Utility Bed Trucks with FWC's ?

[rich]

Hi Guys,

The other day an F-250 Diesel utility bed truck went zooming by me with an FWC on it. If any of you have been following the going green thread you will know that this is my dream camper set up. The FWC was sitting up a little high though, there was a good sized gap, maybe a foot to 18" between the tops of the utility boxes and the bottom of the fwc which made a bigger gap over the cab which looked like it would catch some serious air. So my question is does anyone on the forum have an FWC on a utility bed truck? or seen one? How about Ben and Stan, have either of you outfitted a utility bed truck with a camper? If so can it be done with out the over height issues? It seems to me this set could solve a lot of storage issues. If anyone has pictures especially pictures with the utility boxes open to show their storage set up I'd love to see it.

Thanks,

Rich

 

[jimjxsn]

utility bed - http://www.dodgeram.org/ki4cy/camper/Ram_camper.htm

 

[rich]

That's the setup!!!

Thanks Jim,

Do you know that guy? That is a sweet set up. If you did that with these beds

http://www.holidayrambler.com/holidays/archive/01julyaug/truck.html

It would look awesome and be functional. Now I just need to win the lottery so I can buy this setup!

 

[rich]

Is that a Hawk or Grandby?

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Hey Rich

unless you are rolling in $$$, the utility bed approach is not practical for most people.

the FWC or ATC camper will not fit in a standard utility bed -- those truck beds are too narrow.

We can build you an empty shelll model that would work, but if you want a frig., furnace, sink, stove, etc., you will have to have the utility bed custom made.

most custom utility beds cost $ 6000 - $ 7000 just for the truck bed !

I will post more details and pictures when I get back in the office later this week.



.

 

[rich]

Yup like I said, waiting for the lottery

Thanks for the info stan,

I'd love to see more pics of some rig set ups and specifics on what needs to be customized on the utility bed. Does it have to be a full custom fab or can you take a standard utility bed and customize it to work - that could be a cheaper option.

Thanks,

Rich

 

[benburnett]

utility bed

As Stan stated, you can get a utility bed custom made for the camper. Last time we had this done the cost was around 6,000.00

There is a company in Stockton that we used to have make them when I was at FWC. There is a company here in Sacramento that I believe is capable of making them also, I just have not had any inquire about one to see if they can or not.

Just like anything else, it can be done, just depends on how much you want to spend.

I have not seen anyone take a standard utility bed and customize it for a camper yet. Stan may have some pics if anyone has tried it though.

 

[rich]

It looks like a fleet would work with a standard utility bed?

Hi Ben thanks for the reply,

I went back to an old set of posts I participated in when I was thinking of picking up an old fleet and found that the fleet bottom width is 39" and the standard utility bed opening is about 48.5". That is too small for most FWC's but a fleet would slide in. The bed rail height is an issue at 23" with the fleet being only 17" however a 6.5" platform should get it up high enough to put on and not crush the drains. That 6.5" platform would make a great box for my rafting paddles. There would be some room side to side that could also be made up with some wooden storage boxes. A used diesel with a utility bed isn't that expensive. Are there any issues you could see with putting an old fleet on a standard utility bed?

Rich

 

[benburnett]

fleet on utility

The problem with trying to put a fleet on a utility bed is that the 39" measurement is only the very bottom 3/4 of the camper. You have to remember that the bottom is still stair stepped out to fit the bed of a truck and that the back 19 to 21 inches of the fleet is going to be about 58" wide and will not fit into the utility bed. It is not just 39" wide at the bottom from front to back. So to make it fit you would have to raise it high enough to clear the cab and also leave it sticking out of the back of the bed enough to clear that 19 to 21 inches that will not fit into the utility bed.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Hey Rich


Yep, like Ben said, the camper base will usually be too wide, even on the old fleet models. That double step design is a show stopper in most cases.

(see pictures attached)



.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

more pictures of four wheel campers on utility bed trucks

more pictures of four wheel campers on utility bed trucks

(PART 1)



.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

more pictures of four wheel campers on utility bed trucks

(PART 2)



.

 

[craig333]

No doubt, thats the way to go if you had unlimited funds. I wonder why the turtle expedition didnt go that route.

 

[Brian]

Those are so cool looking....

When I mechaniced for the USFWS in Alaska, our shop trucks had utility beds made out of aluminum. Any others I have seen are steel. I look whenever I see a utility bed for sale since I always thought a trailer made out of one with a bed canopy of some kind would make a cool motorcycle trailer.... Have never seen another. I had a friend who had an Alaskan camper on a steel utility bed on an 80's vintage gas 4wd 3/4 T pickup. He used it for a few years and said that it was so heavy and got such poor mileage that he finally sold it. I always thought it was the coolest looking rig as are all these photos.
The Turtle folks probably could not get someone to give them a nice aluminum ute bed. Their entire operation depends on the good will of companies believing they will get good advertising by giving them stuff. Perhaps they do.
Brian

 

[erod]

awesome pics stan! thanks for posting!

 

[rich]

Custom Beds

Thanks for the pics stan. Those are great set ups! So each one of those customers paid to have a custom utility bed built - none of those are a standard size?

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Hey Rich

The Blue 4 Door Chevy and the Old Yellow truck in the pictures might be more of a standard "off the shelf" utility bed (those were before my time here).

But if you look closely, the campers on those trucks are "empty shell models".

We can build an empty shell model for those trucks that has a camper base of 48" wide, and then the camper base goes straight up from there until you get over the edges of the utility boxes.

The only variable would be the measurements on utility bed depth and the relationship of the utility bed to the top of the truck cab to have a good fit.

But on the empty shell model, there won't be anything inside the camper (no sink, no stove, no propane, no water, no couch, etc.) Just the cab-over bed, lights, vent, windows, etc. If you wanted a bunch of extras, you would have to get creative and build that in yourself after market.

Hope this helps.



.

 

[Sam]

Cool pictures. I found it funny that the guy in one of the pictures has all that room with the utility bed and still has a barbecue strapped to the roof Beverly Hillbilly style. I guess it goes to show no matter how much room you have you tend to fill it up, and then some.