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Eagle Cap takes the floor plan of their 9'4" 855, puts it in their magic downsizing machine, and debuts the new 8'4" 2010 Eagle Cap 800. So what happened to that extra foot? ... ... ...
Everyone seems to be downsizing these days. The big house becomes a condo. The mini-van or SUV becomes a car. And all the extra stuff goes to Craigslist, Goodwill, or the dumpster. If you haven't used it in the last six-months, out it goes.
Eagle Cap has been busy with their own version of downsizing. Somehow they've managed to take the floor plan of their 855 model and squeeze it into a camper that's a whole foot shorter. They also managed to remove some of the weight and cost.
Does Eagle Cap have a magic downsizing machine? What happened to that extra foot? And can we borrow it to turn our cat Harley into a hampster? Once again we talked to Chris Epp, Owner of Eagle Cap, to get the back story of new Eagle Cap 800.
2010 Eagle Cap 800 Specifications:
The 2010 Eagle Cap 800 is a hard-side, non-slide, truck camper. The interior floor length of the 800 is 72 inches without the step and 96 inches with the step. The interior height is 79 inches and the exterior width is 95.75 inches. Eagle Cap is reporting the dry weight of the camper at 1,970 pounds without options. The fresh water tank is 35 gallons, the gray tank is 28 gallons, and the black tank is 16 gallons. The 800 accommodates one battery and two ten-pound propane tanks. The MSRP of the Eagle Cap 800 is $20,300.
TCM: At first blush, the 2010 Eagle Cap 800 interior looks like an Eagle Cap 855. What distinguishes the Eagle Cap 800 from the 855?
Chris: When looking at the floor plan, the Eagle Cap 800 does look a lot like the Eagle Cap 855. There is only so much that one can do with a small camper, so floor plans tend to look alike. But the similarities end there. The amazing feature of the Eagle Cap 800 is that it has the same floor plan as the Eagle Cap 855 but is only eight feet four inches long. That is a full twelve inches shorter than the Eagle Cap 855 and yet it is not missing any of the features that our customers expect.
The two models are really quite different aside from the fact that they have a similar floor plan. Interestingly, East End Campers in New York has placed an order for two Eagle Cap 855’s and one Eagle Cap 800. Obviously they are taking the same approach as we are and allowing the customer tell us which is the better product for their needs.
TCM: Since the two campers are similar, what type of customer is the Eagle Cap 800 designed for?
Chris: The Eagle Cap 800 was designed with two groups of customers in mind. The first group of people own a short box truck. The Eagle Cap 800 is unique because it is only 8’ 4” long, has a full washroom with a shower and sink, has a two door refrigerator, opposing dinette booth, huge exterior storage and a center of gravity that is eight inches ahead of the rear axle even on a short box pick-up truck (see picture). There are lighter truck campers available, but none of them have these features. Of course the Eagle Cap 800 also works well on long box trucks.
The second group of people the Eagle Cap 800 is designed for are those who are going to pull a boat or horse trailer behind their truck and do not want to use a four foot stinger. Even when the Eagle Cap 800 is loaded on a short box pick up, hooking up your trailer to your truck is not complicated and does not involve lying on your back under the camper.
TCM: For the past two years, Eagle Cap has been building wood framed campers and aluminum framed campers. Is the 800 an aluminum or wood framed camper? Are there any other build differences with the 800?
Chris: On the Eagle Cap 800 the side walls, rear wall, front wall, bunk and front nose are all constructed using aluminum. The roof, floor, and wing components are constructed using wood. We did this to provide the strength of a welded aluminum frame in the key structural areas while saving the cost of the aluminum frame on some of the non vertical components. The front and rear fiberglass end caps are also omitted to save cost and weight.
Eagle Cap tries to build their campers as light as possible with out compromising strength. On the Eagle Cap 800, we were able to bring the dry weight below the 2,000 pound mark. There are lighter eight foot campers, but none of them have the cabinets, storage, and features that our Eagle Cap 800 has. Remember, it is like a nine and a half foot camper in an eight foot four inch body.
TCM: So what is the weight and MSRP of the Eagle Cap 800?
Chris: The dry weight of the Eagle Cap 800 is 1,970 pounds. That’s about 700 pounds less than the 855. The base MSRP of the Eagle Cap 800 is $20,300.
TCM: When will the 800 be available at truck camper dealerships?
Chris: We have just shipped our first units. There are more on order to be shipped over the next month.
TCM: The last camper announcement from Eagle Cap was your new triple slide. Now you’re announcing a simple non-slide camper. It seems like Eagle Cap is going in two very different directions. Tell us about that.
Chris: The two campers are from opposite ends of the camper spectrum but they are both campers and that is what we do at Eagle Cap. We build campers.
TCM: Who is the dog that we’ve seen twice now in your new camper announcements?
Chris: That’s Mony Pen’s dog, Tazz. Evidently he enjoys helping Mony with the photo shoots.
TCM: We’ll have to get Tazz to talk to Harley about helping us with our photo shoots. Unfortunately, he’s a lousy photographer.
Thank you for the camper announcement Chris. We look forward to seeing an Eagle Cap 800 and 1165 when we visit your factory in a few weeks.
For more information about Eagle Cap, visit their website at www.eaglecapcampers.com.
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