2020 Ram 2500 and FWC Hawk Slide-In - good combo or potential issues?

[GeorgeHayduke]

I forget the exact sequence with getting the 35's to fit, but definitely deflated and I think you have to angle it up past the tow hitch first rather than pulling straight up. You should be able to find tips on here or various ram forums if you search.

We've run a Northstar TC650 popup, Scout Kenai and now a GFC on our 2016 Ram 2500. I found the key was keeping the weight as low as possible and between the axles. We needed Timbren bumpstops and a Hellwig swaybar for the first two setups, the GFC does just fine with the factory suspension. The coils actually do well with straight vertical loads but don't control sway very well, so keeping the roof and rear hitch empty and putting heavy stuff like batteries and water as close to the cab as possible is key. Your King shocks will also help damp out swaying motions much better than the factory shocks.

Sounds like you're confident the FWC Hawk is the setup you want, so you might as well get it now and try running it on the 2500. If it works, then great, and if you don't like how it drives you can switch to the 3500 then, but I wouldn't necessarily do it preemptively since you're planning on the same camper regardless of the truck choice.

 

[Oilbrnr]

Get the Hawk in your bed, put some air in those bags and go! I sit at 9,200# dry in my PW with the sliders, bumpers, Hawk. Thuren/King suspension as you. Been that way for going on four great years.

 

[Power Wagon Family]

I went with the Four Wheel Campers Project M on my Power Wagon because I was worried the Hawk would have been too heavy. It's actually worked out great and we love the Project M.

 

[LokiBear303]

I went with the Four Wheel Campers Project M on my Power Wagon because I was worried the Hawk would have been too heavy. It's actually worked out great and we love the Project M.

How is the dust, if any? Also curious what kind of awning you have there and how it's mounted?

 

[Power Wagon Family]

How is the dust, if any? Also curious what kind of awning you have there and how it's mounted?

The dust intrusion is very low. I've sealed the bed and tailgate which has helped tremendously. The awning is a 23Zero 270 mounted on the MULE Expedition Four Wheel Camper awning brackets.

 

[LokiBear303]

The dust intrusion is very low. I've sealed the bed and tailgate which has helped tremendously. The awning is a 23Zero 270 mounted on the MULE Expedition Four Wheel Camper awning brackets.

Did you have to drill a couple of holes in the Mule brackets to align the bolts with the 23zero awning? How do you set it up in conjunction with the Project M hinged door? I have the exact same awning that I plan on attaching the our slide in hawk. My only concerns are door height clearance and mounting it on the drivers side (works with current setup). I saw a youtuber named Darkside Overlander or something that had to reinforce the brackets after they bent while supporting his AluCab shadow awning.

 

[Power Wagon Family]

Did you have to drill a couple of holes in the Mule brackets to align the bolts with the 23zero awning? How do you set it up in conjunction with the Project M hinged door? I have the exact same awning that I plan on attaching the our slide in hawk. My only concerns are door height clearance and mounting it on the drivers side (works with current setup). I saw a youtuber named Darkside Overlander or something that had to reinforce the brackets after they bent while supporting his AluCab shadow awning.

I didn't have to do any modification to the Mule brackets, but I think the ones for the Hawk are different. The awning works fine with the rear hatch. The hatch just rests against the underside of the awning when open. I've seen those videos on YouTube you're talking about and believe Mule changed the design after that issue. Mine seem super strong and I can't see them bending.

 

[Hegear]

@GeorgeHayduke I like the way you think! I've dragged my wife out camping in the cold and loaded my 90lb husky into the RTT enough times that we're set on a FWC Hawk with amenities. I actually revised my payload spreadsheet to incorporate some of the potential weight savings as you described and it looks much more manageable. The cost of selling my current rig and starting over with a 3500 (which I should've done from the beginning) is enough to persuade me to try it out. We can always pop the camper into another truck and you're right about the 2500s great handling off road. I tried fitting the 35 in the factory stock area but it wouldn't fit, might need to try it again deflated. Appreciate the thoughtful input!

It will fit, I lower the tire pressure to 30 and you have to wiggle around a little.

 

[Kmehr]

I see this thread peter'd out a bit a few months ago, but should add my experience as a big camper/2500 owner. I have a 22 ccsb cummins and just picked up our 23 Outfitter Juno. With wife, me, two kids, dog, full water, were at 3,200lbs of payload. Probably can add 2-300lbs to that for gear and food for a longer trip. As it sits, all I have added is 129 load rated 285.75/r18s and Timbrens. Fully loaded it sits 1/2in rear high.

To the OP- the day I picked up the camper, I put it in my truck without my Timbrens and made it about 15 miles down the road before realizing it was unsafe. It wasn't the squat so much as the side to side rocking, the stock rear coils just could not handle it and keep any lateral movement in check. I pulled over, put my Timbrens on and night and day better. It still drives and feels like there is a big camper in the bed of the truck, but honestly I don't know what vehicle you could come up with that didn't have a noticeable effect from a bunch of weight. It feels stable and safe with just the Timbrens, and stouter tires (man the stock Transforce ATs are absolute trash!). The truck handled my old 1700lb jayco (probably 2300-2400lb payload with people, dog gear etc, like it wasn't even there). I don't think that heavier duty coils would make a huge difference in stability, simply because of their inboard location.

When I bought my truck, I was planning on moving to a travel trailer, so went with the 2500. We took one last trip in our old jayco before our most recent son was born and immediately decided we wanted to stay truck camper and avoid the campground life. In all honesty, if I'd have made that decision first, I'd have gone 3500 just for piece of mind. I'm at around 11,400-11,600 lbs, and the GVWR of an identical 3500 is 11,800, so im comfortable with that.

All that to say- from a strictly safety/ability standpoint, I do not think that a stock 3500 would necessarily handle a camper better than a properly equipped 2500. The REAL difference in stability, in my opinon, comes from the inboard location of the coil springs vs. where the leaf springs are outside the frame on a 3500. Hence why I got that wild side to side bounce without the Timbrens. I don't think a gas 2500 truck, with more payload would be any more stable than the diesel truck with less sticker'd payload. Adding airbags or Timbrens put load support in about the same place as the leaf springs on a 3500 and, in my opinion likely negates any inherent stability in the 3500. After that, brakes, frame, axles, steering, wheels, everything else is the same between the 3500 and 2500. My understanding is that most if not all 3500s do not come with rear sway bars, and at least my 2500 does. So if you are ok being outside the "limits" of the # on the door, I personally don't think that a 3500 would feel any/much more stable than a 2500 with Timbrens or airbags.

I have a Hellwig Big Wig sway bar on the way for my camper ahead of the next trip to try and get even more stability into my setup, happy to report back with my findings. I bought it, but wouldn't call it necessary, I felt comfortable on the 1 roughly 200 mile trip weve taken in it so far. I am also considering the Thuren rear track bar, which is supposed to enhance stability over bumps- I can see how a longer bar in that spot would help with less lateral movement from the axle in relation to the chassis when going over a bump.

 

[Kmehr]

Put about 400 miles on my setup this weekend with the Hellwig Big Wig rear sway bar installed. Game changer. So much more planted around corners and much more stable on the highway. I highly recommend this bar to anyone running a 2500 coil rear Ram and a heavy camper.

I will say this- the stock shocks, or what I believe are the cause, are really not up to the task of controlling a heavy camper like mine, especially in off camber situations. I'm sure that offroad, the stiffer sway bar probably is a little counter productive off camber, but there were times when I would get a bounce side to side or even forward and backwards that I had to really come to a complete stop to get it to stop. To remedy I've order some custom valved Fox 2.5s with the DSC adjusters from Accutune Offroad. I'll do a separate write up on them once installed and I have some seat time with them. Seems like everyone goes with Carl and Thuren, with are both fantastic, but Carli only offers one valving, and Thuren has a super long wait time on custom valved Kings that would be past camping season for me before they arrived! Plus I'm intrigued to see how much difference I can make with the DSC adjusters unloaded vs loaded.

The shock control makes me really wonder just how much better a 3500 would handle a camper than a 2500 with timbrens/airbags providing the lateral support in approximately the same place as leaf springs. My rudimentary understanding of suspension is that the springs weather leaf or coils, support the load and allow it to move, but really don't provide much control of the movement, its the shocks that control all the movement. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to test drive a 3500 vs a 2500 with your camper?!