GFC Camper Q&A and Visual History

Hey TW. It's been a while

I'm Wiley, co-founder and CEO of Go Fast Campers. GFC is now four years old and it's been a very interesting ride to say the least (one that's only just begun). I'm starting this thread to answer any questions people might have about the campers or the company and to post photos and stories from the early days of GFC before I forget them amidst the chaos of all the new stuff that's happening TW might be an odd choice for such a thread but I think it makes sense. It was my purchase of the 3rd gen taco in the photo above that provided the kick needed to make a lot of the ideas I'd had swirling around in my head into reality. So while GFC now builds campers for more than 100 different truck models, it all began thanks to that one Tacoma.

March, 2018


Our first shop. This space is now Machine Town (for those of you who have had a recent tour). But when we moved in we naively thought that it would be more than enough space to do everything in. Shown here is prototype #2, the dragon cnc plasma tube notcher, a fabric cutting table, Shasta the fur-monkey (RIP), and a roll of fabric.


Machine Town Today


This is the same space today. We call it Machine Town (our towns are a nod to Mad Max) and it's where all the extrusion and billet parts on our campers get machined. The four machines off to the left make all the billet aluminum parts using robotic machine-tending systems we design and build in-house. The three machines in the center process all the extrusion that make up our tent and space-frames. We have over 20 unique extrusion profiles that we designed. These get cut on the saw off to the right and machined the day before final assembly. Each one of those blue carts is a single camper that will be a finished camper the following day.

TBC...

 

Superlite is absolutely coming back and we're actively working on it. I can't give you a timeline (since we don't do that anymore for new products in the pipeline) but Superlite and the GFC Topper are active projects for our engineering team. We recently released the Chase Frame knowing that it will be a perfect pairing with the new Superlite. Again, no timelines but we're committed to making the built-in-the-USA Superlite a reality ASAP.

 

I’m the happy owner of camper #1630. I saw the v1 and instantly knew I was going to have one in my taco one day. I made the trip to Bozeman last summer to get mine installed, it’s become a family trip that re set the bar, now we all want to do long road trips to far away destinations, no longer happy with just exploring the south west and all of California.
The GFC has been a game changer for me, I’ve been a truck with a traditional camper owner for over 20 years, and this is by far the best one I’ve owned, for utility and ergonomics. Need to get something out of the bed from the front? Open one of the side panels. Change into dry clothes after a surf? Pop the camper. Hang out on a summer day in the shade? Pop the camper. Place to chill after a mtb ride? Lunch break nap? Mobile work station? You get the point.
This thing is one of the best investments I’ve made into my comfort at work and play.
Thank you for the awesome customer service, creating a forum for owners, and updating your products while making sure older owners can keep their GFC up to date by sending us the newer products, such as the beef bar end caps and weatherization kit.

 

Great to see you back.

I really wanted a GFC, but ended up almost completely satisfied with a Softopper. Hahaha!


I did get a chance to look over a V2 very closely. Damn! You guys really hit it out of the park there. Beautiful setup and features all around. Congrats!


Good luck with the future stuff.

 

Thanks for doing this.

What type of mpg hit can one expect with a platform camper on a DCSB Tacoma? Does the camper/tent combo produce additional wind noise on the road? If yes how much?

Really interested in the platform camper but concerned with the mpg/noise hit on daily driver. Would a camper and a RTT that can be taken on/off be a better fit for someone with my concerns?

 

My dclb with GFC is my daily. I average 16mpg with sliders, bumper, winch, GFC and work gear inside, on 265s, but I also have a Maggie SC.

 

I had no idea it all started from a little Tacoma.

 

really cool shop and tooling. any chance youre hiring?

 

Another comparison for you @metalmule:

2021 DCLB with AluCab Canopy Camper, which is also my daily. The CC is filled with 'house' stuff. 255/85/16's Load E (33's), sliders, skids, winch, bumper, lift. Nothing on the outside of the CC except for solar panels on the roof.

I average 16 mpg around town. I average 13.3 mpg at 65. I average 9.8 mpg at 75+. No SC yet, but I'll have one within the year.

The GFC is a super cool product. My best Tacoma buddy is picking his up in just a couple of weeks and I'm excited for our upcoming trip together so I can look at it in depth.

 

Cool update. I enjoyed the hell out of mine while I had, number 16 off the production line if I remember right. The shop definitely wasn't that advanced back in June 2018.

 

@wileydavis any insight on the topper only option that I saw on your Instagram stories.

Of course I just took delivery of a RSI smartcap

 

It's coming, I swear. I can't give a timeline but I can say that we planned to do toppers when we redesigned the frame from V1 to V2. So we built a handful of them to test. But then we just didn't have bandwidth to build them and keep up with campers so turning the prototypes into actual products was never an active project for engineering. But now that we've built up the capacity to manufacture them (not easy to do in this supply chain environment), they have gone from a project in stasis to an active one, so that bodes well if you get my drift.

 

We're always on the lookout for good people.

https://gofastcampers.com/pages/careers

 

I can't tell you how happy this makes me. My biggest intent with the camper design was to make something that was as unobtrusive as possible so that people would leave it on their trucks all the time and get the same functionality out of it as a topper. Except that when a weekend adventure or the need for some impromptu shade or personal space arises, the shelter is right there, no pre-planning required. We get the occasional request to make the camper bigger (longer for an always open floor and taller for more bedding) and while I totally understand where those requests are coming from, doing so would compromise what the GFC is all about, that unobtrusiveness. Minimizing height, minimizing cab overhang, and minimizing weight all help make the camper something you want to leave on the truck all the time. Most of our customers don't camp full time or even every weekend. But most of them do drive their truck every day. As you've pointed out, having the ability to pop a tent at any moment comes in really handy for more than just camping.

 

You bring up a great point I forgot to mention as well, with beef bars I can still fit into any garage with a 6’10” clearance and I have king 2.5 suspension on 265s. Perfect for my local mall

 

On a stock truck I believe most folks seem to be seeing ~2mpg reduction. That varies quite a bit with driving style and of course any suspension/tire modifications will have an even bigger impact. Wind noise can also vary with the specifics of individual trucks. I know some customers have installed a roof rack fairing on the cab and report it improves fuel economy and eliminates wind noise. Point being, neither of those things is overbearing enough to warrant constant removal of the camper. In fact, It was designed specifically to be something you'd want to leave on all the time. Spur-of-the-moment tent popping is where it's at Plus the topper/tent combo doesn't give you a pass through, which is a bigger deal than you'd think.

 

just this am using my truck as a truck. Can’t do that with an alucab

 

I was about to pull the trigger on an RSI Smartcap until I read this thread. The story behind the product is what really sold me. My truck is a daily driver and I camp frequently but not every weekend. I have an Uptop Overland Alpha roof rack, would the GFC camper for with the rack?