Mayday
Member
I ended up buying a used 18 Hawk in PHX this weekend. After reading through countless posts, I felt like I had enough info picking it up and putting it on the truck.
Before the trip, I ended up having 10/40 Overland in Riverside Co. install Firestone Rite Ride Airbags and having them put in the Four-wheel camper install kit into my truck. I went ahead and had my 90K done (currently sitting at 80K) to perform all the needed maintenance on my transmission. I replaced my suspension with Fox 2.0 (50K), so I had already completed that maintenance issue. The last thing I wanted was to overheat and break down in the desert where it hit 112.
The seller was an awesome guy who was upgrading into a Unimog for extensive Overlanding. His setup included a 7 prong hookup, so we managed to convert it back to a 3 prong to fit in the bed of my truck.
Putting on the camper was nerve racking, but it ended up working out great. I put a piece of 2' foam under the camper as a platform to accommodate for the Chevy notch. The Hawk cleared the notch and sits very snug in the bed. Loaded up Dry I made the trip back to the Central Coast, CA.
Driving home in the middle of the summer in the desert was an experience. I wasn't sure how the 1500 was going to handle the new payload and extreme heat. Like a rock.... the Chevy performed outstanding and handled 65-70 mph with dessert crosswinds. The airbags really made the ride feel easy to handle.
We are excited to tinker more with the camper and get a better understanding of how everything works. Overall I am beyond pumped for how my ride handled the setup dry. Next week we are planning a trip up the coast so I can compare and see what it's like with more weight.
Before the trip, I ended up having 10/40 Overland in Riverside Co. install Firestone Rite Ride Airbags and having them put in the Four-wheel camper install kit into my truck. I went ahead and had my 90K done (currently sitting at 80K) to perform all the needed maintenance on my transmission. I replaced my suspension with Fox 2.0 (50K), so I had already completed that maintenance issue. The last thing I wanted was to overheat and break down in the desert where it hit 112.
The seller was an awesome guy who was upgrading into a Unimog for extensive Overlanding. His setup included a 7 prong hookup, so we managed to convert it back to a 3 prong to fit in the bed of my truck.
Putting on the camper was nerve racking, but it ended up working out great. I put a piece of 2' foam under the camper as a platform to accommodate for the Chevy notch. The Hawk cleared the notch and sits very snug in the bed. Loaded up Dry I made the trip back to the Central Coast, CA.
Driving home in the middle of the summer in the desert was an experience. I wasn't sure how the 1500 was going to handle the new payload and extreme heat. Like a rock.... the Chevy performed outstanding and handled 65-70 mph with dessert crosswinds. The airbags really made the ride feel easy to handle.
We are excited to tinker more with the camper and get a better understanding of how everything works. Overall I am beyond pumped for how my ride handled the setup dry. Next week we are planning a trip up the coast so I can compare and see what it's like with more weight.
