New Swift Camper, Mods, Upgrades Etc......Pic Heavy.

Hodakaguy

Mr. Build
Joined
Oct 2, 2014
Messages
644
My father and I left at 2am Sunday morning from Kennewick WA and by 5pm we were sitting in front of Four Wheel Campers in Woodland CA. After this picture we headed off to the hotel to get dinner and some rest.

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Monday morning at 8am we were back at FWC and ready to install the camper. Here they pulled my truck around the back and we are waiting for them to take us back to the install area, checking out all the cool pics.

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While they were fetching our camper we checked out the showroom and got our first glimpse of a Swift model....lots more room than we were expecting!

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Their small demo model showing the welded aluminum construction.

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Here comes our camper :)

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Normally you would bolt on 4 manual camper jacks to install the camper, to speed things up they used an old fashioned 2 post lift and transferred the camper directly from the fork lift. The camper is attached to the truck via 4 turn buckles that are hidden in the bed, the turn buckles are accessed via the 4 trap doors on the FWC.

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Checking out a load of campers heading out to a dealer.

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And installed. Install takes about 15 minutes. I had the wiring per-installed before showing up.

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Filled the air bags, adjusted the tire pressures and adjusted the suspension. I've been running the shocks on #1 compression and 4 Rebound when empty, re-adjusted all 4 corners to #7 compression and #6 Rebound. Having the shocks stiff worked great on the trip home, the road manners were awesome and there was Very little body roll while weaving through the mountain passes.

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Dad checking out the interior. We ordered the shell model which is minus the sink and cook stove. The full kitchen model takes up a lot of space and weights a good chunk more, we found that we rarely used the water system and prefer the light weight setup of the shell models. I carry ultra light backpacking gear for cooking etc.

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Just as we were leaving FWC they pulled out another Tacoma getting a camper installed the same day....had to pull over for a picture :)

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Pulled over to get a shot of Mt Shasta and the cinder cone in the Background.

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Stopped in Grants Pass OR for a IN-N-Out Burger....Yummmm.

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About 8:30 we pulled over at a truck stop for the night....home sweet home. Not the most ideal spot but it's right off the highway and free!

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Stopped at StoneHenge this morning on the final leg home.

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Continued Below.....
 
Continued from above.....

Weather was awesome so I decided to snap some better pictures of the setup.
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Batwing Awning deployed. Love the coverage of this awning! There are 3 legs that drop down so you can brace the awning for wind. Takes about 30 seconds to deploy.
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Top up. Takes under 2 minutes to pop the top. The awning can go out with the top up or down.
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Interior. Our interior has two beds (one up and the bottom couch rolls over into a bed as well). There is a forced air furnace, two batteries, LED lighting, forced ceiling fan, storage under the seat and in several cubby holes. We will install an ARB Fridge on the drivers side as well.

Nice and comfy!
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Lower bed folded down. You can sleep here with the top down if you want to stealth camp.

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Upper bed slid out to make a Queen size bed. I usually sleep sideways without sliding it out.

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Beautiful day out!
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Rear.
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Batwing

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More to come....
Hodakaguy
 
Best batwing pics I've seen yet. I want one! Very nice setup. Thanks for all the pics. Now go out and have a good time :)
 
FINALLY!!!
I knew this was gonna be posted up soon. Congratulations. Looks awesome. I can't wait to start seeing trip reports.

Some thoughts from my perspective. I do like that Batwing other than how much it sticks up above the roof. Maybe it is just perspective. Definitely like those LED strips inside compared to the older style lights. Hmmmm wonder what would be necessary to wire up some color changing smaller strips. I wish FWC would offer no heater in the shell models again. The bench fits so much better on the drivers side. Even though the Tacoma has the notorious "drivers side lean" you don't have to worry about it with the suspension set up you have. The way the door is offset to the side having the bench on the drivers side allows no overreach from the bottom of the couch. I think it would make it feel even more roomy on the wider models for small pickups. But being in the Pacific Northwest you'll be getting a lot of use out of the heater compared to other regions of the US.

What focal length lens are you using for the interior pics? Looks very wide. Gives a great perspective. FWC should hire you to do their photos.
 
ETAV8R said:
FINALLY!!!
I knew this was gonna be posted up soon. Congratulations. Looks awesome. I can't wait to start seeing trip reports.

Some thoughts from my perspective. I do like that Batwing other than how much it sticks up above the roof. Maybe it is just perspective. Definitely like those LED strips inside compared to the older style lights. Hmmmm wonder what would be necessary to wire up some color changing smaller strips. I wish FWC would offer no heater in the shell models again. The bench fits so much better on the drivers side. Even though the Tacoma has the notorious "drivers side lean" you don't have to worry about it with the suspension set up you have. The way the door is offset to the side having the bench on the drivers side allows no overreach from the bottom of the couch. I think it would make it feel even more roomy on the wider models for small pickups. But being in the Pacific Northwest you'll be getting a lot of use out of the heater compared to other regions of the US.

What focal length lens are you using for the interior pics? Looks very wide. Gives a great perspective. FWC should hire you to do their photos.
you DONT have to order a furnace anymore, it was something they switched back to this year.....Order Away ETAV8R :D
 
Pax2525 said:
you DONT have to order a furnace anymore, it was something they switched back to this year.....Order Away ETAV8R :D
I don't need a second camper. Maybe they will switch back to the more narrow campers too.
 
Excellent, and congratulations. I wonder what the percentage of Silver spur exteriors is to white. When we saw that SilveR Spur we knew we'd be ordering that. Enjoy.
 

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