2007 Hawk remodel question

[Justwanderinthrough]

Just started tearing down the interior of my 07 hawk to do a remodel. (Lived in it for 3 years while driving the PanAm AK-ARG) so it’s in need of a little love. My question is does anyone know how to safely remove the oak rails that the Cabover bed slides out onto? Obviously attached to aluminum framing it just doesn’t appear to be screwed of glued in anyway. At the factory it must have been put on after they installed the 1/8 paneling because that’s under the oak rails. Any help would be appreciated. Cheers

 

[Jon R]

On my 2021 it appears to be held on by five exposed screws. However, if you imagine a 220 lb person sitting on the edge of the bed at the extreme right or left, there’s gotta be more than just that one or two screws taking the load or it wouldn’t last very long.

 

[Justwanderinthrough]

Not on my 07. It’s an oak rail that has no exposed fasteners. I’ll add pictures tomorrow

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Is there a chance the screws are plugged? If it’s not attached from the inside, I suspect it is from the outside, as Jon’s photo shows.

 

[Vic Harder]

I have removed and reinstalled them during rebuilds. Just a few screws holding it on, at least on my 2005 and 2015 campers.

 

[Jon R]

I have removed and reinstalled them during rebuilds. Just a few screws holding it on, at least on my 2005 and 2015 campers.

Yikes! I’ll have to be more mindful of the loads placed on it. Getting up in the morning sometimes both of us are sitting at the edge of the bed.

 

[Vic Harder]

The load would be a sheer load, and it seems to have been strong enough, such that over the last many decades the design has stayed the same.

 

[Justwanderinthrough]

No plugs, no screws. I’m assuming they built interior first and screwed them in place from the exterior while the siding was off??? Sorry for the poor pics. Probably just get my multitool in there to cut out as much of the old paneling as I can

 

[Vic Harder]

That doesn’t look like either of my campers did. Was this camper already remuddled?

 

[Justwanderinthrough]

No not rebuilt but it was painted a time or two

 

[camelracer]

No not rebuilt but it was painted a time or two

This is what it looks like on a 2007. Your's should be the same with external screws.