Furring Strips Under Newer FWC

[stclair]

Dumb question. I'll ask anyway before I go breaking something.

My 2015 Eagle sits higher than my 2008. I'd like to lower it a couple of inches. The camper has what I would call furring strips underneath, stacked 3 high. Obviously factory, and meant to raise the camper on trucks with taller bedrails. The bedrails on my 2002 Tundra AC are fairly low (17 1/2" I think). Any reason I should NOT remove 2 layers? Hoping they are not glued together!

I assume I'll need to coat any exposed wood if I do. Any recommendations for a good comparable to factory paint?

Thank you!

 

[fuzzymarindave]

My 2015 Hawk has single furring strips underneath. I would think that is enough and that you could remove two, leaving a single strip. However why not contact FWC with your serial number and ask them.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I don’t recall the brands that were recommended, but the bottom line was to use a high quality exterior house paint. I’ve often wondered if saturating the exterior wood in epoxy, then using paint wouldn’t be best. It seems to work well on wooden boats.

 

[stclair]

My 2015 Hawk has single furring strips underneath. I would think that is enough and that you could remove two, leaving a single strip. However why not contact FWC with your serial number and ask them.

1 strip would give me perfect clearance. I shouldn’t admit....but I will...it was a trade in at FWC Woodland, and I just picked it up last week. I did the walk around, thought it’s in good shape and I’m thrilled to have it, but didn’t take a minute to check clearances. If I had, and had seen the wood strips, maybe I could have asked them to do it before driving back to Colorado. Oh well....shoulda coulda. I’m super happy to have it, and now just need to dial it in for my truck.

I assume this Eagle was originally on a newer Tacoma with taller bed rails.

 

[Beach]

If you epoxy coat be sure to remove(per instructions) any amine blush before painting or you will need get good paint adhesion. oh, and don't forget the primer. I used porch/deck paint for the exterior wood on my Hawk, very durable product.

 

[DavidGraves]

Howdy

We carried our Hawk on our older Toyota and had the high gap at the side rails....

Discovered it made a GREAT space for storing rolled welcome mat, boat paddles, Klepper Kayaks, and all sorts of other stuff that wanted to go along on assorted trips to Baja etc.

I finally found some surplus military tent pole bags that filled the gap perfectly.

If the appearance is bugging you consider that something stored there changes the appearance.

David Graves

 

[River_Rat]

Those strips (if I understand you correctly) are meant to keep water from contacting the bottom of your camper. FWC had some reported issues on older campers where the floor pack was rotting out over time due to prolonged exposure to water (i.e. sitting in water while loaded in truck) so they installed those strips as sacrificial pieces that could be replaced and keep the camper floor dry. If you search on here there's a thread on how to lower camper down if you've got the higher floor pack, but it's not for the faint of heart.

How-To: Late-model Hawk Coversion, Tundra to Ram/Ford/Chevy build
https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/18824-How-To:--Late-model-Hawk-Coversion,-Tundra-to-Ram/Ford/Chevy-build

 

[stclair]

Thank you for changing my mind River_Rat!

I just got a chance look at the entire underside....and I would also need to trim metal. At least up front. No way! I am sitting right around 2” above the rails as is w/o my bed mat now. 1/2” to 3/4” would be ideal....but I will just live with it. The Tundra might eventually die too, so removing metal just doesn’t make sense.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

 

[ckent323]

River-Rat,

I suspect you are correct that the strips may have been added to mitigate degradation of the floor pack by constant contact with water. Our1984 FWC Keystone was developing some rot problms on the bottom of the floor pack near the back door due to water pooling in the cargo bed. Part of the reason we decided to replace that camper.

Our 2007 FWC Keystone has plywood strips attached to the bottom of the floor pack to raise it. I noticed when I installed the camper again in March this year that one of those strips is starting to degrade. The next time the camper comes off I will replace it. The floor pack of our camper is painted but the strips do not appear to be painted or sealed.

 

[River_Rat]

Tundra's don't die!!! They can live forever if properly cared for =;v)

Thank you for changing my mind River_Rat!

I just got a chance look at the entire underside....and I would also need to trim metal. At least up front. No way! I am sitting right around 2” above the rails as is w/o my bed mat now. 1/2” to 3/4” would be ideal....but I will just live with it. The Tundra might eventually die too, so removing metal just doesn’t make sense.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

 

[deezlgeezr]

When I first prepped my '17 Hawk for the 'final' install, I had it up on the camper jacks and used 8 cans of black Flex-seal to coat the entire black-painted bottom (extending up the sides) as well as the 6 side-to-side 'runners' which were the contact points with the front-to-back truck bed ribs. I found that the Flex-seal was a quick way to install a very waterproof seal to the whole underside at once and even acts as a grip surface for the painted bed of my truck. I like the idea of lowering and forwarding the camper as much as possible, to better position the center of gravity for the rig. So for me there is no bed mat, and I shortened the FWC front bumpers as well.

 

[ri-f]

I assume I'll need to coat any exposed wood if I do. Any recommendations for a good comparable to factory paint?

Thank you!

Any exterior plywood on my rig that isn't already protected or needs extra protection is coated with Herculon bedliner for protection from the elements. It's extremely tough and non skid and does what it's supposed to do. It just needs time to dry properly once applied.

Rich

 

[DavidO]

When we bought our Hawk in 2012 for our 2002 2500 Chevy the bottom had 1 set of strips(ripped plywood) In 2015 we got a new GMC that truck had a slightly different bed it had what is know as the chevy lip. Four wheel camper(in Woodland) added 2 layers of matching strips to raise the camper up and over the Lip. Now it just clears that lip. They glued and screwed the additional strips on. They were prepared when we arrived the strips were all painted and ready to go.

So I think 1 strip is ideal if it fits.

 

[Jon R]

I’m familiar with the “Chevy notch,” but not the Chevy lip. Can you describe it more?