In a joint press release, Four Wheel Campers (FWC), the leading manufacturer of pop-up truck campers in America, just announced a historic sponsorship with Truck Camper Adventure (TCA), an online magazine specializing in overland truck campers, reviews, and 4WD exploration. Sponsorship will consist of a 2023 Four Wheel Camper Grandby, a lightweight, pop-up truck camper made for long-bed trucks. The brand-new Grandby will be mounted on an updated 2003 Ford F250 with the legendary 7.3L Power Stroke turbo diesel. The truck will be outfitted with a 4-inch lift, a Banks Monster Sport Exhaust, a Trail-Ready front bumper, and Nitto Ridge Grappler size-35 tires.
“Four Wheel Campers is very excited to embark on this new project with Mello Mike of Truck Camper Adventure,” said Dan Welty, VP of Four Wheel Campers. “We are looking forward to building Mike a new FWC pop-up truck camper for his Ford F-250. Our team is thankful to be part of the project. We wish Mike the best and hope that he will be able to explore areas he hasn’t been able to before. Having a small, narrow, lightweight camper will open up his ability to explore back-country, dirt roads like never before.”
The largest slide-in truck camper in the Four Wheel Campers catalog, the Grandby is made for long-bed trucks and is one of the company’s best sellers. The spacious, 8-foot floorplan features an east-west queen-size bed, a front dinette, a large kitchen with an 85L DC compressor refrigerator, a 20 gallon fresh water holding tank, two 10-pound propane tanks, a Thetford Swivel Cassette Toilet, electric jacks, and an outside shower. For long-lasting strength and durability, construction of the 1,600-pound, fully-loaded camper features an all-aluminum construction. The camper will be delivered to Truck Camper Adventure in November.
The electrical system in TCA’s Grandby will feature the latest in off-grid tech, including two Battle Born lithium batteries, a 320 watt Overland Solar solar power system, and a Redarc Manager 30, a 30 amp state-of-the-art battery management system to charge and maintain auxiliary batteries using AC, DC and solar inputs.
Like all Four Wheel Campers, the Four Wheel Camper Grandby uses a proprietary tie-down system consisting of four, zinc-coated eye-bolts reinforced with steel backing plates that are mounted to the bed of the pickup. The advantage of having a hidden tie-down system like the one used by Four Wheel Campers is that it not only presents a clean look on the outside of the camper, but also eliminates outriggers that can be snagged on obstructions while driving off-road.
A number of sponsors and companies will be supporting TCA’s off-road build. The truck will be outfitted with a Trail-Ready front bumper, Cooper size-37 tires, Rancho RS9000XL shocks, a Banks Monster Sport Exhaust, and Banks Ram-Air differential cover, Timbren SES bump stops, a Rugged Radios GMRS radio, an Hellwig LP-35 Helper Springs and a Hellwig Big Wig rear sway bar, and Easy Hitch Step.
“We decided to build an off-road rig for more extreme off-road adventures and Four Wheel Campers was the first company that came to mind,” said Michael Smith (aka Mello Mike), Founder and CEO of Truck Camper Adventure. “With a loaded weight of 1,600 pounds and an 8-foot floor plan, the Grandby will be a perfect match for our 2003 Ford F250 7.3L. We couldn’t be more excited about the sponsorship and look forward to exploring with the FWC Grandby on future excursions. One of our first trail runs will be on the famous White Rim Trail. No, we are not selling our old rig. TCA’s “fleet” will consist of two rigs, this new Ford-Grandby rig and our old Ram-SherpTek-Roadrunner rig.”
TCA’s new Four Wheel Camper Grandby rig will be on display at the 2023 Truck Camper Adventure Rally in Quartzsite in February and at the 2023 Overland Expo West in May and at other events sponsored by Four Wheel Campers in the future.
Truck Camper Adventure’s 2003 Ford F250 to be used in the Four Wheel Camper Grandby off-road build.
Very upset with fwc- just bought a
Raven 2018 great condition, on 2022 r3500 with cm Al so deluxe aluminum bed , just to find out fwc said no a/c can be installed—- big wow – do you have a contact to cure this problem- call woody- 720-260-6557 or tx info- thanks
Congrats Mike
Hey Mike, Just got through browsing through your latest article on your new partnership with Four Wheel Campers and couldn’t help but wonder – didn’t you just spend a lot of time and money on a custom Bundutec to complement your trusty old Ram? Is this rig going to be in addition to that setup? Also, unless I missed it, did you ever do a follow-up to the BlueDEF product now that its been a while that you reviewed it? Finally, as a longtime tent camper out here in the west and Baja region, we’re getting ready to finally get a new truck and pop-up camper but have been vacillating on a gas or diesel rig. I know it’s a hotly contested subject but if you were to get a new truck at this point, would you stick with diesel? So many questions I know, but as a long time reader I value your opinions. Keep up the good work and keep on truckin’…
Great question, Jeff. We will be keeping both rigs. Each one will have a different purpose, but this new FWC-Ford rig will be used for more extreme off-road adventures. As for the diesel question, we love the older “pre-emission” diesels like the Ford 7.3L, Cummins 5.9L, and Duramax 6.6L. We still prefer having a diesel for mountainous areas.
Jeff, take a look at the 7.3L “Godzilla” V8 gas engine from Ford, especially when paired with the 4.30 gearing it’s pretty comparable to some of the older “pre-emission” diesels… and significantly lighter than a diesel, which means more payload.