SLO's FWC Hawk Refurb/Build...

[DanT]

SLO_F-250 Thank you, I've been searching the web and designing (in my head) a similar swing out storage platform since I saw yours here about a year ago. I've bookmarked the AZ fabrication Mega spindle page and I've also run across this site https://www.comp4x4.com/Tire-Carrier-Hinge-Kit-HEAVY-DUTY-1-3-4-Spindle.html, its a little beefier and this company makes other style spindles.
It's such a great design, I'm surprised I have not seen any one else take a crack at it. I'm getting my FWC next month after quite a few years of designing stuff in my head. I'm going to save the swing away project for next year, I'll post some pictures, anyway thanks for the inspiration and the reply.
DanT

 

[cocco78]

Your truck looks great, i recently picked up an 01 F350 powerstroke with the 6 speed manual. I kind of hate the color but i think with the black accents that you did to yours it will look good. I'm on the lookout for a cheap pop up camper, like you had in your previous build thread, lol i read through them both.

How has the truck held up? Mine rides like it has no suspension so i'm leary on doing any mild 4 wheeling, but wow in low range in low gear its a beast. I'm thinking of replacing the front springs with something better and doing a 2" lift and running 285's. What tire pressures do you run on and off the pavement? Oh and only 161k miles on it

 

[Happyjax]

I really like the fix up and new paint job!

 

[Seabass]

SLO- I've spent the last couple of evenings reading your thread. I can't compliment your build enough. I'm really inspired to get mine back in my truck and finish it up. A transmission breakdown last fall had my wife wanting to sell the slide in and go bumper pull. That way we could easily switch trucks and carry on if the truck ever broke again. But after a long winter and the purchase of a 18' bumper pull that is dang nice (and crazy cheap- we got really lucky) I have talked her into letting me keep the slide in. Go me! So I'm super stoked and just wanted to give you hi-five of sorts. I've been showing her pics of your build and surprisingly, she's on board in a big way. It's just gonna be hard to drag the bumper pull everywhere we want to go. But it will be nicer on certain trips. I'm gonna copy your rear bumper setup. Sort of. I already have a swing out spare tire on the passenger side half- but I got the driver side still free. Man I'm really pumped to get started on another summer!!!

 

[SLO_F-250]

SLO_F-250 Thank you, I've been searching the web and designing (in my head) a similar swing out storage platform since I saw yours here about a year ago. I've bookmarked the AZ fabrication Mega spindle page and I've also run across this site https://www.comp4x4.com/Tire-Carrier-Hinge-Kit-HEAVY-DUTY-1-3-4-Spindle.html, its a little beefier and this company makes other style spindles.
It's such a great design, I'm surprised I have not seen any one else take a crack at it. I'm getting my FWC next month after quite a few years of designing stuff in my head. I'm going to save the swing away project for next year, I'll post some pictures, anyway thanks for the inspiration and the reply.
DanT

Excellent Dan! Good luck on starting your build. I look forward to watching it. :sombrero:

 

[SLO_F-250]

Your truck looks great, i recently picked up an 01 F350 powerstroke with the 6 speed manual. I kind of hate the color but i think with the black accents that you did to yours it will look good. I'm on the lookout for a cheap pop up camper, like you had in your previous build thread, lol i read through them both.

How has the truck held up? Mine rides like it has no suspension so i'm leary on doing any mild 4 wheeling, but wow in low range in low gear its a beast. I'm thinking of replacing the front springs with something better and doing a 2" lift and running 285's. What tire pressures do you run on and off the pavement? Oh and only 161k miles on it

Cocco, great looking truck! How do you like the manual? Mines an Auto.'

Truck has held up great. Had the standard wear an tear problems. Almost up to 230k miles now. Still running like a top. Its a solid axle truck so drives like it. I keep wanting to switch out my front springs too, just too many things to throw money at. I run my 305's at 55-60 psi on pavement. Post some picts after you get it all doctored up!

I really like the fix up and new paint job!

Thank you! About 2 years now and it is holding up great!

SLO- I've spent the last couple of evenings reading your thread. I can't compliment your build enough. I'm really inspired to get mine back in my truck and finish it up. A transmission breakdown last fall had my wife wanting to sell the slide in and go bumper pull. That way we could easily switch trucks and carry on if the truck ever broke again. But after a long winter and the purchase of a 18' bumper pull that is dang nice (and crazy cheap- we got really lucky) I have talked her into letting me keep the slide in. Go me! So I'm super stoked and just wanted to give you hi-five of sorts. I've been showing her pics of your build and surprisingly, she's on board in a big way. It's just gonna be hard to drag the bumper pull everywhere we want to go. But it will be nicer on certain trips. I'm gonna copy your rear bumper setup. Sort of. I already have a swing out spare tire on the passenger side half- but I got the driver side still free. Man I'm really pumped to get started on another summer!!!

Seabass, thanks for the compliment and verbal high 5!! :elkgrin: Its been a long project but has been a ton of fun! Sure crazy how cheap bumper pull's are. Thought about it a few times but every time I am back on a dirt road with my setup I am 100% loving it! Glad my picts have gotten your wife back on board! haha Post picts of how your bumper turns out. I love seeing what others come up with. Cheers and good luck diving back into the project!

 

[SLO_F-250]

Well, it is overdue for an update. I ended up getting some things done on the camper a few weeks ago. I added a couple more USB charging stations, more interior LED light strips (Blue and White) as well as more exterior lights. I just matched the rear one and added in LED bulbs off amazon. It was a lot of wiring but worth it. I am loving the exterior lights. I have the original one off the rear and two more off the driver and passenger totaling 5 exterior lights. All controlled off the new switch panel. Here are some picts!

Fuse panel now almost MAXED out!


New switch panel. With LED light up switches when things are on.


Picture from on of my last trips. Camped outside Mammoth CA to ride. If you look close you can see the exterior lights.


Lets just say it was a good weekend of riding.




All of our rigs lined up! GREAT TIME!


Cheers,
SLO

 

[Seabass]

Goodness gracious that's some beautiful country! You got me wanting to head west in a bad way!!!

 

[SLO_F-250]

Goodness gracious that's some beautiful country! You got me wanting to head west in a bad way!!!

It's pretty nice! I love surfing in the morning and then being able to drive and camp in the mountains that night.

____

Was able to sneak away the other weekend to camp at upper osos campground. Everything was pretty darn dry but the evening was perfect. I woke up at a decent time in order to get a few dirt miles in on the bike and explore the fire roads around there. Overall the new upgrades to the camper are working well. I absolutely love the lights on the exterior. They are sure handy. :bike_rider:

 

[Rot Box]

Great pics. Love the updates

 

[Seabass]

Hey SLO- do you ever take your camper out of your truck? I do, and tonight I almost had it fall over while putting it in. My truck is pretty tall and the camper is way up in the air while I'm backing under it. It's my best vehicle- when I'm not camping I kinda like not having the camper in the bed. Just curious.

 

[SLO_F-250]

Hey SLO- do you ever take your camper out of your truck? I do, and tonight I almost had it fall over while putting it in. My truck is pretty tall and the camper is way up in the air while I'm backing under it. It's my best vehicle- when I'm not camping I kinda like not having the camper in the bed. Just curious.

Seabass, sorry for the late reply.

I do take the camper out of the truck. Now a days it is rare because I have a beater 2nd vehicle and the rig is not used solely for fun. I ended up welding some extensions to the (12" +/-) jacks in order to make it much safer to lift so high. So far so good and it seems pretty darn solid when lifted. I do sweat a little each time though after the truck is out from under it. It is pretty darn high. It seems to work the best when I have my fiance drive the truck and I can push/pull/and balance the camper as the truck slides out. I then put the camper on a short stand I built with wheels.

Hope that helps!

 

[Seabass]

SLO- No problem. Life is a busy endeavor. I have actually welded extensions on my jack feet as well just in the last few days. They are tripods, and I wasn't using them. I never have because they were too short. I was using a combination of cinder blocks and 4x4's. I am amazed how stable it is with the tripods attached. It took about 14"s to get them tall enough. Like you I have a platform that's about a foot lower than the truck to set the camper on. It's not nearly the fretful job that it was. I can, however, tell a big difference jacking the camper up since I put the batteries and some gear that lives in the camper full time. It's a little heavier now. But I think it's ok. In twenty minutes I had the camper out of the truck- on its resting platform, and the tool box back in the bed of the truck. That's not bad since it was my first time using the newly modified tripods. I'm fixing to fabricate a frame out of treated 2x4's that runs the full length of my bed. The idea is to keep the camper in a track of sorts so that it loads square and center even when the truck isn't. I can usually get close, but it seems like it's always a little crooked. I don't like that. I love your thread and your rig. I've really used it a lot. I've contacted solar blvd and am fixing to order a 150 watt panel and I've even ordered a hub from comp4x4.com I'm stoked to modify my spare tire arm/carrier to hold a box and fuel jugs. I'm not tryin to steal all your ideas- but they are really good. So, thanks again!

 

[SLO_F-250]

SLO- No problem. Life is a busy endeavor. I have actually welded extensions on my jack feet as well just in the last few days. They are tripods, and I wasn't using them. I never have because they were too short. I was using a combination of cinder blocks and 4x4's. I am amazed how stable it is with the tripods attached. It took about 14"s to get them tall enough. Like you I have a platform that's about a foot lower than the truck to set the camper on. It's not nearly the fretful job that it was. I can, however, tell a big difference jacking the camper up since I put the batteries and some gear that lives in the camper full time. It's a little heavier now. But I think it's ok. In twenty minutes I had the camper out of the truck- on its resting platform, and the tool box back in the bed of the truck. That's not bad since it was my first time using the newly modified tripods. I'm fixing to fabricate a frame out of treated 2x4's that runs the full length of my bed. The idea is to keep the camper in a track of sorts so that it loads square and center even when the truck isn't. I can usually get close, but it seems like it's always a little crooked. I don't like that. I love your thread and your rig. I've really used it a lot. I've contacted solar blvd and am fixing to order a 150 watt panel and I've even ordered a hub from comp4x4.com I'm stoked to modify my spare tire arm/carrier to hold a box and fuel jugs. I'm not tryin to steal all your ideas- but they are really good. So, thanks again!

Good to hear its all working out. Looking forward to seeing how your "tracks" work out. Go ahead and "steal" the ideas. Just happy to help someone else. :victory:

 

[Nevadamerica]

Well, I was lucky enough to get about a 1/2 day off Friday and made good progress on Saturday. It's coming back together. Lots new wiring! The new fridge looks and works great! It was 38* in no time after turning it on. I'm interested to see if I hear the sound of the compressor once everything is back together.

Is your watt/voltage/amp meter only wired to give you a reading of what the solar is feeding to your batteries? Do you have a way of reading what your batteries' levels are? Do you have a wiring diagram that you have worked up already? I'm asking because I've just installed solar 90% of the way. Need to find a better route for the wires on roof, and looking to re-evaluate my cabinet space, as well as my passenger-side seating/storage, and your thread is solid and getting plenty of ideas. My charge controller doesn't read voltage of batteries, only %. It also shows amperage the panel is inputting, as long as the battery isn't full, if that makes sense. Im looking to install a multimeter (looking at Powerwerx, very similar). Wondering if I should install line side, or load side of battery. Meh, thoughts anyone?
Also, as far as wiring, I also don't like any wires hanging outside, do you have any photos of where you accessed and relocated your original camper wiring?
Keep up the good work and thanks!