Four Wheel Flatbed Hawk Camper
I’ve spent the last 4 years driving a JKU, so when I jumped in behind the wheel of the Ram 3500/FWC Flatbed Hawk Camper combo, my first impression was that it was a BEAST. I’m not going to lie, I was a little intimidated by the thought of driving it on the southern Californian freeways, let alone off-road. However, once behind the wheel, it didn’t take more than a few miles to relax and realize that freeway driving was pretty easy and the Cummins 6.7L engine allowed the rig to fly whenever I needed to put my foot down.
The plan was to spend a week in the rig and make my way from San Diego to the Lost Sierra region. First stop was Alabama Hills in Lone Pine, where I’d spend a couple of days and then on to the hopefully snow-covered trails north of Truckee.
All in all, I drove just over 1200 miles and camped primitively 6 nights. I experienced dry conditions, but strong winds in the eastern Sierra foothills and driving snow and temperatures in the mid 20’s in the High Sierra.
Although a week in any rig is never an exhaustive test, it did provide me with a solid introduction to Popup Life. Here are my impressions:
Ram 3500/FWC Flatbed Hawk camper combo
As indicated, this is a big rig combo and a real commitment to the lifestyle. For those wanting to spend a lot of time on the road, the RAM’s power and comfort truly enhanced the driving experience. It was easy to sit back and cruise, knowing that if you had to make a quick decision to overtake a semi-truck, you could accomplish it with ease. For me, long road trips with a heavily laden and underpowered rig are exhausting, so this was a pleasant change. The rig’s cabin space was also significant and if I owned this rig, I’d pull out the rear seats and build out storage drawers for all my camera gear.
Exterior Storage:
The Flatbed Hawk Camper itself had a good amount of storage space, both inside and out. The great advantage of the aluminum flatbed tray by Norweld, is that it provides copious storage drawers and lockers for all the gear you need,
