OutbacKamper
Senior Member
I think I just bought a used 2013 Hawk (I have come close on 2 previous deals in the last month, but I think this one is actually going to happen). So now I am excited to finalize the deal and get my hands on the camper (it is 1900km, approx 1200 miles, away) and my mind is churning over some modification ideas.
I previously owned a 2003 Hawk Shell model that I customized, but sold it in 2007. One of my biggest complaints about the -03 Hawk was the complete lack of storage for gear such as a High-Lift jack, shovel, axe, outside cooking gear, etc. I ended up with a custom roof rack in front of the camper, rear camper brackets (for High-Lift) and still had the entire floor of the camper full of boxes of "stuff". My goal is to have a less cluttered interior that only takes seconds to configure for camping (rather than 10 minutes of unloading gear so I can get in the camper). Of course one way to reach this goal is to carry less "stuff" but I would still like a place to stow some "outside" gear ( I will probably eliminate the jack, but still want to store a shovel, axe, 2 kayak paddles, leveling blocks, recovery gear, chairs, folding ladder, etc)
My idea is to replace the right side window with a hatch of the same size and build a storage compartment, accessible from the outside, that would completely fill the space behind the roll over couch backrest:
Can anyone with this configuration tell me the approximate measurements behind the couch backrest? I am guessing that the storage compartment would taper from approx. 8" deep at the bottom to approx 6" deep at the top (same height as top of existing overhead storage bin, which would be removed). If the dimensions are less, then maybe this idea would not be feasible.
Of course the down side to this idea, with the loss of the biggest window, is less ventilation and less light in the camper, but I always found the right side window to be too low to see out of and I think the rear door and roof vents will provide enough ventilation. Plus based on this picture, it seems that the couch backrest blocks most of the window anyway:
The basic concept would be similar to this (only not as deep):
Can anyone see any reason why this would not work or may not be practical?
Thanks
Mark
I previously owned a 2003 Hawk Shell model that I customized, but sold it in 2007. One of my biggest complaints about the -03 Hawk was the complete lack of storage for gear such as a High-Lift jack, shovel, axe, outside cooking gear, etc. I ended up with a custom roof rack in front of the camper, rear camper brackets (for High-Lift) and still had the entire floor of the camper full of boxes of "stuff". My goal is to have a less cluttered interior that only takes seconds to configure for camping (rather than 10 minutes of unloading gear so I can get in the camper). Of course one way to reach this goal is to carry less "stuff" but I would still like a place to stow some "outside" gear ( I will probably eliminate the jack, but still want to store a shovel, axe, 2 kayak paddles, leveling blocks, recovery gear, chairs, folding ladder, etc)
My idea is to replace the right side window with a hatch of the same size and build a storage compartment, accessible from the outside, that would completely fill the space behind the roll over couch backrest:
Can anyone with this configuration tell me the approximate measurements behind the couch backrest? I am guessing that the storage compartment would taper from approx. 8" deep at the bottom to approx 6" deep at the top (same height as top of existing overhead storage bin, which would be removed). If the dimensions are less, then maybe this idea would not be feasible.
Of course the down side to this idea, with the loss of the biggest window, is less ventilation and less light in the camper, but I always found the right side window to be too low to see out of and I think the rear door and roof vents will provide enough ventilation. Plus based on this picture, it seems that the couch backrest blocks most of the window anyway:
The basic concept would be similar to this (only not as deep):
Can anyone see any reason why this would not work or may not be practical?
Thanks
Mark