Grandby on a short bed f-150

[cacapasa]

I have been following you guys for some time now. It's good to finally have a reason to post.

I have a 2001 f-150 shot bed. I have been really trying to find a Hawk, but as you all know people tend to hold on to these campers. I have finally found a 2000 Grandby that suits my needs and my wallet. Question is, besides the obvious of needing a hitch extension to tow and possibly needing to upgrade the suspension, is there any other reason that I'm missing not to put a long camper on a short bed.

If I did decide to go through with it I only have a couple of days to travel 1400 miles round trip to pick it up. Needless to say, I would like to have the bed of the truck all set up to take the camper and start heading back home. Is there a diagram out there or can someone tell me how hard it would be to get set up for turnbuckles ahead of time.

Really want to make this work and join the family.

Thanks for your help
Cacapasa

 

[K6ON]

I have been following you guys for some time now. It's good to finally have a reason to post.

I have a 2001 f-150 shot bed. I have been really trying to find a Hawk, but as you all know people tend to hold on to these campers. I have finally found a 2000 Grandby that suits my needs and my wallet. Question is, besides the obvious of needing a hitch extension to tow and possibly needing to upgrade the suspension, is there any other reason that I'm missing not to put a long camper on a short bed.

If I did decide to go through with it I only have a couple of days to travel 1400 miles round trip to pick it up. Needless to say, I would like to have the bed of the truck all set up to take the camper and start heading back home. Is there a diagram out there or can someone tell me how hard it would be to get set up for turnbuckles ahead of time.

Really want to make this work and join the family.

Thanks for your help
Cacapasa



First of all, welcome aboard. I have a Grandby on a short bed Dodge. I've never had any problems with it, just have to be cognizant of the CG of the camper. The CG of mine is behind the rear wheels, so I load the camper heavy in the front and everything seems to work well. I have upgraded the suspension to the Kore Recon Syetem, and have Carli long travel airbags in the rear. It all seems to work great as I've had the rig all over without any problems. Go for it..you won't be sorry.

 

[pods8]

Be aware about the center of gravity issue & the way your truck/suspension will react. Additional one that some folks don't always think about that Stan mentioned once is if you run with your tailgate down under the truck it may block the access to the crank to lower your spare tire. If that happens you need to remove the camper to access your spare so you'd want to figure out a work around there if the tailgate stayed on.

I talked with Ben from ATC before picking mine up and he said about 3" from the front of the bed and ~3" from sidewall for the front set of bolts. Rears are best installed once the eye bolts are measured on the actually camper you are picking up. Just get the hardware and bring along a cordless drill.

 

[cacapasa]

Be aware about the center of gravity issue & the way your truck/suspension will react. Additional one that some folks don't always think about that Stan mentioned once is if you run with your tailgate down under the truck it may block the access to the crank to lower your spare tire. If that happens you need to remove the camper to access your spare so you'd want to figure out a work around there if the tailgate stayed on.

I talked with Ben from ATC before picking mine up and he said about 3" from the front of the bed and ~3" from sidewall for the front set of bolts. Rears are best installed once the eye bolts are measured on the actually camper you are picking up. Just get the hardware and bring along a cordless drill.


Do I need to order the hardware from FWC?

 

[K6ON]

Do I need to order the hardware from FWC?



FWC will sell you an install kit with eyes, turnbuckles, 12volt cable, power plug, etc. Last kit I saw was about $150.00.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Usually the eye bolts that go into the truck bed for the older campers like that (2000 Grandby) would be ...

Front eye bolts would go all the way in the front corners of the truck bed.

Rear eye bolts would go all the way to the back of the truck bed, just around the corner and inside of the tail gate opening. You want the rear eye bolts as far back as possible, but NOT in the tail gate opening. They would need to be in the back of the truck bed, just around the corner of the actual tail gate opening.

CAMPERS / EYE BOLT LOCATIONS HAVE DIFFERED OVER THE YEARS, SO IT IS ALWAYS BEST TO USE THE SAME EYE BOLT DISTANCES AS WHAT IS ON THE TRUCK THAT THE CAMPER WAS ORIGINALLY MOUNTED ON.

But as my best guess without seeing the actual camper ahead of time, the measurements above should be OK.

Feel free to call our service dept. if you have additional questions.

FWC SERVICE

800-242-1442



Happy Camping !


.

 

[cacapasa]

Usually the eye bolts that go into the truck bed for the older campers like that (2000 Grandby) would be ...

Front eye bolts would go all the way in the front corners of the truck bed.

Rear eye bolts would go all the way to the back of the truck bed, just around the corner and inside of the tail gate opening. You want the rear eye bolts as far back as possible, but NOT in the tail gate opening. They would need to be in the back of the truck bed, just around the corner of the actual tail gate opening.

CAMPERS / EYE BOLT LOCATIONS HAVE DIFFERED OVER THE YEARS, SO IT IS ALWAYS BEST TO USE THE SAME EYE BOLT DISTANCES AS WHAT IS ON THE TRUCK THAT THE CAMPER WAS ORIGINALLY MOUNTED ON.

But as my best guess without seeing the actual camper ahead of time, the measurements above should be OK.

Feel free to call our service dept. if you have additional questions.

FWC SERVICE

800-242-1442



Happy Camping !


.

Thanks so much for the replies.

Stan: The eye bolts for the front of the bed makes sense to me, but with the eye bolts in the back corner of a short bed truck will it still match up with access points inside a longer camper like the Grandby.

Finally, before you all bought your first FWC how did you keep from not throwing up in anticipation.
Cacapasa

 

[DirtyDog]

Finally, before you all bought your first FWC how did you keep from not throwing up in anticipation.



A shot of Maker's Mark always calms my nerves in these situations

 

[ski3pin]

"Finally, before you all bought your first FWC how did you keep from not throwing up in anticipation."
Cacapasa

No problem with throwing up here......we kept peeing our pants with excitement.

 

[K6ON]

Finally, before you all bought your first FWC how did you keep from not throwing up in anticipation.
Cacapasa


Gentleman Jack always works for me

 

[cacapasa]

Gentleman Jack always works for me

Deltarat,
Where are the eyebolts located in the back of your short bed?
Cacapasa

 

[pods8]

Do I need to order the hardware from FWC?


If you want to. I ordered my parts from McMaster for the eye bolt hardware. I had no intention of using the stock wiring setup so there was no need to get that from the factory.

Stan: The eye bolts for the front of the bed makes sense to me, but with the eye bolts in the back corner of a short bed truck will it still match up with access points inside a longer camper like the Grandby.


The rear location he listed likely would only work with a short bed truck and a grandby, so I believe that is a customized answer to your specific question not a general statement for all campers. I know that geometry would not work with my hawk in a short box, where the camper wood flares out in the rear crosses that linear path between eye bolts (hope that makes sense).

As mentioned the best bet on the rears is to bring the hardware along and a cordless drill (truck bed metal drills very quickly). Double check the measurement to make sure you don't mount them too far back past the plane of where the wood flares out otherwise your camper might hit them when you put it into the truck bed.

 

[cacapasa]

If you want to. I ordered my parts from McMaster for the eye bolt hardware. I had no intention of using the stock wiring setup so there was no need to get that from the factory.



The rear location he listed likely would only work with a short bed truck and a grandby, so I believe that is a customized answer to your specific question not a general statement for all campers. I know that geometry would not work with my hawk in a short box, where the camper wood flares out in the rear crosses that linear path between eye bolts (hope that makes sense).

As mentioned the best bet on the rears is to bring the hardware along and a cordless drill (truck bed metal drills very quickly). Double check the measurement to make sure you don't mount them too far back past the plane of where the wood flares out otherwise your camper might hit them when you put it into the truck bed.

Pods8,
Thanks for the clarification. The decision to put a long camper on a short bed is taxing. Just don'tknowif it's the right decision.

 

[pods8]

Pods8,
Thanks for the clarification. The decision to put a long camper on a short bed is taxing. Just don'tknowif it's the right decision.


That it can be and its a personal one to figure out. One question food for thought wise is were/are you thinking about a new (different not necessarily new) truck at all in the next year or two or definitely sticking with your 2001 F150? I like the hawk in my 1500, prior to buying many folks said a 2500 is nicer, I can see it in a few instances but generally feel fine with the setup (I've got plenty of engine and suspension upgrades handle the ride issues). If I was running a grandby I suspect I'd probably tip the stack a little more towards wanting a 2500. I'm sure cruising flat land driving it'd be fine but it'd likely come into play more w/ the ride bounce, side sway, breaking ability (this is where I'd wouldn't mind a bit more oomph on the 1500, my current setup isn't scary or anything but could be more powerful), etc. People overload trucks and get away with it the question is to you like how it rides/handles/performs.

So in a round about thought if you were potentially thinking of having the camper for the long term but not necessarily attached to that specific truck you could get the camper and try it out for a bit. See how it handles on the truck, how it handles on a short box in general, how you like the camper itself, etc. Then down the road if you wanted you could swap out the truck under it since in comparison to these campers, trucks are a dime a dozen. Just keep that in mind before investing too much money in mounting, wiring, suspension, etc. On the flip side if you for some reason decide a FWC or just the grandby model isn't for you they tend to be easy enough to offload assuming they are priced fairly (heck people travel 1400mi for them ). No idea what your cash flow position looks like but assuming you later decide you'd like a hawk instead its easy enough to sit back enjoying your grandby waiting for one to come up for sale, you'll know exactly what to look for in a purchase and your truck will generally be setup for it already so you can snatch it up and then offload the grandby.

Just some thoughts, hopefully helpful ones and not just rambling.

 

[Mountainrats]

I agree with Pods Campers are hard to find and when you do find one that meets your needs you have to move quickly. Trucks are by far easier to locate if you are unhappy with the performance.I hauled a 8 ft. Sunlite on a short bed Dodge 1/2 ton with a dry wt. of 1450lbs. and it was no problem at all so a Grandby should be much nicer with less weight.

 

[leadsled9]

That it can be and its a personal one to figure out. One question food for thought wise is were/are you thinking about a new (different not necessarily new) truck at all in the next year or two or definitely sticking with your 2001 F150? I like the hawk in my 1500, prior to buying many folks said a 2500 is nicer, I can see it in a few instances but generally feel fine with the setup (I've got plenty of engine and suspension upgrades handle the ride issues). If I was running a grandby I suspect I'd probably tip the stack a little more towards wanting a 2500. I'm sure cruising flat land driving it'd be fine but it'd likely come into play more w/ the ride bounce, side sway, breaking ability (this is where I'd wouldn't mind a bit more oomph on the 1500, my current setup isn't scary or anything but could be more powerful), etc. People overload trucks and get away with it the question is to you like how it rides/handles/performs.



I originally had my Hawk mounted on a Tundra. Much like pods8 experience, the Tundra handled the Hawk just fine however, I did see a decrease in braking performance. I too did many suspension upgrades (custom rear springs and air bags) to handle the additional weight.

I now have the Hawk mounted on a 3/4 ton truck and oh what a difference. Night and day.

I pull an enclosed Wells Cargo Trailer on many trips (3000 lbs) and with the Hawk and trailer on the Tundra....the poor truck was struggling....getting about 7.8 mpg. I'm sure it was quite overloaded. It would only do 50 mph up steep hills, floored....5500 rpm.

With the Hawk on the 3/4 ton Ford and pulling the trailer... I don't even feel the trailer....and it gets 13.5 -14.5 mpg....and I'm passing cars on the uphill stretches at 75 mph...with a lot of power in reserve....and about 2500 rpm.

Quite a difference on a 3/4 ton. I highly recommend it.

 

[K6ON]

I guess I'll add a couple more cents to the mix. I chose a Grandby for my
short bed Dodge on purpose. First of all, I don't leave the camper on full time. I load and unload it myself, and it's about a 45 minute job each way. Camper is on when I'm going to use it, other than that it's sitting on it's jacks. The second and most important reason (to me) is the difference in size. The extra room made it possible to add a few accessories that wouldn't be possible with a Hawk. I was able to permanently mount an Engel 45 Refer/freezer next to the galley counter, and in the "closet" next to the door on the passenger side I mounted a microwave. Under the forward seat I have 2 group 31 batteries to run the Engel, and a 1.5KW inverter to power the microwave. I just had the old ice box removed and converted to pantry space, and another small cabinet installed (see post) http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/2948/ so the camper now has ample storage and is finally equipped as I want it.
As I said in my first post, I've had no problems with the camper on the short bed truck, and would do it again without hesitation.

 

[leadsled9]

Deltarat,

I'm jealous of that microwave!!

 

[K6ON]

Deltarat,

I'm jealous of that microwave!!


I'm not the only one to do this..see http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/1522/page__hl__what%27s%20in%20your%20closet

Again, one of the advantages of a Grandby

 

[leadsled9]

I'm not the only one to do this..see http://www.wanderthe...20your%20closet

Again, one of the advantages of a Grandby


Very nice.

I thought about getting a Grandby....but since I knew I'd be towing a trailer....I couldn't have that much hanging out the back....and I didn't want to use one of those hitch extenders....as they really cut down towing capacity.

Also, I leave the camper on full-time...and didn't want the overhang.