Preparing for a Four Wheel Camper
After the longest 10 month wait we’ve ever experienced, we have finally taken delivery of our new Four Wheel Camper!
Yes that’s right, the lead time on a new Four Wheel Camper is upwards of 10 months from the time of deposit.
Needless to say, we’ve had a lot of time to prepare and think about the many things that will make time on the road just a little bit easier.
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PREPARING THE TRUCK FOR INSTALLATION
As you can imagine, a Four Wheel Camper can’t be placed on just anything. You have to be sure you are equipped to carry such a load. We will be installing our camper on a F-350 and therefore, won’t require many of the upfront modifications/upgrades that FWC recommends to handle the weight, but there are a few things we did need to prepare for installation.
Bed mat and lumber for the camper dolly
TRUCK BED MAT
We opted for a heavy rubber bed mat to absorb shock and prevent the camper from shifting while in motion. We found an option from DeeZee on Amazon at a reasonable price and have been happy with the fit and finish.
It’s made specifically for the Super Duty (or almost any truck) and is cut to fit around the wheel wells and tailgate. Other FWC owners suggest rubber horse stall mats as an even cheaper alternative. Again, we love the truck specific fit of this mat. I’ve also spent upwards of $650 for spray in liners in the past. While these look great, I never found it to be worth the cost. They are easy to tear when sliding heavy loads (like a camper) into the bed and are not easy to repair or replace. They also do not offer the same cushion as a bed mat due to the difference in thickness. The bed mats are thick and tough and if we ever happen to ruin it, they won’t break the bank to replace.
During our first 3,000+ mile trip from North Carolina to Utah and back, we had minimal movement of the camper and only had to retighten the turn buckles once. Considering the extensive amount of off-road driving we did, we consider that a huge win.
Your installer will have to drill four 2” holes through whatever mat you choose to allow the eye bolt tie downs to come through, so don’t be surprised!
BACKUP CAMERA
The next upgrade is completely optional but likely necessary for anyone who’s become accustomed to back up cameras.
With the tailgate removed when the camper is in use, we lost our backup camera that’s built into the tailgate release handle. Another Amazon find and a simple install fixed this problem.
We used a plug and play camera that mounts to the license plate bracket. It included the Ford compatible wiring harness and enough extra wire to relocate elsewhere if we determine we’d like a higher viewing angle. We have found this camera to be very useful and well worth the addition. It’s an upgrade that isn’t too expensive and adds convenience and safety to our travels, what more could you ask for?
REAR SEAT STORAGE
Building a storage solution for the truck cab was our next consideration.
Until you have your camper and can fill the cabinets with all of your essential items, you’ll never be sure about the amount of space inside the camper.
Initially, we plan to keep only the necessities for things like cooking, working remotely, as well as toiletries, bedding, and clothes within the living space. All of the other items like tools, recovery gear, camera equipment, extra water jugs, and dirty hiking gear will live in the truck cab. Of course, this may change with time but we are certain that we will need an additional storage space in the cab of the truck.
To house all of this securely, we built a raised platform with tie down points. This gives us a perfectly flat surface to arrange a variety of different sized totes that accommodate much more than we will likely ever need.
The platform is built specifically to protect the hardware, wiring, and electrical inverter that is mounted under the seats of the truck.
It creates a flat area to store all of our equipment with tie down points to keep things secure. The best part is that it helps to keep us organized.
The underside is a great place to store smaller items or things we don’t want crushed.
TIRES
Upgrading tires to a load range suitable for the weight of our specific camper was not necessary for us as the F-350 comes from the factory with E-Range tires and a payload rating of over 4,800 pounds. That’s about double what we expect our camper to weigh when fully loaded. The stock E-rated tires will handle the load but they are on our list of future upgrades, simply to gain traction while driving off-road. This upgrade will be strictly based on the truck you will be installing your camper on and what type of travel you intend on doing. We do plan to incorporate more off-roading into our future travels but for now, we will expend our energy elsewhere.
BUILDING A DOLLY
Our garage isn’t quite large enough to unload and load the camper from one location without moving it; otherwise, the jacks would suffice. A dolly is a great solution if you are in a situation where you know you will be needing to move the camper once it’s unloaded from the truck.
To store the camper during the off-season or when we aren’t taking it out for a period of time, we built a easy and simple dolly. This project took little material and only took a few hours to assemble.
Once the camper is removed from the truck bed, it fits perfectly atop the dolly and is easily rolled around in the garage.
IN SUMMARY
We did a lot of preparing when it comes to the Four Wheel Camper. We had a lot of time and we wanted to be ready to immediately hit the road once it was installed. We hope this was helpful if you too are thinking of getting a camper or waiting for yours to arrive.
That’s it for now!
We hope you find this guide helpful for you in preparing for your Four Wheel Camper. If you are waiting for yours to arrive, already have one, or are thinking of getting one leave a comment below and let us know what you are doing to help make life on the road more convenient, safe, and fun! We are constantly making modifications and upgrades and we would love to hear yours.
Catch ya next time.
Taylor and Seth
Hi, we’re Seth and Taylor and we love sharing all things related to outdoor adventure!
We love anything that gets us outside — hiking, biking, backpack, road tripping, and so much more! We love sharing our adventures and hope it helps YOU get out to see more.
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