FOUR WHEEL CAMPER (FWC) THREAD!!

I put lock nuts on mine, and only completely tightened 3, with one just hand tight. 7 months full time, off-road and on bad Central American highways, never had to redo them. That little bit gave the camper enough flex room to leave the others tight. I never saw any damage from doing this

 

Hey y’all -question for Fleet front dinette owners.. If you’ve replaced the Ice Chest with a refrigerator, what did install? What’s the draw? And how has it held up/do you still like it?

I’ve been all over Wander the West, but wanted to ask here as well.

Appreciate anything y’all can share.

 

So, I have taken it off, and since the rear drain was hitting the tailgate, I bought a snailarmor aluminum rear plate and now there is no interference with the drain and the tailgate fully closed. The FWC tacoma plates are super beefy and rock solid, the newer ones include the side to side supports. Bomber! I installed the electrical, the Marinco plug was on the Finch, so I left it and got a Marinco receptacle, unfortunately after getting an Atwood at FWC, live and learn. I like that the Marinco is waterproof, and has a cap. Put on some Sumosprings, the black 1400 lbs and it rides super. Love the low maintenance, and price! $245 from their Amazon store, amazing difference. Leafs are OME HD. Bilstein 5100.

The first picture is before the sumo springs. It is at least an inch lower without the sumo. Nice thing about sumos too is that you can take them off in 5 mins. I am going to see if they have a super small one to put on when I want to go without the spring. You can see here the atwood is not waterproof.

 

2009 Finch came with the optional outdoor floods. They were beat and heavy and waaaaaaaayyyy too bright for my preference. I looked at many different lights and some were as much as 189 each, dimmable and different colors and salt water proof. Settled on these. They say spot but not really, light ( no pun intended), and using spacers kept the old brackets so no new holes. Autozone price was $$31 a pair, and they are like 868 effective lumens. Very compact.

 

Here are a few more pics of the Finch in AZ KofA wilderness

 

I have a used full set (4) of torque lift frame mounted tie downs for a 1st gen Tacoma. PM if interested.

 

These campers are so awesome, every time I see one I get jealous!

 

Just to amp you up some more then…


That was taken in Bulgaria last fall. We’ve had the luck to retire a bit early and travel full time in our 4WC. Our hope in retirement travel is to show people that the hardest part of hitting the road is committing to actually leaving.


The map on our hood. 18 months and 40,000 miles, over the next three years we hope to have many blue squiggles

 

Question for those whose truck came with the tailgate camera; is there a way to relocate the camera?
I’ve seen after market cameras you can get and wonder if they work with with the Toyota display?

Also, How about the safety tech package with sensors in the rear bumper on the 3rd Gen? Does the rear overhang of the fleet confuse the sensors?

 

Tons of information in this thread, I'm currently in a Tundra with a Granby and was able to source a factory camera/connector setup for just under $200. Wander the west is a great resource for FWC information.

https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/7207-back-up-camera-thread/

 

Thanks for the lead! Great to know there are several ways that allows you to plug into the original harness.

 

No problem, I think I posted the OEM PN's for the camera and harness that should work for your truck in that thread.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...wingout-on-a-2020.738469/page-2#post-26520126
link above for thread with Amazon parts to have a plug and play aftermarket replacement.

the fleet doesn't affect any rear bumper sensors.

 

Yep safety all the way!!
Just the rear turnbuckles, the thought was to give me a pre warning before it falls off.
I upgraded to smaller shackles made for side by sides and such and just zip tie the circle rings together to avoid any noise.

 

gd idea to tie a string around ur wrist, less cussing when it drops!! Lol

forged might be the way to go, but you have to wonder if it’s supposed to be the weak point and not tear things apart
I’m out of warranty allready… 5 years full time and ovr 150k miles later

 

I paid 15K (2 months back) for the Finch in my profile, it is 10 years old, loaded for a 2010. 3-way fridge, stove, thermostat, stainless sink, 22gal water tank and 84 watt solar, awning, cold weather inside, and an full cover for when off the truck. It's base weight is 660lbs.

Everything works great, it is too much fun.... Few pics from KofA (King of Arizona wilderness).

In first pic the truck is lower left.

 

“It's base weight is 660lbs.”

Am I reading that correctly-base weight for FWC of 669lbs?

Never seen them advertised anywhere near that weight!

 

I stand corrected, just did search and saw the 660lb rating! My apologies. They definitely have added weight in newer models, Swift @ 935lbs.

 

That's a great deal given the current market. I grabbed my 2012 Granby two years ago before things went off the hook. I was looking for a Hawk but the Granby was too good a deal to pass up. My neighbor just picked up his Project M so we did a quick shakedown trip in northern NV.

 

Given that the wait for a new one was 9 months min. And 30k, I was happy. ATC in sac is still making the lighter skinnier pop-ups. https://allterraincampers.com/

I Like the tailgate on. It makes nice place to stand on.

any comments on the M? Hear they collect a lot of dust.