21 replies to this topic

[trikebubble]

Airbags are not for offroad use.  They defeat the purpose of a well-sprung 4x4.  That being said, it may be a non-issue for you, especially if you stay on FS roads.

 

Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of fun.

 

I'd recommend that anyone with airbags who does a little off-roading consider adding a set of Daystar cradles. It releases the bottom of the airbag from being permanently attached and allows for greater articulation. I have not had any issues off-roading whatsoever with my airbags and Daystar cradle combination. I have A full Dakar leaf pack (plus an extra leaf) and normally don;'t inflate my airbags over 20psi.

[BBZ]

Welcome!

 

I am fairly new to the FWC game but am already on my second. 

 

My story.. got a used older Fleet 7.5 for our F150 (6.5 bed).. bare bones and light. My wife and I spent about a month in Baja in it last winter with our 2 dogs.  It worked out well, we were not over weight (damn close though). We found the narrow floor plan was rather tight with the dogs. 

 

I found on old beat up Granby and gutted it to the frame and rebuilt it. Again, bare bones build but made it for what we need. We are fair weather campers and have no interest in winter camping so we skipped furnace and no water tank. We almost always cook outside, but I did set up a two burner inside for colder mornings. We use a Gas Buddy if needed for a little warmth. 

 

This one is a little heavier but not much.. the wider floor is actually shocking (I think its 9 inches wider?) So much more space yet only 1/2 foot longer. 

 

When it comes time to replace the truck, I will certainly go 3/4 ton.. 

 

I have enjoyed the journey.. can't wait to be in Baja again soon..

[Northbynortheast]

Hi BBZ,

I set up our 2015 Tacoma four door long bed this last spring for a fwc Fleet front dinette. I worked with Mainline Overland to set up my truck and they were great to work with, I told them I didn’t want to cut any corners since I knew that I’d be quite a bit over the factory stated payload capacity of the truck. I bought the parts from them and did the work myself to save a few bucks. Here’s what I did: I used Mainline’s GTS suspension kit which is by Dobinsons of Australia. Extra Heavy rear leaf pack, heavy front springs, heavy duty shocks all around, Firestone airbags with Daystar cradles, Atwood female trolling motor receptacle for electrical connection, arb compressor permanently mounted in engine compartment. I debated wether to go with heavy or extra heavy rear springs. With the camper on and loaded for a trip I kept 20 psi in the air bags. I definitely think that proper leaf springs are the way to go. I will mention though that with the camper off you will need to add weight and it sits quite high in the rear. I had a little drive line shudder on accelerating from a stop and added an Old Man Emu pinion bearing drop kit, this helped when loaded.
A few things I’ll share about the camper itself: We bought a 2017 Fleet Silver Spur front dinette used “barely”. Through googling reading etc. the roof of these campers are a weak point. If you must carry stuff on the roof with Yakima racks I would try to insist that the factory put the tracks on the outermost roof beam above the wall where they will be much better supported, rather than the usual location. If not, be very careful with crossbar placement and keep loads light. Forget about loading up a space case with a bunch of gear. I’m planning to fabricate an aluminum rack system next spring that places the load on the jack brackets rather than the roof. I learned also after having some difficulty with batteries that the on board Iota battery charger tis being installed with Iota’s internal iq4 smart circuitry. The Iq4 is designed to charge and maintain wet lead acid batteries and the one in my camper has damaged the agm batteries that are used. Hopefully fwc has addressed this, I doubt it. Iota’s newer charger uses external modules to control the charger that are “plug and play” and they make modules specifically for agm batteries, also for gel batteries.
We have enjoyed the camper so far despite quite a few annoying little issues. Feel free to pm me if you have any specific questions.

[craig333]

My 2004 Iota has the external IQ4 plug in module. Hasn't damaged my agm batteries. The charge profile isn't that far off from my solar charger.

[pvstoy]

My 2015 Hawk has a Iota with internal IQ4 and it is perfectly matched for AGM batteries charging profile.

[Batman]

We have a 2017 Fleet with the side dinette. We also have 6-65 pound lab mix dog. At first the dog was not interested in getting in the camper but eventually came around. Now we sleep in the upper berth and she sleeps on the floor under the dinette. It is somewhat awkward but it can work. 

[buckland]

We had similar with a 70 dog. I made a simple ply shelf ... pop in/take out ... that goes across walk space at back bench.... made the rear bench twice as wide for her to sleep on. It was good as we sleep heads toward back door and she was right below us for an ear scratch and off the floor.

[rubberlegs]

We have the side dinette in a Fleet. Sometimes we put the table upside down on the back counter top, which really opens up the space.

[Northbynortheast]

Iota charge profile: I am seeing max bulk charging voltage at 14.7-14.8 volts, too much for agm. I have had a few conversations with techs at Iota engineering, they say this is within normal parameters for the IQ4 module and too much voltage for AGM batteries. They state that the IQ4 module is specifically designed for flooded deep cycle batteries. My original indication that something wasn’t right was that the gas detector which is mounted on the face of the battery box was going into alarm mode when the charger was operating. This indicates battery off gassing which is evidence of overcharging for sealed batteries. I then observed that the battery bank would not hold a full charge, (After receiving a full charge and waiting for the surface charge to dissipate they settled at 12.5V, should be 12.8V). It may seem picky to some, what’s .3V? Well if you’re caring for your agm batteries properly, you should be operating them between 12.0&12.8V so .3V is a loss of 37.5% of capacity. For what it’s worth In my past I worked on large boats and lived abroad for some time, have a pretty good working knowledge of 12V systems. I think it’s also noteworthy that Iota, “who I think makes good products” has gone to the effort and expense to design modules specifically for the charging parameters needed for specific battery types ie. IQ4 for wet cell, agm, gel and a few others. Using the IQ4 for your agm batteries will charge the batteries but is likely shortening their life at best. In my case, I lost the original two and one of the second set.

[Vic Harder]

I dunno about 14.7 being too much voltage.  Rolls Battery specifies 14.7 for their AGM's.

http://www.rollsbatt...ery/s12-128agm/

 

I also wonder about your 12.0 - 12.8 range.  I try to keep my batteries above 80% SOC, and will go as low as 60%.  I know rando says we can go lower more often; and I agree, with the caveat that it really decreases battery life exponentially as we discharge deeper.  12.2 resting voltage would be my lowest target voltage, which is about 50%.  

https://www.energyma...tage-discharge/