Flatbed / Ute Tray design input wanted please

[OutbacKamper]

Hello All;

I have not been active on the forum, or camping in my truck/camper for that matter, for nearly 2 years now. I hope to change all that moving forward as I get my life back on track after putting some big life changes behind me.

I am hoping to get back to more camping and kayaking this spring/summer/fall. But I also plan to do some refreshing of my '03 F350 and '13 Hawk. One major upgrade I am seriously considering is to add an aluminum flatbed to carry my existing camper while adding some more convenient storage solutions.

I have seen some interesting designs on line from Bowen, AT Overland, PCOR, OEV, and Grizzly & Bear. My thoughts are to have a local company do a few custom changes to their standard aluminum flatbed to incorporate internal camper tie downs, side storage access (above deck), front and rear below deck side boxes and a centre rear pull out drawer. A rear bumper with fold down step would also be great. I am thinking that a local company would be more convenient and hopefully more cost effective than one of the big "Overland" companies. I have started discussuions with a local company, but could use your input:

I am looking for input from the WTW community, especially those who have a flatbed/camper, or those also considering the idea. Design ideas, things you would do differently, etc. All info and suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Two thoughts… have you considered bolting the camper down instead of using the existing tie downs. It might make for more storage room, and a simpler build.

Take a look at the Northern Lite website. Their back porch with swing down steps is pretty nice. In addition to a handy entry, the porch makes a great surface for work and staging gear when loading/unloading. It has also been known to be a fly tying bench.

Edit: I just noticed you’re in Kelowna. Give NL a visit.

 

[penner]

You should check out highway products.com for some ideas. Some nice looking stuff there.

 

[Vic Harder]

Penner, did you not find some others that were Canadian and less $$$? Mortiz or something like that?

 

[penner]

Yes I was Moritz Vic. I mentioned highway products to get some design ideas for boxes etc. How are you doing on your search?

 

[Vic Harder]

I've not been actively pursuing the flatbed at the moment. New grandkids ...

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Highway Products does make good (great) quality stuff. The box on my Oliver is from them. The previous owner bought it from their scratch/dent selection, and it was about 500.00 in 2018.


You should check out highway products.com for some ideas. Some nice looking stuff there.

 

[OutbacKamper]

Thanks everyone, I will check out Highway products, Moritz and Northern Lite.

Sagebrush; that is a nice rear cargo box. I did not mention it yet, but I have a rear cargo box & outside kitchen setup that I plan to retain:

 

[OutbacKamper]

Here is a standard flatbed by the local company I am hoping to work with - it has optional side boxes and external camper tie downs:

I was thinking of a system more like this, with fold down sides rather than actual storage boxes, useing the oem tie down system:

I had not considered bolting the camper to the flatbed - what advantages or disadvantages would there be to bolting down the camper vs the oem tiedowns?

 

[OutbacKamper]

I just wanted to share this for anyone who is not familar with Grizzly & Bear. This appears to be the untimate flatbed set up but looks very expensive (custom made in South Africa).

I love the front garage...& the custom flat aluminum camper siding colour matched to the truck. This is what inspired me to refresh my truck and camper, although mine will definitely not look this awesome.

 

[Vic Harder]

I was thinking of a system more like this, with fold down sides rather than actual storage boxes, useing the oem tie down system:

I had not considered bolting the camper to the flatbed - what advantages or disadvantages would there be to bolting down the camper vs the oem tiedowns?

Who makes this one?

 

[OutbacKamper]

Who makes this one?

That is a photo from the SherpTek website.

Here is the same view with side panel installed:

 

[Vic Harder]

Oh, well yes.... Sherptek makes great gear... $$$ though. I very much like their designs and execution is first rate.

 

[Machinebuilder]

This is what I did with my 2021 F350 and my Grandby camper

The Drivers side I put 4 Reliance water jugs, water filtration and misc

I pull one Propane tank from the camper and connect it to my stove with a hose, pulling the stove out on the drop down door.

the camper is held down with the 3/8 Eye-bolts in the bed and turnbuckles.

This setup worked very well for me as I traveled 5 months to Alaska and back. YMMV

I don't know if I would get another flatbed with a full tailboard, it took some damage from me backing into a low obstacle.

I love having the flatbed compared to the pickup bed.

 

[OutbacKamper]

Thanks Machinebuilder;
I had not thought of building upper boxes of wood. That could potentially save a lot of money, as that is something I could do myself. hmmmm...
Have you had issues with water ingress, or were you able to waterproof the wood boxes?

 

[Machinebuilder]

I use lap joints so there isn't many direct paths for water.
They arent full boxes just a bottom and a side
the camper is the top and back,
I used gorilla tape to seal some of the seams and some thick weather stripping in other places

The only time I got water in is when i stopped to wash some of the mud off.

I would like to have a Sherptek or Bowen but they are $$$$$$$ and a long way from East TN

All the wood is red oak cut and milled from my property. I got lots of compliments on this setup.

 

[goinoregon]

nice setup. most all of our cooking is outside, and this would work for us. awning there for protection.

 

[Durango1]

Best wishes on your search for a custom, ALUMINUM flatbed. Sourcing this was by far the biggest headache in my 2018 build with a Ram Chassis Cab 3500 SRW and a new FWC Grandby. (Flatbed model.) We found many companies happy to work in steel- few in aluminum. One hint- look for companies that do custom work for the "oil patch".

Probably too far for you but I (finally) found a custom fabricator 50 miles from me that did up a completely custom, impeccably built, aluminum FB and for less than 1/2 what the mainline companies quoted me. Plus they installed it for free! NOTE: Photo below is of the first flatbed this company did for me on a standard Ram frame.

Another hint- if you're not married to your 2003 Ford a cab and chassis of any brand will be infinitely easier to design and mount a FB on. The straight rails also allow a full length "shovel box" and in my case we put a "possum belly" (28" wide x 22" long x 18" deep) dropping down between the rails right behind the cab. We keep two 7 gallon water jugs there plus much of our heavy recovery gear which leads me to...

My final hint: FB mounted campers inherently have a higher center of gravity. So it is even more important to keep heavy stuff lower and if possible ahead of the rear axle. (Which is true with all campers.) Along with the "possum belly" above we also have 4 under-bed boxes where we keep tools, fuel, chainsaw, etc.

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[OutbacKamper]

Thanks for the input Durango1!
I'm definitley keeping the current truck, so no cab and chasis for me. My 2003 F350 has been a great truck, it has the 7.3 diesel and less than 145,000km (90,000 miles). I hope it (and I) will last another 15 years or so.

I have found a local aluminum flatbed company, Im just trying to figure out exactly what features are important and prioritize them when it comes to cost. I have a meeting with the fabricator on Saturday.

You make a good point about the higher centre of gravity. This is, in my opinion, the biggest drawback to a flatbed, but I hope the increased storage is a worthwhile trade-off. This picture shows the centre drawer which is a "must have" for me.

 

[Vic Harder]

I would not make the drawer a must have. For me the must have is the SAME or lower COG. That means some kind of service bed rather than a true flat deck, because the center section needs to be the same height as the stock deck, and the sides have to clear the wheels...