Hawk vs Grandby

S

SDJeff

Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2010
Messages
18
Location
San Diego
Hello,

I am a newbie who decided to stop lurking, get some info and buy a FWC. I am really excited and appreciate the great information I am finding here.

I am trying to decide between a hawk n a grandly. My plan is to put the camper on a 05 or 06 Tundra which I would purchase. I don't anticipate needing to tow. I do go off road a lot - I live for visiting remote places! I would like the extra room of a grandby (and I suspect my girlfriend would even more), especially bc I could get a bed configuration to allow us to sleep parallel with the truck (I think this will be big with her). However, the hawk seems like a better fit for the truck. Questions: 1) How big of a deal would center of gravity issues really be with a long bed camper on a tundra? I know some people say it is ok. Has anyone tried it and felt that it was a problem? Does anybody have experience with both a hawk and grandby to give me an idea what the difference would really be? 2) What suspension mods would I need w/the grandby compared to the hawk? Are air bags alone enough? 3) I don't care about the tailgate getting dirty (one concern I saw mentioned) but do people encounter problems with turning radius or the gate/camper hitting when offroad with a grandby on a shortbed? 4) Is it any better if I got an access cab vs a double cab? 5) Anything else I should be concerned about?

Please excuse me if this is redundant with past threads, but I wanted to hear peoples most recent experience and didn't find all these exact questions on past threads. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jeff
 
Welcome,
Just my 2 cents but even the Hawk is gong to tax the Toyota's suspension on rough roads. If you've been reading you see that even the guys with Ford & Chevy half tons have done suspension mods. And a few are pretty extensive.
Good luck.
 
The Tundra/Hawk is a very popular combo.

I have a combo of Supersprings and Timbrens on my truck and am completely happy with the way it handles/drives/rides/fits.

It works here because I don't haul massive amounts of alcohol on my trips. DD and the other guys NEED that extra payload!

YMMV. Best of luck

mtn
 
I had a Hawk on my Tundra. If I would have had a Granby I probably would still have it, wife who insisted on Hawk is now an ex.. Now have a 10' Alaskan on 1 ton Dodge diesel. Room is great, but miss the lightness on FWC.

Storage is always a big issue when camping, but a big plus for me with the Granby would have been the more comfortable inside seating.

Airbags on Tundra worked great, and continue to do so 4 years later. (Still have truck.) I think the adaptability of the airbags is just too good. Started out with Roadmaster helper springs. After two years they started to sag. Thats when I went to airbags.
 
I had a Hawk on my Tundra. If I would have had a Granby I probably would still have it, wife who insisted on Hawk is now an ex.. Now have a 10' Alaskan on 1 ton Dodge diesel. Room is great, but miss the lightness on FWC.

Storage is always a big issue when camping, but a big plus for me with the Granby would have been the more comfortable inside seating.

Airbags on Tundra worked great, and continue to do so 4 years later. (Still have truck.) I think the adaptability of the airbags is just too good. Started out with Roadmaster helper springs. After two years they started to sag. Thats when I went to airbags.


Just curious, how is the seating "more comfortable" in the Grandby? My understanding is that the interior layout is identical, just the extra 16" of "storage cabinet" to the right of the door in the Grandby as you walk in, and to the left of the settee at the front left. No difference in the seats/couch/beds/etc.

dc
 
Thank you very much to everyone who replied. I appreciate the information.
I will also try and keep in mind the issues of weight related to recreational liquids!
 
This is really good info for me too. I've just acquired an 06 Tundra Access 4WD and have similar goals as SDJeff.
Seems like hanging an eight foot camper out of my six foot four inch bed would defeat the off road capabilities I'm trying to retain. Good info on the Timbrens and other mods. Definitely need to have some payload for liquid refreshments!

BTW the used Hawk in Sacramento shows an 'old style' width of 59 3/4" inches but apparently only the newer Hawks will fit a Tundra. Still learning what will actually fit. I also agree with SD that sleeeping parallel to the truck is the way to go. So what is the best model for this? Slide out bed for sure, but at least six feet long.

Andy



Thank you very much to everyone who replied. I appreciate the information.
I will also try and keep in mind the issues of weight related to recreational liquids!
 
Idahojolson said:
Just curious, how is the seating "more comfortable" in the Grandby? My understanding is that the interior layout is identical, just the extra 16" of "storage cabinet" to the right of the door in the Grandby as you walk in, and to the left of the settee at the front left. No difference in the seats/couch/beds/etc.

dc
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
I’d love to know the answer to this comment. I thought the 16” were in the dinette seating area. Anyone know?
 
Good point, I forget I need to be more specific since there are a lot of different kinds of camper models. I was hoping for an understanding of where the extra 16" is on a flatbed Granby vs the flatbed Hawk. I am hoping it's in the Grandby dinette (seating for 4?) but can't find the spec on that specifically. That would be worth it to us if it made a bigger seating area. Thanks!
 
I have a Grandby on a SB Dodge 3/4 ton. I have Timbrens on all four wheels.
It is the Front Dinette model with a cassette toilet. I don't believe the extra length makes any difference offroading since it is high enough the tailgate hitting is not an issue. One of the things I didn't realize with the FD is that the batteries (I have two six-volt batteries) sit all the way back on the tailgate, as does the cassette toilet. It works ok on my 3/4 ton, but not sure how it would work on your Tundra. If you put hawk on your SB truck and you had a FD model, the batteries would still be at the back, but at least not out over the tailgate.
Rich
 
The Granby Front Dinette model has the extra 18" in the dinette, which means the seats, bigger table, and more underseat storage. I can't answer questions about the Flatbed, mine is the slide-in.

Rich
 
The web site shows the exact same floor plan image for both Hawk and Grandby flatbeds. However, looking at the side view photos it appears the extra length is aft of the door. A call to FWC would get the question answered immediately.
 
Thanks everyone. I hope it is after the door. I am totally good with a longer footprint for that reason and would go grandby if that were the case. I'll call FWC. I'll let you all know what I find if your interested.
 
As I recall from looking at some show room models, the Grandby Flatbed has all the extra length in the back, by the dinette.
 
Thanks. A bigger dinette would be really great assuming the overall length is manageable. For eating, hanging out, storage and sleeping. 16 to 18 inches is a lot! Thanks everyone
 
Do you need to buy a Toyota? I think you ought to consider a 3/4 ton. That way you can load it down with toys like kayaks, bikes, a generator, a winch, plus all the things your girlfriend will want to take along. Ask me how I know.
 
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