Project Flift, a 1986 Four Wheel Campers Fleet shortening documentation thread!

[bikerbill2021]

Fellow Phoenix native here too, I think I remember seeing that listed a while back, nice to see it went to a good home. I see old FWC campers pop up on occasion and had thoughts on modding it like you are to fit our beloved Tacomas.

Your build reminds me of my hustle building my Skamper this past May that I picked up out of Buckeye for 100 bucks. It was more or less a destroyed shell, so I def had my work cut out for me. I wanted to make it to the Cinders in Flag for memorial day, and had a bit under a month to do it, so I feel you on the struggle/stress. Its kind of a catch 22 when its like that, b/c you want to enjoy building the thing out, but you also want to get to using it!

Looks good man, great work!

 

[Atl-atl]

Thank you! It was in Tucson and only listed for about 6 hours hah. Finally got it in the truck today and filled the water tank with water/vinegar. Going to drive over to a friends for turkey day so it should get jostled and flushed pretty well. I found out last night the furnace doesnt work, well it runs but wont light. Probably going to grab a mr buddy heater so I can make my trip.

 

[huntsonora]

I can’t believe you got it done in time!

 

[kerry]

Does the furnace have a pilot? It wouldn't be unusual for debris from an insect to block the pilot or gas tube on the furnace and stop it from lighting. I've had it happen. If it doesn't have a pilot it could be the igniter.

 

[Atl-atl]

Does the furnace have a pilot? It wouldn't be unusual for debris from an insect to block the pilot or gas tube on the furnace and stop it from lighting. I've had it happen. If it doesn't have a pilot it could be the igniter.

From the minimal research ive done it has an ignitor. I have not broken open the furnace “case” yet to check which model I actually have. I think there was only one furnace being used at the time (‘86) which has an igniter. I used a Mr Heater this weekend which was ok but it blew through those one pound propane tanks like theyre going out of style.

 

[craig333]

Cool project. Heater parts are still available. Checkout Dinosaur Electronics for a new board. If you're keeping the 3way fridge you might be interested in this mod.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/...or-propane-refrigerators/?hl=+auto++relighter

 

[kerry]

Thanks for that mod linked. My frig going off while driving and in high winds has always been a problem. I am going to try that

 

[Atl-atl]

Like Kerry said thank you for the link Craig!

 

[Atl-atl]

Well Ive been super busy and on the road since the trip. I had a few mishaps but thats to be expected on a shakedown run. My front drivers side turnbuckle kept loosening. Luckily it was the only one so the camper was still plenty tight. Also I dropped off a pretty hard ledge and slammed down on my hitch, which resulted in the water tank jolting the fill pipe loose, which resulted in all of the electronics getting soaked, luckily the battery was not connected. I guess the slip fittings are OK for street cruising but for offroading Im going to need to put clamps on them. So I didnt use any electronics but at least I had the water drain valve on the exterior so I could still get water, the stove to cook meals and heat in the form of a Mr Buddy heater, thankfully because the second night was in the teens.

All in all the camper worked really well. The truck handled it with no issues whatsoever. I can easily cruise at 85 on the highway and I can easily wheel it offroad through some pretty gnarly stuff. Im quite happy with this considering Im still on 100% stock suspension. On the highway I ran the tires at 42R/40F and it did great. Over the 1200 mile round trip I averaged 16mpg!!!!! I have a lot of little things to work on but Im very happy with how far along it is after only 3 weeks of work.

 

[kerry]

I connect our mr buddy to a 5lb tans.

 

[kerry]

Where were the pictures taken?

 

[Atl-atl]

I connect our mr buddy to a 5lb tans.

One of the guys on the trip has a 15lb tank in his truck bed with a 15 foot hose. He uses it for his stove, heater etc. If I were going to use it regularly Id do something like that but hopefully I wont need it.

Where were the pictures taken?

I could tell you but, well, you know how the saying goes...Just kidding, its a relatively unknown spot about 45 minutes outside of downtown Moab, on the border of Canyonlands NP.

 

[kerry]

RE: The frig relighter modification. I Decided to try this for my frig on our Northstar TS1000. Bought a new old stock relighter on Ebay and decided to test it before installation. It sparks from the probe to the ground wire when I turn it on but I figured if I heated the probe up with a small butane torch it should stop sparking once it gets hot. It doesn't, even when the probe is glowing red. Should it? If it won't stop sparking with the butane torch why would it stop sparking once the frig flame warmed it up? Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[kerry]

Update: The electrode senses current or resistance through the flame and stops sparking once the flame is detected. It's not heat per se that turns it on and off. I installed mine in our frig today using the original electrode which was on the frig. Seems to work very nicely--lights much faster than with the original piezio hammer sparker and stops sparking almost immediately upon lighting and starts sparking again as soon as the flame goes off. I haven't driven anywhere with it yet. The Attwood 9 volt relighter is no longer sold. Robert Shaw makes a 9 volt relighter for about $80. part number 735-002 I think. (maybe 785-002)

 

[AggroCrag]

Would you mind sharing what your total investment is at this point? Your build is really inspiring