Hawk or granby

[Pennarcher]

Can't decide on a hawk for 2014 ford f250 with a 6.5 bed or leave the tailgate down and go with the granby. Pros and cons?

 

[cwdtmmrs]

Tailgate down looks totally wrong IMO

 

[Vic Harder]

Cons w tailgate down:
1) Ruin your tailgate from rocks/dirt hitting it
2) Weight is way too far back. Front wheels will be light and steering/control will suffer

I just sold my 3/4 ton... and I loved that truck... to get a 1 ton 8' bed for my PUMA/Grandby build.

 

[camper rich]

Our Grandby works just fine on our Dodge 2500. I have Timbrens both front and rear to level it out. We also haul a Ruger trailer loaded with gear and bicyles on top of that. As far as handling is concerened, it doesn't handle any worse than my old Dodge Dakota with a FWC Ranger II shell. It was a tad light in the front too. I can't imagine that all those Tacos with FWCs on them are any better. Most of them are totally overloaded, which your F250 won't be. It also depends on how much you value the extra room inside the Grandby. We enjoy it.
We bought the shortbed for the tighter turning radius. I didn't want to drive a longbed.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

A camper built for the bed length would be the safer route. If you ever tow with the camper on, you either need an extension (which reduces the amount of tongue weight you can have), or possibly risk damage to truck/trailer/camper if you get a jackknife when backing.

 

[BBZ]

We have 6.5 bed f150 with Granby.. like the extra room. Ours however is built light .. 1000 lbs.. and therefore I don't think its an issue. Hardly notice it is there with airbags and good tires.. IF.. I had a fully loaded Granby I would want a bigger truck, but ours is not on full time and I need a truck for work..

 

[DavidGraves]

Pennarcher

Hello and welcome.

One way to consider your decision is to go buy 15-1800 pounds of rock or cinder blocks on a pallet.

Loaded with supplies, water, food and toys you may easily reach those weights when heading out for a two week trip.

Position it in your truck at the center of gravity for a Hawk and then for a Grandby and see what you think.

A whole lot will depend on your driving skills and whether you ever leave asphalt.

Do you intend to leave the camper on your truck full time?

David Graves

 

[CougarCouple]

Hello Pennarcher and second the welcome to WtW. For us we felt the camper for 6.5 beds was just too small. That said there are plenty of folks with a larger foot print camper in the shorter beds. There is a post on this site I think where the owner made extension and ditched the tailgate. Yes the center of gravity would most likely be aft of the axle. If you want the larger camper you could live with it, and when this truck wears out you have the option to get the 8 foot bed.

Russ

 

[esimmers]

As you can see from my thumbnail picture, our 2009 Hawk fits perfectly on our 2011 F-250 extended cab with 6+ bed. I leave the Hawk mounted on the truck most of the time and am so happy that it isn't any longer. It's almost a daily driver still at this size. The rear bumper is totally accessible, works as a step, and allows easy access to the spare tire if necessary. I don't have to worry about banging a corner of the camper on anything.

Several years ago we stopped by the FWC factory for a tour and I showed my rig to one of the employees and mused that maybe I should have gotten the longer Grandby. He was definitely of the mind that if you can't fit it in a Hawk, you don't need it!

 

[Andy Douglass]

For us, if we wanted a Granby, we would have gotten a long bed. As I have gotten older, I've become a big fan of using things for what they are designed for. Tailgates are not meant to support the back of a camper, and they are not meant to spend a lot of miles in the down position. I have driven plenty of lumber around with various tailgates down, but I wouldn't want to do extended highway and offroading like that. The center of gravity thing is probably the most important thing safety-wise. Does FWC say that using a Granby in a short bed is ok? If they don't, you'd have a hard time defending yourself from civil action in the case of an accident. Plus you have to either redesign the spare tire carrier, or do without it, which is not good.

 

[klahanie]

Does FWC say that using a Granby in a short bed is ok? If they don't, you'd have a hard time defending yourself from civil action in the case of an accident. .

Don't know about a Granby. How about a Keystone ?
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/6980-will-a-fwc-keystone-fit-on-full-size-short-bed/#entry77133

For me, the major Pro is, I like the room of our Granby. Don't think I'd want to go any smaller for us. I'm all about space and storage and find these campers small. Also, I don't think the F250 - or I - would have a prob with the over length.

But ... there can be A LOT more to consider. Most all of which depends on the owner.

 

[BBZ]

FYI -- Some say you will get damage on tailgate if left down with longer camper..

I just checked mine yesterday. We have done 2, 3 week trips from Colorado to Baja in the last two years. Over 10000 miles in total and plenty of dirt roads. There is not a single chip in my tailgate.

 

[Bjammin]

We've got the F150 with a 6.5 foot bed. The Hawk fits like it was made for it (and it was) See picture above.

 

[Colorado Mark]

I have a 6.5' Chebby.

Wife & I where looking at both the Hawk & Grandby. The extra 18" in the Grandby vs the Hawk is in the front dinette. At least on our model. We wanted the bigger dinette (more storage)

I have zero problems with the tail gate down. Sure it might eventually get dinged up from stuff thrown off the road but a white Chevy tailgate at the junk yard is $100. That's for a plain jane tailgate, no lock, camera, etc Or, have it repainted for $500

Or, if you have a nice expensive tail gate you don't want to get pitted, have a shop apply rock guard (3M makes it) to the tail gate like they do for lower wheel well openings & rockers on new vehicles.

My truck carries the Grandby just fine. I did add air bags for when I tow a side X side ATV on a trailer.

If you tow a trailer, some people get an extended ball mount. That really screws up towing. I added an extension & folding tongue to my trailer. Just like a boat trailer uses so you can park it in the garage.

It would be nice to have a standard, long bed truck (8 feet) but mine is bought & paid for many years ago. I'm not about to spend more on a truck than I did for my first house.

 

[longhorn1]

Might have a problem with your spare tire, getting it out, if you do that. Get the camper that fits the bed.

 

[Colorado Mark]

On my Chebby, I went to a junk yard and found one more extension for my spare tire crank.

The stock one was two sections. Just picked up another section for $1 at the junk yard.

 

[Colorado Mark]

Hey Pennarcher,

This is what a Grandby looks like on a Silverado, 6.5 bed, tailgate down. 1" cut off rubber bumpers on the front of the camper.

My Silverado is a 2500HD, with trailer tow package and GM-RPO Z85 (increased capacity chassis package)

Your Ford might be very similar.

 

[ckent323]

We have a 2007 FWC Keystone which we carry on a 1993 Dodge W250. We love the extra space of the Keystone (but we miss the even roomier interior space of our 1984 Keystone).

We do not have the built in toilet and use a porta potty. In the area at the rear where the built in toilet would go I built a shelf that is just high enough for the porta potty to slide under. On top of the shelf I installed a plastic 4-drawer unit for clothing. It sure beats living out of suitcases on our long trips!

I leave the tailgate on. The camper extends about half way out the tailgate. The remaining ledge is a nice place to step when getting in and out. Also standing on the ledge makes tucking in the canvas at the rear easy.

The height of the tailgate on our camper is about 4 feet above the ground so no worries about tailgate damage (and we have none from rocks). I think the tailgate protects the bottom of the camper from water and dirt as well as gives it a little extra support - not to mention the short porch it creates. ;-).

 

[oldhotrod]

A large majority of the weight on my Granby is center forward. It is obvious every time I load or unload the camper as the weight is supported during most of the process on one jack...and loading with camper on jacks, very little weight on the back and one day I'll remember to put a scale under one jack...

 

[OutToLunch]

I have an ATC Ocelot on a F150 Supercab with 6.5 bed. No complaints. It works well when i solo (with two 75 lb dogs), when my wife and dogs comes with me and even when my teenage son and dogs comes with me. I figure that if I had more space, I’d just end up taking more junk that I don’t really need and probably will not use. I try to keep it simple.

If I had to do over, I might consider the opposite of what you are considering: an Ocelot or Hawk in an eight foot bed so I had space behind the camper and could use the tailgate for bench, table, etc.