What do you set your camper on?

J

JoeKan

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Kansas
I tried a search on this but couldn't find anything although i know its been discussed before. But what do you all set in your truck bed for your camper to sit on? Would 2 x 4s work? Longways or cross ways? Thanks.
 
I put a 4 x 6 horse stall mat on my truck bed. Was about $45 at a local farm store. made from recycled tires, I think. The Four Wheel campers installers thought it was a very good way to go.
 
JoeKan said:
I tried a search on this but couldn't find anything although i know its been discussed before. But what do you all set in your truck bed for your camper to sit on? Would 2 x 4s work? Longways or cross ways? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Are you trying for cab clearance, or to keep the camper from sliding? If clearance, a ladder like structure to set the camper on. To prevent slipping, like AWG, I use a stall mat.
 
JoeKan:

I presume you are talking about what support is needed in the truck bed under the camper to clear the bed rails ?

Attached find a picture of how I do it....the longer sticks were initially used to see if I needed more material to clear the bed rails...once I established that I just rely on the shorter 2x4's with plywood caps running across the bed and pulled the longer sticks out completely before loading the camper. If you have a 10' cabover you will need additional support under the camper door and on top of the opened tailgate.

full
 
My camper got picked up this morning in Ohio and should be here either late tonight or early tomorrow morning, depending on how far the hauler can make it tonight. I don't have the height information to see whether I need to set the camper up on boards or not to get it higher than the truck rails but that was what I used on my 8ft NCO. I like the idea of a horse mat to keep it from sliding but what do I do if I need to set boards under the camper? I can't use the horse mat right? Thanks for the help. I'll get pictures of it tomorrow and then I'm taking her out tomorrow evening for her "maiden" voyage.
 
JoeKan said:
My camper got picked up this morning in Ohio and should be here either late tonight or early tomorrow morning, depending on how far the hauler can make it tonight. I don't have the height information to see whether I need to set the camper up on boards or not to get it higher than the truck rails but that was what I used on my 8ft NCO. I like the idea of a horse mat to keep it from sliding but what do I do if I need to set boards under the camper? I can't use the horse mat right? Thanks for the help. I'll get pictures of it tomorrow and then I'm taking her out tomorrow evening for her "maiden" voyage.
Click to expand...
Are you going to mount the camper full time, or are you going to remove it when you aren't using it?

If the first, I would bolt the boards down as poproid did, and screw a piece of plywood on top, and then put the horse stall mat on top of the plywood.

If the second, maybe plywood on both sides of the (non-bolted) boards, and then horse stall mats UNDER the space as well as on top of it?

Depending on the dimensions needed, if you are using plywood and horse stall mats, you might be able to use 1" or 5/4 boards instead of 2Xs.

Because water might get into the bed, I would PAINT the boards rather than leaving them raw, maybe with some kind of boat paint that will really resist water.

And because standard horse stall mats are 4'x6', I would buy TWO and cut a 4'x2' section to use in the front, so as to get 4'x8' under an 8' camper. Obviously, with a 10' camper you will need an even bigger second piece, and with only a 6' box, you will be fine with only one mat.

BTW, I've read that some people use a piece of 4'x8' 2" styrofoam insulation under their campers as a spacer. Apparently, it doesn't compress at all and it gives added insulation to the floor. Again, depending on the dimensions you need, maybe a sheet of styrofoam with the horse stall mat(s) on top?

This absolutely free advice is guaranteed to be worth every penny you payed for it, or your money will be cheerfully refunded!
 
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate every bit of it. The hauler delivered the camper last night at 11:30 and finished unloading her at 12:50 this morning! Getting her off his trailer took some engineering skills but we got her off and I have her sitting on my stands for right now. It's so foggy and icy this morning I'm going to wait until the ice thaws before I load on the back of my trailer.
I used my Rieco Titan jack stands for the first time last night and one of them actually got bent up while I was cranking it up. I'll have to call them today about it and see what can be done.
 
popRoid said:
JoeKan:

I presume you are talking about what support is needed in the truck bed under the camper to clear the bed rails ?

Attached find a picture of how I do it....the longer sticks were initially used to see if I needed more material to clear the bed rails...once I established that I just rely on the shorter 2x4's with plywood caps running across the bed and pulled the longer sticks out completely before loading the camper. If you have a 10' cabover you will need additional support under the camper door and on top of the opened tailgate.

popRoid, what are plywood caps and how do you keep you 2x4s from sliding? Thanks, Joe
Click to expand...
 
JoeKan:

I presume you are talking about what support is needed in the truck bed under the camper to clear the bed rails ?

Attached find a picture of how I do it....the longer sticks were initially used to see if I needed more material to clear the bed rails...once I established that I just rely on the shorter 2x4's with plywood caps running across the bed and pulled the longer sticks out completely before loading the camper. If you have a 10' cabover you will need additional support under the camper door and on top of the opened tailgate.

popRoid, what are plywood caps and how do you keep you 2x4s from sliding? Thanks, Joe


Joe:

More pictures attached which explain everything:

full

full


I use a total of 7 of these supports ....2x4 with 1/2 inch plywood caps attached to each. This will accomplish 3 things: 1) supports the bottom of the camper in the bed 2) raises the camper up enough to clear the bed rails of a 2017 F350 aluminum bed (other trucks might need more or less clearance) 3) gets the bottom of the camper above some standing water in the bed. If you have a 10' cabover on an 8 ft bed you will need one support on the rear dropped tailgate under the back camper door for a total of 7 supports.....6 in the bed and one on the dropped tailgate.

My F350 has a sprayed Rhino bed liner and with the Alaskan I had Brian Wheat add additional insulation to the inside floor.

The 2x4's are of several lengths depending on where they are placed inside the bed and up against the wheel wells. I use a separate 1/2 inch piece of plywood up against the rear wall to keep the camper from rubbing (see in picture)..

NONE of the 2x4's are bolted to the actual bed of the truck and all just "float" independently under the camper. I also have never used a rubber "horse mat" as have not found it necessary....the tie downs will keep the camper from moving much. I've travelled over 20,000 miles using this system with no issues. This method is how the Alaskan factory in Winlock did it when I picked the camper up.

NOTE: if you are storing the camper (off the truck) I use a set of camper packers from: https://www.torklift.com/rv/camper-packer and the Reico Titans are all mounted as well on the camper for backup to the camper packer.


Happy to help....If you need anything else just post away.

Lloyd
 
Thanks popRoid, they say a picture is worth a 1000 words, but 3 pictures helped me to see the light!! I appreciate you.
 
"NONE of the 2x4's are bolted to the actual bed of the truck and all just "float" independently under the camper."

Uhm, your FIRST picture showed what certainly LOOKED like the heads of carriage bolts at the ends of each 2x4. If not bolts, what are they?
 
Afternoon Optimistic:

What you are seeing on the 2x4 supports is a caulk spot at the ends. I initially used a bit of dark caulk to hold some shims in place that I thought might be needed to completely dial in leveling things out. It turns out most of them were not needed after all. Sorry to have misled someone on thinking they were carriage bolts. My camper on a long hard trip has shifted maybe up to a 1/4 inch ....mostly from front to back and particularly on dirt roads with pot holes and moguls.

Happy trails....Lloyd
 
popRoid said:
...mostly from front to back and particularly on dirt roads with pot holes and moguls.

Happy trails....Lloyd
Click to expand...
"moguls" - giggle... makes me laugh but I have certainly got the image in my mind now!
 
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