FWC 2008 Eagle

[elduderino]

Two questions for the group: Can you get in a FWC when it is off of the vehicle on the camper jacks? Anyone have an opinion on a mattress pad for the bed? And how much padding / blankets can you leave in the cabover when you close and lock the top, if anything?

Thanks!

El Duderino

 

[MarkBC]

dude -
I think you have 3 questions here...

I don't have great answers, but I'll offer this, and others can offer more/better:

1) I think Stan@fourwheel (or someone else who seemed to know what they're talking about) has said that the bottom of the camper needs to be supported -- like, by a truck-bed....or at least by a piece of stout plywood on sawhorses. It's not built to support weight while suspended. That said, before I knew this I got into my camper when it was up on the jacks once and I didn't fall through...but I won't make a practice of it now that I know it.

2) Here's one recent thread about an alternative: memory foam for bedding. There have been other threads on the subject... I put a piece of half-inch closed-cell foam under the mattress that came in my 2005 Hawk to reduce bottoming out.

3) The cabover part in newer years (including mine and yours) is thick enough to have room for some bedding...but I don't know exactly how much -- I just use a sleeping bag, and I don't leave it deployed while driving.

 

[orion]

Re: whether you can get in the camper while it's on the jacks, I wouldn't do it. I asked these questions to FWC when I bought mine and said it should be on stable supportive surface that supported the entire bottom of the camper.

I was given the attached instructions for building a simple support system and it works great. It's how I store my camper when I don't use it.

 

[elduderino]

Thanks very much, guys!

 

[4llamas]

Besides the structural issues with getting into an unsupported camper, there is the lack of stability, unless you want to crank the jacks all the way down (ugh).

I didn't care for the memory foam mattress, but the factory cushions(?) need help. An egg crate foam mattress pad works very well for me (160 lbs.)

We latch the camper top down with the mattress pad, flannel sheet, and quilt in place. No problem.