Show me your camper risers.

[Squatch]

Well it appears that the Eagle is a very nice fit in the 1st gen Tundra's. Except the one I bought yesterday of course. 17.5" deep camper 17" deep bed on most of the Tundras. Of course I have the '06 double cab which went to the deeper 20" bed!

So I'll need a small riser or platform. I have a couple of ideas already but would love to see what others have done in similar situations. So post 'em up.

 

[Seth]

No photos, but there are three 2x6" planks of about 3.5' in length under my camper right now. Crosswise. They give me about 5/8" clearance above the truck rails.

I'd be hesitant about this directly on a metal truck bed, but I have a heavy rubber liner on my bed - the planks don't move around. This is one of those temporary measures that may become semi-permanent. Ideally, I'd screw the planks into the bottom plywood of the camper, perhaps that will happen this winter.

The solution also required four 1/4" quick links to extend the turnbuckles.


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[buckland]

I put six across and insulated why not? I have a bed rubber mat as well.

 

[Squatch]

My truck has a Line X spray in bedliner. Decent traction on that. Thanks for the descriptions. I like the insulation idea.

 

[Brentc17]

Here is mine. Simple 2x4s where cross members under camper are. Piece of cedar for rear flap. Painted white to match. Works great

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[idahoron]

Here is mine. Simple 2x4s where cross members under camper are. Piece of cedar for rear flap. Painted white to match. Works great

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Looks like you have a great spot under there for tire chains and shovels and stuff.

 

[Brentc17]

Yea it only has about 3 1/2 inches so limited. We put tarp mats leveling blocks broom etc

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[PokyBro]

Squatch,

Here's what one poster did, and I believe he added insulation between the cross members as well, and I think he attached it to the camper bottom so it came out with camper.



Here's the thread:

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/6364-slos-1990-hawk-buildrefurb/

Poky


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[Squatch]

Thanks, I remember reading SLO's Skamper refurbish over on Expo a while back.

I've been looking at the truck bed. It looks like I can attach 4 length wise runners to the bottom of the camper. Spaced properly they should drop into the grooves in the truck bed and be self aligning for mounting the camper. I'll have to add a little cross bracing to keep them from folding or rolling sideways but that's easy enough. I'll probably also add some foam insulation as well.

I'll bedliner the runners when I do the bottom of the camper. More resistance to movement that way.

The rear of my Eagle will be narrower than the truck bed opening by a bit. So I'm already thinking of making some hinged filler panels. These will give me some sorta locking storage outside the camper inside the bed.

 

[jeromehdmc]

Here is a very good video Stan at 4Wheel sent me. I have an Eagle on a Dodge Ram QuadCab and it fits great. I just made a platform with 3 upright 2x4's running lengthwise with 2x4's at the ends and plywood on the top.

 

[kmcintyre]

I've been thinking about this as I'm going to get a Ram and put my Eagle on it. I was thinking I'd manufacture an alum. frame below the camper with some 'drawers' to put stuff in and some "sides" that I could access the wheel wells. We'll see as I don't have the truck yet.

 

[JaSAn]

Since I only had to go up 1" to fit my old Grandby into a 2012 Ram, I used 4 X 8 X 1" Foamular under the camper.

jim

 

[Squatch]

Since I only had to go up 1" to fit my old Grandby into a 2012 Ram, I used 4 X 8 X 1" Foamular under the camper.

jim

This is a cool idea. Even at 3" (what I need) once the original bit of compression/settling is done It would likely be very stable. Extruded foam is tough stuff. Insulation covered at the same time.

 

[97grandby]

68siesta built a custom riser along with full length drawers for more storage. Turned out really well.


1990 Ford F-250
1997 fwc grandby

 

[DrJ]

I've seen this camper mods in person. They are quite impressive.

 

[PacificExposure]

I had been searching for a Hawk for my F150 for many months, and when I found a great deal on a Kestrel, I couldn't pass it up. The Kestrel is exactly the same as a Hawk, but just 3" shorter to accommodate the short bedsides of the older Tundras so I needed a 4" platform. I wanted to make it permanently installed on the camper and be able to have a bit of storage underneath. I used 3/4" ply and 4"x4"s. It's pretty heavy, but I wanted it strong. I used window latches to keep them shut while driving. Pretty happy with how it all turned out!

 

[DrJ]

That is fantastic. Nice job!

 

[68 Siesta]

Looks great! I made a similar wood platform originally. I later changed to steel because believe it or not it was lighter and because I wanted to build drawers to take up all that space under there. Here are some pictures before it was permanently mounted:

mounted.

After I was done, I decided to build side mount drawers along the bedrails to use up space there too:

 

[DSD277]

I had made this forkliftable riser for my Kestrel last year:
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/10895-adapting-a-fwc-kestrel-for-quick-exchange/#entry124218

I since have sold the truck and camper and bought a '16 Dmax Colorado SB and basically redesign the riser for a Fleet.
I will be posting a thread on the riser and the folding double step I made that integrates into the riser. It is suppose to be back from the powder coater tomorrow.

 

[Brad's Dad]

I put six across and insulated why not? I have a bed rubber mat as well.

Sorry, this isn't intended to be a thread hijack but... in the middle picture, what kind of setup do you have for your turn buckle sliding doors? Looks completely different from my 2004 Hawk.
Feel free to private message if you wish to not further my hijack!
Fred