The FWC team and Ziggy	The FWC team loads a container headed for Taiwan	Gary and Janet Morissey with their new Hawk and Toyota Tundra
Stan Kennedy puts up a window flap before lowering the camper roof	Stan Kennedy attaches bungee cords to pull the liner inside the camper as the top is lowered	Stan Kennedy pulls down the front wall lift mechanism
Stan Kennedy prepares to lower the rear roof	There are six roof latches that keep the roof in place during transport	Ziggy, resident mouser, recently caught a bat and talks constantly
The FWC factory with two assembly lines	The center of gravity for each model is precisely located and marked	When FWC customers send in their photos they are proudly displayed

Woodland, California – Calling Four Wheel Campers by their full name just isn’t cool anymore.  On the forums and even in the hallways of Four Wheel Camper, they’re known as FWC.  We’ve always wanted to talk like the cool kids, so from now on Four Wheel Campers will be known as FWC here at TCM.  Now that you’re down with the pop-up lingo, let’s get to it.


FWC Mindset

In our conversations with Tom Hanagan, President, and Stan Kennedy, Sales Representative, we kept hearing about the FWC mindset.  Stan described the mindset as pop-up purist and explained that their customers want a camper that’s simple, light-weight, and durable.

Tom said that the typical FWC customer wants to camp outside and use their campers primarily to get out of the rain and to sleep.  For these customers, the ability to go anywhere a four-wheel drive truck can go is critical.  Tom described his customers as everything from outdoor photographers to amateur astronomers to gold prospectors.  The FWC is a tool that allows them to go where they need to be to pursuit their passions.

We asked Tom to give us an example of a customer type and camper that they often see.  He told us about the surfers who go down to Baja, Mexico who buy a FWC with roof racks for their surf boards, an outside shower to wash off the sand and salt water, and a refrigerator for cold beverages after being out in the hot sun.  They often don’t bother with a stove as they do most of their cooking and eating outside.

Another interesting facet to the FWC mindset came to light when Tom told us how many mature women are buying their campers.  He described how the combination of a light truck such as a Toyota Tacoma or a Ford Ranger and a simple and light-weight pop-up camper was comfortable for someone that didn’t want to deal with a large RV.

Along the front wall of the factory were several older FWC campers that were being refurbished, some twenty years old.  Tom said that it would really make financial sense for many of these customers to buy new campers but they are very sentimental.  Tom explained that personal attachment to the FWC camper is another part of the FWC mindset.


Standards and Options

For more light on the FWC concept and mindset, we looked at FWC’s standard feature list and available options.  Tom calls his campers minimalist and utilitarian, but just how minimalist and utilitarian are they?

Standard feature highlights include a 110V electrical system with a power converter, two overhead 12V lights, 5 gallon propane tanks, twelve or twenty gallon fresh water tank (depending on model), three-piece portable dining table, deluxe fabric cushions, stainless steel sink with hand or electric pump (depending on model), and a two-burner stove with cover.

Highlights from the option list include a three-way refrigerator, forced air furnace, power roof vent fan, arctic pack (for cold weather insulation), 8’ side awning, Yakima roof rack system, auxiliary battery system, 50 watt solar panel, and four corner mechanical camper jacks.

For those customers that truly need a minimalist and utilitarian camper, FWC offers a shell model.  The shell models give customers the ability to finish their own interior or use their camper for basic shelter and storage.


Weight, How Much?

Whether we’re talking about a triple-slide or a minimalist pop-up, the questions of weight and cost are never far from our minds.  When we put these questions to Stan, he told us that a FWC on average costs between $12,000 and $14,000 and weighs just under 1,000 pounds.  Tom said that the lightest FWC would be a 550 pound shell model and their largest Keystone model loaded with every option would be 1,250 pounds.  Naturally these numbers are well within range of most half-ton pickups.

FWC’s best selling campers are the short-bed Hawk and the Eagle.  The most popular combination for FWC is a short-bed Hawk and a Toyota Tundra.  The next most popular combination is an Eagle and a Toyota Tacoma.  Stan also said that often a customer’s FWC truck and camper rig costs less than $30,000, especially if they buy a used truck.

Almost every FWC is sold factory direct and built to order from an options checklist.  There is one FWC dealer in Wisconsin, with Sean Dempsey, of Go Anywhere.  FWC has two trailers that drive all over the country delivering campers to customers.


How-To Pop-Up and Pop-Down

We had Stan Kennedy, Sales Representative, get into a FWC and show us step by step how to put the camper top up and down.  The camper he used for his demonstration was in FWC’s showroom with it’s top already up.  So let’s get the top down.

The first thing Stan did was to close the windows on the liner.  Then he attached two bungee cords to stainless steel D-rings on the inside liner.  The bungee cords will pull the liner inside the camper as the top is lowered. 

Once the two bungee cords were in place, Stan unsnapped a push bar at the front of the camper to lower the lift mechanism.  He pulled and lowered the front roof down until the very front edge was laying on the cabover bed.  Stan then walked to the back of the camper and released the other half of the roof lift mechanism. 

Once the roof had been lowered, he walked outside and gently pushed in the soft-side liner corners of the camper.  Once the liner was in, he snapped six roof latches all the way around the camper.  The camper was now ready to go.


Four Wheel to Four Corners

Tom has developed an export business for FWC and now ships campers to Taiwan, Japan, Iceland, and Australia.  When we arrived, they were finishing a container load of campers headed for Taiwan.  The campers are a special FWC model designed for the flatbed trucks used in Asia.

In the very front of the container the FWC team put a crate with jacks and repair parts.  The campers themselves were carefully bolted to the container floor.  About a half-hour later, the truck started up and drove away.  Tom looked at the truck as it passed by, smiled, and told us that in ten to fourteen days those campers would be in Taiwan. 


Gary and Janet Morrisey

On our second day with FWC, we met Gary and Janet Morrisey who had recently taken delivery of a Hawk for their Toyota Tundra.  Gary owns a boat building business in Canada and literally bought his FWC sight unseen after researching about it online.

When we asked him what sold the camper, Gary simply said simplicity and lightweight.  He really likes that the lift system is completely human powered and explained that that means there’s less to break or deteriorate.  Currently Gary and Janet are planning a trip across Canada to Newfoundland.  After thirty-five years of tent camping adventures they figured they could take a step up.  Indeed.

For more information about Four Wheel Campers, visit their web site at www.fourwheelcampers.com.