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Increase head space on FWC Fleet


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#1 DVGavel

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Posted 17 May 2022 - 05:17 PM

I have a fleet with a ceiling height of about 6’3”. I would like to increase the headroom over the bed and allow for space to close the lid with my bedding, pillows and a thicker mattress on the bed. I am considering adding a 4”ish rim around the underside of the roof to accomplish this. This would effectively increase the wall height between the roof and the canvas. Does anyone have examples of having done something like this?
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#2 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 17 May 2022 - 05:59 PM

Welcome to the site.

I might suggest contacting Marty/Steve at ATC.

They should be able to give you the best info.

Your idea,although sounds good it might be

difficult structurally.

The owners of ATC would be the best ones to

get advise/ideas from IMO.

Frank


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#3 Wandering Sagebrush

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Posted 18 May 2022 - 01:51 PM

DV, I think Frank meant Marty and Jeff at ATC.  They’re great folks to work with, but unless your Fleet is an older one they can’t work on them.  I don’t remember the cutoff year, possibly 2002?
 

To the best of my knowledge none of the folks here on WTW have made a modification like your considering.  It’s interesting, but like Frank mentioned may be structurally difficult.


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#4 Ted

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Posted 18 May 2022 - 02:50 PM

I would think that it would be more feasible to leave the ceiling part as and have new canvas installed that is 4" taller. You would also have to install new folding boards on each end.

Another way to do it is trade up to a newer camper. FWC started building the top higher in 2004 I believe. But, if you are using an older truck, then you run into the issue of fitting a new camper on it. Truck tailgate widths and truck bed side rail heights also changed, so older FWCs do not fit easily on newer trucks.


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#5 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 18 May 2022 - 04:32 PM

DV, I think Frank meant Marty and Jeff at ATC.  They’re great folks to work with, but unless your Fleet is an older one they can’t work on them.  I don’t remember the cutoff year, possibly 2002?
 

To the best of my knowledge none of the folks here on WTW have made a modification like your considering.  It’s interesting, but like Frank mentioned may be structurally difficult.

Thanks Steve.Typing slip.

Frank


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#6 oldhotrod

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Posted 19 May 2022 - 12:33 AM

interesting question and more than possible...check with poptop overland in San Diego and see if this is something they would be interested in taking on...


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#7 kmcintyre

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Posted 19 May 2022 - 02:14 PM

You can't really increase the amount of space unless you really want to do some mods to your camper and the amount of "pad" you can put in there is restricted by the camper (I'm sure you know that).  You can put taller push boards and vinyl on the sides to give you more standup height but that's about all I know you can do.


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#8 campito

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Posted 21 May 2022 - 03:41 PM

DV, I think Frank meant Marty and Jeff at ATC.  They’re great folks to work with, but unless your Fleet is an older one they can’t work on them.  I don’t remember the cutoff year, possibly 2002?
 

To the best of my knowledge none of the folks here on WTW have made a modification like your considering.  It’s interesting, but like Frank mentioned may be structurally difficult.

They wouldn't work on my 2012 Fleet last year, too new for them.


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#9 ntsqd

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Posted 21 May 2022 - 10:47 PM

Seems to me that if the whole top, lift-boards and soft-wall assembly were removed then a 4" tall, or whatever is desired, perimeter wall/spacer could be fabricated to raise the top of the walls by that distance. Then the whole top assembly could be put back on. The mechanics of that would be fairly simple. The cosmetics of it might require a complete re-skinning of the camper.


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#10 Sloth?

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Posted 28 May 2022 - 04:39 AM

Wouldnt be that hard to take the vinyl off, then add a 1x4 aluminum rectangle tube(welded to existing frame) to the bottom of the camper where the vinyl attaches. Then you dont have to extend the lifting panels or struts.

I added 2x4 alum rectangle tube to the bottom of mine. I built a new floor pack. That gained me a overall 4” of interior height, but didnt change the height over the bed. In the future when I need to replace the vinyl I will weld an extension to the top of the frame and gain that bed head room.
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