Does anyone put anything into the front wheel well area?

[steve whiteside]

You can access this area to tighten the turnbuckles. Does it make sense to stash anything in there?? IM guess small items would be lost.

steve

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Empty and rinsed beverage cans, empty propane cartridges, and other items like that is all we store in areas like that.

 

[DavidGraves]

Howdy

Of course we use those areas for stowage. There is quite a lot of room on our 8 foot truck bed.

One side holds house battery. the other holds assorted recovery gear, It helps to make a note of what gear you stow,

We also stow dirty clothes etc in a mesh laundry bag in rear areas....on longer trips....

David Graves

 

[Wallowa]

Howdy

Of course we use those areas for stowage. There is quite a lot of room on our 8 foot truck bed.

One side holds house battery. the other holds assorted recovery gear, It helps to make a note of what gear you stow,

We also stow dirty clothes etc in a mesh laundry bag in rear areas....on longer trips....

David Graves

By "front wheel well area" I assume you mean in 'front of the rear wheel wells', accessed by the turnbuckle doors into the bed area...yes, we store items in there that are not often used, but could be vital if needed. Wrap them to prevent rattling and of course if not waterproof, seal them...we do not store forward of the front turnbuckles...too hard to retrieve. Lots of usable space inside bed even with Hawk in place....

Phil

 

[Lighthawk]

I stuff my tire chains in there.

 

[Ted]

We kept a water hose for refilling the tank in there.

 

[steve whiteside]

By "front wheel well area" I assume you mean in 'front of the rear wheel wells', accessed by the turnbuckle doors into the bed area...

Yes the above is exactly what I mean.

Thanks for the good suggestions. We are getting ready for a 3 week baja trip and the pile of stuff is growing!

steve

 

[nikonron]

Just remember rodents and snakes have access to that area.

 

[Wallowa]

Hmmmm...rodents perhaps, if you don't use foam board at front and side rails to "seal" out vermin and to add insulation as a bonus... [I used 3" 'Blue Board' and velcro strips to hold in place].

Snakes are a puzzle....curious how do snakes get into bed? Type of snake? Not a big fan of venomous snakes...

Phil

 

[nikonron]

Just like they climb trees.

Hmmmm...rodents perhaps, if you don't use foam board at front and side rails to "seal" out vermin and to add insulation as a bonus... [I used 3" 'Blue Board' and velcro strips to hold in place].

Snakes are a puzzle....curious how do snakes get into bed? Type of snake? Not a big fan of venomous snakes...

Phil

 

[Wallowa]

No, Phil will not live where snakes climb trees...our rattlesnakes are ground pounders only....Kentucky is now off my vacation list... Curious, what flavor of snakes that you have climb trees?

 

[nikonron]

No, Phil will not live where snakes climb trees...our rattlesnakes are ground pounders only....Kentucky is now off my vacation list... Curious, what flavor of snakes that you have climb trees?

Garter snakes, black snakes and some water snakes. This image is at our house.

 

[pvstoy]

We've got snakes around here that climb to get into nest boxes and nest to get eggs and small chicks.

 

[ntsqd]

I stuff my tire chains in there.

X2!

 

[Wallowa]

None of those climbing snakes are venomous correct? Not like Black Mambas... Unless your 'water snakes' are Cottonmouths....

I grew up in Nevada, don't remember snakes that climbed, of course there are those pvstoy described, but my only concern in sagebrush was rattlesnakes...

Anyway...snakes getting into the bed of my Hawk past my foam board is a non-starter....mice, could actually hop into an open camper door...but so far the area inside the bed and outside the Hawk is nothing but storage...

Cheers...out here.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I take advantage of the four turnbuckle areas.
Like Lighthawk,snow chains front left along with a couple other small items that have limited use.

The most used/accessible area is the left rear. Lots of stuff goes there that can be quickly accessed.

The front right I don't place much there because of the wiring from camper to truck.

Right rear gets bulky things like towels extra 1# propane bottles,a square bucket/handle,other odds and ends
that are useful and quickly accessible.

There is actually some decent storage in our type of campers . You just have to get creative.

Frank

 

[teledork]

I used to put my tire chains in through one of the little doors. Then the camper must have shifted or bounced and one of the links was stuck.

 

[camper rich]

Our truck has a 1-1/2" spacer to lift the camper a little higher in the bed. This allows us to access the turnbuckle space from outside the bed. I store all kinds of things in there ranging from canoe paddles, wheel struts for my inflatable boat, 1# propane cylinders, camp rug, extra cassette toilet chemical (in sealed bag), 2# sledge hammer, extra stakes. We've been storing stuff in there on all of the Baja trips we've done since we bought our first FWC in 1998. Haven't found a snake in there yet. BTW, the 1-1/2" spacer lifts our Grandby enough to provide clearance for the extra storage box I made that hangs under the overhang along with the Eezi-Awn K9 camp table. The box holds my Telescoping ladder I use to tie my boats up on top with.

 

[buckland]

We are gearing up for a long winter trip to the SW and in so planning has shifted to the packing scheme. I have rediscovered this great space in the wells. I have moved the hefty tow rope (more like a coiled fire hose!), charcoal briquets, water tank refill hose, a 5 qt jug of motor oil for a mid trip change ( truck takes a specialty oil a pita to get) and even the stove top oven pot. Everything individually wrapped. It is a great extra space I had not utilized enough but now very thankful for.

 

[rubberlegs]

How dusty does it get between the camper and truck bed?