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I am not here to discount your experience and frustration, but things like this happen on new products. There is always a learning curve on new products and how things need to be changed in production/delivery regardless of the testing that the manufacturer has done. V1 had problems and V2 will have problems too. Very few things in life are truly immune from failures—especially when human beings are involved in the assembly process.
Hope you get this sorted out and get back to enjoying it.
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Thanks for sharing. Always good to hear people’s experiences with a new product both good and bad.
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Looks like I’ll be packing some loctite up to Montana.
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Assuming stainless screws in aluminum, I would use Duralac or something that prevents galvanic corrosion.
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Having an early (sub 100) build of the V1, I felt like a guinea pig for 2 years until all the problems and kinks were worked out. GFC to their credit did make good on all of them. Now I feel like I have a totally bombproof camper and have no desire to be a guinea pig again with a V2 . But at least you know GFC will make the needed corrections and won’t leave you hanging.
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I agree with @cowboystaco. It was frustrating at times but I’m back to being a very happy camper.
For the assembly of V2 - I’m surprised everything doesn’t get epoxy adhesive before it’s bolted together. Hell - they make cars that way now (for example the Lotus) so you know it’s strong and permanent.
Not that it makes you feel any better but I see that the competition seems to be having growing pains as well. So, I guess it’s to be expected…
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When you say supports you mean the actual rail connections not the caps on the ends? Do the paint marks show the bolts backed out? I picked up mine a few weeks ago and drove 2k highway miles home. I haven’t noticed any of mine loose but will need to check closer! I asked for torque specs when I got mine installed but their answer left me feeling like they don’t have any. Which isn’t confidence boosting.
You’re not alone in your frustrations, I’ve had issues in the corner of my tent. The keder rail plastic that holds the tent in was too short leaving a good hole in one corner. They sent me more to fix but it was a frustrating PIA to get it in its place.
I also have reservations about the rear hatch design and the cheapness/design of the tent locks. But I’m sure I could find issues I didn’t like with the competition as well.
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The bars themselves. The painted bolts didn’t move, but that entire bar was rattling. It is only held in with an Allen bolts.
That sounds like an easy fix to re-tighten the cross member fastener that secures it to the upper or lower frame bracket. Add some loc-tite.
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I understand there are going to be growing pains (as was mentioned above) but honestly the ability to “fix” the camper issue by myself, which you have highlighted, is what is really appealing about the V2. I would prefer that stuff not come loose, but I love the ability to not be dependent on a 8 month wait to get to Montana (or a PIT) to fix the problem. If it takes some loc-tite from time to time, I am fine with that. Way better than a broken weld or a broken hinge. There are always going to be issues, these ones in my opinion are just simpler to fix. The V3 someday will follow the same trajectory. Unless I am missing something, the V2 is still a great upgrade over the V1 in my opinion.
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yep if I need to fix something myself in the middle nowhere, I’d prefer it would be easy as tightening/replacing a bolt
Just out of curiosity what on the V1can’t you “fix”? There are a lot more farmers with welders than custom made aluminum frame extrusions.
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Well now that’s a very good point and very well put.
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Great point. You are correct and certainly everything can be “fixed.”
I was referring to the hassle level involved. My point was that I think GFC is moving forward when they are addressing a couple loose screws versus a whole side door falling off at some random time or having to find someone to do some welding.
Ah yeah very true. Will be awesome if some little bugs are all that pops up. Without a doubt they learned a lot with the V1. I agree with you that the V2 is awesome and a great step forward for them.
the V1 had issues right up till the end, people are having doors fall off due to the powder coat / glue failure a few months after picking up their camper. you should be able to buy a camper and other than small checks (like the attachment to the bed) be able to run it. it shouldn’t be about ‘well they will fix it’ - thats my thought
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great point and very well said
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Sucks to hear, hopefully the new bar system is ironed out by the time the topper is released. I want a larger sleeping area but love the GFC panel system too much to give them up.
Thanks for sharing your story, mine was very similar. I waited for a year for my camper and was happily switched to the new V2. I drove through one of the worst blizzards I’ve ever been in my life to get there for the install to find out that they had the wrong camper built for me. I have a gen 2 Tacoma and they had built a camper for a gen 3 taco. The good news is the only difference is the back rear panel or door. They told me they would send this to me later and it is supposed to arrive today nearly a month since my install. Now I have to switch out latches and hinges and struts to replace my rear door which I can do but it is frustrating since I paid close to $8K for both the camper and accessories to include the beef bars and flight deck. Half of the accessories were not ready. They had to ship the beef bars to me two weeks later, and I’m still waiting on the track nuggets. The install crew actually took pictures of the clearance between the tent and the rear antenna on my taco because they were happy that it actually fit. This is frustrating since I know this company can design and build a quality unit and I paid a lot of money and waited a long time for it. To arrive and find out that it is the wrong camper with half of the accessories missing is frustrating to say the least. I then had to turn around and drive back through a blizzard for two days to get home. I like what I have, I just wish this company would learn how to treat customers better along with improving manufacturing. Even the free T-shirt I got with the camper was the wrong size because they didn’t have anything but small.
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