66 replies to this topic

[longhorn1]

Congrats. jd

Sent from my SM-G900V using Wander The West mobile app

[Vic Harder]

pics are in the gallery - http://www.wanderthe...005-hawk-shell/

[Bill D]

It looks like your shell is real nice.  Clean and solid.

I look forward to seeing your changes over time.

 

What do you have for heat?

Edited by Bill D, 04 October 2016 - 06:18 AM.

[Vic Harder]

No heat (yet).  Thinking of a Propex.  Only disappointment so far has been that it isn't an extended cab-over model Hawk    Otherwise, it is a great base for building up as we want.  Right now the only things we really want to address are better sleeping pads that are wider than our 20" NeoAir Thermarests and a fridge - plus the power to run it!

[Vic Harder]

Question for those with older FWC that use the horizontally mounted propane tanks.... where do they mount?  I am building up a layout for the camper insides, mostly for the batteries and associated electrical parts, water tank & pump, the propane system, and the fridge.

 

My initial thoughts are:

Water tank - up front under the window

Batteries - next to the water tank, on the pax side

Propane - their MIGHT be room on the driver's rear, but it would be very tight.  Not sure what else would work here.

Fridge - up front?

 

The basic idea is to keep the weight low and forward, and to have maximum usable floor/cupboard space when the bed it pulled out.

[wuck]

Camper looks nice, a clean slate to build on

 

In 2004, Hawks and Grandbys were built with the fridge up front. they haven't repeated that since, I don't know why because in mine it works really well - We leave the bed extension pulled out all the time, but the stove, sink and fridge are all accessible regardless.

 

Galley pics post #2 in my build thread. The horizontal propane locker is mid-ship between the heater and fridge.  Here's the outside view.

 

Water tank and battery are on front wall, visible in this post. Current production water tanks are slightly different form factor, but in the same area. My battery is is a bit different also (large data-center UPS battery).

[Vic Harder]

from the mpg thread

http://www.wanderthe...-economy/page-4

 

 

Hi Vic
Yes the inside looks very clean. Happy for you, standing up when camping sounds nice! Will you be able to reuse any of the cabinets?
Thanks for the photo fix this Tues. evening!
Russ 

 

Russ, not sure if we can reuse the cabinets.  My wife and I are coming from a nano-sized tenting and backpacking mindset, with a strong awareness of bears.  So, we are deciding to keep all food and cooking gear in the cab of the truck, and are evaluating what can/must go in the camper. Shelves and such will be optimized for quick removal of bins to take outside, which is where we prefer to be.  

 

Lots to learn and experiment with!

Edited by Vic Harder, 05 October 2016 - 02:46 AM.

[Vic Harder]

Camper looks nice, a clean slate to build on

 

In 2004, Hawks and Grandbys were built with the fridge up front. they haven't repeated that since, I don't know why because in mine it works really well - We leave the bed extension pulled out all the time, but the stove, sink and fridge are all accessible regardless.

 

Galley pics post #2 in my build thread. The horizontal propane locker is mid-ship between the heater and fridge.  Here's the outside view.

 

Water tank and battery are on front wall, visible in this post. Current production water tanks are slightly different form factor, but in the same area. My battery is is a bit different also (large data-center UPS battery).

Just re-read your whole build thread, Wuck.  Nice work.  I am jealous of your extended cab over.

 

I measured my parts and the camper, and the propane box will fit on the rear driver's side, and the Truckfridge 130 will stack on top of that with enough room for the small high mounted cabinet to stay if I want it there.

 

Similarly, the water tank and batteries will fit on the floor at the front under the window.  I see you used a battery box.  Flooded cell battery?  

 

Now I have to figure out where a water heater and furnace will fit.  Don't need a sink, as we will use a basin outside for washing up, or a stove, as we are still using the ultralight single burner https://www.mec.ca/e...-976/Vega-Stove  I may want to put a metal surface on the counter top so we can boil water inside if it is really miserable out.

 

Question for the smart folks here, on this water tank I just bought from FWC, what are all the various fittings for?  And which way is "up"?

 

http://www.wanderthe...-tank-fittings/

Edited by Vic Harder, 05 October 2016 - 03:30 AM.

[wuck]

Ahh, my build thread, about 6 months behind the times. Lots done since then . . .

 

My battery is surplus from a large server/data center, it is an AGM sealed type. No battery box, it just looks that way.

 

One thing to think about as you ponder furnace/water heater locations is the framing involved. FWC has offered in the past a "Full Build Out" option for shell orders (or something sounding similar) where the walls are framed as though the camper is to be fully loaded w/options. A call to FWC with your serial number would verify whether or not that is the case for yours. It may save you some time/headaches to stay close to standard, unless of course you like to weld aluminum

 

Rather than try to type a crummy description of your tank, I labeled it for you with my best educated guess. Fill/vent point up

 

 

[Vic Harder]

Thanks Wuck.  Any ideas on why FWC included hoses and  T on the drain?  And with the vent and fill pointing up as you suggest, I'd imagine the box for the water heater needs to be tall enough to allow for some bend in the hoses.  How much room is there above the water tank in your setup?

 

My shell is just that, no additional framing.  I was wondering about what I might find in the walls.  I have access to friends that can weld aluminum, but I can't do it myself.