Some hawk dimensions (esp. superduty models)?

[pods8]

Can someone grab me a couple dimensions as sanity check for fitment of a hawk on newer superduty? In a bit of analysis paralysis spiral over an inch here and there on paper.

Here is what would be helpful
-Camper bottom to cabover underside (and how much clearance that provides on a superduty roof)
-Camper bottom to underside of the wings that go over the bed rails
-Camper front to where the floor pack widens.

I have a 22' superduty now that I hope to have a good while and want to overhaul the frame I welded up to fit this instead. Right now I have sketched out 23" to clear the bed rails and with the constraints of my frame (avoiding excessive cutting/welding) that puts the cabover at 48.75" which I'm thinking is a lil taller than ideal, wondering about lowering things 1". Figured I'd ask what the factory ones are coming with and how well that fits. Also I have the distance from the front to where the floorpack widens at 60" which might not be enough room after the wheel well ends, again I figured I'd ask what the factory version is coming with these days as a sanity check.



Update on me, as always life is busy/crazy, kids keep growing, projects that draw focus come/go. I shelved the buildout on my frame because of the above and reality I wanted to replace my aging dodge at some point. I have my new truck now and despite being pulled in numerous directions still getting that spark to want to have a truck camper again. (I have a trailer for family camping, etc. but we all know the perks of these setups for wandering). Not making any proclamations on timelines/success, haha, learned my lessons there over the years.

 

[pods8]

Please, anyone with a hawk on a superduty...

 

[Openroad]

I have a 2022 F350 Super Duty with a 2022 FWC Hawk.

The distance from the bottom of the camper to the cabover underside is 46.75”. That said, that only leaves about 1” clearance above the shark fin antenna. In addition, my camper sits on a hard rubber Ford bed mat that is .5” thick. So, without the bed mat, there would only be .5” of clearance above the antenna.

The distance from the bottom of the camper to the underside of the wings that go over the rails is 22 3/8”. This clears the rails even if I didn’t have the bed mat.

As for your third measurement, I’m not sure how one would get that measurement.

As a side note, since this an aluminum-bodied Super Duty you might consider beefing up the mounting backing plates if you intend to use the same mounting system. I, and others here, made up some custom pieces for the project. I wrote up my process here: https://www.fordtremor.com/threads/tremor-four-wheel-camper.438/page-10#post-261319.

Good luck

 

[Jon R]

I have a 2021 Grandby built for a GM truck, but I think the fore-aft dimension of the flared portion is the same - about 24.5 inches. So subtract that from the overall tub length of the Hawk of 80 inches to get 55.5, then add the front rubber bumper size of about 3.5 inches to figure out where the front of the flare sits in the bed: roughly 59 inches aft of the front wall of the truck bed.

Maybe someone else with a Hawk can confirm these dimensions.

 

[pods8]

I have a 2022 F350 Super Duty with a 2022 FWC Hawk.

The distance from the bottom of the camper to the cabover underside is 46.75”. That said, that only leaves about 1” clearance above the shark fin antenna. In addition, my camper sits on a hard rubber Ford bed mat that is .5” thick. So, without the bed mat, there would only be .5” of clearance above the antenna.

The distance from the bottom of the camper to the underside of the wings that go over the rails is 22 3/8”. This clears the rails even if I didn’t have the bed mat.

As for your third measurement, I’m not sure how one would get that measurement.

As a side note, since this an aluminum-bodied Super Duty you might consider beefing up the mounting backing plates if you intend to use the same mounting system. I, and others here, made up some custom pieces for the project. I wrote up my process here: https://www.fordtremor.com/threads/tremor-four-wheel-camper.438/page-10#post-261319.

Good luck

Thank you. Yes I plan to beef up the mounting. Further planning needed there but certainly gonna have backing plates.

If I am understanding correctly the camper itself is 46.75" and that doesn't include the 1/2" mat? IE the truck bed to underside of cabover is really 47.25" and that provides 1" clearance over the antennas? If so sounds like I'd be looking at 2.5" of clearance, maybe I'll shave 1/2" out of the dimensions (22.5" for wings and 48.25" for cabover). My dimensions include planned 3/4" strips on the underside already but I could add in some rubber strips to those (or a just a stand alone mat) if I needed a bit more clearance.

I'll have a 60" cabover length so I should have a little more clearance than 1" but it doesn't sound like these trucks flex very much.

How tall are the wheel well bump ins? I was planning 12" clearance, which is enough on this truck but not sure if I'm overlooking future truck flexibility or turn buckle space needed.

 

[pods8]

I have a 2021 Grandby built for a GM truck, but I think the fore-aft dimension of the flared portion is the same - about 24.5 inches. So subtract that from the overall tub length of the Hawk of 80 inches to get 55.5, then add the front rubber bumper size of about 3.5 inches to figure out where the front of the flare sits in the bed: roughly 59 inches aft of the front wall of the truck bed.

Maybe someone else with a Hawk can confirm these dimensions.

Okay sounds like I'm right in the ballpark.

 

[Jon R]

…
How tall are the wheel well bump ins? I was planning 12" clearance, which is enough on this truck but not sure if I'm overlooking future truck flexibility or turn buckle space needed.

15 inches on my 2021 Grandby for GM. I doubt it would be different for the Ford version. This is measured to the surface my stock floor skids sit on. No mat or shim included.

 

[pods8]

15 inches on my 2021 Grandby for GM. I doubt it would be different for the Ford version. This is measured to the surface my stock floor skids sit on. No mat or shim included.

I'm debating this height selection. It seems like more clearance than needed for wheel wells and if positioning the anchors in the truck bed 6" fore/aft (as recommended) it seems like this height will exceed what a 9-13" turn buckle can span. Are you having to use a quick link on yours?

Really just thinking it's wasting space to have them that high but trying to figure out if I'm overlooking something.

 

[Jon R]

I'm debating this height selection. It seems like more clearance than needed for wheel wells and if positioning the anchors in the truck bed 6" fore/aft (as recommended) it seems like this height will exceed what a 9-13" turn buckle can span. Are you having to use a quick link on yours?

Really just thinking it's wasting space to have them that high but trying to figure out if I'm overlooking something.

Yes my turnbuckles each have one 3/8 quick link. The dealer supplied them as part of the installation.

I don’t know what drove the design choice, but yes there is quite a bit of volume there. Some try to use it for storage of rarely used weather tolerant items via the turnbuckle doors and hatches. I put my water refill hose there if I take it. I ran a gray water tank for the sink drain in there for one season but decided it was more trouble than it was worth.

 

[razzle501]

2018 hawk on a 22 SD. I originally didn't add any spacers beyond the two sheets of 3/4 plywood that come stock in the camper which gave me about 3/4 of an inch at the cab. I added another 1/2" strip of plywood to the mounting boards so it sits a little over an inch above the cab.

For mounting... do not drill holes in your aluminum bed. I have the the camper mounted w 1500 lb static ratchet straps at the bed cleats in the corners. It's also super easy to take on and off. The cleats are rated for 300-400 lbs which is more than you'll get from a washer in aluminum sheet metal. I've wheeled this setup up mountain passes with no movement.

Do yourself a favor and install a 7 pin hitch plug in your bed and wire it into the camper instead of the pathetic wiring and plug that comes w the camper. SD trucks are prewired for the plug and the harness is 75 bucks on Amazon. The 7 pin has power and running lights sufficient to charge batteries (not sure about lithium tho). You can also use you bumper 7 pin to two a trailer without any issue. Best part... no new holes in your 100k truck.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

A resounding YES with respect to the 7pin bed connector! On newer trucks it’s just plug and play. The new harness snaps in between the truck harness and the backside 7pin. That’s exactly what I did with my F350 and ATC Cougar.

 

[Jon R]

I don’t know about Ford’s setup, but for any 2020+ GM owners with a bed-length camper you probably don’t want to plug the camper into the trailer harness regardless of where you install the connector. If you do, the truck computers sense the camper as a trailer and disable the rear park assist and cross-traffic alert systems. Also, your led running lights will flash regularly when parked and locked due to the test pulses of the trailer anti-theft system.

I ran 6 awg positive and negative wires for charging all the way to the engine compartment and used an SB50 connector with environmental boots on a pigtail over the front wall of the bed. I zip tie it sealed and stowed underneath when the camper is off. The running light positive is run along the same pigtail with an SAE connector, and is spliced into a replaceable section of the wire for one of the fender running lights. The truck does not know the camper is there.

I would suggest contacting FWC before deciding on an unconventional anchoring approach for the camper, both for secure anchoring and insurance coverage reasons.

 

[Vic Harder]

I second a lot of this. Your factory bed attachment points are not rated to hold that camper in an accident. No way. Stronger than the aluminum bed? Probably. Get the proper mounts from FWC for aluminum bed trucks.

As for the 7 pin plug. Are you kidding me? 14g wire for charging your camper is a complete waste of time.

Sorry, feeling a bit snarky today.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

<snip>

As for the 7 pin plug. Are you kidding me? 14g wire for charging your camper is a complete waste of time.

Sorry, feeling a bit snarky today.

Interestingly, it’s worked for me for the past 24 years.

 

[Vic Harder]

Steve, do you get much of a charge via the 7 pin? Do you have a DCDC charger?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Vic, in the ATC Cougar, I rely on solar to charge, no converter in the camper. There is some charging from the 7pin, but I don’t have/want a more reliable way of measuring. There are two Group 24 AGMs in parallel, and the electrical needs are minimal… two lights, a fan, and a furnace.

If I ever went to lithium because of a heavy load, I would probably change over to a DCDC charger and heavy gauge wire, plus add a monitor.

The Oliver travel trailer has 4 6 VDC AGMs in series parallel, and does have a converter (and Victron 2000 watt inverter), but again the load is pretty small. I have 480 watts of solar doing the heavy lifting.

 

[pods8]

For mounting... do not drill holes in your aluminum bed. I have the the camper mounted w 1500 lb static ratchet straps at the bed cleats in the corners. It's also super easy to take on and off. The cleats are rated for 300-400 lbs which is more than you'll get from a washer in aluminum sheet metal. I've wheeled this setup up mountain passes with no movement.

Do yourself a favor and install a 7 pin hitch plug in your bed and wire it into the camper instead of the pathetic wiring and plug that comes w the camper. SD trucks are prewired for the plug and the harness is 75 bucks on Amazon. The 7 pin has power and running lights sufficient to charge batteries (not sure about lithium tho). You can also use you bumper 7 pin to two a trailer without any issue. Best part... no new holes in your 100k truck.

Oh I'm not using a "washer" in the aluminum sheet metal. 1/4" aluminum backer plates that will overlap the flanges of the cross members under the bed.

My truck already has the 5th wheel prep with a 7pin in the bed. But there wouldn't be enough room to plug into that, the boxed our rear portion of the camper would hit it. I am planning to run a 2 wire Anderson powerpole for the main power connection (to a DC-DC charger) and then a separate 4 pin connection for the lights (my high mount center light will be both ID but also turn/brake signals).

Get the proper mounts from FWC for aluminum bed trucks.

I was unimpressed by the FWC mounts for the aluminum truck bed, I'm going above/beyond as noted above.

 

[Jon R]

Oh I'm not using a "washer" in the aluminum sheet metal. 1/4" aluminum backer plates that will overlap the flanges of the cross members under the bed.

My truck already has the 5th wheel prep with a 7pin in the bed. But there wouldn't be enough room to plug into that, the boxed our rear portion of the camper would hit it. I am planning to run a 2 wire Anderson powerpole for the main power connection (to a DC-DC charger) and then a separate 4 pin connection for the lights (my high mount center light will be both ID but also turn/brake signals).

I was unimpressed by the FWC mounts for the aluminum truck bed, I'm going above/beyond as noted above.

I would still suggest running what you are doing by the service department at FWC asking them via email if they see it as acceptable. If they say yes, great, then save that response email in your file in case your mounting method is questioned in making any kind of insurance claim.

 

[Riggs]

Did you make those backing plates? They look nice. I'm about to move my Grandby to a Super Duty and am trying to figure out the same things.

 

[pods8]

I would still suggest running what you are doing by the service department at FWC asking them via email if they see it as acceptable. If they say yes, great, then save that response email in your file in case your mounting method is questioned in making any kind of insurance claim.

All I have done is enlarged the plates beyond what FWC offers for folks with a superduty, what I have done is far more robust imho. Also ya gotta keep in mind this will be for a HIGHLY modified 1982 FWC.

Did you make those backing plates? They look nice. I'm about to move my Grandby to a Super Duty and am trying to figure out the same things.

I had a mail order service make them up (these ones were xometry with a coupon code, otherwise send cut send tends to be cheaper). If you want a copy of the files I can send them to you.