Dismounted Height of Hawk?

[RonK]

Hello All,

I'm a new member to the WTW forum. I've been reading the site for quite awhile, but held off joining/posting until I'd bought a FWC. Reading the FWC user forum greatly helped me with my decision - so thanks for all the useful and insightful posts!

I ordered a Hawk from Gary at FWC Canada (FWCC aka Morrissey Industries) in early September. I was going to the factory at the end of October to take delivery, but like all plans... it changed at the last minute. The current plan is that the camper will be brought to BC by FWCC and I'm having it installed the end of next week or soon thereafter.

So... that brings me to my topic and question. The camper will be at my house sooner than expected and I will be storing it in my garage when it's dismounted from the truck.

I don't have enough clearance to back the truck, with Hawk mounted, into my garage. I will have to dismount the camper and roll it into the garage on a platform that is yet to be built. I should note - I ordered the mechanical jacks.

I need to go get the platform building materials before the Hawk arrives and I'm hoping to build it in the next week - which is also before I have the camper for measurements.

Can anyone tell me what the lowest height for a dismounted Hawk is? Once the jacks are at their lowest height how much clearance from the bottom of the floor board to the ground?

I'll have to build the platform tall enough to allow the jack feet to come off the ground a little ways - but not so tall that I can't raise the roof when it's in the garage.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Ron
Langley, BC

 

[LT Traveler]

My Hawk is 59" from bottom to top FWC roof rack. If you don't have the rack I'd say subtract 1.5".

EDIT: I think the jacks hang about 7" below the bottom of the camper.

 

[rotti]

Are you sure you want to build a platform?

I went with a small utility trailer for camper storage, yard work and bike transport.
Harbor Freight has them cheap or you can upgrade to your hearts desire.
See this thread for more info on both platforms and HF trailers: My link

My Grandby on a motorcycle trailer with 15" rims cleared a 7' garage door easily.

 

[natjwest]

Don't ask what the lowest possible height of the camper is, ask what the minimum height to clear your garage is. It's a PIA to raise the whole thing way up and down. So build your platform low enough to clear your garage door, no lower. For example, I set up my camper on gigantic sawhorses and they keep the camper just an inch or so lower than my truck bed. So when I load and unload, there is very little jacking up and down.

 

[RonK]

Thanks for the replies so far,

LT Traveler - thanks for the 7" estimate, I thought maybe 12" - but looking at more photos, you're likely closer.

rotti - I hadn't thought about a trailer, I guess because I had the platform idea in my head. I looked at the Harbor Freight site and while a trailer would be useful, I'd also have to rig up some supports (jackstands probably) for the trailer once it was in the garage. The cost would go a fair bit higher than what I can build the platform for I think. I'm going to try the platform (aka dolly - which I hadn't searched for) first and see how it works. I can always dismantle it and re-use the materials elsewhere, if I decide to get a trailer later. Thanks for the links to previous threads - my plan so far is casters carrying two sheets of plywood sandwiched over a frame/skeleton of 2x4 or 2x6, depending on the height I have to play with.

natjwest - I hear ya, I'm not looking forward to all the manual cranking at all. My max. clearance at the garage door entry is 7'11" - which would save me a whole lot of cranking if I just cleared that - except I need to keep the unit height low to be able to have the top up inside the garage. I don't know how wet the camper will get on seasonal trips up here in rainy southcoast BC, but I figure the value of being able to dry it out indoors any time of year will outweigh the PITA cranking.... I hope.

My max. height to work inside the garage is 8'3" if I want the garage door to clear the camper - and I'd like to leave the top up and not worry about running the door into the camper. Otherwise, I have to put the top down every time I want to open the garage door - and I'd have to remember to put the top down every time. My memory is pretty good, it's just too short. Now that I've seen the other threads on dollies, my post is redundant I think - I'll look through them more closely to see if I can find a minimum height.

Thanks again,

Ron

 

[rotti]

Ron,
Found another link for dollies and trailers. Five pages long.
Good luck.
My link

 

[billharr]

I built a steel dolly with 8" wheels. I drop it all the way down so it can not be seen behind my fence. I use a cordless drill with the attachment that came with my camper. I raise and lower it about 3 to four inches at a time on each corner. Does not take long and never break a sweat.

Sorry I do not have a picture of the camper setting on the dolly but the jack are about 3 inches from the cement when it is on the dolly. Moves very easy with the big wheels. Working by my self I can move the camper from the dolly to the truck and have it ready to leave in under 45 minutes.

Pictures are from construction is now painted.

Bill in Stockton

 

[natjwest]

Hey Bill want to make me one of those? And send it up to Portland please. Thanks. Awesome execution.