Days: Roughly 10. Departed Macon 11/15 at 4pm and made it home to Macon 11/25 7pm
MPG average on the way to install: 17.5mpg (2109 miles, 8 fill ups, fill up @1/4 tank, cruise control top constant speed of 70mph)
Best mpg:19.4
Worst mpg:15.3
MPG average post install: 17.3mpg (2901 miles, 12 fill ups, fill up @1/4 tank, cruise control top constant speed of 70mph)
Best mpg:20.5
Worst mpg:14.5
Install time: under 2hrs, possible under 1.5hrs but I wasnt timing (more on this experience below)
Nights slept in GFC: 7
Temperature range: Mid teens with snow up to 40F at night

Install
On the way to the install we slept in the truck 2 nights and hotel for a shower 1 night. We arrived at the GFC facility on Sunday 11/18 at 1pm for install as agreed with Elise. Mathias (I believe thats the installers name, I am bad with names, drives a land cruiser) did the install and was an awesome host. They have installs down to a science and it was smooth, I also got a new "improvement" that includes a mini anderson plug for the taillight for when you need to remove the camper (these will be rolling out). To top it all off, @gmacmt Graeme came to the shop, on a Sunday afternoon, after bombing it from Arizona the previous day to give us a personal tour of the entire facility(s), walk us through the processes, the improvements, what it took to go from nothing to what they have, and give us some insight into the company. And, there were 2 other employees in the fabric town working that day to get some orders done and they walked us thru the fabric side of the process. Them being there was a surprise and they were pleased to be there and talk to us. These people seriously love what they do, what theyre a part of, and the customers, it was eye opening. Side note, there were a ton of campers and RTT's completed everywhere and Graeme was excited to be celebrating camper #100 being assembled that week. To top this all off, they even helped install my Eezi-awn awning to the GFC even though I was going to do it myself. Mathias and Graeme were excited to install it and had me show it off (I failed to open it being my 1st time, lol) and took measurements to develop some awning brackets. Graeme also walked us thru the open and closing process with some pro tips. I can not say enough good things about everyone and the whole experience.

GFC
I have to echo what everyone has said every time, seeing one and using one yourself is mind blowing. The quality and attention to detail is unreal. The wife and I loved it and it really made a difference in our quality of life and experience. These GFCs are a work of art and are highly functional. I love cabana mode, ended up not even using the awning on the trip. Being able to access the entire truck with the doors is awesome. For closing the tent we leave 2 cushions out and open the small windows, I just find it easier to close this way with mine being new and not "broken in". We used a Mr Buddy heater and it gets hot in the tent with it on. We also used large 2 person sleeping bag and slept comfortably every night, the cushions are super comfy. We also used the cushions downstairs with the heater on the hang out in the bed of the truck. My wife always has to get up to use the restroom thru the night but she was able to remove cushions and open the doors without much trouble, although she wasnt always pleased with the process just because she had to get up and pee in freezing weather. We are still learning and trying configurations but the GFC opens up a realm of possibilities.

Driving
After the install I did adjust my suspension firmness from ~5 clicks to 10 clicks then settled on 12 when driving the mountain roads. The clickers come in handy for sure, for DD and loadout configs. I did attempt some spirited driving on some dirt roads and turned the clickers to 15 for some sliding, corrugations, and small "jumps". You can hardly tell the weight of the GFC is there and being able to adjust for weight and driving styles is nice. These campers are dialed in pieces of equipment and once your truck is dialed in you will be amazed. I am still learning and adjusting but its a great experience.

TL,DR: You will not be disappointed and it is worth the wait. I am sure I left a lot out or could add a lot more detail but I will leave that up to your imagination. We enjoyed our 1st time out West and cant wait to go back. The GFC is a game changer.

Planned trips: Tray mountain 12/14, Talladega NF 12/22-23, and Ozark NF 12/26-1/1

 

Pretty sure @ace7196 3d printed those. You can see the layers if you look closely.

 

Yeah i can see they’re 3D printed, but it looks like a GFC logo on them. I guess if they were GFC they would be machined not printed.

 

I seriously doubt GFC will mind. Being as it’s on a GFC. Looks cool.

 

I ran my buddy heater all night “down stairs” with one panel removed off my 5lb tank. Worked awesome temps were ideal in the tent it was 20 outside. I have no insulation in mine. Kept the side windows open about 4” on both sides. Had little to no condensation at all.