Proposed 2007 Tacoma and Eagle setup

[Nosmo]

Having been a (mainly) silent and admiring lurker on the group I am about to order my Eagle and would appreciate comments on my proposed configuration.

I am mostly concerned that this would stand up to the Saline Valley (in Death Valley National Park) access roads such as Steele Pass and the Lippincott - as well as the usual grotty north and south passes into the valley.

These roads have lousy washboard and washouts plus dry waterfalls, gravel, pointy rocks, sidehill etc.

Eagle + extended bed,
Furnace
Fridge (+freezer?)
Front sliding window
Jacks - mechanical or cable?
Auxiliary battery
Porta-Potti
Screen door
Power vent
Extra vent over extended bed

I'm pretty confident about most of this, but wonder specifically if the fridge will stand up to the bashing around....

Thanks guys,

Nosmo

 

[Alex]

Hello welcome to the board.
I've 06 Tacoma with ATC Bobcat, similar to Eagle. I don't think fridge will have any problem in the condition. You might need to make sure things don't move too much in the fridge but that's about it. I would add power fan to your list. I've it and it works great.

I been to RaceTrack in DV but I took the easy way and got in from the crater. You'll need to beef up the rear suspension to carry the camper. I've AirLift air bag and I'm going to replace them with Firestone bags. From what I read about Lippincott road, you might want to replace the P rated tires that came stock on the Tacoma with LT tires. I'm going to get D load rating tires. The stock P tires are very comfortable on road but I don't trust them off road with that much weight on it.

Alex

 

[kcowyo]

I went with 13 vehicles into Death Valley last Thanksgiving. The majority of them carried some type of 12 volt fridge. None experienced any problems going up Lippencot, Hunter Mountain, Butte Valley, etc.

I've also seen the fridges handle some extreme trails in Moab and Colorado. As mentioned, packing breakables (bottles & jars) needs some extra attention, but fridges like Engle, ARB, Waeco, Norcold and Dometic are built with a Sawfuji compressor that is designed to run at any angle.

Heading for Lippencot -

On the Swansea -Cerro Gordo Road -

I like your option list. I think you've got it covered pretty well.

The one suggestion I would make if you plan to tackle some tough terrain is putting a spacer of some kind between the camper and front wall of your pick-up bed. I use two 2x4's nailed together and set it in the front of the bed. This prevents the camper from sliding too far forward and tweaking the bed or top rail.

 

[cabezon23]

Is this rush hour in Death Valley?

Gosh kcowyo, did you get into rush hour on your trip to Death Valley?

 

[DLN]

Nosmo,

Your list looks good, go with the mechanical jacks, they really are much better. All the new FWCs come with a pair of hefty rubber bumpers in the front so no need to add them. I just added Ride Rite bags to my Tacoma and they are great. Initially we added a leaf and re-ached the springs, then added heavier shocks, but the air bags were the finishing touch. Highly recommend them. I also like the idea of having redundant support in the rear, if the bags fail we can limp home on the springs alone. We love our Eagle and I'm sure you will too. Good Luck.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

My $0.02...

If you are going to leave the camper on the truck (as I do) you might want to forgo the fancier jacks and put the money into an Engel fridge.

The cable jacks I have work fine, especially when I leave 'em in the garage and don't have to worry about anything hanging off the sides of the camper.

I *really want* a screen door...

P.S.: Welcome to the forum, Nosmo!

 

[simimike]

Looks like you have a good list of options. I had cable jacks on another camper and I hated them. The pucker factor is HUGE. Watching your camper rock back and forth in the breeze is scary to say the least. Plus the factory jack brackets can be used for tiedowns or to hang things on in camp. I will never have anything to do with cable jacks again.

I have the refer with the freezer and I love it, no regrets there. Making your own ice is nice (sorry, couldn't help it). Hope this helps you decide what to get and good luck. Hope to see you on the road.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[pvstoy]

Eagle + extended bed,
Furnace
Fridge (+freezer?)
Front sliding window
Jacks - mechanical or cable?
Auxiliary battery
Porta-Potti
Screen door
Power vent
Extra vent over extended bed

Hi Nosmo,

The freezer is not going to fit in the Eagle because of the height is not there to fit like in the Hawk or Kestrel.

The extra vent shows a N/A for the Eagle model. Check with Stan if with the extended fron bed there is room for one.

 

[EdoHart]

I've been to Saline Valley, The Race Track and worse

These campers will hold up to anything the Saline Valley, the Lippincot Mine Rd, the Eureka Sand Dunes Rd or even the road to Cerro Gordo can throw at them as long as there is room for the camper to fit on the trail... If your truck can make it, so will the camper. Just check the turnbuckles occasionally.

I strongly recommend the auxiliary battery, sliding front window (especially if you have sliding rear window on the truck), and screen door. I too keep my camper on the truck full time, therefore the type of jack to remove it is of little concern to me, and like Mark W. Ingalls and simimike say, you can spend your money better else where, especially when you realize, as you're looking in the side view mirror, that jack sticking down on the side of the camper is a rock magnet, just waiting to cause serious damage to your camper or truck.

 

[EdoHart]

one more thing... upgrade the rear suspension as Alex suggests

I went with a rear anti-sway bar, which does a pretty good job on road, but limits my articulation off road, and from what I've read, individually adjustable air-bags are the best way to smooth out the sideways roll and rear end sag the camper (as light as it is) will impart on your stock truck.

 

[Nosmo]

great info but...

Just realised another issue after reading the posts about beefing up the rear suspension...

Can anyone with a recent Tacoma 4X4/Eagle setup including rear suspension assist plus additional vent and/or powered fan vent let me know the total height of the combination please? Am thinking ahead to garage plans and entry height/clearance issues...

Thanks

Nosmo

 

[DLN]

Nosmo,

My truck measures 85" from the floor to the top of the luggage rack (high point) with 1 1/2" of lift from the air bags. I've heard the new Eagles are 4" higher than our '06 and your newer Tacoma may have different dimensions that my '02. So, if you have an 8' garage door you'll be good to go, if it's a 7' door it won't fit anyway.

 

[Nosmo]

Thanks guys

Thanks everyone for the inputs - I am ordering this week this week...

Nosmo