2016 F150 FX4 & 2019 FWC Hawk shell build out

[larryqp]

My Insurance checks are on in the mail, for the wreck settlement YAHOO!!!!!

I going to try to document my truck mods and build out here.
Picked up a 2016 F150 FX4 XLT supercab on Saturday, August 25,2019 from Carvana with less than 7,000 miles on the odometer. It has:
standard load tires, 275/65R 18
6500 lb GVWR, 2.7 L V6 ecoboost engine, 325 HP, 375 lb torque,1,660 lb payload, 23 gal fuel tank

On order: 2019 Hawk shell, with furnace, flush mount 2 burner stove, extra roof vent, powered roof vent, yakima tracks only, thermal pack, rear wall A/C, King bed slide out, 270 uzi-awn Batwing awning, silver spur exterior only I will be driving the truck empty 1700 miles at the end of October to take delivery and install. (long story, don't ask)

I have some unique requirements, that being we are full time RVers, so the Hawk will be bolted thru the floor and live permanently on the truck and be towed behind our 40 ft diesel pusher motorhome. It will also be our EDD, (every day driver). I'll also note (PE) next to items if my reason for choosing a particular mod was having had experience with it on my prior setup.

Next week, the following will get installed.
BFG T/A KO2 load range E, 275/65R 18 tires (found a $50 off coupon on a set of four) (PE)
Roadmaster tow brackets & electric wiring for flat towing behind moho. (PE)
Invisibrake Aux braking system for flat towing behind moho (PE)
Air Bags (undecided Air Lift or Firestone), prior rig had custom Alcan spring pack, which I ma eventually do on this truck.

More as it happens

 

[Oilbrnr]

That will be a nice combo. What engine is in the KS? (I have a '04 Country Coach, 80 series Lexus as a toad)

 

[larryqp]

Cummins 330 hp

 

[Andy Douglass]

I've read you mention your setup a few times since you posted about your accident and I am totally curious. Why do you have a FWC on your tow behind vehicle? Not being critical in any way, just curious about the logistics. I've seen people (Mali Mish) tow a small trailer behind their FWC/Truck, but I don't think I've ever heard of a FWC/Truck being towed behind a motorhome.

 

[larryqp]

Andy,
My wife and I are full-time RVers, and have been for over 21 years. We live in our 40ft motorhome the way most people live in their house, except we can move ours anytime we want. We need an everyday driver, hence the pickup truck, we also want to overland adventure and get into the back country to fly fish, hike and camp, hence the FWC on the truck.

We are very, very comfortable in the motorhome, and have all the luxuries, so it isn't camping to us, its living. When we hit the road 20 + years ago, we had a pickup, and a tent, sleeping bags etc and would camp that way. Now we don't want to sleep on the ground anymore, but still want to go where our motohome can't go.

You're right, there aren't many like us, lots of RVer's tow jeeps, go 4 wheeling and then go back to their motorhome, I home it stays that way. LOL Less is more!!!!!


Hope that helps

 

[larryqp]

update

1) The following Installations were completed on Friday

Roadmaster Tow brackets and wiring for towing
New safety cables
Invisibrake auxiliary tow brake
Air Lift air suspension system, with manual independent inflation.

2) I have been very confused about the payload of my F150, I have read numerous charts online, checked the door stickers, owners manual and finally after getting the truck weighed, I think I finally pinned it down, albeit, not entirely happy about it.

So I initially thought based on research that my payload was 1,660 lbs, my door sticker says weight of passengers and cargo should not exceed 1544lbs. When I weighed the truck with a full tank of fuel, with my wife and I in the cab the CAT scale read 5320 lbs. My GVWR is 6500lbs minus 5320 leaves 1,180 lbs for the camper and gear. My best guess for the weight of the Hawk shell and options is 1095 lbs based on the FWC website info. Its gonna be tight. Leaves me 85lbs for food, clothing, beer. OUCH! Just another reason for me to go on a diet and lose some weight. LOL

I'll wait until I weigh the truck and camper on a CAT scale. But I think the custom Alcan spring pack will be in my future. My guess is I will probably be about 100 lbs or so over the GVWR when fully loaded for camping. But still well below my 8,000 lb towing limit for my tow bar on the motorhome. But glad I opted to get the auxiliary braking system.

The insurance money spends faster than it takes to get it.

 

[Oilbrnr]

That Kountry Star is not going to like you out West.

 

[larryqp]

Oilbrnr
I should be okay, the 330 cummins on the Kountry Star didn't even know the Ranger/FWC combo at 5880 lbs was back there, but time will tell if the F150/FWC combo at 6500 + lbs will make a difference.

Luckily, once we retired we don't do as much driving in the Kountry Star. Our work on the road had us moving every two weeks from one assignment to another. Now the retirement plan is to stay put in the Kountry Star much longer at places and use the F150/FWC to spend more time in the backcountry. But I could be that guy you're stuck behind and cursing going up the the big rocky mountain passes. LOL

 

[larryqp]

ANOTHER UPDATE

1) Yesterday, 4WP installed 4 BFG AT KO2 tires. I lucked out with an online deal. 4WP was running a $50 off deal on 4 tires, so I ordered them online the Thursday before Labor day, 2 hours later I received an email from 4WP saying "we pay the tax" so I called the online sales person and was told the local shop where I planned to have them installed would honor that, just call them. So I did and they said yup we will honor it and owe you money after the install.

I was still a bit leary, but to their credit, when I arrived yesterday morning, the counter guy said my $90.86 sales tax credit was already on my invoice. So ultimately I saved $140.86 on a set of 4 tires. Hats off to 4WP for honoring a deal after already making the sale. When I shopped around for these tires, everyone except 4WP were within pennies of each other.

2) I had a Tire Tracker TPMS system on my previous Moho/Toad combo, to monitor the tires on the ranger while being towed behind the Moho. I was able to salvage 3 sensors from the wreck. So I purchased 3 more sensors, I now have 4 for the toad tires and 2 for the airbags. I installed the air bag sensors yesterday and places the monitor in the cab of the F150. Works like a dream. rather than manually checking the air bag pressure, I simply use the auto reset function and get a read out of the each air bag pressure. The sensors were also on sale for $35 each. Since I already had the system, I thought $70 was a good investment to protect the airbags. Much cheaper than the built in compressor system.

 

[larryqp]

Today, I finished my backseat undelete, basement storage, grill and leveling block storage and Elfa Cabinet system install.

The backseat on the F150 supercab folds up completely and the floor is flat, so I elected to leave the seat in place and install a 6 inch high "basement", behind the driver's seat. I carpeted the entire surface, its practically invisible from the outside.

I purchased a an Elfa drawer system from the Container Store and attached sidewalls, top and bottom directly to the frame and covered the entire thing with the same carpet as the basement. The back and sidewalls are made using pegboard. I wanted a little ventilation and the carpet is unbacked. I don't expect a lot of airflow through the carpet, just didn't want anything airtight that might trap moisture.

The cabinet door was stained to give it a more "finished" look. That photo is it the next post due to upload limits.

 

[larryqp]

Here's the outside of the cabinet, with my leveling blocks directly below and my grill/stove unit below it. I plan to add handles to the blocks for easy removal and also store some 2x4s next to the blocks, in the empty space, for added height when needed.

I also mounted my fire extinguisher between the seat back and the cabinet. It easy to access when in camp. I do wonder if I should have one on the driver's side for driving access, if I'm the only person in the truck.

My 5 seater F150 is now a 2 seater. Everything is removal in about 15 minutes, but don't plan to remove them very often, if at all.

 

[larryqp]

Taking delivery soon.

On Saturday, 10/19/19, I start my trip to Bozeman to take delivery on my 2019 Hawk shell. My install date is 10/25/19, so I am building in lots of extra time, just in case I run into any snow events. I'll stop at a friends' place in Buena Vista, CO for a night or 2 and then he'll join me and we will drive up to Bozeman. I think I have done all the needed mods to the truck, previously posted, except remove the tailgate, I'll do that when I get to CO and store it in a shed I have there. I tried to sell it on craigslist in Houston, but no takers. I was able to sell my OEM tires.

I'm really psyched to get this thing, although I'm not looking forward to spending nights in various motels on the way north. I've never enjoyed motels, but I'll be camping on the way south. Glad I ordered the furnace and thermal pack insulation from the factory, rather than making that part of my build out plans, I should be comfortable.

I already took advantage of the 2 sale events that Renogy had and purchased two 260 amphr 6V AGM batteries and 2 100 watt solar panels, they will be install as soon as I return. I salvaged my controller from the wreck so I'll just reinstall that.

 

[larryqp]

I picked up the new Hawk Shell from FWC Montana on Thursday, 10/24/19, Stephen was great to work with and he got everything done a day early for me so I could head out the next day before the snow came. I stopped at Walmart after spending one night sleeping on the mattress and bought a 1.5' inch thick, 52" x 73"memory foam mattress topper, for around $30, it was perfect. Had a great night's sleep.

Over the last couple of days I have installed the two Renogy 6 volt, 260 ampHr AGM batteries, GoPower solar controller and the two 100 watt Renogy solar panel. I mounted the panels to the yakima roof rails using 1" square aluminum tubing. I wanted to use stainless steel hardware with nylon washers, but the local Loew's didn't have the correct size stainless in stock. I'll keep an eye on the bolts and swap them out if I see any corrosion.

We gonna take off for a short camping trip Monday to a local state park. It will be a good test of the new system, plus we will have a chance to consider what other mods we need.

 

[larryqp]

Making progress. Just added two cabinets, which will not only serve as storage, but also a place to wire both 12 volt and 120 v outlets to run our Cpap machines depending on whether we are boon docking or plugged in at a state park. I still have access to the factory long storage boxes in the benches, plus they also serve as supports for the front dinette back rests.

The cabinet on the passenger side is much smaller to allow use of the window and curtain.

I used 1/2 birch plywood and painted the edges with black paint. I think everything is a pretty close match to the factory woodwork. The slam latches are on order.

I'll post more pics with the power outlets and slam latches installed in a few days.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Looking good!

 

[Vic Harder]

Making progress. Just added two cabinets, which will not only serve as storage, but also a place to wire both 12 volt and 120 v outlets to run our Cpap machines depending on whether we are boon docking or plugged in at a state park. I still have access to the factory long storage boxes in the benches, plus they also serve as supports for the front dinette back rests.

The cabinet on the passenger side is much smaller to allow use of the window and curtain.

I used 1/2 birch plywood and painted the edges with black paint. I think everything is a pretty close match to the factory woodwork. The slam latches are on order.

I'll post more pics with the power outlets and slam latches installed in a few days.

black paint on the edges... brilliant

 

[larryqp]

Well, cabinets and wiring are done except for the Hella outlet for the National Luna Refrigerator which should be here Monday. National Luna includes one with the refrigerator so I'll install it after it arrives. I've wired both 120volt and 12 volt outlets into each cabinet. Both my wife and I use Cpap, so we will have either voltage access, whether we are connected to shore power or boon docking. I used surface mount outlets so as not to take up space inside the cabinets.

I also wired 2 USB plugs into the passenger side cabinet, it will serve as a charging station for our phones at night, there is plenty of room below the bed. I also included a pic of my bumper mounted water can.

Things have worked out well. In our previous Eagle shell, we traveled with our chairs, and Container store cloth boxes, strapped down either on or to the benches. That meant we had a lot of stuff to move and strap down before we traveled and unstrap when we got to camp. With this setup, the chairs are strapped in the back seat area, our two cloth boxes, pillows etc fit in the dinette storage and we also have room for clothing, toiletries and can goods in the two cabinets. So, everything is out of the way.

We also still have access to the long FWC storage boxes in the benches, by moving the cushions, albeit the wiring does take up some room in them.

Doing all the mods, have been a challenge since I don't have a shop. All the work has been done on the patio of our RV site with hand power tools, so don't look to close. LOL

Now that it's camping season in TX, we hope to get in a number of beach trips along the Gulf Coast.

 

[larryqp]

About seven weeks ago I ordered a set of custom leaf springs from Alcan Spring Company in Grand Junction Colorado. I requested OEM height and an additional 1100 lbs carrying capacity. Prior to placing my order, I weighed the truck and camper, fully loaded, water, food, propane etc. I was 600 lbs over the GVWR. So I thought getting an extra 1100 lbs of capacity would be good. I also put the camper and truck on a diet. I removed the rear seat and some other misc stuff. All total, I removed over 120 lbs.

Last week I got an email saying my springs were ready. Alcan needed me to measure my U-bolts so they could fabricate new U bolts. Thursday I drove to the Alcan factory to get my springs and have them installed by Shawn at Top Notch Garage, which is just down the road from Alcan. Bill, the owner of Alcan, was intrigued by my F150/FWC combination. When he found out I was having Top Notch do the install, he volunteered to load my new springs into his pickup truck and drive them to Top Notch. Talk about customer service. WOW.

By noon, Shane had removed the airbags and installed the new springs and U bolts. I was on the road heading back to my summer location near Fairplay, CO. The truck now sits about an inch higher than factory height and rides like the camper isn't even on the truck.

I kept the airbags, but really don't see why I would ever put them back on. They served their purpose which was to carry the camper for 10 months until I could get to Colorado and get the springs. I wish I couldn't avoided the air bag expense, but that's another story.

Cost: $1,100 for the springs, $39 for U bolts and $400 for install. Piece of mind: Priceless

I highly recommend Alcan, they will ship the springs. I had a set on my previous Ford Ranger FWC combo for 3 years and so it was a no brainer to do it on the F150.