Hawk on new F150 with 5'8" bed - Tailgate or no tailgate?

[outathere]

Hi there,

First posting but have spent many many hours reading about FWC's before finally ordering one. I will get it next month. As the title notes, I'm looking for opinions/guidance on whether or not to leave my tailgate on of to take it off when I pick up my new Hawk. It's be going on a F150 supercrew with 5'8" box. The truck is new, I opted for the shorter wheel base knowing it wouldn't be as ideal for the Hawk.
The Hawk will over the bed by about 10".

I have asked the tailgate question to several people at FWC and have gotten varying answers. Everything from one person downright not recommending the Hawk with a 5'8" bed to most saying there's absolutely nothing to worry about with the overhang (supported or unsupported). Since the general census was that the Hawk is okay on my truck I went with it. A couple of people recommended the tailgate stay on, others said it makes no difference. So I can only assume it's not required to support the load for those last 10".

So it's up to me what I prefer. I would prefer no tailgate and here's my pros/cons for that decision -

Pros - 80lbs less behind the rear axle, no risk of road damage to tailgate
Cons - In the back of my mind I think it might provide some support, the tailgate comes out farther than the camper so provides a bit of a step

FWC sent me some pics of a very similar setup as what I will have without tailgates (in fact almost identical since I have a new FX4) and I found a couple on the internet with tailgate on I don't mind the look without the tailgate. Being a structural guy though, I still wonder if that little cantilever needs to be supported. I suppose unless a couple of people jump on the very end of it, it's more than adequate unsupported.

 

[jha6av8r]

If you're a crew cab anything you can to to reduce weight behind the rear wheels is a good thing. If FWC isn't telling you the last 10" needs to be supported, I would assume you're good to go either way. Enjoy the new rig.

 

[fish more]

With the tailgate on, exiting the camper will be a little harder when you back out of the door. The tailgate will in fact provide a platform to set things on. You should install the camper with the tailgate, it will provide some support for the overhang. I think it would better to have the support under the camper myself. Try it out, if it is a hassle to exit the camper, the nice thing is you can always take the tailgate off. Congrats on the new camper.

 

[billharr]

If FWC said OK I would not lose sleep over it. You could fab a short tailgate to support the over hang if you do lose sleep over it.

Bill

 

[Skillet]

"First posting but have spent many many hours reading about FWC's before finally ordering one. I will get it next month. As the title notes, I'm looking for opinions/guidance on whether or not to leave my tailgate on of to take it off when I pick up my new Hawk. It's be going on a F150 supercrew with 5'8" box. The truck is new, I opted for the shorter wheel base knowing it wouldn't be as ideal for the Hawk.
The Hawk will over the bed by about 10"."

I'm very interested in your final setup (tailgate on/off, how you're beefing up the truck itself, etc). Been lurking here for a long while and trying to save up for a Hawk.

 

[photohc]

That's my truck in your photo, the third one on the top row. We were just getting ready to leave FWC with our new Hawk on a F150 Ecoboost. Well, its been slightly over a year now and we have put on about 10k miles on the truck with the camper. Absolutely no issues with the end sticking out. The most challenging hill I've taken was at Mounument Valley. Taking the hill back up from the valley with numerous switchbacks, I had to put the truck into 4WD to get pass the sandy hills a couple of times. I have the front dinette setup, and this is not the most ideal for weight distribution. The two auxiliary batteries are located near the door to the Hawk, thus putting more weight in the back instead of the front. Having said that, I have not had any issues. I think keeping the tailgate on puts additional weight that will not be of any advantage. Just my 2 cents.

 

[outathere]

Thanks for the post photohc...exactly what I was looking for, input from someone with a similar setup. In fact I also ordered the front dinette and have the same truck in a 2014. I was a tiny bit concerned about the batteries being in the back corner but I'm not going to sweat it anyone and just remove the tailgate before I pick up the camper.

Early on when I didn't hear back from FWC right away and I had a bunch of questions I sent this question to a FWC dealer and got these responses (in reverse order) -

[SIZE=11pt]"You should have the camper bottom supported if more than 10”+ is hanging off the end of the bed. The Hawk is 80” long and the Raven is 70” long. I supposed you could use some lumber ( or similar) to build a frame for it to sit on? Cheers."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]"Thanks for the info. I'm assuming there's no reason why I can't just remove the tailgate with the Hawk model and let it overhang so that I can get at the spare?"[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]"We can certainly install a Hawk into a F-150 with the very shortbed. It is best to install the Raven so less camper is hanging off the end but it can be done. Just keep in mind you will need to leave your tailgate down, it will block access to the two hitch and spare tire, and the painted surface of the tailgate will likely get real beat up from facing the roadway."[/SIZE]

Although later a couple of people at FWC (factory) said it wasn't an issue, this dealers comments stuck in the back of my mind.

Did you go with any suspension upgrades on your FX4? Do you leave your camper on the truck most of the year? Does the camper have a noticeable effect of the way the truck handles? I got the max trailer tow package (for the increased payload capacity) but I'm sure I'll come very close to the 1900lb payload when I'm loaded for a trip.

 

[photohc]

I don't have the max payload package on mine. I did install Firestone Airbags. These are inflated to 35# with the camper on. The camper is taken off when at home and the airbags are then deflated to 10#. With the camper on, I do feel the weight but not in a intrusive way. You know it's there but acceleration and stopping is well within the capabilities of the truck. I do keep my distance for that extra margin of safety. Also, I am running on E rated tires.

 

[outathere]

Thanks again for the info photohc. I also have e-rated tires and just installed the Firestone Airbags. At first I found the tires a bit rough but I played around with the air pressure a bit to soften up the ride. Will readjust once the camper is on.

Are you able to do me a big favor if you get a chance sometime in the next week...I'd like to know the exact horizontal distance from the back end of the camper to the center line of the hole in the hitch receiver (since that dimension will be identical for me). I'm trying to find a bike rack set-up that will work once I get the camper and my goal is to keep the bikes as close to the camper as I can with a tilt down rack to have full access to the door.

Haha...that picture of your camper cost me a few extra dollars on my camper when I saw how sharp the silver spur looked on your truck....since it overhangs I really liked the checker plating and had to have it...crazy how I started off thinking I just needed the basic camper then ended up spending way more than I should have...I'm sure I'm not the only person who fell victim to the options.

 

[Marshfly]

In addition to the air bags install a rear Helwig sway bar. It makes a huge difference. That's how I had mine setup when I had an 8' ATC Cougar in my 2009 Ford Screw with the 5'8" bed. I left the tailgate down but built a platform out of 2x4s to bridge the bed and gate. I also had to remove the plastic tailgate cover and that swing up entry handle as they stuck up higher than the bed floor. Your shorter camper may not require that. I did get rock chips on the extreme top of my tailgate from running decent speeds on gravel. But who cares? It's a truck.

Also, on my truck with 275/65r20s, the pull out bed step was perfect for getting in the camper.

 

[photohc]

Sorry for the delayed response on the measurement. Unfortunately, I currently don't have the Hawk installed on the truck, so I can't make that measurement. Next time will be in September. If you still need that information, hit me up at that time.