New member checking in.

[Ted]

Hi All,

Found this website about a month ago and have been following it closely. We will be responding to a number of previous threads and hope to meet many of you on the road.

The background:
My wife and I have a 2003 Hawk on a 2000 Tundra 4x4. We are located in Rocklin, CA and manage to get out about one weekend a month and try to do a long trip once a year.

Couple of questions to start:
Has anyone installed an air dam for the camper? The early Tundras had a shallow bed causing the camper to ride higher than normal. This leaves a large gap between the cab roof and bottom of the cabover section of the camper. At highway speeds, this causes some buffeting. I'm thinking an air dam would smooth out the ride and improve the gas mileage. Photos, comments, ideas are all welcome.

What type of auxillery battery mods have people made? I am considering upgrading to a Lifeline battery as suggested by Stan at 4WC. I noticed Mark (OutbacKamper) mentioned he has two Optimas in series. Does this work better?

This is a great resource. Thank you DirtyDog for this.

Ted

 

[benburnett]

air dam and batteries

Ted,

The air dam idea should help out. I had a couple of older customers that put one on their trucks and they liked them. I never did hear how much they helped but it would just make sense for them to help cut down the air drag that you are currently pushing.

For your battery the optima is a great choice because of the lifetime of the battery. Jeff put two in his boat and they still started it after it sat for over a year. I was impressed by that one. We currently us an Interstate battery in our campers because the amp hours on the Interstate are 75 hours compared to 55 on the optima. If you would like more information on how we normally set up an aux battery system, feel free to give us a call at 800-446-1003.

Sincerely,

Ben
www.allterraincampers.com

 

[kcowyo]

Just a random picture of an airfoil on a slide in camper, for whatever it's worth. I don't know anything about it. I saw the pic online and saved it awhile ago -

 

[jimjxsn]

Welcome to the forum Ted!

You could try a Yakima or Thule fairing...

 

[captainkettel]

Welcome

Ted, welcome to he fourm! I have the yakima deflector mounted to my Ford 4X4 Sportsmobile. I know it's not a FWC but right now it works for me. I sometimes use a Yakima Rocket box. I think the deflector works well to channel the wind current and keeps the box clean and free of dust. Should work on your FWC.

 

[WarpathEngineering]

Ted,

I have the same problem. I'm running a '98 GMC with a used Grandby. I've got almost 12 inches between the bottom of the overhang and the cab. I'm thinking of going down to my local fab shop and having a v shaped faring (starting at the center and fading outward toward the sides) made from aluminum and bolting it to the bottom of the overhang. That way it becomes a permanent portion of the camper and I don't have to think about putting it on or mounting anything to the roof of the cab. Just a thought!

 

[benburnett]

98 gmc

That is a rather large gap for a Grandby on any truck. Have you looked at the bottom of the camper to see if there is a false floor on it. Sounds like the camper was made for a super duty Ford Truck. I am curious about what year the camper is.

Sincerely,

Ben
www.allterraincampers.com

 

[WarpathEngineering]

Ben,

I'm not sure what year it is. I'm a Kentuckian and we have to take what we get down here. My wife and I were out in Yellowstone in June (our first trip west of the Mississippi!) and saw our first FWC at the Old Faithfull gift shop and I fell in love with it. Loved the compact size and low profile. After doing the research and looking at what the "Mainstream" camper manufacturers were putting out, I started looking for a FWC. Bought mine on Ebay in Virginia and drove the 19 hour round trip to get it. The only dimension I was concerned about was the rear wall width (this one is 59 3/4 inches, my GMC is 60 inches). I guess like a dumbie I thought they were all the same height untill we loaded it up. Was a windy day that day and it was like towing an anchor..... still attached to a boat. Anyway, I've got one and been thinking about building a faring to bridge the gap or even lowering the the overhang about 6 inches and adding a thicker mattress....my wife would like that! Would there be an easy way to shorten it up? I've got the insides half apart to rebuild it because the last guy trashed it. Now's the time!

With you being a former owner of FWC, how could I find out the year? I have a CMJ tag on the rear with a serial number (seal # 100123 serial # 20108-6). The camper has a dark grey strip on the side. The side window has the black aluminum casing with rounded corners. It's a 1/2 slider. There is no false floor.

 

[benburnett]

new owner

Well just found the camper that you have in my old data base. It was built for a Super Duty Ford truck. Originally sold in 11-99 to a couple in Southern California. Unfortunately instead of the false floor on the camper we actually raised the walls of the camper to fit the Super Duty Truck back then. No easy way to take the height out of the camper except to cut down the walls themselves.

Marty was actually the original salesman on that camper also.

The serial number is actually 20108-G

Sorry we can't be of more help on the height problem on that one.

Sincerely,

Ben
www.allterraincampers.com

 

[WarpathEngineering]

Ben,

Thanks for the info. Just out of curiosity what is the correct height for a Grandby for a GMC or what is a safe clearance from cab to overhang? What is the standard height of the rear door?

Thanks again!
Rick

 

[marty]

height

The standard height of a non superduty camper that is a Grandby or Hawk from under the bed board to the bottom of the floor pack should of been 44 5/8 inches and a 1999 super duty should have been 47 5/8

A standard door height would have been 2 inches shorter than yours because the doors are made in 2 inch increments. Marty here this time.

You asked if there were any other places for water to seep in. Jeff clued me in to another spot. it does not leak often. The black insert that wraps around the bottom of your bed overhang. Pull out the insert being careful not to break it off at the rivets and remove the screws. Then put a sealer into the screw holes and put the screws back in. Then put the insert back in. We found this on an early 80's model.

I hope this helps.

Marty

p.s. a safe clearance would be anything over 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches

 

[benburnett]

super duty camper

A safe clearance would be about 3 inches from the top of your roof to the bottom of the bed. You want enough room in there for the bed and camper to flex when you go over large bumps.

The door back on those is either 42 or 44 inches high. I will check with Jeff in the morning and find out for you. I believe it was 42 inches but I could be wrong on that one.

Sincerely,

Ben
www.allterraincampers.com

 

[WarpathEngineering]

Ben & Marty,

I just measured my camper. I have 48 2/5" from bottom of floor board to bottom of the overhang. I have a 48" door height. My cab roughly 41" from the top of the bed floor corrigation to the crown of the cab roof. If my math is right this is leaving me with roughly 7 2/5" clearance from the center of the cab roof crown to the bottom of the overhang. Just thought you'd like to know.
Thanks for all the help!

Rick

 

[benburnett]

super duty camper

Well looks like I was off base on that one. The current door that you have in the camper should be 48" tall. The door height for a standard Grandby would be 46" high.

Hope that helps.

If you have any other questions, feel free to give us a call at 800-446-1003

Sincerely,

Ben
www.allterraincampers.com

 

[benburnett]

super duty

Just read your reply. Sounds about right. That would leave about 4" of clearance if it was a standard Grandby model. At least the door came out to the same height that Jeff told me it was.

Sincerely,

Ben
www.allterraincampers.com

 

[jimjxsn]

Batteries

That is interesting info on the LifeLine Batteries.

I'm wondering, why not move the battery outside the camper to gain back some extra space under the sofa?

I looked under the hood of my Tundra and I don't think I have room for the
2nd battery there. Although, I think I have plenty of space for a battery box between the camper and bed side rails.

 

[benburnett]

Batteries

We used to mount the battery box in the bed beside the camper. Most truck beds today have a curve now that won't allow us to fit in a box in that space that we used to use. Also a few customers prefer to have the battery in the camper even with the loss of space so that it comes off with the camper and they don't have it riding around in the truck. I have always preferred it in the truck bed myself.

The optima yellow top battery actually has 45 or 55 amp hours. I don't remember which now. Just got the information the other day and obviously put it away for safe keeping.

The Interstate battery that we are using is a sealed battery and has 75 amp hours for about the same price as the Optima.

Technology is always changing though and I am sure there will something new and great about every other month.

Ben
www.allterraincampers.com