Four Wheel Camper - A Review

[mtn-high]

I hadn't checked this thread in awhile and thought I'd add my name to the list of "KC converts"...

I think there was about 10 pages of dialog when I first read this thread in May/June. I'd been thinking about a camper of some sort but had no real idea what was out there/what would fit my truck without overloading it...but after reading this thread I knew a FWC was in my future. After that it was a quest in itself to locate a used one..and in the end we ponied up and bought a new Hawk.

so I guess we're #8? LOL I'll get a number for the front of the Hawk ASAP...hee hee...

mtn

 

[kcowyo]

Did you get new rubber??

Good eye Nic! :088:


Just recently mounted a set of 255/85 TrXus MT's that I got for a screamin' deal. I loved my BFG KO's and I loved the 285's, but after 45K miles and a puncture flat over Labor Day, it was time to replace them. I also pulled the camper off this week, so I'm eager to see if there is any mpg difference between the 285's vs. 255's. The TrXus MT's are burly.

mtn high, you are lucky #7. I saw the pics and read the tale of your picking-up your FWC. I hope you're enjoying it and getting it high in the Rockies.


Rocky Mountain high, Colorado - photo courtesy Brian DeArmon

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[FourByLand]

Very nice KC!!!

I love the shot with the trailer and the new tires, it looks like a great time!

 

[articulate]

Just recently mounted a set of 255/85 TrXus MT's that I got for a screamin' deal.

Methought those looked rather skinny . . . what's the "price" been since you handed over the cash? That's another review thread.

This thread, BTW, marks the finest example of a review with ongoing discussion I think I've ever seen. KC sets the bar. :snorkel:

For old times sake: Goosenecks State Park 2006

 

[masterplumber]

I hope you have better luck with the TrXus MTs than I had - threw the tread on one coming back from Nebraska with only 10k on the tires. I talked to the 4x4 shop I bought them at & they quit recomending them for loaded trucks. seems the owner of the shop threw 3 treads on 1 trip from Colorado Springs to Moab & back on his pre "94 Dodge deisel with an FWC. Both his & mine were E rated so in theory there was plenty of capacity but they seem to build up too much heat or something on the highway. On the other hand they were absolutely the best tires I've ran on my truck on the trails. I thought about having a set of more street biased tires to run on the highway & then a set of TrXus MTs for the trail but carrying an extra 4 tires & then changing them on a 8 lug 1 ton at the trail head seemed like to much trouble so I went with a set of Wild Country TXRs. Great all around tire & I got 40k+ out of the last set with only a couple of rotations on a 10K lb truck.
Keep the great reports coming ---- Doug

 

[Rockcrawler]

As KC's FWC cult following continues to grow I think we need to plan a get together... a trip to the FWC holy land???

For anyone that is interested... over at wander the west, there is an AZ get together at the end of the month.

Kyle

 

[beer belly boy]

FWC My worst night in my FWC

Great thread KC.
I purchased a new Grandy shell in 2000. I live in PA and I picked it up in MA. I don't know if FWC still ships to MA where a local garge does the installation.
When I ordered my camper I had the velcro strips installed for the acrtic pack, but did not order acrtic pack insullation. I have since made my own insullation blankets using Reflectex, 2 child size sleeping blankets and some velcro. This set up works as well in the summer for blocking out heat as it does in winter for keeping in heat.
The added insullation helps keep condensation from forming on the fabric walls. It also greatly reduces outside noise comming through the fabric. (I sometimes stay in family campgrounds when working away from home.)
I also learned to temporarily put a small piece of duct tape over the four louvers along the out side edge of the roof when high winds and heavy rains are called for. Here is why.
I've only had one serious problem with rain water getting into the camper. It only happend once, I believe it was a fluke of air dynamics or something. I've camped in heavy rains mainy times since with no problems.
I was surffishing at Island Beach State park in NJ. It was October and unseasonably warm. I really should have listened to the weather forecast before I left and not been on the beach as bad as the weather was, but what the heck, the stripper fishing is sometimes great during heavy weather, and who wants to chicken out right!
My truck was the only one I saw along the beach. That should have been a clue. That time of year I always see at least a few other people surffishing.
After a few miserable hours of hiding behind my truck to stay out of the wind, not a single hit on either rod, I decided to spend the night in a secluded area of parking lot just on the inshore side of the dunes. The weather very nasty and the winds were still getting worse. I pointed the nose of the truck due east into the wind to give me a little shelter from the wind as I took off my chest waders.
Both roof vents have Maxxair covers and were open. Water started coming in at the end of the bed on the passenger side. It wasn't just a few drops or a little trickle, it was running in, my bedding was soaked through in no time.
After my bedding got soaked I decided to go to a hotel. I tried to lower the top and the wind kept raising it back up far enough that I could not hold it down and get a roof latch on.
I climbed back into my soaked bed and tried to sleep but it was impossible. The wind got so bad the fabric sidewalls would belly in and then snap taught like a sail, popping my ears. It was a misserable night. I remember laying in bed just waiting for the roof to blow of so I could leave and go somewhere quite and dry. Sleeping in the cab was out of the question, I tried it before and the seat belts recpticles dig into my sides. Sometime before dawn the wind died down and I finally got a couple hours sleep.
When I woke up I decdied to head to a laundrymat and dry things out. The paved road that runs down the center of the island was flooded and covered with sand in many places. When I got to the entrance the park was closed. A park ranger stopped me at the gate and asked where I had come from and politely informed me that the park was closed due to the storm the night before. He was very suprised that I had been there all night.
The ranger informed me that the USCG station on the island had recorded severe gale force winds (47-54mph) and that the sea had actually crossed the island in several places during the night. We talked for a few minuets about the condition of the park road and how long the park was expected to be closed. The ranger still found it hard to believe I had spent the night.
Now I make sure to get weather reports along with tide tables before heading to the beach! LOL!

Beer Belly Boy

 

[GSBfree]

Add me to the sold list...

I just took delivery of a new Hawk Four Wheel Camper this past week. It was this forum on Expedition Portal that introduced me to Four Wheel Camper. It was KC's review and write-up's of his experience and action pictures that really made me seriously start evaluating the merits of having a Four Wheel Camper.

I'm extremely pleased with the quality of workmanship of Four Wheel Camper's finished product! Thanks KC!

 

[kcowyo]

Congratulations GSBfree - :clapsmile

You're running the truck & FWC combo I'll likely move up to someday. I hope they continue to work out well for you. I'm looking forward to spending more time in your neck of the woods with mine.

I'm adding you to 'the list', thanks for letting me know - ?


Montana -

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[CAPTAIN COORS]

Just got back from a 3 week trip with our new 4wc. Our trip took us from Tucson to Jackson Hole to John Day (or) to Reno (snow!) and back home. Drove through Lander on a quite sunday morning, stoped and yelled KC but no reply. I'll have some pics after downloading and some touch-ups.

 

[kcowyo]

Drove through Lander on a quite sunday morning, stoped and yelled KC but no reply.

Guess I can finally toss out those Silver Bullets in my fridge...

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[hayduke]

Love your thread. It really has solidified my feeling that I could live out of one of these for a while. Quiting my nursing job to ski and will try to pick up one of these. thanks for the motivation and solid writeups.

 

[kcowyo]

hayduke, I hope it works out for you. I think quitting any job to ski fulltime is a worthwhile venture.

So what's next? The biggest trip of the year and it begins on November 9th.

3,000+ mile loop around the western US, including -
WY to southern Utah -Escalante, Capitol Reef & Bryce NP's
Las Vegas - 4 days at the Venetian Hotel & Casino
Death Valley - Badwater, Dante's View, Zabriskie Pt, the Racetrack
Big Sur and the CA coast - a scenic drive up the PCH 101, Mendocino
the Oregon Coast - lighthouses, Bandon, sand dunes
east across Oregon - Sisters, Bend, sage brush
east across Idaho - I-84, Lava Hot Springs, Bear Lake, home

To follow up, that trip did happen last year, in that order and it was wonderful. Another grand adventure in the west and no issues with the truck or the FWC to report.

For various personal reasons, I never put up a trip report or posted many pics from the trip. Some things we just want to savor for ourselves.... However, I'm feeling a little less selfish lately and thought I would share some photos and thoughts from that adventure due to the generous responses and interest in FWC's this thread has generated. So let's get on with it -


Worlds Colliding: The Highs and Lows of Mixing Business With Pleasure

~ A 3 week, 3,700 mile trip through Utah to Vegas, over to Death Valley and up the California & Oregon coasts. Had Thanksgiving with the family near Portland and then back home through OR & Idaho.


Capitol Reef National Park, Utah -

Teardrop Arch, Capitol Reef NP, Utah -

Capitol Reef NP, Utah -

Burr Trail, Capitol Reef NP, Utah -

Burr Trail, Capitol Reef NP, Utah -

Burr Trail spur, Capitol Reef NP, Utah -

Kodachrome Basin State Park, Utah -

Old School Camper, southeast Utah -

Defender 90 in southeast Utah -

 

[kcowyo]

Following a couple of days poking around in Utah, we headed over to Nevada to check out the Valley of Fire State Park and took the remote dirt road around the north shore of Lake Mead to Hoover Dam. The park was beautiful, the lake was extremely low and the dam was packed with enough cars & people to remind me why I live in the middle of nowhere....

We spent 4 days in Las Vegas, to attend a business conference (ahem...) at the Venetian Hotel & Casino. Gotta love those gondola's.... Las Vegas is wonderful & over-the-top, in the way that only Vegas is. We did catch a James Taylor concert while we were there. Ladies dig JT.


Packed up & ready to roll -

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada -

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada -

Hoover Dam -

Las Vegas, Nevada -

Best money spent in Vegas -

 

[FourByLand]

It appears life is treating you well...

Thanks for all of the great inspiration here, KC.

You are my Rockstar.

:bowdown: