21 replies to this topic

[chnlisle]

Pam and I stopped in to ATC on our trip to Sacto and Guinda. I cant emphasize enough what great guys Ben, Marty, Jeff and Don are. For openers I did 3K worth of damage to the truck. Dont ask. Suffice it to say pilot error and a very stout pole protecting a fire hydrant. Hey I'm an idiot what can I say.

While I was there I had them look at the Iota to try and figure out why the house batt doesnt charge on shore power. Marty traced it down to a hidden fuse and problem solved. I am going over to Iota this week and see if they have a better idea...like maybe a remote fuse. They also solved my 3way propane problem.

Incidentally both Marty and jeff who had 35 years at FWC said all four camper eyes should be pulling into the truck \\ not /\. So we changed those too.

And now for the really hot mod. Because we dont have the extended over head and because I'm old and get up several times a night I had this idea to extend the upper bed into the camper so that we can sleep front to back. This would make it so whomever feels the call at night wont have to climb over the other to get down. I asked Jeff if it could be done and he said no problem. I now have an upper KING SIZED bed with tons of up side and very little down side. The up side is self evident. The down side is a loss of half of the narrow little slidng door wall mounted cabinet and the extention has the bed slider portruding about 8 inches into the seating area. Marty thinks it might be a headache problem but you'll only do it once and to tell the truth it just doesnt appear to be a problem. So Pam and I are stoked we now have a great sleeping space in a short overhead Hawk. If you have a short overhead I highly reccomend you call these great guys and get this mod done.

Pictures and dimensions to follow.

[simimike]

Jay, sounds like a really nice mod. The wife and I had a long discussion on the sleeping arrangements before we decided on which camper to purchase. At our age a good nights sleep is a necessity. And don't feel bad about the damage to your truck. Where I park my truck is a boulder the size of a midsize sedan. It very seldom moves, but one time it ran into my bumper. I gave it a dirty look. Bad rock. I think it learned it's lesson.

Cheers,

Mike

[Brian]

Jay...
The ONLY accidents I have had to date...knock on wood....are backing up and too low an overhead obstruction....but I have had several, the last in old Mexico when myself and a Mexican fellow were both backing up in a parking lot and were each in the others blind spot...bumper to bumper...we jumped out looked and looked at each other and both said "nada" at the same time and went our ways. So don't feel bad....it is only a matter of time, methinks, before a guy screws up....drive a million miles + and sumpins bound to happen.
We have the older style bed which allows us to sleep the way you mention and it is essential since we both get up at least once a night.
Good for you and here's to good sleeping for you and your bride!
Yep, those guys are the best....
Brian in nm

[chnlisle]

Thanks for the.....Ahhh it's ok.....guys. I still feel like an idiot but for the first time ever I changed my deductable this year from $1500 to $100. The Truck estimate is $2850. Guess I did something right reverse logic though that may be.

[SunMan]

Nice move! We still wanna see those mod pictures Jay...hope the repairs go smoooothly!

[DLN]

Sometimes we just get lucky Jay, $100.00 vs $1,500.00 leaves you some bucks for your next mod or trip. Good luck on the repairs.

[chnlisle]

Sun San and Y'all,

As promised here are a few pix of the bed mod. This thing is awesome. The bed fully extended is now 77x77. Its hard to believe this little Hawk has a king sized bed, stove and refer.

The pix don't do it justice because the smallest lens I have is a 78mm so its hard to get the full effect in the confines of the Hawk but here they are.

The first gives you an idea of the overhang with the bed unextended. The second is the a little better shot of the new overhang

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[chnlisle]

These show the bed fully extended and the shortened cabinet that accomodates the new extension. Its a bed on Viagra.

Now if Brain/Brian would get on the stick and test out the new cooler we'll be ready for summer camping.

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[Tomas Tierra]

Jay,

Do you have a shot of the cabinet side of your camper after the mod??

TT

[chnlisle]

TT,
There is no change on the cabinet side. When the bed is full extended it does cover the range burners but the only cabinet change was on the couch side. And that was just making the little narrow cabinet shorter. The side you have questions about looks essentially the same as the FWC you bought from me.