It’s complete ready to go. It’s nice 3M adhesive as well. Similar to a gore-Tex repair tape.
1 Like
would love to see the inside of that bed buildout you have!
1 Like
I’m sympathetic to OPs concerns. But I have a fix. First, the issue: My first few nights in the GFC sucked; I barely slept because those loose tent flap bottoms make the whole side flap against the inside layer of the tent, rattling the buckles and creating lots of noise (50+ dbs as I measured in fairly low 20-30mph winds). Worse than any ground tent I’ve ever used, for two reasons. First, the wind is usually stronger off the ground, second, a ground tent rain fly tensions to the stakes and poles, preventing it from whacking the tent body.
[The fix:] buy some tarp clips and use them to tension the sides of the tent down to the tent rails. (How does your tent perform in the wind? - #21 by KOM-Chaser)
This mostly solved it for me. That, and making sure the zippers of the doors were all the way up.
Good luck, don’t give up up because of this.
That said, I’m also in the “GFC aint worth it” club. Would rather just use a ground tent and snugtop. Use the savings to triple lever QQQ or something dumb like that 
2 Likes
I sewed a strip of Velcro along the bottom of one side flap as a POC and it made a massive difference. Just took like 4-5 hours to sew by hand. 
So many thread tangles and breaks.
3 Likes
Using the gas struts to provide the final tension to the tent is not the best design in my opinion. These gas springs are impacted by temperature, seem somewhat inconsistent in their pressure and suffer from degradation over time. Also, depending on how much weight is on your roof it will impact the tent tension. I feel they should be used to “assist” in opening but not be the single point that holds the tent open. The below solution helps. A similar method was posted on the forum by another member too.
-
Have someone push the tent fully open, getting the fabric nice and tight.
-
Measure the open length of the gas strut cylinder.
-
Cut a section of PEX pipe to that measurement and cut a slot along its entire length the most sketchy way possible (I used a track saw)
-
When you open your tent, clip these onto the gas springs. This will hold the tent fully open and keep it secure in harsh weather. It’s quick and easy to install and remove. I chose the PEX over PVC because it’s light and flexible. If you forget to take them off and close the tent they will just pop off and don’t risk any damage.
19 Likes
Hi Chuck
? What diameter did you use PEX
Thx
1 Like
Great for dust protection whilst at camp too!
great fix. mine blows closed on me all the time.
If I parked the wedge into the wind it would slam closed with me in it. Turned out to be a blown strut out of the box from the get go. I was really mad at first as I was having all kinds of issues and was just going to sell it and call the camper a POS. Calder reached out from GFC and replaced all the parts I was having issues with. He saved my opinion and I am really loving it now.
4 Likes
Yeah mine is like that, and a little more slack on the bottom edge as well. I just try to ignore it, sometimes it makes closing the zipper bind up a bit.
I recently ripped my tent mesh. I was happy to have this slack in order to perform a clean sewing repair.
I appreciate the idea and will more than likely end up doing that. Part of the appeal of the gfc for me was ease of set up. Having to go around and do this, even though it probably only takes a minute, is very annoying. Then if you want to open the door, you have to take them off.
We are definitely in the same club.
1 Like
I looked more into this, this past weekend and determined my flapping was the door flaps touching the screen. Since they are both somewhat firm material, they make a sound. I ended up rolling up the screens while leaving the flaps down and that helped a ton. Wondering if I could just get a thin sheet of fabric between the tent flap and screen, to dampen the sound when they touch.
2 Likes
It seems that a lot of the issue could be eliminated if there wasn’t three inches of extra material on the inside screen causing the entire area to sag. I may fold up the excess and sew it so the screen is actually taut like every other tent I’ve ever been in.
For so much engineering to go into the frame itself, they really missed with the tent.
2 Likes
As much as I love my GFC so far I do agree with this. The tent is a little drafty and it baffles me that none of the flaps fully zip up. No rain fly either.
I’ve been in some light rain and didn’t have any water ingress, but I’m pretty worried about getting caught out in an actual wind / rain storm. The tent feels more 3.5-season than 4-season to me.
2 Likes
I agree. Based on everything I’ve seen and read, the tent is the weakest part of the GFC Camper. They should take a hard look at the Alu-Cab Canopy Camper tent and modify the design accordingly.
1 Like
the flap gets worse each wind storm.
I have easily 6" of overlap now