Fit An Old Fwc To A Newer Truck

[rossu]

Hello,

Has anybody tried to "cut down" an older 4W Camper to fit a newer truck--that is, make it narrower at the tailgate region? Is it doable? Is it worth it? What's involved? The older campers sure are a bargain compared to newer ones.

Thanks,

Ross U

 

[John D]

ATC converted my Keystone to fit a narrower tailgate and bed. I have been very happy with it. I have no idea what ATC would charge you to make the conversion, probably a couple of grand just for the floor pack work. I am guessing this is a project that FWC or ATC might take on during a slow time, but you will have to ask them yourself to see what the say. If you have a clean camper, the conversion makes sense.

 

[Buckshot62]

Do you already have an older FWC?If not you may want to look for a Fleet.They were made from about 1981 to about 1989.The floor pack and tailgate area are narrow enough to fit in later model trucks.

 

[rossu]

Do you already have an older FWC?If not you may want to look for a Fleet.They were made from about 1981 to about 1989.The floor pack and tailgate area are narrow enough to fit in later model trucks.



I don't have a camper. I have a 96 Chevy full size short bed. I've been looking for a Hawk or Granby model. Where I live, I notice that late model campers are rare, whereas there are many more older models. I'm guessing this is because the factory used to be in Denver(?) I live in northern New Mexico. So, I was curious if anyone had ever tried to "narrow" an old camper. I'm assuming the Fleet model is smaller than the Hawk? I don't think I can do with a camper smaller than the Hawk. Thanks for the replies so far.

Ross U

 

[Buckshot62]

The Fleet is 1" narrower than the Hawk or Grandby(The part that hangs over the bed).Fleet is also about 1' longer than the Hawk,and about 6" shorter than the Grandby.The part that sits in the bed is about 11" narrower on the Fleet.37" wide at the base vs.48" for for the Hawk or Grandby.The part that fits in the tail gate opening is 51" wide on the Fleet.The old saying "If you have enough time & money you can make it fit" applies here.I have my Fleet on a Dodge longbed.Not saying this is the way to go,but is a much cheaper option to narrowing one.

 

[pods8]

Its been asked before but what you need to realize it that its not just to floor pack that gets reworked the bottom of the frame that connects to the floor needs to be reworked so unless you have access to equipment to do welding work on aluminum framing then you're SOL for a do it yourself mission.

 

[winter200]

I've done it 2x on my keystone. Once to make it fit my 04 chev and the 2nd time to make it fit my 08 chev. It is a lot of work and yes you have to do work on the aluminum. Be prepared to have it tore down for awhile. If the back has the wings on it you just have to do plywood work there, the front has to be narowed up but that wouldn't be a big problem. Mine ended up being a complete frame off restoration. Rebuilt the entire floor pack. I moved the front wall back on the keystone to make it basically a extended bed granby. Took me 2 years and finally got it moved out of the garage a week ago.