Go Fast Camper Megathread

[tsrhines]

Hey guys! Long time lurker, first time poster. I have been playing around in here and have seen a lot of other threads for other campers so I thought I would start one for the GFC. I used the search bar to try and find a thread for them but found nothing. If I am wrong, someone please link me to it. Anyways, just want this to be a place where owners can post about how they have modified and setup their camper for ease of use. I will start with mine!

Build #1350 - V2 w/ Black Panels, Front and Rear Windows, and the Double Doors in a Tangerine Tent. Picked up in late June 2021. Since owning the camper I have done the Matt Gecko LED kit and added Maxtrax into the doors of the camper. Would love to see what yall have done!

 

[Vst]

Nice! Is this the one you sold to Graham or did you get another one?

 

[tsrhines]

Nice! Is this the one you sold to Graham or did you get another one?

The bottom one is the one Grant has now, the top is my new one!

 

[SDDiver5]

One day I'll have one! One of my camping buddies has one and always schools me in camp set up when I'm climbing around the truck getting my tent open.

 

[eg23]

Nice looking setup. I have a Snap Outfitters Treehouse and love it!
Can you tell me what roof rack you have on your truck?
Thank you and once again, nice looking rig!

 

[tsrhines]

Nice looking setup. I have a Snap Outfitters Treehouse and love it!
Can you tell me what roof rack you have on your truck?
Thank you and once again, nice looking rig!

Thank you! I am rocking the Sherpa Animas rack in the 30 inch configuration!

 

[Skitch_monster]

How much bedding can you keep in the tent while closed? I'm looking at getting one for my F150 with a 6.5' bed... I usually roll out with a friend and it would be nice to have them sleep in the truck bed and I'll sleep in the tent, sort of like bunk house.

 

[SDDiver5]

How much bedding can you keep in the tent while closed? I'm looking at getting one for my F150 with a 6.5' bed... I usually roll out with a friend and it would be nice to have them sleep in the truck bed and I'll sleep in the tent, sort of like bunk house.

That should be a massive "living area" with the 6.5 bed. I believe GFC posted something on their IG showing just how much bedding and stuff you can leave in there and close it. There were pillows, blankets, sleeping bags and cold weather clothes I believe. Put simply, alot of bedding.

 

[MR E30]

I recently did a 9 day trip with a few friends, two of whom had GFC's: a V1 and a V2.

_MG_3810 by Brent Prater, on Flickr

My best friend has one and we camp together very often.

7-23 weekend by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Clear Creek - 8-13 Weekend by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

GFC's are excellent campers and are an excellent choice, but in my experience they do not hold 'a lot' of bedding.

On the V1 the comforter came out daily. All that was left in the bed area was a sleeping bag and a thin pillow. And getting the old tube style latch to slide in still required pushing down hard on the top panel.

On the V2 it was a tiny bit better, but not much. He has a single Hest on one side, OEM GFC mattress on the other. His Hest pillow comes down. A sleeping bag and blanket can stay up there. He had an Exped that gave him more space, as it could be deflated, but an Exped Duo is 52 inches wide, the GFC sleeping platform is only 50 inches wide, due to the sloped sides of the campers design. So it caused the tent fabric to bulge out, making it laborious to tuck in all of the fabric to get it closed neatly. This was then impossible once he installed his awning, hence the switch to the Hest. But the Hest doesn't air down like the Exped, so it creates other space problems.

Also, if you ever add an awning, an OVS 270 in his case, this greatly reduces your ability to leave things in your bed area, as the way the awning mounts makes it impossible/extremely difficult, to tuck the tent fabric in on whatever side your awning is mounted.

To me, a lot of bedding is 4 pillows, a set of sheets, two sleeping bags, 1 fleece blanket, 1 blanket, and 1 down comforter, i.e. everything I need to sleep in single digit temps comfortably. This is how my tent is packed all winter long.

I know bedding storage is a larger concern for most people I talk to, so I wanted to share my real world experience with both V1's and V2's.

Anyways, just wanted to share my opinion. It may be totally possible to stuff it full and get it closed, but in practicality it is simply too troublesome.

I'll get some photos of my buddies setup as he continues to build it out to share with you all.

 

[YetiX]

One day I'll have one! One of my camping buddies has one and always schools me in camp set up when I'm climbing around the truck getting my tent open.

Yeah, I desperately need one too. Keep checking the classifieds...

 

[SDDiver5]

Yeah, I desperately need one too. Keep checking the classifieds...

My bigger issue now is I have a growing family and I don't see how I will fit my wife and 2 kids and a dog in the truck/camper. If only GFC made a small travel trailer I'd be soooo down

 

[Skitch_monster]

My bigger issue now is I have a growing family and I don't see how I will fit my wife and 2 kids and a dog in the truck/camper. If only GFC made a small travel trailer I'd be soooo down

You could have a decked drawer system in the bed of the truck with an air mattress for the kids and you could share the tent with the wife (since ya'll have longer legs) and the dog could sleep in the truck cab, might want to get those plastic window vent cover things (weather tech makes them) so the dog has ventilation.

I really want a GFC this way when I take off on my mountain bike for the day I can lock up my rig and risk any of my stuff walking off. Plus lookin cool is half the battle and lets be honest, the street credit of having a GFC with some scratches is at least +25 cool points.

And yes, having the 6.5' bed is amazing space wise but you do weight a little more, turning radius is not as good, break over angle suffers, *insert whatever off-road application you can think of here and create a new issue with being a long boy truck* but with work and with play factored in, totally worth it. The next truck will be a 6.5' bed (or longer) as well, I just wish Ford made the F150 tremor with a 6.5' bed and with a powerboost option... then I would be in hog heaven... shoot I might even sell the house and just live in the truck.

 

[GeorgeHayduke]

We've got a GFC on a Ram 2500 and it's been the best setup for us thus far after trying a regular topper, a Northstar popup and a hardsided Scout. I especially like being able to quickly convert from camping mode to truck duties without the hassle of loading/unloading a slide-in.

We built two plywood cabinets that are sized to fit our plastic totes and cooler but that I can quickly swap out by hand. This creates a seating area with center aisle and also a flat sleeping platform. We've slept 4 of us up top (2 adults, 2 kids) but the lower platform is also sized to sleep 2 if needed.

With the side opening doors it's also very easy to access stuff near the cab which would normally be a pain with a conventional topper.

Climbing into the tent via the floor is convenient but if you've got a lot of people sleeping I've found I prefer to go out the rear door by stepping on top of the tailgate. I am sometimes envious though of designs like the Super Pacific where there's a dedicated gap in the floor to climb through.

 

[czukie]

If you are looking for existing information there is a boatload over on the GFC forum and tacomaworld as well