FWC Project M Project

Carpet is only around the cabover sleeping area. The walls are covered with a black ABS plastic sheeting. I guess they figure you’d probably wouldn’t need to hose out the sleeping area? It’s only about 6” of carpet glued to the aluminum. When I saw the prototype in person, they mentioned that they wanted to make the interior with water resistant material so you could “hose it out.” The material itself is definitely water resistance, but there is nothing to stop water from getting behind the material if you where hose it out. I’d be a little hesitant to do it. Granted behind the walls are aluminum and what looks to be styrofoam insulation.


The carpet is up front and on the side for just the coward portion of the bed platform.


This is the front portion.

The interior walls are covered with this black plastic sheeting. I pulled the sheeting off of the platform so I could locate all the aluminum bars for potential future use if I ever need to screw down something. They put another later of black plastic over the foam insulation and glued it down. I marked the location of the aluminum for the picture.


I replacing this bottom plastic sheeting with 3/8 Baltic birch ply that will get screwed down to the platform and the 80/20. I will cover the ply with a rubber coin flooring material that I used in my last build. Plus I will spar varnish the bottom and sides of the ply so it will be water resistant as well.

This definitely ups the comfort game and is a luxury item. We like to camp year round so it will be nice for winter and the shoulder seasons when it is cold and rainy/snowy. Completely unnecessary for summer camping. The shell vs the full camper allows us to keep our existing build which is outdoor focused. So in the summer we will still cook outside, hangout under the awning on the hot days and be outside in general.

 

I would be very irritated by that rear door bowing in, seems like a complete oversight on FWC part. The door shouldn't bow in / dent with normal use. Also the addition of some lift struts would be nice on the side door to keep things up.

With the OVRLND camper, luckily i didnt run into these problems. Side doors come with lift struts, and the rear door has internal lift struts attached to the main frame of the door and camper.

 

The dent was a result of the factory over tightening the bolts holding them on. They need to add structure inside the door to prevent this. I am disappointed on the side door not having lifters. It is very annoying having to hold the door open while reaching in to grab or do something. I’ll eventually fabricate something.

I am ok with having the rear lift struts on the outside of the rear door. They are burely and lift the door higher than internal ones would. Plus they are out of the way so you don’t have to duck under them or worry someone might pull themselves up with them if they were on the inside of the door.

 

I got a PM from another Tacoma Worlder that had some good questions. They said it would be ok to port their PM over to the forum. My response will be in the next post.
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I was at the Tahoe show too (Homewood), and was sold as soon as I saw it. Mine gets put on later this month and I'm hoping they have some of the issues you experienced figured out. Hoping for a smoother back door shock install with the diamond plate material that mine will have. That looks sloppy, IMO.

Yesterday I decided to change up the access door with a large window, glad I did that.

I am mostly bummed that they can not accommodate solar. Being off grid is number one for me. I currently have a portable panel for my ARB. Guess I'll keep using that.

I'm curious how getting in/out of shell is for you. It seems like it might be slightly awkward to get up to standing with these.

Is there anything you think I need to know before I go down for the install?

 

That’s awesome. Congrats. I was the same way. When I saw it I knew it was the solution I was looking for. I just wish they had it two years earlier.

When did you order yours? I went to the factory show in October and spent a few hours going through the prototype and looking at their slide in campers. I ended up ordering mine that day.

I’m still undecided on the access door. I really liked having them in my ARE shell. Still not convinced it will be as useful on the new one. I think it will be good for airflow during the summer once I figure out how to keep it open. Maybe the small door would have been a better option? Having a window would be nice. I think a door with a window would be the most ideal.

Did they charge you $250 to change your order? [they responded and said they where not charged a change fee. FWC made a big deal about having to pay $250 if you make a change after receiving a deposit]

As far as the solar, did you order the prewire option? I got that and it includes wiring to the roof for solar. There is a waterproof jack in the roof to connect to. I am doing a dual battery system for my build. I will have the second battery in the back with a Renogy DC to DC/MPPT charge controller. I will put at least a 160watt panel on the roof.

The prewire option also has wiring for two light on the back, four interior LED light strips that are dimmable, and power vent wiring. I did temporary power for the interior LEDs and they work great.

Getting in and out is bit of a challenge. I have upgraded leaf springs so the truck sits high in the back. I have a small step stool that works great, but we put our water jug in it when camping for dish washing etc. I think I will get the folding bumper step they sell for Tacoma’s. There is a Toyota version of it. It looks like it folds up nice under the bumper. I am also going to put a grab handle in the side where the step would mount. The shell comes with the aluminum brackets on the four corners. I will mount the handle on rear driver side on that bracket. That should make it mush easier to get up and down. The rear door has a lot of clearance so you just have to duck under the frame. The door really isn’t in the way.

The biggest thing to consider is how you will seal up the back of he truck. Have you had a shell before? The 3rd gens are quite porous. I’m not that familiar with 2nd gens. The 3rd gen has a bar at the front of the bed that you can remove. I’d the 2nd gen has the same, remove it and put a good bead of silicon under it then reinstall. There are also some holes on either side of the bar. I filled all those in with black silicon. Once you have the shell on, on a bright sunny day, look around the bed if the truck and fill in any gaps you might see with silicon. Eventually I will do a write up on how I sealed the tailgate of my truck. It’s not 100% dust proof but decent. You will also have to put additional weather stripping on the back door. There is a small gap at the bottom by the latch with the factory seal.

As far as some of the minor issues I had, I’d keep an eye out for those. Make sure you push up on the black plastic on the sliding bed platform to make sure the rivets are good. They are obvious, there are 12 of them. All but four have popped out on mine so far.

Like I said in my post, all the issues are fairly minor.

 

Yes, now I see the carpeting you were referring to! And no, I would not expect to hose out the sleeping area where this carpet is. But I do like the idea that it would not be catastrophic to quickly hose out the portion over the cargo bed in order to get rid of dust or maybe dirt/debris if you use the truck to haul materials once in a while. If nothing else I could use a bucket/sponge/towel method. Of course, if I were to install an electrical system, that would put the kibosh to the hose-out idea. (Or maybe it just means my build needs to be such that I can remove all water-sensitive components in 10-15 minutes...)

I really like your ideas for the build. It has been a number of years since I built much of anything (due to location and lack of space mostly) but your thread is causing me to think about what parts of a camper rig I could build myself, right where I am (in a nice house on a very small lot with no room for outbuildings or stuff like that... oh and my "two car garage" is really a "two car closet"...)

Thanks for all the info and inspiration.

 

I suppose, unless you live in a humid area, an occasional hose out wouldn’t really be a problem. Behind the carpet is aluminum after all.

I feel you. We have a one car closet and I do all my work on the truck outside. There has been many winter morning where I am working on the truck in 20F weather.

 

In this post I will cover the specs, options and cost of the Project M Topper.

I’ve been calling it a shell, but recently realized that FWC calls it a topper. Since they have “shell” models for their campers, I suppose that could cause some confusion.

One of the biggest questions is weight. The advertised weight for the topper varies on the website. The midsized truck 5’ bed is listed at 358lbs and 400lbs and for the 6’ bed is listed at 383lbs and 420lbs. The sticker on mine (6’ bed 3rd Gen) shows a weight of 380lbs with a disclaimer that the weight is for a standard equipped topper. I’m not sure what a standard equipped topper is, but would assume it is a base model with no options. Their pricing sheet show the added weight of all the various options they offer. As a comparison, my previous shell, an ARE MX, weighed in at 160lbs plus the weight the custom rack and other add-ons brought it up to 200lbs.

This is significant considering a standard slide in camper from FWC comes in at over 1000lbs. The GVWR for the Tacoma is 5600lbs with a payload of around 1100lbs.

Next up is options. Check out the FWC website for a full list of options.

https://fourwheelcampers.com/model/project-m/

Or a pdf with options and prices

https://fourwheelcampers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Project-M-Topper-Four-Wheel-Campers.pdf

The options I ordered were:

1. Pre-wired for power and lighting. This option comes with four dimmable LED light strips, pre-wire to the roof for solar, power vent and wiring for 2 rear exterior lights. I think this is worth the added cost ($325) and will save the hassle of doing it after the fact.
2. One roof vent in the back. I believe you could also get a vent up front over the bed. I opted for the non power vent ($200). Having a roof vent is necessary for proper ventilation. I would like to add a power vent in the future. They do offer this as an option but I do not like the power vents they offer. Eventually I will put in a MaxxAir deluxe fan. This vent allows you to open the vent when it is raining, and will drop into the existing hole with no mods needed.
3. Yakima roof tracks. Another important option is the roof tracks if you ever want to put a rack or box etc on the roof. Also handy to mount solar. Don’t worry if you use Thule or another brand. Their racks will work with these tracks as well. The price is high ($450)but comparable to other manufacturers. ARE charges the same. It is probably worth the $ since they would not cover any leaks or issues if you installed them yourself.
4. Large side door. I am still up in the air on this option. See my previous posts. I wish it where a window that opened out and had lifters. Time will tell.

There are a few other options available. I think the first three are the most important. Most of the other options, except the side doors or windows, I could add for much cheaper than they offer them for.

Another option they offer that gets good reviews is the thermopack. This is essentially material that Velcro’s over the upper fabric side walls. It adds insulation to the fabric sides when the roof is popped. I opted to not get this due to cost($750). You can buy it later. I plan on sewing my own. I estimate the material cost at about $120. When I get around to this project, I will post the actual cost.

So how big is it inside?

Seems like a palace compared to our last build. I am 6’1” am can stand up with no issues and space to spare. I believe it is approximately 6’4” for inside height.

The topper hangs over the sides of the truck bed a few inches and since the walls are straight up and down, this makes for a fair amount of space on the inside. We were able set up two camp chairs inside on our recent trip.

The bed platform is big. Our mattress is roughly a full size and it is a bit short and narrow for the space which is good. There is room on either side of the mattress to store stuff when the top is down. If you purchase a mattress with the topper it will take up the whole space.

I can not sit up when on the bed, but there is enough space to move around without banging my head on the roof.

Now for the sticker shock. The base price is $8995. This is barebones and doesn’t even include a bed. (The bed is $850).

When I spoke to FWC reps before I purchased, they said they were trying to be competitive with similar products like the alucab and gofast toppers. In September they said they were shooting for the $9000 base price range. At the time the bed was included. When I went to their factory show in Oct, the bed had been removed as a base option. This wasn’t a big deal for me since I already had a bed from my last build. But it seems kind of deceptive. How many people are really not going to want a bed? Base price should include a bed with the option to remove it and reduce the price.

Also not included in the base price is the install fee ($350), doc fee ($65) and of course tax. So a base model with bed is really about $11,000. I’ve never done in-depth research on the other competitors out there but I’m sure the price is similar once you start adding addition fees and taxes etc.

One thing I found out in my research is FWC offers some perks if you order one during a show they are attending or at one of their factory shows. They offered a free roof vent ($200) and free install ($350) when I ordered mine at a factory show.

One last option that I ordered and was free was stronger lifters for the top. I went with 50lbs lifter which you have to request. If you plan on putting any consistent significant weight on the roof, ie cargo box, a bunch of solar, you might want to consider this option. Although, it is a pain to get the roof down until you put weight up there. At home in the driveway I can get the roof down on my own with some challenge. When we were out camping it was breezy and took two of us to get it down. The wind would catch the top and push it up before I could jump out and latch it down. Once the weight is up there it shouldn’t be a problem.

 

A note on performance.

Will the topper work on a stock Taco?

If you have no other equipment installed, you should be able to run the topper on a stock truck. But once you start loading gear, people and other add-ons, your suspension will start to sag. With my last build, I had about 500lbs constant weight and the rear sagged a lot. At a minimum, an add a leaf or progressive add a leaf would be recommended. I did a full leaf pack replacement with Icon RTX springs. I used all eight leaves. This has given me about 1.5” lift with this type of weight. I am also running Icon reservoir shocks front and rear. The ride quality is great. But, you don’t necessarily have to go to this expense.

As far as drive quality, you definitely notice the weight when accelerating and the higher center of gravity when turning and in the wind. I noticed the automatic transmission likes to stay reved up in hilly country. Some of this is due to the crappy shift mapping we have with the 3rd Gens. Unfortunately this equates to crappy gas mileage. If you care about gas mileage, this is probably not the mod for you. I’ve only run a couple tanks so far so not much data. My mileage on a stock truck was 18-19. It dropped to 17-18 with the ARE topper and was consistently 15-17 after all the mods where done with that build. Initial numbers for the new topper are looking to be 14-16mpg. My last tank came right in at 15mpg. I know it will be lower once I am done with all the mods.

 

Thanks for all of the info. They told me that the stronger lifters for the top are now standard and some of the other things had been addressed, hoping air/rain gaps are one of them. Will report back down the road!

 

In this post we will tackle how to seal the Gen3 Tacoma bed. The answer is simple, lots of black silicon and a bunch of weather stripping and an understanding that you can only prevent most of the water intrusion and some of the dust intrusion.

The front of the bed is fairly easy. The font of the 3Gen has a rectangular bar that you can remove. Remove this bar and put a bead of silicone on the bottom and reinstall. Obviously, this is something you want to do before you have a topper installed. On either side of this bar are gaps that need to be filled. I filled these gaps with silicon.



On either side of the bed are black plastic sills. If you look at the picture below, you can see the dust up in there. I’ve wiped where the factory tie-down bar mounts as contrast.


You will want to seal up the gaps underneath the back plastic sill. I am attempting to see if spray foam up in there might work.


I then remounted the tie down bar after cleaning up the spray foam mess and caulked the top and bottom of the bar where it meets the plastic. You could also put a bead of caulk over the metal/plastic interface that is hidden under the tie-down bar. Look for the red metal in the above picture. This is where most of the dust intrusion on the sides of the bed was on my last build.

Finally on the sides is sealing up in front of and behind the tie-down bar. Again sealing where the black plastic piece meets the bed.

Now for the hard part. The rear tailgate is a pain. You will need a good quality tailgate seal and additional weather stripping. I used the following:

ESI Ultimate Tailgate Seal with Taper Seal 10ft for use with Truck Caps and Tonneau Covers

$28 ESI Ultimate Tailgate Seal with Taper Seal 10ft for use with Truck Caps and Tonneau Covers

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IPQWXZQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8nywEbXCC0CSR

I’ve been running this seal for over two years and it is still working well. The adhesive is still holding with no issues.

Frost King EPDM Rubber Self-Stick Weatherseal Tape, D-Section, 9/16" W, 5/16" T, 10 ft L, Black

$9 Frost King V27BK EPDM Rubber Self-Stick Weatherseal Tape, 9/16" W, 5/16" T, 10 ft L, Black

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0741RL22D/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qrywEb3D9RYS2

This is the other seal I use and it works well.

I installed the tailgate seal following the remanufactures instructions. I then ran a second seal using the other linked seal along the bottom and sides of the tailgate.



This will take care of the bottom and majority of the sides of the tailgate. The top portion is difficult. If you shine a light from the inside or look out on a sunny day, you will be able to see light coming through. This is where you have to get creative and find ways to get weather stripping into these gaps. The challenge is find a way to do it so the weather stripping stays in place through repeated opening and closing of the tailgate.


There is one more area to seal in the bed. This took me a few trips to figure out. There are two tie down loops in the bed near the tailgate. These are bolted down to the frame and they swivel. There is a gap between them and the bed. A significant amount of dusty will come up through those gaps. I removed them, filled the gaps with silicon and reinstalled them. Be warned that once you do that they will no longer swivel. Position them to how they will best work for you before the silicon dries. I never use them so this is not an issue for me.

Now onto the Project M topper. I found that there was a gap between the back door and door frame near the latch on both sides. The latches doesn’t pull the door tight enough to creat a seal. I put additional weather stripping around the frame.


Be advised that this does make it harder to close the rear door especially from the inside. I am planning to create additional pull straps or handles to close the door from the inside.

The door also comes with a plastic piece at the bottom that fits the contour of the tailgate. They install this at the factory and the piece shape depends on make and model of truck. All other topper companies do something similar. This piece is close to the shape but off a little on the sides which creates gaps. I used additional weather stripping to seal these gaps. This is the hardest to seal and is not 100%. It worked decently on my ARE topper.




Also specific for the Project M is a small gap on the side near the front where they mount a flat aluminum bar for the install. I put some silicon in there and that should solve that issue. Another issue was the driver side rear corner. This may or may not be an issue depending on the install. The factory weather stripping was off slightly leaving a gap. I fill that with silicon.

Your best bet is to get inside on a bright day and look for light shining through. Then address those gaps.

How does it all work? I am confident based on my last build that I will have little water or dust intrusion. I may need to make some adjustments. Again it will not be 100%, but reasonable. We have not had any significant rain or snow to test it out yet. We did a trip a couple weekends ago and did about 50-60 miles of dirt roads. I didn’t notice any dust on the inside afterwards. Only time will tell for sure. If I make adjustments, I will report back.

 

They told me the same thing early on but when I ordered it, they said they would put a note that I want the stronger lifters. They also made a big deal about it when I picked it up. They said it would be difficult to pull down the top until weight was up there. I have heard they have even stronger lifters 60lbs. It’s possible they put those on mine which would explain why they focused on having a hard time getting the top down.

 

Due to life, I haven’t had much time to work on the project. I’ve had a few short opportunity’s over the past couple weeks.
I finished the the driver side bench extension and started on the electrical.

Unfortunately I have come across additional manufacturing/install issues. I sent an extensive email to FWC customer service with feedback and issues about two weeks ago. I waited a week and after getting no response from them, I sent the email again with updates to their customer service and their service advisor. On the second email I cc’d myself just to make sure it went through. It has been over a week and they have not responded. I have emailed them in the past and they responded in only a few days. Before I posted on TW these new issues, I wanted to give them an opportunity to address the problems. At this point my next option is to reach out by phone. With all that is going on currently with COVID19, I feel like this will likely have to wait.

Now on to the updates.


The driver side has been extended out. 8020 framing is locked down to the bed and topper using rivnuts. The platform is made out of 3/8 Baltic Burch ply. Unfortunately the biggest size I could get was 5x5ft which forced me cut two pieces. I would have preferred to have on piece. I finished the ply with spar varnish and covered the top with rubber coin flooring. I ripped down the black abs plastic sheeting that came with the topper to make trim pieces to finish it off.

Next up to do will be to fabricate some doors to cover the sides which will be used for storage and electrical.

I also got started on the electrical. I installed a house battery (Battle Born 100ah Lithium), charge controller, battery monitor and fuse panel.



The charge controller I chose was the Renogy DCC50S. It is a MPPT solar controller and dc to dc charge controller. It will takes power inputs from the alternator and solar and manages these two sources to charge the house battery. It will also send solar to the engine battery after the house battery is charged. The dc to dc portion regulates the power consumption from the alternator protecting the it and the OEM electrical system. Another interesting feature is the controller will prioritize solar over alternator power to charge the house battery.
https://www.renogy.com/amp/dcc50s-12v-50a-dc-dc-on-board-battery-charger-with-mppt/

There are several videos on YouTube showing this controller.

https://youtu.be/JtAUrS4zNSA

I ran a 4ga wire from the engine compartment to the rear of the truck. I tapped into my accessory electrical system I build for my last build. I designed and 3D printed the platform for the circuit breakers and water proof fuse box. I’ve been running this set up for over a year with no issues. The PETG plastic is holding up quite well.


Once hooked up, I ran the truck and the alternator power input to the charge controller appeared to be working. I don’t have solar hooked up yet, but put a 30amp power supply on the solar input to test it out. So far it appears to be working as advertised.

This afternoon I set up the battery monitor. I went with an inexpensive option for now. Will see how it works. So far so good.

This unit uses a shunt on the negative wire from the battery. In the above picture of the battery compartment, the shunt is on the right side of the Renogy charge controller.

AiLi Voltmeter Ammeter Voltage...

$42 AiLi Voltmeter Ammeter Voltage Current Meter Voltmeter Ammeter 100V 350A Caravan RV Motorhome 999 AH

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FGFFHC6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
It appears to be working as advertised as well. Below is a link to a video on this unit.
https://youtu.be/E6O76Okmt08

 

Thanks for your post. I've just ordered a project M for my gen 2 taco. Can't wait to jump into it.

I'm looking forward to seeing how your project develops.

 

I heard FWC shut down production for the time being. A neighbor ordered a Hawk camper and it was supposed to be done in June. Now FWC is projection September.

The upside to being stuck at home is I have had a bunch of time to work on mine. I will post up some updates and pics in the near future. I’m close to being done with the electrical and I just finished installing a heater last weekend.

 

Excited to watch this build, I will be picking up a project m in the near future.

 

Very nice! Hopefully they can get back to building them soon.

I have continued to make some progress on the project but not made any progress writing about it.

Getting parts has been slow and dealing with going to the hardware store right now sucks. I don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to just run the hardware store to pick up something.

For anyone interested in the side door, I’ve found a company that sells lift supports and mounting brackets. I plan on ordering a set. It will cost $68 for everything. This will make the side door a lot more useful. It is quite the pain having to hold the door open while getting bags or gear out. (I know first world problems). I am very hopeful this solution will work. Fingers crossed.

I also discovered the trim around the side door, front window, and the frame around the back window are reactive to magnets. This will be useful for making insulted window covers and screening for the side door. Sewing magnets into the fabric makes it super easy to mount the covers and screen to the windows. Van life folks use this technique.

To date I have finished most of the electrical including a solar panel on the roof and an inverter, replaced the roof vent with a powered MaxxAir fan, installed rear lights, side exterior solar hookup, diesel heater, and some of the cabinetry. I will eventually document all this in future posts.

 

I have continued to work on the project. I have almost completed my first phase of the build which was to get the truck back to where it was with my last build plus a few extras. I have had some requests for updates and pictures. I apologize for not getting anything out. This weekend I will get out and take a bunch of pictures and start working on build posts next week. For now here are some build pics.

200watt solar panel, replaced non powered vent with a powered MaxxAir vent, custom Fuelpax mount


Test fitting the Yakima Box, will use it for winter camping to hold skis etc.




Added lift supports to the side door. Makes a huge difference and makes the door worthwhile.


Building out the passenger side, added a heater.


Custom 3D printed switch panel, 1200watt inverter in action running the internet and computers in the house during a power outage so we could work from home. Also ran the tea kettle a couple times. Yeah inverter is over kill. I will explain that in another post.


Recycled net from a Subaru holds gear in the passenger wheel well.


Added rear lights, set up with dual switches, one in the bed and one in the cab, using relays so the lights can be used as reverse lights if needed.


The drawer, slide out tray and compartment doors recycled from my last build.

Added doors above the drawer to access the drawer from inside.

 

Looking great! Good job. Thanks for sharing

 

Your build is looking great! Thanks for all the good info. I've got a couple questions if you don't mind..

Do they not wire the vented fan up if you don't order the pre-wiring option?
Can you clarify the power vents that FWC offers - do they not have a plastic cover to open/operate in the rain?

Did you ever get these issues sorted out? Do you mind sharing what they were?